Toronto Star
May 24, 2002
By MICHAEL DOJC

From the Wacky to the Banal, Casting Director Delivers the Goods

"Are you joking with me?" replies the 33-year-old Toronto entrepreneur.

At first, Lutz is somewhat taken aback by the request. But after 10 years as a casting director, she's learned not only that anything is possible, but also never to shy away from even the most daunting requests. "Oh, and he's going to double as Jackie Chan," adds the client.

"What's he juggling?" Shasta asks, regaining her professional poise.

"A bedside table at a hotel."

Less than 48 hours later, Lutz tracks down a pair of foot jugglers and gives the better one the green light. Look for her fancy footwork - and that of the juggler - in the kung fu comedy The Tuxedo, coming out this summer and starring Jackie Chan and Jennifer Love Hewitt.

Occasional wacky requests are part of what Lutz loves about being in the casting business.

"It's fun, and it's different every day," says the founder of Jigsaw Casting. "I wouldn't do anything else, because one day you're auditioning guys who are right out of Cirque du Soleil, and then the next week you're casting a little kid baseball team. The diversity is great."

Whether working with production houses, advertising agencies or photo studios, the mission of a casting director is always the same: Seek out the best talent available in line with the client's budget. Depending on the job, this can run from the banal - selecting candidates from headshots and demo reels - to the investigative, involving hours of research, phone work, and street schmoozing.

As in many facets of the entertainment industry, the best way to break into the casting business is through good old-fashioned grunt work.

"This girl called me the other day and said, 'Will you hire me?'" says Lutz. "I said, 'You know I'm going to tell you right now, no, and let that be a challenge to you.'"

Her advice to would-be casting apprentices: "We've got a couple (of) people and I'm not looking right now, but if you really are interested in a job like this, get your butt down here, nose around, ask if you can take out the garbage or if there are any things that need to be photocopied."

As a youngster, Lutz had no clue what her career path would be, other than occasionally imagining herself as a podiatrist because she liked fussing with nail polish and massaging cream into the feet of her friends and relatives.

In the mid-1980s, Lutz ran the Jeff Healey Band fan club before being promoted to assistant operations manager, a title she says sounded more important than it really was.

"I sent the boys out on tour, organized endorsements and went to venues and helped them get all set up with everything they needed," she recalls.

Casting was something she fell into.

"A friend of mine who worked for a photographer said they were looking for a couple of bartenders for a big bash that was going on and asked me if I wanted to make $150," Lutz recalls.

"The next day the photographer said I worked really well with people and could I find 30 people to be in a Molson Canadian poster. And I said, 'Do I get paid?' and he said 'Yeah."Do they get paid?"Yeah."Will there be free beer?"Yeah.' And that was my very first job."

In time, Lutz's perks expanded from free libation to exclusive party invitations and tickets to the hottest shows in Toronto. Of course, for Lutz to build a reputation that earned her VIP treatment, she first had to prove her skills as a talent hound.

With phones ringing off the hook and a current on-air commercial roster boasting spots for Tim Hortons, Five Alive, Bank of Nova Scotia, Barq's root beer, and Swiss Chalet, it's clear Jigsaw Casting can sniff out talent with the best of them.

But casting is not all about detective work. Once the talent is found, convincing them to come out for an audition is often a whole other story.

"In casting, we all fish from the same pool, but everybody has got to use their own hook," says Lutz. When casting non-actors, which amounts to 20 per cent of Jigsaw's business, Lutz stays away from pressure tactics.

"The scam agents say, 'You got to sign up now' and 'If you don't take advantage of this opportunity it will be gone forever.' I say, 'Hey, if you are interested, cool, do your research, come on down to our office. Feel free to bring your boyfriend or a parent.'"