Episode 01 - Marci Liroff
Marci Liroff’s extensive credits as a casting director span more than 50 films.
While working at the renowned casting office of Fenton-Feinberg Casting she, along with Mike Fenton, cast such films as Bob Clark’s A Christmas Story and Porky’s; the Academy Award-nominated Poltergeist; Steven Spielberg’s E.T.– The Extra Terrestrial and Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom, and Ridley Scott’s Blade Runner.
After establishing her own casting company in 1983, MARCI LIROFF CASTING, Liroff cast several successful films including Footloose, St. Elmo’s Fire, Pretty in Pink, The Iron Giant, The Spitfire Grill, Untamed Heart, Freaky Friday, Mean Girls, Ghosts of Girlfriends Past, Mr. Popper’s Penguins, Vampire Academy and The Sublime and Beautiful, which she produced as well.
Whether it’s an indie or big blockbuster movie, Liroff makes a good film great and a great film a classic.
She was an absolute delight to talk to and we couldn’t have asked for a better first guest than Marci.
Show Notes:
Show notes:
Ridgebacks and Friends Rescue Group:
http://www.ridgebacksandfriends.org/
International Creative Management:
Mike Fenton
https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0272067/
Jane Feinberg
https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0270670/
Henry Thomas- ET audition
Jack Fisk
https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0279926/
Frank Marshall
https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0550881/
Kathleen Kennedy
https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0005086/
Drew Barrymore
https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0000106/
Steven Spielberg
https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0000229/
John Lithgow
https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0001475/
Footloose
https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0087277/
The World According to Garp
https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0084917/
Blow Out
https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0082085/
Herbert Ross
https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0006889/
Chris Penn
https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0001606/
All the right moves
https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0085154/
Insomnia
https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0278504/
Mike Menchel
https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0578770/
Adam Sandler
https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0001191/
Jim Carrey
https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0000120/
Vampire Academy
https://www.imdb.com/title/tt1686821/
Danila Kozlovsky
https://www.imdb.com/name/nm1572716/?ref_=tt_cl_t3
George Romero
https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0001681/
Land of the Dead
https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0418819/
Breakfast Club
https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0088847/
St. Elmo’s Fire
https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0090060/
Joel Schumacher
https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0001708/
Mare Winningham
https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0001858/
Claire Foy
https://www.imdb.com/name/nm2946516/
Zoey Deutch
https://www.imdb.com/name/nm3614913/
Cameron Monaghan
https://www.imdb.com/name/nm1185747/
Mark Waters
https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0914134/
Freaky Friday
https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0322330/
Mean Girls
https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0377092/
Daniel Waters
https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0914058/
Marci’s backstage articles
https://www.backstage.com/magazine/author/marci-liroff/
Marci’s website
How to audition for film and television
https://www.udemy.com/how-to-star-on-tv-and-in-the-movies/
Marci’s Twitter:
https://twitter.com/marciliroff
Intro and Outro Music
"Backbay Lounge" Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com)Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0 Licensehttp://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/
Intro Text
Hello everyone, and welcome to the first episode of Placing Faces, the show where we sit down with some of the most influential casting directors in all of Hollywood-- and across the entertainment spectrum.
I’m your host, Charlie Chappell, and today we’re going to sit down with casting director, teacher, lover of animals, Marci Liroff.
But, before we get into Marci’s world, and because this is our first episode, I want to start with the reasons we-- my producer Maria, and I-- started this show.
There seems to be a lot of misunderstandings as to what casting directors do, what happens inside of a casting room, before an actor enters and after they leave. What is the actual process of casting like? And what role does a casting director have in making a movie?
Just like a visual effects artist or a cinematographer, I believe there is a skillset and an expertise that is often overlooked, and I think that’s a shame. So, here we are to highlight the careers of some of the most important people you never knew you knew.
I also have to say, I’m pretty excited to find out how some of the most iconic roles in history got their faces. I mean, how did Heath Ledger become the Joker? How many people had a say in who played Elliot in ET? How did the most Boston movie that ever dared to Boston, Gone Baby Gone, get its Oscar nominated cast?
I’m gonna see if I can find out the answer to all these questions and more over the course of however many episodes I can get casting directors to sit down with me and talk, and there is no better person to help me start this show off than our first guest, Marci Liroff.
You may know some of Marci’s work. I mean-- you do. I’m sure of it. Movies like ET, Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom, Pretty in Pink, Blade Runner, Mean Girls, St. Elmo’s Fire, Ferngully-- yes, that Ferngully-- and Footloose, just to name a few.
Having worked on so many well known films, paired with Marci’s knowledge and innate ability to communicate, it makes a whole lot of sense that she also coaches actors, has a series of classes both online and in Los Angeles, and she’s an accomplished contributor to Backstage Advice and has been for years.
From her stories about casting one of the most iconic family films of all time, to her advice on why you’re not going into a casting office to get a role-- a thought that seems unintuitive until she tells you why-- Marci is direct, she’s surefooted, and it was an absolute pleasure sitting down with her in her San Fernando Valley home.
And especially nice to be joined by her sometimes snoring Rhodesian Ridgebacks, Tessa and Riley. You may hear them in the background.
I’ve never met Marci before this, so I think the conversation we were able to have really speaks to how awesome Marci really is.
Her long career in casting a ton of the movies we all know and love is a fascinating start to a journey that I am really excited to be on, and to take you guys along for the ride.
So, I hope you learn as much as I did.
