CASTING PRINCIPLES: Pilot Errors - When it comes to the special TV casting season, don't believe the hype.

Last year was the Year of the Teen for everything at the box office, from the faces on the screen to those who paid seven or eight dollars to watch those Noxema-fresh faces. As film producers have banked on this cash cow, so have TV producers, who have horned in for their own piece of the acne-set action. With as many new series featuring young adult performers as there were last year, one can't help but speculate on the potential for young-looking actors for the new fall stock of TV shows this year as well.
The maelstrom of pilots, which is essentially a test run of a new series, has just kicked into high gear, with February seeing the biggest push in pilot casting. But without any experience or repesentation, chances are you won't be seen by the right people. Industry professionals and working actors agree that without an agent or manager, actors will have a difficult time getting in to see a casting director working on a pilot, many of whom were too swamped to even talk to Back Stage West for this article.
Casting director Sarah Katzman, who works with fellow caster Lisa Beach primarily casting feature films, has taken part in the pilot season mel e. "You see more people for a pilot than you do for a feature," she said. Though the numerous opportunities seem encouraging, she acknowledged that without an agent, the chances of getting in the door become very low. But she conceded, "We definitely go into blind submissions for casting a pilot; you're more willing to open up and see everybody for a pilot."
Starting at the beginning of the year and running through April, pilot season has come to be known as the busiest time of the year for casting directors and agents, and arguably the widest opportunity for actors, with hundreds of pilots vying for a treasured spot on the approaching fall lineup: The networks announce their picks in May.
Actors who are booked on a pilot shouldn't expect instant episodic success. An estimated three percent or fewer of the pilots that are filmed ever see airtime. But beyond getting paid-sometimes even more than a guest spot on an existing series-there are myriad benefits to appearing in a pilot. As one actor said, "It's tape that's of the quality you're going to get if it were on television; it looks just as good on your reel, and it's not going to make your performance any better if it ends up on the air." Though the pilot may not go, someone at the network may find your work interesting enough to explore other avenues to showcase your talent.
Four-Month Fable
Keep in mind that the first four months of the year are not the only time to get work on a pilot. According to Gary Marsh, who since 1971 has owned and operated Breakdown Services, the company that creates the coveted breakdowns released for almost every project looking for actors,