Nathan Francis, McCorkle Casting

Quick side note from Kat: I have the pleasure of getting to work with Nathan every day at my job. He is personable, hard working, and is incredible to work with. He graciously reached out after seeing our video, and shared some inspiring words with us. He is a gem of a person, and we are grateful he is sharing some of this experience with us.

‘Hey Kat! I saw your and Peter's video and felt like I should share a bit of my experience during this. Work has slowed for us in the casting field, but it's been such an incredible opportunity to meet actors who we haven't gotten a chance to meet yet through virtual generals! Personally, it's been lonely and uncertain, but the positive feedback we've received from agents, managers, and actors for holding these generals has been super uplifting. So many words of thanks, encouragement, and positivity from faces new and old for the distraction and the opportunity to do some work. In the past three days, we've seen over 10,000 (what!) submissions, directly from actors as well as from reps. It's been overwhelming and exciting to see the subsequent work coming in from actors who we would otherwise not have the opportunity to see. As we work through these many self-tapes, I can't help but feel connected to and grounded by the community, isolated as I am, as I see some of my favorite monologues being performed, songs being sung, instruments being played, and passions being exercised via the often criticized form of self-tape. Not only do I appreciate actors putting in the technical work to put these tapes together, but they are all going the extra mile to showcase themselves and their passion for this lovely industry that we've committed to, for better or for worse. We're facing a daunting and uncertain time, but doing this work is proving to me that, as I've always known, theatre will flourish. Even if all the lights were to go out, if we were to lose the internet, television, phones, or all of our technology, people would still get up on a stage and play. It's how the Greeks did it! Anyway, this has turned into a novel so I'll stop. But thank you for posting that great video. Sending love!’