We recently connected with Ally Beans and have shared our conversation below.

Hi Ally, thanks for joining us today. What’s been the most meaningful project you’ve worked on?

A feature that I had the pleasure of casting a few years ago, THE CATHEDRAL, is a career highlight. As soon as I read the script, I knew I was going to be heartbroken if our office wasn’t hired to cast it. The biggest challenge was working with a budget of around $200K for a film with a relatively large cast. What the entire production team managed to pull off is pretty unbelievable. Every department made this film look like a million-dollar feature, which just goes to show the passion everyone brought to the table. The cast we were able to put together is equally unbelievable, led by Brian D’Arcy James and Monica Barbaro, who clearly saw what we did in the material and agreed to do a micro-budget feature when they both have resumes full of blockbuster hits.

With all of the odds virtually against us, The Cathedral happened. And not only did it happen, it soared. Writer/Director Ricky D’Ambrose and Producer Graham Swon are two of the most even-keeled, kindest individuals I have ever met, while I know there was plenty that they lost sleep over they didn’t show it. When Daryl and I visited set, we were warmly welcomed by the crew and the atmosphere was calm, cool, and collected, a feat for a production that had virtually zero margin of error thanks to a shoestring budget.

The Cathedral premiered at Venice Film Festival in 2021 and also went on to play Sundance. Earlier this spring, the film was awarded an Independent Spirit Award. It’s currently streaming on MUBI.

Ally, before we move on to more of these sorts of questions, can you take some time to bring our readers up to speed on you and what you do?

I grew up in Dallas and dabbled in dance, indie film, and community theater as a kid. I always knew this was the direction I wanted to head in my career and I’m very fortunate to have family who supported my dreams and encouraged me to pursue them. I majored in Musical Theater at Abilene Christian and knew by the end of school that I wanted to shift gears and step away from performing. I had a gut feeling that I had more to offer in an “offstage” role and this pivot was scary for me, but it paid off. I spent the first 7 years of my professional Casting career in NYC, made my contacts, and built my business. To put it frankly? I busted my ass. It was a hard chapter but it was absolutely worth it. When our office expanded to LA and started getting more work in that market and in the Southwest, I moved back home to Dallas. I commute out to LA and NYC often, but I love coming back to my house, husband, and dog in Farmers Branch. While I’ll always be a New Yorker at heart, my quality of life is the best it’s ever been. I still have all four of my grandparents (!!!) and live within about 3 blocks of them. I love my job but I also love that I’m not having to sacrifice time with my family. Creating this balance is one of the most important things I’ve ever done.

My company, Eisenberg/Beans Casting turned 6 this year! We are a bi-coastal, boutique casting office focused on film, theater, and audio dramas. We’ve done everything from Broadway theater to podcast series and I’m proud of all of it, but I’ve developed a huge love for low-budget indie film. When considering a new project, I always ask myself “is anyone else making this?” and if the answer is no, then I know I want to do it. There is so much creativity and weirdness in independent film and I get such a kick out of it. I was at Tribeca this spring with a feature we cast in the pandemic, ‘Hey,Viktor!’ and not only is it one of the funniest, smartest, most endearing films I’ve ever seen, it features a largely indigenous cast and has posed some pretty damning questions around indigenous cinema. Work that contributes to a larger, cultural conversation is always going to be interesting to me. Another film I’m wildly proud of, ‘The Cathedral’ won the John Cassavetes Award at the Independent Spirit Awards – which is given to a feature made for less than a million dollars. (‘The Blair Witch Project’ was the first film to receive this award). ‘The Cathedral’ was made for less than 200K and it was one of those scripts that came across my inbox where it checked every single box – it was so singular and Ricky D’Ambrose, the Writer/Director, has such a compelling, unique style of filmmaking, making him somebody I instantly wanted to work with. Even with a shoestring budget, we were able to land an incredible cast (led by Brian D’Arcy James and Monica Barbaro) because I believe they saw what we did in the script. I spent my whole paycheck from ‘The Cathedral’ going to Italy for its premiere at Venice Film Festival but it was worth every cent. It’s been one of those projects that has paid dividends in other ways – we have gotten so many professional inquiries thanks to that project.

Are there any books, videos or other content that you feel have meaningfully impacted your thinking?

I reference Mark and Jay Duplass’ book LIKE BROTHERS daily. It’s a fantastic read that I wholeheartedly recommend to every person on the planet whether they’re in my industry or not. The Duplass Brothers have an amazing story, strong entrepreneurial spirit, AND I love their movies. What I especially admire about these two is how invested they are in the independent film community and routinely work with younger, up-and-coming filmmakers. I think one of the hardest things about entertainment is simply breaking in and I’m a fan of anyone who works toward making our business more accessible.

We often hear about learning lessons – but just as important is unlearning lessons. Have you ever had to unlearn a lesson?

I used to operate under the belief that I had to be fully invested in my career and my career only if I wanted to be successful. I’m so grateful to be on the other side of that way of thinking. My career is stronger BECAUSE I routinely make time for myself, my family, and my mental health. I think it is so important to have interests outside of your job. I’ve recently gotten into watercolor, bottle cutting, vegetable gardening, and candle making. Not only is it fun to learn something new, but it’s a relaxing departure from the stress of my job. My productivity is much stronger when I’m fully recharged and I have found that I attract better clients, too. I think that people crave real human connection and it’s hard to achieve that when all you talk about is work. Frankly, I find that to be a turnoff. Life is too short to not be a whole human being.

Contact Info:

• Website: www.ebcastingco.com
• Instagram: @castingbyally

Image Credits
Ryan Miller, Getty Images