Grant, Let’s talk about innovation. What’s the most innovative thing you’ve done in your career?

I’ve had the opportunity to work in background casting for over two years, constantly moving from one project to another. This experience has required me to develop a high level of innovation in my work approach. It’s not easy finding thousands of background actors!

A notable example of the innovation required for my job occurred earlier this year when I was assigned to the Netflix feature Rez Ball, which tells an all-American underdog story about Navajo kids and coaches. Despite being based in Los Angeles, I had no connections within the Navajo community in New Mexico, where filming took place. This presented a significant challenge that I had to overcome within a tight timeframe.

Initially, the task seemed daunting, and I had my doubts about whether I could accomplish it. However, I was determined to find a solution. To begin, I designed flyers to share across various social media platforms with the casting details. Additionally, I joined numerous Facebook groups located within a three-hour radius of the shooting location, establishing a presence and engaging with the local Navajo community. To streamline the process, I found a user-friendly website that allowed interested individuals to submit their information through a convenient link. I also enlisted the support of local businesses, who helped distribute the flyers and share the link with their networks.

The link was redirected to a Google Sheet, where I could efficiently manage all the submissions in one central location. This enabled me to compile a comprehensive and detailed email list, which ultimately proved instrumental in successfully completing the film. Over the course of five weeks, we ended up hiring over 2,000 people.

Reflecting on this experience, I realize that initially, I lacked confidence in my ability to achieve such a feat. However, through perseverance and a willingness to explore new avenues, I not only met but surpassed the expectations set before me. It taught me the importance of believing in myself, even when faced with seemingly insurmountable challenges.

April, 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?

Well, hello! My name is Grant Crocker. I am a writer, content creator, and work full-time as a background casting director. I graduated in 2020 from Webster University St. Louis with a degree in Scriptwriting. Three months after graduating, I made the trip and moved from my small town in Missouri to Los Angeles, California to pursue a career in the entertainment industry.

I struggled for over a year during the pandemic to find friends, a community, and most importantly – a job. That was until I met Sande Alessi. Sande gave me the opportunity to learn under her as a background casting assistant. I had never thought about this job as a career before, to be honest, I don’t believe I realized it existed. Sande Alessi and her partner, Shayne Hartigan, have since then helped me be staffed on multiple shows and movies. I’ve worked my way up to work as a background casting director and for the most part, love the job!

My day-to-day schedule is very random and you wouldn’t expect the work that goes into the job of a background casting director. Let me break it down for you. In the morning, we wake up to our actors arriving to set. This comes with many calls, texts, and issues. After the morning is taken care of, we usually look forward to what we need to do next. This job has a lot of past, present, and future work. I’m always having to deal with issues and paperwork from previous days, I’m working on the current day and its concerns, and then I am ALWAYS working on the future.

At the beginning of an episode or a film, we get a breakdown from production that goes over all of our needs through the process. Of course, this always changes, but it provides an outline for us to work from. There is almost never going to be a moment of having nothing to do. There is always something that needs to be booked! As we close out all day, we then need to make our call sheet to send out to the talent for the following day. This means getting wardrobe notes, makeup notes, parking details, call times, and more. Sometimes we don’t receive this information until midnight, 1AM, 2AM or later. So as you can imagine, these days can sometimes be long and grueling.

I love it, though. It’s exhilarating getting to send talent to set and give them the experiences some people would only dream of. I personally love doing background, so it’s really neat to be on the other side.

What’s been the best source of new clients for you?

I’m always looking for new talent. I want to eventually produce and create my own work and also cast principal roles. I have built a following on TikTok @GrantCrocker and have an array of actors around the world contacting me regularly. It’s really neat and I’m excited for the future and to be able to work with all of these talented people!

Though, the best source of new talent for me has been through social media. I use social media to my advantage, always. Everyone is on Facebook, Instagram, TikTok… and they are just looking for engaging posts to interact with. I’ve sourced from Facebook groups of local communities, as it’s a way to directly access thousands of people in smaller areas.

We actually cast a very large scene for a feature film earlier this year. I posted the casting call on my TikTok, not thinking much but wanting to share the opportunity, and thousands of submissions poured in just from one video. On set, I was met with dozens of people who recognized me from the video I posted. It was so neat!

Any resources you can share with us that might be helpful to other creatives?

YES! One thing about college, I felt as if I wasn’t given many tools and resources to succeed once I made the move to Los Angeles. I have already preached on this in this interview, but I really recommend Facebook and groups! There are also great websites like HollyList and EntertainmentCareers.net that are great for finding opportunities. I actually found my job posting on Facebook. A lot of people write it off due to scams, but you just need to be careful and find the real opportunities.

Another resource I would recommend is to NETWORK AT YOUR LEVEL. Follow creatives like you on Instagram. Engage with their content. A lot of creatives post opportunities on their stories or pages, and nobody would know unless those who follow them.

Put yourself out there. I need to do this more. A cold email is scary, but a cold email can change your life. I get tons, and I send out tons. They are an important stepping stone for people like me with no previous connections to the industry.

Contact Info:

• Instagram: https://instagram.com/grantlandoncrocker/
• Linkedin: www.linkedin.com/in/grant-crocker
• TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@grantcrocker

Image Credits
Caroline Rose