How to contact big name talent?
January 27, 2012 11:26 PM   Subscribe

Any tips for securing big name (sort of) talent for an indie pilot?

I am trying to make an indie pilot I wrote, more or less to try and get my name out there in the hopes that I will be able to get noticed and maybe get a low level staff job or something on a "real" show.

There is a very small part I think would be perfect for comedian and actor Aziz Ansari, and lucky for me if his history stands true he should be in town a lot in the next couple of months, and we would just need him for a day.

The question is, how do I go about trying to get this to him? I have one contact, sort of, that I don't know if he would has any motivation to help me.

Any tips? I think it's a funny script, my line producer thinks it's funny and most of the people that have read it, or helped with it to this stage have thought it had real promise.
posted by djduckie to Media & Arts (5 answers total)
 
Are you coming to the Austin meetup Sunday? If so let's chat then. Otherwise, memail me.
posted by katemonster at 11:42 PM on January 27, 2012


If nothing else, try Twitter.
posted by gerryblog at 6:29 AM on January 28, 2012


To be clear, there's no reasons you've mentioned that he would benefit from doing this, though there are obvious benefits for you. The direct answer to your question is that Ansari is represented by United Talent Agency, and it's his agent's job to help sift through offers.

You are not going to tweet at a star who has a featured role in a major, well-regarded primetime sitcom and get him to reply that, yes, he'll do a part in an unknown stranger's pilot.
posted by anildash at 8:09 AM on January 28, 2012 [1 favorite]


Might want to read Either You're in or You're in the Way: Two Brothers, Twelve Months, and One Filmmaking Hell-Ride to Keep a Promise to Their Father, among the anecdotes is how the Miller brothers got Ed Harris to play their father in Touching Home.

Disclaimer: Logan and Noah are friends of friends and generally nice guys.
posted by straw at 8:52 AM on January 28, 2012


Response by poster: anildash, that's an excellent point. I got the idea specifically for only after realizing that he comes here often, and that we keep bumping in to each other in ways that make me look like an ass. They haunt me like the voice of the stairs, and I doubt he remembers. Of course the obvious answer is he would get paid. Any other suggestions?
posted by djduckie at 9:54 AM on January 28, 2012


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