"90% of Directing is Casting"

It's so often I notice businesses suggesting to use their employees or friends as talent for their video to save a few bucks. I understand it may seem like a good way to keep costs down, but investing in and carefully choosing quality actors or models will strengthen your video and will give you a much higher return on your investment. Nobody is going to continue watching your ad if your talent is boring, they'll simply keep on scrolling or hit skip. Think about your own behavior, when do you catch yourself actually watching or paying attention to an ad? It's usually when the talent is incredibly entertaining, nice to look at, or can execute a quality performance. Hiring the right actor or model can make or break your film or advertising campaign. It doesn't matter if you have the best film equipment in the world along with an amazing script, the wrong actor can destroy the outcome and impact of your video. Let's be real, quality film production isn't cheap. The last thing you want is for your production or campaign to be a big waste of money, simply because nobody cares to keep watching Gina the secretary of your business, who you thought would save you money, but really her acting sucks!

Think about it like this, as the owner of your own company, do you just hire people because they save money on payroll or because they bring your business tremendous value? The most successful entrepreneurs outsource tasks to people that can do them better than themselves. This generates a better ROI. For all the same reasons, business should outsource their talent simply because chances are they will find someone who can do it better and create more value.

Not only will a quality actor help produce better content for your campaign, but the whole process of production will go that much smoother. A good actor should come prepared and you won't have to spend an unnecessary amount of time coaching them, redirecting them, or helping them learn their lines. A seasoned model will know his or her poses and should be relatively smooth to work with. Having to re-shoot because in the end you are not satisfied with the subject of your video can become very expensive. Save yourself time, money, and headaches, by carefully choosing talent who are qualified and add value to the job.