Monica Bushman

East L.A.’s impact on punk music.

One long standing prop house in LA is (very) slowly getting back to work and calling for a Business Interruption Fund

Pasadena and South Pasadena are go-to destinations for film location scouts on the lookout for stand-ins for the Midwest and East Coast.

A web series that’s a love letter to queer and undocumented communities, with a message about mental health.

As Los Angeles-based film location scout/manager, Rick Schuler has turned downtown L.A. into Chicago, San Francisco, New York, Italy, Colombia, 1960s-era L.A., and other locations.

Robin Williams’ casting as the Genie in Aladdin is often talked about as a turning point when the focus on casting big name actors for animated films began. But is that true? The animator behind the character says: not quite.

“Usually [when casting a film] we have a start date,” says casting director Kerry Barden, “and with this, we didn't have a start date until we found Brandon, because we couldn't make the movie without that.”

Sarah Ramos says she actually likes self-taped auditions, but without regulations: “This is a strain on our resources, a strain on our community and it's untenable.”

Reuben Cannon came to L.A. with a one-way ticket, $500, and no connections. When he was down to $28, he got an entry-level job that was a foot in the door to work on films like The Color Purple, What’s Love Got to Do With It, and Who Framed Roger Rabbit.

A visit to L.A.’s Academy Museum wouldn’t be complete without checking out the hand-written notes on casting director Marion Dougherty’s index cards — noting everything from Ice-T’s “kind, poetic quality” to the observation that a 20-something Sandra Bullock was “very well-adjusted.”