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Open casting calls for Steven Soderbergh film 'Contagion' background performers

Warner Bros. Pictures will be filming the upcoming feature film 'Contagion' in Atlanta, Chicago, Minneapolis, Dubai, Japan, Switzerland, The United Kingdom, Brazil, Russia, and Malaysia. There will be two cattle calls for extras to work on the Chicago area production of the film.

Academy Award winning director Steven Soderbergh will helm the project, and he will also co-produce with Oscar Nominees Michael Shamberg and Stacey Sher, along with Gregory Jacobs. Scott Z. Burns has penned the screenplay. Burns also wrote the screenplays to the Warner Bros. Matt Damon films "The Bourne Ultimatum," and "The Informant!".

Carmen Cuba is casting the principal actors for the film. Cuba is no stranger to working on Steven Soderbergh projects, as she has cast the films "Erin Brockovich", "Bubble", "The Girlfriend Experience", "The Informant!" and the recently completed "Butter" and "Haywire" - all of which Soderbergh directed. Carmen Cuba has found non-actors to portray fictionalized characters in Soderbergh’s fictionalized stories “Bubble” and “The Girlfriend Experience”, and little-known talent to play leading roles in "The Informant!".

Los Angeles based extras casting company, Rich King Casting, will be holding open extras casting calls in the U.S. locations, as there will be a very large number of extras used in the film.

Shooting on Contagion will run from September 25, 2010 through January 11, 2010. The film's release date is October 21, 2011.

Chicago Open Casting Call Details

They are seeking adult men and women, ages 18 and above, all shapes, sizes, types and ethnicities. Everyone is welcome. This is a paid gig and meals are included.

Where (open call #1):

Lincoln Park Cultural Center
2045 N. Lincoln Park West
Chicago, IL 60614
Click Here for directions.

When:

Saturday, September 25, 2010
10:30am - 2:30pm


Where: (open call #2):

Annoyance Theatre
4830 N Broadway
Chicago, IL 60640
Click Here for directions.

When:

Sunday, September 26, 2010
10:00am - 4:00pm

Please bring a pen and a small photo of yourself. Please do not call the open call locations directly. Watch for street parking signs. For more information, call (312) 283-1061.

See the post titled Headshot and Resume Information regarding how to submit for principal acting roles.

Please submit photos and resumes by mail only.
No phone calls or personal drop-offs.


Principal Actor Casting (Los Angeles):

Carmen Cuba
846 N. Cahuenga Blvd.
Building A, Suite 213
Hollywood, CA 90038

Principal Actor Casting (Chicago):

Shelby Cherniet
Amy C. Newbold
Simon Casting
1512 N. Fremont St
Suite 204
Chicago, IL 60622

Extras Casting (All U.S. Locations):

Rich King Casting
Cross Roads of the World
6671 Sunset Blvd.
Suite 1597
Los Angeles, CA 90028
Registration Information: (323) 993-0186

Production Companies:

Do NOT send photos and resumes to the production companies, as they will most likely end up being thrown away. They do not cast the films, rather they hire casting directors who sort through the thousands of submissions.


Warner Bros. Pictures
4000 Warner Blvd.
Burbank, CA 91522

Double Feature Films
9320 Wilshire Blvd.
Suite 210
Beverly Hills, CA 90212

Participant Media
335 N. Maple Drive
Suite 245
Beverly Hills, CA 90210

Extension
765 54 21st Street
New York, NY 10011

October Pictures LTD
G/F 58A Leighton Road
Causeway Bay
Hong Kong

The Keres Corporation
846 N. Cahuenga Blvd.
Building A, Suite 214
Los Angeles, CA 90038

The Keres Corporation
2630 W. Bradley Place
Chicago, IL 60618

Producers:

Steven Soderbergh
Michael Shamberg
Stacey Sher
Gregory Jacobs

Director: Steven Soderbergh

Starring:

Matt Damon
Jude Law
Kate Winslet
Gwyneth Paltrow
Laurence Fishburne
Marion Cotillard

Story:

An action-thriller with multiple plotlines, that takes place in a worst case scenario of a deadly virus. We first meet Gwyneth Paltrow's character, Beth Emhoff, as she flies back from a business trip, along with a casino worker in Hong Kong, Li Fai (Josie Ho), and a Ukranian supermodel in London, Irina Modelskova. Almost immediately, all three are struck down by a mysterious ailment — Li Fai meets a particularly messy end in downtown Hong Kong after hallucinating in the streets. Beth's husband Thomas (Damon) is forced to care for his wife, and soon his step-son, as her condition worsens. The virus spreads, first through the Emhoff's native Minneapolis — and very plausible through the unsanitary public school system where kids readily share infections as it is — and then to Chicago, and the rest of the U.S. The story opens on Thanksgiving weekend, almost the worst possible time a virus could break out, considering the amount of travel going on (airplanes being practically an incubator for common cold spreading), and, as one character puts it, "It's the biggest shopping weekend of the year." while simultaneously the virus, and the fear it causes, spreads through the world. As the infection begins to spread, we meet a collection of other characters around the world. Dr. Ellis Cheever (Fishburne), the head of the Center for Disease Control (CDC), and his colleague Dr. Erin Mears (Winslet) are both battling to find a cure for the disease, the latter being sent to examine Emhoff at home in Minnesota, while European doctor Leonora Orantes (Cotillard), works for the World Health Organization, has a similar aim; heading to Hong Kong to investigate what appears to be the genesis spot of the breakout. Alan Krumwiede (Law), meanwhile, is a hungry, truth-seeking blogger with an unfortunate interest in conspiracy theories, who is responsible for spreading information about the disease, both true and false, around the world.