"Ender's Game" will hit theaters on March 15, 2013
AB Media Publishing, LLC
Summit Entertainment, the production company behind "The Twilight Saga" films, has acquired the rights to the youth-oriented "Ender's Game" franchise. An open casting call has been scheduled seeking bright and talented kids and teens ages 10 - 17 of varying ethnic backgrounds. Talent must be located within reasonable driving distance of New Orleans, LA. The shoot is scheduled to run from February 2, 2012 through June 8, 2012. The casting directors are especially interested in home-schooled kids and teens due to the filming schedule during school hours. An on-set teacher is required to be provided by the production company for all minors, therefore it is not absolutely necessary to be home-schooled. Those who are selected will have the adventure of a lifetime and become part of science fiction cinema history!
Fourteen year old British actor Asa Butterfield has been cast in the film's lead role of Andrew "Ender" Wiggin. Butterfield is an accomplished and talented actor who's credits include Martin Scorsese's "Hugo," "The Boy in the Striped Pajamas," "Nanny McPhee Returns," "The Wolfman," among others. He started acting at 7 years of age on Wednesday afternoons after school at the Young Actors Theatre, in his hometown of Islington, London. Butterfield was nominated in the category "Most Promising Newcomer" of the British Independent Film Awards, but he was beaten by Dev Patel from Slumdog Millionaire. MTV Networks' NextMovie.com named him one of the "Breakout Stars to Watch for in 2011".
The impressive cast list also includes Academy Award nominated actor Harrison Ford, who will play will play Col. Hyrum Graff, a commander who notes the high intelligence of Andrew "Ender" Wiggin at his Battle School; Academy Award nominated Abigail Breslin will play will play Valentine Wiggin, Ender's older sister; Academy Award nominated Hailee Steinfeld plays Petra Arkanian, one of the few female students at the Battle School and somewhat of an of an outcast; Academy Award winner Ben Kingsley plays Mazer Rackham, a member of the International Fleet - an organization created to protect Earth from the alien Formics.
South African filmmaker Gavin Hood is directing "Ender's Game" from an adopted screenplay that he wrote himself. "Ender's Game" is based on a 1985 science fiction novel of the same name by American author Orson Scott Card. Gavin Hood has directed such films as "X-Men Origins: Wolverine," "Rendition," and the Academy Award winning "Tsotsi". Hood also acts occasionally, most notably in "In Enemy Hands" and the "Stargate SG-1" episode "Lockdown".
"Ender's Game" focuses around the Battle School, a space station used as a military training complex for children. The IF tests all children on Earth and selects the brightest for the Battle School for military training. Students are organized into armies with 40 members with a commander and assigned to conduct simulated battles in zero gravity. The Battle School forms in response to the need of highly skilled officers for the wars against an alien race called Formics (also known as "buggers"). In the futuristic setting, humankind develops interstellar travel, faster-than-light communication, various new weapons and defense mechanisms, and control over gravity.
Open Casting Call Details
Casting directors Alexis Allen of Fincannon & Associates Casting and Robin Batherson of Batherson Casting are holding the following open casting call for the Summit Entertainment feature film "Ender's Game":
Where:
Hilton Garden Inn
1001 South Peters Street
New Orleans, LA 70130
Click Here for directions.
When:
Saturday January 14, 2012
11:00am - 3:00pm
All minors must be accompanied by a parent or legal guardian. Please bring a recent 4×6 color snapshot, and all contact information.
If you can't attend the open casting call, you can mail in your photo and contact information to:
"Ender's Game" Talent
c/o Batherson Casting
920 Poeyfarre Street
New Orleans, LA 70130
Or you can register with the film's casting director online at:
New Orleans "Ender's Game" Talent Registration
Minors and foreign talent must be legally eligible to work in the state of Louisiana and United States.
The 2012 Louisiana Resource Guide eBook includes the following documents for minors and foreign talent who would like to work on "Enders Game":
• Louisiana Child Performer Law Information Sheet
• Louisiana Child Performer Trust Act Sheet
• Louisiana Minor Trust Deduction Guidelines
• Louisiana Minor Intention To Employ Form
• Louisiana Employment of Minors Informational Booklet
• Louisiana Film, TV, and Commercials Minor Labor Law Summary
In addition to the following Actors Resources:
• New Orleans Casting Directors List
• Baton Rouge Casting Directors List
• Shreveport Casting Directors List
• Louisiana Actors Unions and Resources
• General Talent Agent Information
• Louisiana Talent Agents List
• Louisiana Acting Classes and Schools List
• Summer Performing Arts Camps
• Headshot Photographers List
• Audition Tips
• How To Make an Audition Video
• Sample Actors Resume
• Sample Beginning Actors Resume
• Sample Cover Letters
• Entertainment Industry Terminology
• Miscellaneous Actors Resources
• USA Child Actor Work Permit Requirements
• USA Immigration Work Permit Information
• USA Non-Immigrant Visa Application
• PDF Users Guides
The 2012 Louisiana Actor Resource Guide eBook is available here.
Principal Actor Casting
See the post titled Headshot and Resume Information regarding how to submit for acting roles.
Please submit photos and resumes by mail only.
No phone calls or personal drop-offs.
Los Angeles:
Jennifer Cram
John Papsidera
Automatic Sweat
5243 W. Washington Blvd.
Los Angeles, CA 90016
New Orleans:
Fincannon & Associates Casting - NOLA
2717 Ridgelake Drive
Metairie, LA 70002
Extras Casting
New Orleans:
Alexis Allen
Fincannon & Associates Casting - NOLA
2717 Ridgelake Drive
Metairie, LA 70002
In association with
Robin Batherson
Batherson Casting
920 Poeyfarre Street
New Orleans, LA 70130
Crew Members
New Orleans:
Experienced film crew members in the New Orleans area who wish to be considered for work on "Enders Game" can email a resume to the following:
egmovie@gmail.com
This email is for CREW MEMBERS only. Absolutely NO ACTOR OR EXTRA SUBMISSIONS to this email address, they will be discarded and you will not be considered to work on the film.
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.
Enders Game
K/O Paper Productions
100 Universal City Plaza
Building 5171
Universal City, CA 91608
Summit Entertainment, LLC
1630 Stewart Street
Suite 120
Santa Monica, CA 90404
Sierra/Affinity
9460 Wilshire Blvd.
5th Floor
Beverly Hills, CA 90212
Digital Domain
300 Rose Avenue
Venice, CA 90291
Oddlot Entertainment
9601 Jefferson Blvd.
Suite A
Culver City, CA 90232
Producers:
Roberto Orci, Alex Kurtzman, Gigi Pritzker, Linda McDonough, Orson Scott Card, Lynn Hendee, Bill Lischak, Mandy Safavi, Cliff Plumer, Ed Ulbrich
Director: Gavin Hood
Starring:
Asa Butterfield - Andrew "Ender" Wiggin
Harrison Ford - Col. Hyrum Graff
Hailee Steinfeld - Petra Arkanian
Abigail Breslin - Valentine Wiggin
Ben Kingsley - Mazer Rackham
Story:
It's 2070, forty years since a devastating alien invasion was barely turned back, and the world is desperately searching for soldiers to lead them to victory when the "Buggers" come again. That's why they're drafting young children who pass a rigorous screening, and sending the best of them to the orbiting Battle School, where they are trained from childhood to be ready for war in the vertiginous reaches of space. Into the unending pressure of military training comes six-year-old Andrew "Ender" Wiggin, who struggles to keep his humanity even as the adult teachers, rivals among his fellow students, and the strange unseen influence of the alien invaders all threaten either to destroy him or to make him into someone he can't bear to be.
