Casting “Content Strategy: The Movie”
Rachel Lovinger November 13, 2012
Quiet on the set! (photo by earsaregood)
I’m kind of a pop culture fiend. My DVR is constantly in danger of running out of room. I may not qualify as a Cinemaniac, but I’ve I’ve had my moments (my record is 23 movie screenings in 11 days, during the Tribeca Film Festival). For over six years I worked for a major entertainment journalism website, where the vast majority of my expense report claims were for movie tickets. For the past three years I’ve hosted a documentary viewing series at the office once a month. I also studied film in college, where I also held a student job as a projectionist for film classes and student association groups that showed movies on campus. And my uncanny ability to recognize celebrities “in the wild” has led some people to speculate that celebrity spotting is my mutant power. A significant portion of my brain is devoted to to IMDb-like information.
All of which is to say: I don’t know why it took me so long to do this. After CS Forum was fully over (read my recap if you missed it), I was reflecting on the conference with Kerry-Anne and I casually started nominating the actors I thought should play some of the speakers – as well as other members of the CS Community – in the unlikely event that someone should decide to make a movie about our discipline. [Note: In some cases, we took the unrealistic position of disregarding the current age of the actor.]
So here’s what I came up with so far, with a few suggestions by Kerry-Anne.
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| Kerry-Anne Gilowey | Emily Blunt |
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| Rachel Lovinger | Kate Winslet |
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| Kristina Halvorson | Ashley Judd |
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| Karen McGrane | Meryl Streep |
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| Rahel Anne Bailie | Megam Mullally |
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| Margot Bloomstein | Molly Ringwald |
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| Kate Kiefer Lee | Amy Adams |
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| Sarah Cancilla | Ellen Page |
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| Richard Ingram | Stephen Merchant |
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| Luke Wroblewski | Channing Tatum |
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| Elisabeth McGuane | Christina Ricci |
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| Randall Snare | Juliet Landau |
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| Relly Annett-Baker | Helena Bonham Carter |
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| Jonathan Kahn | Christopher Mintz-Plasse |
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| Angela Colter | Julie Andrews |
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| Keri Maijala | Julianne Moore |
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| Lucie Hyde | Cherry Jones |
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| Destry Wion | Liev Schrieber |
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| Gabby | Napolean Dynamite |
This list is by no means comprehensive, but I wanted to leave some of the fun for the rest of you. Who would you cast as your favorite Content Strategist (including yourself!)? Add your own casting suggestions in the comments, or tweet them to @scattergather, and we’ll incorporate some of our favorite recommendations back into the article.
UPDATE: Wow, lots of suggestions! Here are some additions, thanks to Meghan Casey, @scarequotes, @katiedel, @gemelket, @MrVilhauer, @rahelab, and @mbloomstein (even though, in some cases, I chose to go in a different direction).
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| Melissa Rach | Katherine Heigl |
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| Sara Wachter-Boettcher | Winona Ryder |
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| Erin Kissane | Mary Elizabeth Winstead |
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| Joaquin Moreno | Javier Bardem |
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| Corey Vilhauer | Jason Bateman |
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| Sally Bagshaw | Nicole Kidman |
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| Katie Del Angel | Mila Kunis |
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| Cleve Gibbon | Don Cheadle |
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| Scott Abel | Jon Favreau |
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| Matthew Grocki | Brian Posehn |
Keep the recommendations coming, folks!
UPDATE 11/15/12: Here are some more!
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| Ahava Leibtag | Elizabeth Shue |
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| James Callan | Philip Seymour Hoffman |
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| CC Holland | Carla Gugino |
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| Ann Rockley | Sigourney Weaver |
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| Noz Urbina | Mario Lopez |
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| Jeff Durland | Justin Kirk |
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| Rian van der Merwe | Justin Timberlake |
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| Meghan Casey | Anne Hathaway |
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| Carolyn Wood | Rachel Weisz |
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| Rick Allen | Ad Miles |
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| Stephanie Hale | Lena Dunham |
Moving on to other things for a while. Keep sharing your ideas below (with links, if you can), but we’ll probably hold off on updating this article. Unless you make some really amazing casting suggestions that we just can’t resist!
Melissa Rach: Katherine Heigl
Ooooh, and Sarah W-B: Winona Ryder
You could commission Corey Vilhauer to cover the Jon Bon Jovi-esque opening credits song? :)
Updated: Relly Annett-Baker -> Jennifer Coolidge
http://www.imdb.com/media/rm685083136/nm0177639
Meghan – great suggestions! I’ll add these once I’ve collected up a few more.
Shaun – yes!
Eric – I think Helena Bonham Carter is a much better likeness for Relly, and already has a similar accent.
Noz Urbina – Mario Lopez
http://idratherbewriting.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/04/nozurbina_portrait_279x279.jpg
http://cdn.cnwimg.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/12/mario-lopez-net-worth-264×300.jpg
Scott Abel – that’s a hard one – but try this:
http://thecontentwrangler.com/wp-content/uploads/2008/05/scott.jpg
http://cdn03.cdn.socialitelife.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/05/celebrity-beards-05242011-03-435×580.jpg
With Brian Posehn as Matt Grocki.
and can Bert, of and Ernie fame, understudy McLovin’ for Jonathan? PLEASE?
SOMEBODY has to be Paul Giamatti.
I have to veto Rahel above on both counts.
I think Bobby Cannavale is a better likeness for Noz Urbina.
Noz: http://idratherbewriting.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/04/nozurbina_portrait_279x279.jpg
Bobby: http://www.zap2it.com/media/photo/2007-02/27707844.jpg?title=Bobby+Cannavale
I also think Donnie Wahlberg is a better likeness for Scott Abel:
Scott: http://thecontentwrangler.com/wp-content/uploads/2008/05/scott.jpg
Donnie: http://celebritywonder.ugo.com/picture/Donnie_Wahlberg/SingerDonnie_Countess_15989890.jpg
I’d not do this but seeing as Rahel’s already put me up against Mario Lopez (which is awesome) I have got better matched photos I think:
http://sphotos-f.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ak-prn1/23934_119425001549673_472140380_n.jpg
http://sphotos-d.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ak-ash4/299437_102234349935405_1554206667_n.jpg
Here’s one that Marja and I both came up with independent of one another while we were in Cape Town:
Rian Van Der Merwe | Justin Timberlake.
:)
Rahel & Bridget – As you can see, I already went with someone else for Scott Abel – Jon Favreau. Aslo, I prefer to compare photos without glasses or other things that block the face, because it’s unlikely Scott’s character would wear glasses throughout the whole movie. We can ignore the reality of time, but we have to give our actors the opportunity to shine!
Margot – maybe we can have understudies in the Broadway adaptation (musicl!) but that seems an unusual practice for a movie.
Noz – Somehow I failed to add the photos of you and Mario yesterday (I had them ready!), so I’ll use these instead. Thanks!
Jeff – I would love to have Paul Giamatti in this movie. I’ll think about who he could play (though that’s a little backwards from the usual approach). However, I think you should be played by Justin Kirk: http://www.thecinemasource.com/moviesdb/images/justin_kirk_5.jpg
Jonathan – great one!
Rachel,
Fun stuff! However, I notice I’m the only one being played by a character and not a *real* person. What does that say about me?
Also, Mr. Crumbles is wondering whether this movie will be in 3D. He suggests it would better capture any multidimensional content inventories which may play an integral role in the plot.
*smooches*
Those are exactly the pictures I was thinking!
Gabby – well, obviously, you’re larger than life. A real person just couldn’t capture you. And I think it’s a requirement that all movies are made available in 3D these days (*ahem* Great Gatsby…?)
Since you were so nice to “Katherine Heigl” me, I will “Janeane Garafolo” you, Meghan Casey. (They even have similar arm tattoos, unfortunately, I don’t have a Meghan photo to share.)
Here is a good janeane for comparison. http://www.bellasugar.com/Janeane-Garofalo-Brazilian-Waxing-9026009
Carolyn Wood… how about Rachel Weisz or Julianna Margulies, with straight hair?
Also, may I present Rick Allen: http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0587043/
Wow, Carla Gugino? Super flattered. I want a pair of the goggles that you’re looking through! (And then make everyone around me wear them.)
Dan Eizans = Michael Madsen
http://ia.media-imdb.com/images/M/MV5BMTI4ODA5NzY2N15BMl5BanBnXkFtZTYwNjc3NTI1._V1._SY314_CR5,0,214,314_.jpg
http://confabevents.com/images/uploads/eizans-dan.jpg
This is so much fun! Bridget, I love Bobby Cannavale! He’s totally got the X factor! Not particularly digging that photo of him but he’s awesome generally. I’m happier with Mario though – makes me feel young!
This is the ego-boostiest idea for a blog I’ve ever seen!