Winter's here, and I'm not just talking about the slight nip in the air and the early onslaught of holiday marketing. The networks' high hopes for its fall lineup were especially short-lived this year--we've already seen the quick demise of much-hyped properties like "Skin," "Coupling," "The Brotherhood of Poland, N.H.," "The Mullets," and the year-old "Boomtown." Reality TV has continued to be a ratings Godzilla, stomping everything in its vicinity on the dial. And think about it: Even when a reality show tanks in the ratings, the cost of failure is still lower than on a scripted show--and a lot fewer people lose jobs they had hoped might last for years.

Those people, of course, include casting directors. But they're not curled up and licking their wounds. No, for the talent business, this is the true sign of winter's approach: Casting directors are already talking pilots--or, more precisely, talking about waiting to get pilot assignments.

For those who live under a rock, pilot season is that annual feeding frenzy of TV production in which hundreds of potential series get test drives. Conventional wisdom is that it runs each January through about April, in time for the networks' May presentation to advertisers. It's often pointed out that, with cable TV and other programming innovations (such as reality TV!) in the mix, that season is no longer locked on the calendar but stretches through the year. There's some truth in that--Julie Ashton, who currently casts "Luis," is already working on a new half-hour pilot, Triple Play--but as long there's a fall TV season there will be that May presentation to advertisers, and hence a frenetic run-up in the winter and spring.

According to Eileen Mack Knight, who casts The Bernie Mac Show from a pleasant office over a Ventura Blvd. storefront just a stone's throw from the CBS Radford lot, any time between now and February is the time she could expect a pilot assignment. She's already working on putting together a cast for a table reading of a new show--an increasingly common way for writer/producers to showcase their work for network suits. It saves producing a full pilot, which is like making a small movie, or even a pilot "presentation," which is like making a small student film. It's an approach that makes sense, since network execs are used to the format: It's how a new TV script begins its life, with actors sitting around a table, doing all their acting with their voices, expressions, and gestures, and having only bottled water as a prop.

And casting directors may point it out too often to actors, but it's true: They're job-to-job independent contractors just as much as actors are, so their hopes for pilot season run nearly as high as the hopeful actors who pour into town. As Knight put it, it's not just the actors she's casting for the table reading who hope that if a pilot is shot they'll get the on-camera gig--she herself is crossing her fingers that she'll get the casting assignment if this new show gets an order.

TV casting directors are notoriously busy--I've walked into few offices where there aren't either two or three people talking on the phone while fielding more incoming calls, or behind closed doors in a reading--so we're not sure how they manage to add a pilot or two into the mix when they're already working on an existing show. For Molly Lopata, who casts mostly TV movies (When Billy Met Bobby, RFK) and miniseries (Kingpin), a pilot assignment is just like doing another TV movie (last season she did the pilot for Miss Match, now cast by Bonnie Zane). One of her assistants gave some insight into the pilot hiring regime: Networks have a "pilot-approved" list of casting directors, who tend to be CDs who've done pilots and/or series well before. (How do you get your first pilot, then, I wonder? That will sound like a familiar Catch-22 to most actors.) And occasionally a feature film casting director will be lured to cast a pilot--usually with the hopes that he or she will bring feature film actors along.

But hasn't that historic divide--between "film" and "TV" actors--blurred beyond recognition these days? Maybe for actors and directors, but not for casting directors, Sally said: There are film CDs, and there are TV CDs. And it's the latter category, for the time being, who are trolling for work now--and to which the marketing efforts of actors and their reps will be laser-focused in the coming months.

Stunt Casting

One beehive of pilot season activity last season, and probably next season as well, is the unassuming pastel complex on S. Main Street in Burbank, where for the time being the only occupants are the still-busy casting directors for ABC's bona fide hit Alias. Easily one of the best-cast shows on the air--with a regular cast assembled by pilot CDs Janet Gilmore and Megan McConnell--it remains a haven for diverse types to fill out its cast of internationally intriguing adversaries and allies for the super-spy Sydney (Jennifer Garner) and her cohorts.

April Webster heads up the casting, along with associate Mandy Sherman and assistant Veronica Collins. Webster admitted that the casting for many of the guest star roles tends to be done directly through agent contacts, as the producers often want to nab name actors for so-called "stunt" casting (which could have a different meaning on such an action-packed show). But for day players that run the gamut from Russian mobsters to Middle Eastern freedom fighters, Webster noted that the show's producers are insistent on authenticity, often preferring native speakers from the countries where the far-flung narratives are set, even when most of the dialogue may be in English.

My favorite casting story from Alias is the ascendancy of David Anders, who plays the mercenary mystery man Sark. A 22-year-old unknown who impressed the CDs enough to bring him to producers a few seasons ago for a one-episode turn as a Russian, Anders got his role bumped up to regular--and to an Englishman. "He never auditioned with an English accent," Webster recalled. The producers made the change in the character, then left it to her to see if Anders could pull off the Queen's English. A phone call with Anders put her at ease--and the rest is Alias history, as Sark has become an increasingly prominent center of the complicated storyline.

And, perhaps because producers never forgot his initial audition, it's been recently revealed that Sark is, despite his proper accent, actually Russian. Anders may not be an example of stunt casting, but he, like Sark, certainly has some tricks up his sleeve.

Security Alert

The CBS Radford lot is one of the nicest in town, located in a bustling commercial area on Ventura Blvd. near Laurel Canyon. Many of its offices are housed in an inviting simulacrum of a suburban neighborhood, right down to porches hung with American flags and festooned with figurines. This is the home of such casting offices as Tracy Lilienfield (Will & Grace), Deb Barylski (Still Standing, Arrested Development), and Dava Waite (Yes, Dear).

But it's one of the worst for visitors due to its tight-assed security. The Radford entrance is a walk-on entrance--visitors' cars aren't welcome. But the Colfax entrance, on the lot's east side, doesn't make them feel much more welcome. The Breakdown Services rep I went with, Brian Roberts, who's been there several times and had called in a drive-on pass, was questioned and vetted by two guards. I heard one's walkie-talkie burst out: "Keep your camera on the white truck," referring to a large delivery vehicle that was driving past us onto the lot.

Maybe CBS is working on a new reality show, A Lot of Security, with real footage of people trying desperately to get into a studio gate. Marvel as driver licenses are scanned! Reel in shock as guards call the casting office to confirm the spelling of the visitor's name! The way things are going, that just might be a hit.

Managing to Cast

Not many casting offices are located in residential high rises, and I've been to very few with a cute pet running around. But then, Garry Shaffer's office is not in fact a casting office--instead, he's a personal manager with a roster of about 30 young actors. He used to be a casting director, though, and he's casting a friend's independent feature as a favor.

Isn't it a conflict of interest for a talent rep to cast a project? I mean, what's to stop Shaffer from filling the cast with his eager young clients?

"It's all East Indians in the cast," he said of writer/director Kavi Raz's project, Golden Bracelet, which went out on Breakdowns early this week.

In his 1970s heyday as a casting director, Shaffer placed talent in "1,000 hours of television," by his estimation. His favorite credits were the Robert Urich starrer Vega$ and the primetime soap Dynasty. His partner in the management/production company Upstart, Michael J. Nathanson, was a producer on the family-oriented films She's Out of Control and Mom's Got a Date With a Vampire.

Shaffer's biggest discovery as a manager was the beautiful, offbeat Linda Cardellini, best known as Lindsay on the beloved Freaks & Geeks and Velma in the Scooby-Doo movie franchise. He told me he found her in a Loyola Marymount University production of The House of Bernarda Alba.

And the pet I mentioned? That would be Brody, a toy fox terrier belonging to Upstart's assistant, Jace. He's Chihuahua-sized, relatively unobtrusive, and frisky but a bit coy. No doubt he makes a popular attraction for visiting actors.

Moves and Non-Moves

Lori Sugar has moved for the moment to the production office of Lifetime's Strong Medicine in Culver City, and will presumably cast the cable drama if it's picked up for another season. In the meantime, her assistant Jen said, they're working on an independent pilot.

Sugar is no longer co-casting the ABC cop drama 10-8, but Judith Holstra continues casting the show from the storefront office on Ventura Blvd. in Sherman Oaks, assisted by the peerless Beth Soike (Inside Track, 10/17/03).