Out of Focus

One-year married, and one wedding announcement revised

I probably spend too much time marking milestones. I often attribute significance to dates, especially when I'm able to choose both the event and the date. For instance:

• Jan. 1, 1995: Quit smoking once and for all.
• Oct. 23, 1996: Left L.A. and moved to New York.
• Feb. 26, 2004: First post on this blog.

But one year ago today on Aug. 12, 2012, I marked the most important milestone -- at least of my adult life -- for on that day, I legally and officially became the luckiest guy in the universe as I got to marry the best person I've ever met. (For what it's worth, that meeting occurred on Jan. 08, 2010, and we got engaged on Dec. 13, 2011 … see? I like dates.)

Last year, I intended to post about my pending marriage. Then, once I hadn't, I meant to write about the wedding that was. But between the pre-event scrambling, the mini-moon that followed and the return to all-consuming work after, I simply didn't get around to it.

So as our first anniversary approached, it seemed only appropriate to celebrate in this space. We had an amazing wedding, on a virtually perfect day with sunny skies, comfortable temperatures and barely any humidity, all important qualities for an outdoor ceremony alongside a peach orchard.

As we considered locations, we realized we wanted a place that could be more than just a wedding venue to us; someplace that we would want to visit again in the future but not because we were married there. Rather, we wanted a place that would become a part of our lives; where we could return year-after-year with our family. That this place was the location of our wedding would become a secondary bonus. So with that in mind, what could be better than a pick-your-own-fruit orchard?

"Casting By": An underappreciated job and the woman who changed it and Hollywood

Last week, the Academy of Motion Picture Arts & Sciences made history when it elected Cheryl Boone Isaacs as its new president, making her the third woman and first African-American to lead the organization. But another monumental shift also occurred last week that may not have seemed so important to casual observers: After decades of requesting representation and recognition, casting directors will finally have their own branch, just as cinematographers, production designers and costume designers do; just as hair & makeup artists do and musicians do. Just as public relations executives do. And it's about time.

In seemingly cosmic synchronicity, Tom Donahue's fantastic documentary Casting By premieres tonight on HBO at 9 pm. (It will then, of course, be available whenever you want via HBO Go.) The film focuses on the development of the role of the casting director in film and television from what was once a simple administrative department during the studio era to the important creative position it is today as the key collaborator ensuring that the best possible – and often unknown – talent fills every role. Donahue shows this evolution primarily through the story of Marion Dougherty, the woman most responsible for the progression of this role.

One of my first jobs after college was at a boutique talent and literary agency in Beverly Hills called Susan Smith & Associates, where I spent over two years as the senior assistant to the agency's eponymous owner. During that prehistoric era of the mid-1990s, I spent a great deal of time reading Breakdowns (i.e., character lists and descriptions for upcoming films and TV series), collecting physical headshots and resumes, typing submission letters and packaging everything together into envelopes to messenger or overnight to casting directors in L.A. and New York.

During this period, Dougherty was the head of casting for Warner Bros., and I talked to her office on a regular basis. My boss Susan had opened her agency in New York in the 1970s and remained fiercely independent her entire career, even as the era of the mega-agency exploded in the 1980s with CAA, ICM and William Morris. She always had a great eye for talent, and she was responsible for launching the careers of many extraordinary actors and actresses. She had great relationships with many casting directors, but Dougherty had also become one of her closest friends.