Of Rats & Women - A Branded Content Casting Tail

Two improvisers in the Ratify Birth Control cast.

I have a storied history of working in branded content casting and production thanks to my days serving as the UCB Theatre’s Director of Sales. I served in the role from 2014 to 2016, and in similar, less impressively titled capacities for years before that. In those days branded content seemed ascendant, with every major ad agency hungry for more and more of it. 

(SPOILER ALERT: If you're an agency looking for fast, flexible, and funny talent for your branded content project, that's exactly what I deliver. The Radical Agreement Project offers comedic casting services rooted in the NYC improv scene. We specialize in unscripted talent, quick turnarounds, and no-fluff coordination.)

What separated UCB’s digital production studios from other similar entities at the time (and may still, I’m not really sure where the UCB Theatre’s current digital focus lies) was its deep, deep pool of comedic talent coupled with its agile ability to pivot and adjust, qualities that aren’t that surprising to find at an improv theatre. Because of the branded content frenzy, we were fed a steady stream of inquiries, everything from light casting services and ideation to million dollar campaigns that called for high production value and star talent. 

I’m proud that my department never turned any of these opportunities down. No matter how tired, overwhelmed or understaffed we were, we always bent to our client’s requests, and in doing so we secured an important revenue stream for the theater, no small accomplishment.

Sometimes a client wouldn’t choose our pitch and sometimes we would agree to the work without agreeing to associate our brand with it. But we were always able to handle the opportunities by drawing on the wellspring of comedic talent that defines the NYC improv scene. And bringing improvisers into comedic oriented projects always helped make those projects better.

I was reminded of these days recently when an ad agency came knocking at The Radical Agreement Project's door in search of improv talent with which to cast a pet project. Entitled RATIFY BIRTH CONTROL, this campaign sought to use on the street interactions between the public and comedic performers to highlight the need for women’s reproductive rights. I won’t get into the complicated concept for the campaign, you can read about it here, but the ask felt very similar to work I was routinely engaged in before.

But did I still have enough connections to pull something like this off? The advertising agency had no money for casting and a pittance for the talent, because there was no client. This was a passion project for a good cause.

So throwing money at the problem wouldn’t work. If I wanted to take on the project I’d need to use scrappy, shoestring tactics and I’d need to draw on my contacts to find what was needed.

And what was needed? No less than five excellent female improvisers willing to work at low day rates dressed fully as rats in public. And they needed to be found within a week (maybe it was two weeks? But it is more exciting if I say a week and that is how my brain now remembers it.) or else we would miss our chance to film on World Contraception Day.

And we couldn't have that.

On an early discovery Zoom call one producer remained skeptical we could find excellent improvisers. Our conversation went something like this:

PRODUCER: “They need to be excellent. They can’t just be improv students or people who call themselves improvisers.”

ME: “I get it.”

PRODUCER:“And they need to be willing to sit for hours of makeup and costuming.”

ME: “Right, that’s a lot.”

PRODUCER:“For only a couple hundred dollars”

ME: “Yeah. I think I can do it.”

The look on the producer's face didn’t look like someone who thought I was right. But I knew something he didn’t, everything else being equal, improvisers prefer to say yes to opportunities.

I mean look at me. There I was willing to cast the thing for free. Surely if I would work on the project for nothing, others would be willing to work on it for something?

So I said yes, I would do it. And they couldn’t really say no, since they weren’t paying me anything. As a former theater major, that's my kind of client.

Now the only matter was the actual casting.

I started by asking the female improvisers I had climbed the ranks at UCB with and quickly realized that was a mistake. Too many of them were now in stable careers (Oh, how I envy them!), entertainment or otherwise. Taking two days off for low pay didn’t make sense for them.

But many of them had suggestions of other younger improvisers they knew, past students people they had coached or seen perform. One thing led to another and I found myself in quite a few email conversations, describing the project to accomplished younger improvisers.

The people I spoke with were house performers from almost every major NYC improv theater (UCB, Magnet, The Pit), teachers too and even one Off Broadway actress. They were all willing to talk to me (IMO) because they were improvisers.

Piece by piece the cast came together and when I delivered them to the agency they were thrilled. So thrilled they asked if I could find five more with just two business days before a scheduled test run.

My heart lurched and I panicked. Five more! Didn’t they know how hard finding these five was?

But then I remembered, that’s how branded campaigns always go. Big sudden changes, dramatic shifts in expectations and gleefully suggested new challenges. So I said yes, I’d find five more. And I also agreed to what felt like an arbitrary shift in the schedule of the two shooting days, promising to smooth it over with talent that had just agreed to a totally different schedule.

I got to work and to my delight, I started getting promising possibilities right away. Fortunately, I didn’t get all that far in the process before the agency called me back to say they couldn’t afford five more improvisers. I say fortunately because who wants to offer someone a gig only to take it away?  

On the same call they also revealed there would no longer be full body rat suits and makeup. Now we would just throw rubber rat masks on the performers and call it a day. So we were done.

I handed over the cast and focused my attention back on improv based corporate workshops. A few days later the producer sent initial photos taken on a test run to see how the rat masks looked and the overall concept played before World Contraception Day was upon us. The photos looked great and the producer gushed about the talent.

Finally the Rat Rally (There was a Rat Rally associated with all this. Did I not mention that?) arrived and with it, the moment of truth. The cast of RATIFY BIRTH CONTROL performed splendidly according to all of my agency contacts. They were funny, flexible, delightful and impassioned.

They were, in a word, improvisers.

Photographic evidence the Rat Rally was real.

So I am going to do this more. Ratify turned out to be a great success and if you want to learn more about how it went you can read about it on RA’s new Casting Services page. The bottom half of the page reads like a case study.

Now if you happen to be reading this and also an employee of an advertising agency that produces the type of branded content I’m familiar with, here’s why you should want to work with me:

I promise that if you need comedic, unscripted talent my scrappy, flexible, quick turnaround service will find it for you faster than you think possible. The very deep improv network I’m connected to offers brilliant talent at the beginning of their careers. They’re eager, I’m eager, they’re great, I’m so-so but my protestant work ethic demands I say yes to every request from a client and you’ll be happy with the problem free talent solution I provide.

What kind of talent problems can you bring my way? 

• Union/Non-Union Comedic Casting Services

• Comedy Writers Rooms For Full Scripts, Script Touch Ups & Ideation

• Live Event & Host Casting

• Casting Coordination (are in person auditions even a thing anymore?)

• On Camera Coaching

And… that’s it.

I would say you should reach out to The Radical Agreement Project for a casting quote (which you can do here) if you are working on a comedy project that has difficult expectations attached and a tight timeline. Projects with an easy path forward that are wonderfully funded and have oodles of time are probably better served by a more polished casting professional. But if you need it fast, you need it funny, you need it complaint free, then I am your guy.

And if you’re an improv actor looking to break into branded content, please don’t be shy! Shoot me an email at terry (at) radicalagreement (dot) com. I’ll get back to right away looking for a photo and bio. You too could be walking around a city wearing a rat mask in no time!