Katherine Leach-Lewis, Executive Producer at Up A Gumtree, has eloquently articulated what she valued about Kayos, as well as her experience casting The Virtual Studio.
Cast South Africa, Cast the World!
South Africa has a diverse pool of talent, which means we can find amazing faces for commercials flighting in many territories and markets globally.
As Casting Directors, we find the talent (actors) to match the story. Research on the advertising target audience influences the story of each commercial. We find talent who are relatable to the audience so they can identify with the talent and the story.
Diversity is about viewing individuals as unique. No matter our race, age, ethnicity, or gender identification. Diversity is about encouraging everyone to be their authentic selves. No matter our socio-economic status, political views, religious beliefs, or ideologies.
With diversity as a huge asset in our Rainbow Nation, we have access to talent from all walks of life. This means that within SA we’ll usually find someone that any specific audience can relate to. That's why Kayos believes that by casting in South Africa, we can cast for the whole world.
Brands use extensive market research to profile the ideal customer for their products. The research determines the age, ethnicity, gender, financial status etc of their audience. The results inform the company about which talent they should use to for their ads to be successful.
Where products and services are for “everyone”, the advertising campaign requires more diversity (like this commercial for pharmaceutical company Eli Lilly - a milestone international casting job of ours). Where products target a specific audience, you’ll often notice more specific talent in the ad (like this Amazon Alexa commercial we cast for).
No matter what a company is looking for, we find talent to meet briefs. They can either be very specific or diverse in ethnicities and looks. Thats’ why we love casting from the South African talent pool! We are lucky to have a diverse breadth of talent on our doorstep, for all casting requirements
Here are commercials we’ve cast where diversity is represented in various ways:
Bring Back the Wow
Garden products are often associated with suburban families, middle aged parents, and neat gardens. On this project, the director tasked us with the opposite. We were to find the full range of people who could be using the product to make the commercial, and therefore the product, relevant to a wider audience. Various ethnicities, ages and looks are represented by the talent in the commercial, to create a universal reach. It was on-trend and reached a younger consumer, including individuals who might not previously have related to the brand.
GE: Ecomagination
This project required talent who had a sense of rhythm, could line dance and be choreographed, represent people from around the world. The cast and dancers include men and women of a range of ages and ethnicities, all of whom fit the bill!
Levi’s: Use Your Vote!
We were briefed to find amazing talent from diverse walks of life to show both the enduring legacy of Levi’s, and remind everyone that we have things in common, however different we might seem. In this case, the common cause was our right to vote. We found actors who represented a range of ethnicities, physical abilities, ages, religions, and socio-economic groups. In short, we captured different senses of identity based on all kinds of factors.
PDF’s of South African talent by ethnic look.
A peak at some of the talent we have available in our Rainbow Nation.
We’re are fortunate to operate in SA because of the thriving film service industry here. Commercials shot in SA flight worldwide, in all territories around the globe. That’s in part because of the diverse local talent, who can capture any brand’s story. South Africa is a great example of the expression melting pot. There is someone for every commercial in our country!
Below are some presentations of talent who could work for various territories around the world.
↓ African American looking talent
↓ Indian looking talent
↓ Middle Eastern looking talent
↓ Pan Asian looking talent
↓ Northern European looking talent
↓ Pan African looking talent
↓ Ethnically Ambiguous looking talent
↓ Southern European looking talent
Love Albany Bread | TV Commercial
"Everyone brings something to the table. You bring yours and we’ll bring ours. Albany: Together. It’s where we belong. (Be safe. Adhere to COVID-19 protocols)."
We cast for Albany Bread's heart-warming ad partly in the Kayos Virtual Studio and partly in our physical studio - entirely during lockdown. Directed by Emilie Badenhorst for ROMANCE - it's a local ad that will make you feel both nostalgic and proudly South African.
MTN | Call your Mother | TV Commercial
The Kayos Virtual Studio allows us to cast talent from anywhere with a stable internet connection! That’s exactly what we did for this MTN: Call your Mother TV commercial. Directed by South African director, Laurence Hamburger and produced by Lisa du Toit for Groundglass, we cast it online to get a really diverse talent pool. We’re thrilled with the results.
Sanlam | The Plan | TV Commercial
We're proud to have worked with director Paul Ward and producer Martina Schieder (for Giant Films) to cast this Sanlam TV commercial during lockdown. Initial castings were all performed in The Kayos Virtual Studio, and although some talent attended callbacks in our physical studio, director Ward attended remotely so the Virtual Studio continued to play a role.
"There's no waiting like in live castings...it's just very stress-free."
The brilliant David Bennie from ERM Stars loved his recent experience in The Kayos Virtual Studio.
Having worked hard to make online castings efficient, and set up to help talent look their best, we were thrilled with his feedback: "It's just very stress free," he said. "There's no big inconvenience, and it takes the stress out of casting because you're not sitting in a long line getting impatient and worrying."
"Among many positives, the big plus is that I live quite far out of town, so driving in for castings is now off the table completely."
The Virtual Studio lets talent like Jenna Upton from Hey Judes Model Management join us from anywhere in the world. "Among many positives, the big, big plus is that I live quite far out of town, so driving in for castings is now off the table completely," she said. We're so glad that online remote castings can keep actors like Jenna on the table, even if not in the room!
"It felt like I was stepping into an actual studio. I could do this for the rest of the year."
Gifted actress Vinita Petrus at Ice Artistes had only positive things to say about her experience in The Kayos Virtual Studio. She described the advantage of our casting directors directing her online performance - unlike traditional self tapes, where there's no one to guide you with your performance:
"Getting in to the casting process is seamless through virtual casting...with self tapes, I get critical of myself, so I do a couple of takes. [With The Kayos Virtual Studio], the casting director can give me the nod and tell me what works and what doesn't, which really helps me. So there are more positives than negatives."
Virtual Studio Interview: Juliette Pauling & The Andersons
Our latest guest In The Virtual Studio is Juliette Pauling. This actress and comedic genius created The Andersons - a hilarious online series that has been the highlight of our lockdown viewing.
