Casting Directors

Here is what we have to work with. We connect shoots with casting directors based in Jakarta and Bali, the two cities that anchor Indonesia's screen-talent ecosystem. Jakarta is the heart of the domestic film and television industry. Our casting directors there work daily with the agencies, drama schools and theatre firms that supply the country's lead and supporting actors. We brief each casting director on the production's needs, whether that is a small English-speaking principal cast for a global feature, a large extras call for a Jakarta crowd scene, or authentic regional performers for a story set outside the capital.

Here is the layout. Our team arranges audition space, self-tape planning, callbacks and chemistry reads, manages the contracting and day rates in rupiah, and makes sure the casting director liaises clearly with foreign directors and producers. For shoots reaching into Bali, Lombok or remote islands, we use casting directors who can run grassroots community casting and local-language interpretation alongside the formal audition process. Casting in Indonesia means casting one of the most varied populations on earth: more than 1,300 ethnic groups speaking over 700 languages, united under the national motto 'Bhinneka Tunggal Ika', or Unity in Diversity.

Here is how the work shapes up. A casting director here knows that a Javanese, Batak, Balinese, Minangkabau or Papuan character carries distinct features, language and bearing, and that audiences notice when those are treated interchangeably. The national language, Indonesian, allows a casting director to brief talent from any island. But regional roles often call for native speakers of Sundanese, Javanese or Balinese. The success of worldwide major Indonesian cinema. This includes Gareth Evans's Jakarta-shot 'The Raid' and Mouly Surya's 'Marlina the Murderer in Four Acts', has built a deep pool of action performers, character actors and emerging leads, and heavy streamer investment continues to widen it.