The work gets attention.
The strategy earns trust.
INSIDE THE SEARCH
Five casting stories about changing the search to fit the creative problem.
OPENAI · YOU CAN JUST BUILD THINGS
Casting the point of
view.
The film needed twenty performers whose hands—
and, in selected roles, full presence—could carry a
story across generations of creativity.
Role-specific auditions gave Kogonada a clear view of appearance, movement, dexterity, and authenticity. Each actor received precise hand actions to perform. The search included a skilled pianist, an expert ballet dancer, and a stunt cyclist capable of executing the action while wearing the camera rig.
20 PERFORMERS
SUPER BOWL LX
DIRECTED BY KOGONADA
BIOHAVEN · EPILEPSY AWARENESS
Real stories.
A nationwide
search.
The campaign required people who genuinely live with epilepsy and could speak naturally and confidently to camera.
J Hook paired established casting platforms with direct research and outreach to epilepsy communities. Actors and non-actors entered the same self-tape and callback process, allowing
the director to evaluate every voice on equal footing. Six people booked; four were not
represented actors.
6 PEOPLE BOOKED
NATIONWIDE OUTREACH
4 REAL PEOPLE
CIVILIZATION: ERAS & ALLIES
History, comedy, and
ten distinct
characters.
A six-part narrative brought iconic historical figures into the present—and every performer had to land the comedy without losing the character.
J Hook cast Napoleon, Queen Elizabeth, George Washington, Julius Caesar, Cleopatra, Mulan, and four contemporary roles. Historical dialects, comedic timing, and character specificity mattered throughout; Mulan also required expert martial-arts and sword skills.
6-PART CAMPAIGN
10 PERFORMERS
CLIO AWARD WINNER
NUT-RITION · THAT’S NUT’S
An unfair rule.
An honest reaction.
The hidden-camera premise depended on one improviser making an absurd checkout policy feel completely real to unsuspecting shoppers.
PAY-GAP CAMPAIGN
The clerk had to think quickly, stay inside the premise, and tell male shoppers they could not buy the women’s bag containing twenty percent more nuts. Their spontaneous objections made the campaign’s pay-gap message land with both humor and clarity.
HIDDEN CAMERA
IMPROVISATION
CAPRI SUN · JOHN LEGEND YOGA
Protecting the reveal
—and finding the
right families.
Mothers arrived expecting a free yoga class after participating in market research. Instead, they discovered John Legend on the next mat.
A carefully constructed hospitality-research cover story protected the surprise while multiple groups of mothers and children were cast. From a control room, the children fed John Legend personal lines through an earpiece until he finally let each mother in on the joke.
HIDDEN-CAMERA REVEAL
REAL FAMILIES
JOHN LEGEND
EVERY BRIEF IS DIFFERENT.