With colleagues based full-time in Las Vegas and other places abroad, it's important to take time together and review how we are doing in terms of our activities and recruitment, as well as upcoming projects and relations with the various departments at Cirque du Soleil. Because, after all, we always strive to find ways to improve our recruitment and the artists’ experience in this process!
With at least a dozen speakers from Cirque's many departments, it's fair to say that the program was packed... From our Chief Creative Officer, who gave us a forecast of the future at Cirque du Soleil, to the Talent team involving Casting in an activity on unconscious bias, the three days covered many topics and things to think about. Other topics included the current projects of the department of Filmed & Immersive Entertainment, the needs of the existing shows, and major presentations from Cirque’s vice president of Artistic Services. The Casting team always strives to improve in its ability to find and cast talented artists from all over the world, and meetings like this help us continue to do so!
Typically, the second day of Casting Connect consists of a trip to another company to see how they are doing things. In 2022, the team spent day 2 at Cirque Éloize, and this year, Ubisoft welcomed us in their facilities. After a guided tour of their historical building, the team got to see a demonstration of their Motion Capture Studio. Additionally, they had the chance to meet with Ubisoft’s Casting Team! Yes, they do have a Casting Team. It was really interesting to compare the realities and even to draw inspiration from each other so both companies can continue to improve. Day / also included a presentation and a discussion on ChatGPT, and various possibilities of integration to accompany us in our daily tasks.
Another highlight from Casting Connect 2023 was a collective focus on our database, this famous database where all the artist profiles, and soon creator profiles, are found and stored. What information does each department have access to? What information is needed for Casting to be able to recommend and present artists to our Artistic Directors for shows? It is always interesting to hear the views of Casting advisors, coordinators, the ecosystem team and even marketing. Within the department, the team has many different ways of seeing and doing things, but lucky for us they often complement and support each other!
What can be taken from these three days of Casting Connect? That here at Cirque du Soleil, we have an incredible & hardworking Casting team, but also it is a reminder of the importance of taking time. Taking the time to ask questions, contact colleagues, to learn, and to adapt so that we can find and communicate well with the best artists in the world so they can join our shows!