‘Ninety per cent of directing is casting’, said legendary Hollywood director John Huston. Veit Helmer’s fascinating documentary Behind the Couch reveals how the casting process works in contemporary Hollywood. It follows upcoming casting director Zora DeHorter, who gets her big break working on Half Life, a medium size independent production. Helmer follows the casting of this film and also interviews other major casting directors to provide a revealing picture of how the process works. It’s a very tough business. With more than 250,000 actors in Hollywood, thousands of CVs and expensive headshots are submitted for every role. After several rounds of interviews, tests and repeat auditions, just one of the countless hopefuls is finally cast. ‘This is big business,’ says Donna Morong (Vice President of casting at Disney), who debunks the legend of the ‘casting couch’ and emphasises the effort that goes into each casting decision. Other leading casting directors interviewed include Michael Fenton (E.T., Chinatown), Jane Jenkins (When Harry Met Sally) and Matthew Barry (Ed Wood, Rush Hour).