Casting Director: Svitlana Mikhovska

At first, of course, I wasn’t a casting director — but a dog brought me into this profession. It was my daughter’s birthday, and that day we went to the market to give away some chinchillas we had been breeding at the time. There, I fell in love with a little puppy. The woman said, “You’ll be back tomorrow, right? Take her home, play with her, and bring her back tomorrow!” So that’s how a little dog ended up in our home. My daughter saw her and said, “I don’t want a mobile phone — I want the dog.” And that’s how we got a Staffordshire Terrier. Back then, I worked in a completely different field — I had two flower stalls, and the kids would walk the dog. One day, right next to our home on a playground, they were shooting the film That’s My Dog. When they saw our dog, they offered her a part in the movie. We arranged the shoot, and a week later on set, I met a girl named Tetyana, who was the extras coordinator. We became friends right away, and she started taking me to sets as her assistant. Then I got my own projects, she got hers, but we stayed friends. That’s how I’ve now been working in casting for fifteen years.

Right now, I’m a freelancer, but I used to collaborate often with Film.UA. For example, I worked with them on the Criminologist project for the ICTV channel. I was the casting director for the first season of Agents of Justice on the Ukraina TV channel. Then things started moving quickly — commercials, producers I knew started calling me for new projects.

I have a degree in accounting — I graduated from the Volodymyr Dahl East Ukrainian National University, Faculty of Economics. Before that, I finished a physics and mathematics lyceum.

Every project touches the soul in its own way. When it ends, you always wish it would go on longer. During a project, the team becomes so united that it feels like one big family. When it’s over, there’s always a bit of sadness — you don’t want to part ways with these people.

I really like historical projects. Before I became a casting director, I participated in one historical series called Officer’s Wives. It was tough but fascinating — every day was different, and there were a lot of people involved. Nowadays, a lot of detective shows are being filmed — stories about murders and investigations. I would love to be part of a comedy project, something like The In-Laws (Svaty).

Yes, many — too many to list.

I have a very large database, stored on my computer across several hard drives. It includes headshots, casting videos, and resumes. Some friends of mine wrote a special program for me — I can input parameters and it will find suitable actors. I currently have around 17,000 profiles in the system, ranging from background performers to top-level actors. It’s a meticulous job — you have to constantly update information. I also use Facebook and personal contacts to keep things current.

Some send it to my email — I extract everything manually and enter it into the system, which is a big job. So it’s actually more convenient for me if they send info via Facebook. By browsing their profiles, I can access our chat history and find phone numbers, photos, video links — all in one place. It’s faster. Email is much harder to manage.

Ideally, five photos: close-up, medium shot, and full body. A video business card is important — preferably filmed in a studio. I also recommend actors have their card in both Russian and Ukrainian, as more Ukrainian-language projects are being produced now.

Many. Some directors like to see a wide range of candidates, especially when there’s time to prepare. If time is limited, I’ll show just a few. If none of them are a fit, we keep looking.

For male actors, we need solid, good-looking men — business or politician types — and there’s a real shortage of them. Budgets are often limited, so we can’t always afford top actors. Within our budget range, it’s tough to find charismatic men. With women, it’s easier — there are more of them in the industry. Female roles are more diverse — from teenage girls to grandmothers. But there are very few elderly actresses. The largest age group is 20–25, followed closely by 25–35. Not all are professionals, of course, but the quantity is huge.

After fifteen years, I don’t think anything scares me anymore. We’ve dealt with all kinds of situations. Once, an actor was handcuffed with real handcuffs by mistake, and they got jammed. We had to cut them off with an angle grinder. Thankfully, the actor had a great sense of humor.

I was always good at physical education — I competed in track, push-ups, pullups, jumping… I was always first. I really wanted to be a police officer. Then, when I was thirteen, I joined a youth theater — that’s when my love for the arts began.

I never volunteer to be in scenes, but sometimes something unexpected happens and I have to step in. I don’t particularly enjoy it, but I will do it if necessary. I’ve had many roles. One that stands out was where I had to be thrown off a roof — I actually jumped onto part of another roof. It was terrifying and freezing, but the shot turned out great.

In my free time, I love fishing — especially on hot days by the water. The biggest fish I ever caught was a carp. I also spend a lot of time with my dog. We trained her for a long time at a canine center — it was a big investment of time. Now, I also run my own acting school — Media Art School.

The course lasts six months. We have stuntmen who teach students how to properly stage slaps, how to react to them, and how to fall correctly when shot. Given how many detective series are being filmed, these skills are really in demand. Naturally, we also teach acting. There are two acting classes per week and two stunt training sessions. Right now, we’re located in Pechersk, but we plan to move to Obolon soon. I don’t teach personally, but I do invite students to participate in crowd scenes, which lets them combine theory with hands-on practice.

I associate myself with a weapon — because I’m very unpredictable. Everyone who knows me will confirm that I can be kind, loyal, calm, fun… but if something goes wrong, I can immediately put someone in their place — and then instantly go back to my usual self. Maybe that’s a result of my profession — when I was an extras coordinator, I had to manage a lot of people and keep things organized.

First of all — peace in the skies. Second — a world without corruption. And for myself — health for my family, happiness and love for my friends. Everything else will come in due time.

– Of course. When a good film comes out, we go to the cinema as a family. I have many favorite films. I love rewatching Die Hard, Fast & Furious, Angelique. They’re all very different, but I enjoy them all. I love movies with Travolta, Bruce Willis, and Jason Statham. Whenever a new movie with them is released, we all go to the cinema together.

– More great projects — so that every actor can land a role. Sometimes one person works constantly while another barely gets any roles and has to take on nonindustry jobs to survive. Everyone loves the set, everyone loves acting, and everyone gives it 100%. I really want Ukrainian cinema to thrive, and for every actor to get the role of their dreams.