Kate McClanaghan took the leap. After 18 years producing, casting and teaching in Chicago, she decided to expand her operations to the West Coast.
Last month, she opened a branch of Sound Advice/Big House Casting on Santa Monica Blvd. in L.A., just a stone’s throw from the Paramount sign.
“I’ve always had the dream of living in both places,” said McClanaghan from L.A.. “You want to be out here in the winter and in Chicago in the summertime.”
McClanaghan said she had been thinking of opening a West Coast branch for a couple of years, but was drawn to L.A. last year to pitch a script she had written. A number of her former staff and students had already moved out there, so she had a sense of what the industry needed. Then, she just decided to do it.
“It’s just like acting, you’ve got to take the risk,” said McClanaghan. “Whenever you book the big fatty gig, it’s because you took a chance.”
