Life & Work with Francene Selkirk of Valley Village

Today we’d like to introduce you to Francene Selkirk.

Francene, we appreciate you taking the time to share your story with us today. Where does your story begin?
I came to Los Angeles from New York in 1977 to pursue an acting career in tv, film & commercials
.I studied in New York at the High School of Performing Arts, Bryant High School and Pace College. I was a member of a singing, dancing and acting troop called The New York City Theatre Workshop. We had teachers from Julliard, The Open Theatre, African Dance, and many more.
After being in Los Angeles for a year or so, I got an agent, at the same time that I was working behind the scenes as a production assistant. I was working on getting started in Show business from both ends. I landed a Virginia Slims print ad campaign as the 1900 old fashioned girl, that lasted 10 years, I got cast in commercials, some tv and as .I moved up in the Commercial world I became a line producer for a number of years. I fell in love, had a family, and had the good fortune to move into casting. A Director that I worked with, as his producer recognized that I had an eye for casting and gave me my first 5 jobs. It was so exciting and scary at the same time. I had a successful casting business for 30 years. It was the best job that I ever had.I gave people jobs. I won Casting Director of the year in 2011 & 2012/from the Talent Managers association. It was called The Heller Awards..
I retired from casting in 2019, in December, moved to Santa Barbara with my new husband. It didn’t work out and I came back to LA..and have been acting again. At 75 I am now on a social media show called Retirement House .It shows on Facebook, Instagram, Youtube, TikTok ,etc. It’s about a bunch of seniors. who live in a Retirement House and get into all kinds of trouble…and have a lot of fun. I’m also performing on other projects and auditioning regularly..Oh yes I perform regularly as a Stand up comedienne with my Ukelele.I have so many Hollywood stories. I worked with Orson Wells, Mohammed Ali, George Burns and had tea with Marlon Brando in my apartment. Oh yes , and George Clooney filmed at my casting studio and asked me to play The Casting Director.
I studied in High School and in college- plays, history of theatre, the classics, Shakespeare, diction, fencing, all kinds of dance and movement, speech, movies, television and everything I could get my hands on that had anything to do with show business. It paid off.

Can you talk to us a bit about the challenges and lessons you’ve learned along the way. Looking back would you say it’s been easy or smooth in retrospect?
There were many times as a casting director and as an actress that I could barely pay my rent. I had to supplement with waitress jobs at The Improv, and working at an answering service, and I assisted directors, and producers …I did their food shopping, picked up their kids from school in addition to occasionally helping with production work..etc.

I ate applesauce and tuna melts for the first 2 years in LA. I drove a beat up 1968 vwbug in 1977 when I arrived. I used to pick up the craft service from Canters Deli at 4 am and bring it to the set by 6am.
I paid my dues for 10 years and then I got a few brakes. I took any job that would barely pay my bills.

For acting the challenges were years of study, acting , drama, comedy, dance, music, avant garde ,traditional theatre studies, and waiting for any acting job. I did Emily in Our Town in High school, Marat Sade in college.

Appreciate you sharing that. What else should we know about what you do?
I think in casting I was most known as a comedy casting director. I have a silly, warped sense of humor..
I’ve always been attracted to Quirky. Think Oh Brother where art thou meets Fargo. I love Mel Brooks, Carol Burnett, Lucille Ball, Melissa McCarthy, Laugh In ,Saturday Night Live, Mash.
I grew up going to the Catskill Mountains in upstate New York seeing some of the best comedians, and most of them went on to be on the Ed Sullivan show.
So now I’m on a terrific adorable show called Retirement House that at times has us Seniors mimicking all the trends of today and sometimes just doing funny dialogue and dances..So my comedy is still with me.

My father played in Vaudeville with his Ukelele . My mother was was in the Mrs,. America contest and they met at Roseland, which was a huge dance cub. Show biz is in my blood. I always say “I’m just a ham”.
I’ve always prided myself as not being “On” all the time. I think I’m an Extroverted Introvert..

I’m most proud of my daughters and how they turned out to be such great people. And I’m proud of my two grandsons..4 and 7 months.
I think what sets me apart from others is that I’m honest. I have good manners, I say please and thank you,I’m always for the underdog. And in casting I always..always fought for the actor, their rights and for them to get extra money.

So maybe we end on discussing what matters most to you and why?
What matters to me is kindness. You never know who you’ll run into on your way down.
I’ve done almost all the jobs that there are to do in this business.
I even was a wardrobe assistant, tried script supervising,..but never tried the camera department.
I met a lot of people in this Industry. Most were nice and kind. A few weren’t my type of folks. I learned how to behave on a set, how to do a good job, how to work hard and most of all how to not complain.

I do however try to help and mentor people in the business who want to know how to begin. Character matters to me. Laziness, pettiness, lying, and cruelty are not traits that will help you succeed in show business. I worked 16 hour days as a production assistant, production manager and producer . If people think it’s going to be easy to get ahead in show business, they should look elsewhere.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.franceneselkirkcasting.net/
• Instagram: @FrannySelkirk

Image Credits
the phot with my hat, ukulele, pink background is a photographer named Saeid Kaveh. I have permission to use the photo. I f you use it please give him a credit.