The success of any film relies heavily on the casting. When you have great actors everything flows from that, and SPOILER ALERT was no exception.

"The role of Brad Zuhl was tricky. There are many sides to Brad that an actor needed to truthfully portray. From the blustery to the vulnerable, from the aggressive to the easily wounded. A guy who has created his own world and lives a good deal of the time in cyberspace and inside his own head," says Rakowiecki.

"When I was initially e-mailed the sides for the character of Brad I experienced one of those innate yet indescribable feelings one obtains from understanding something," Daniel Bartkewicz says. "I felt urges and reasons when I read this characters words. Brad had such a knack for speaking, and a really complex emotional history. His choices and statements felt strong and interesting. When I finally received the entire script, I was blown away."

Casting Bartkewicz in the role of Brad turned out to be fate. "Dan was a real last minute find," remembers Rakowiecki. "He had sent me his head shot, but he looked about 15 years old. I was skeptical but asked him to come in to read. He never responded to my e-mail so I assumed he was booked on something else. Then at the 11th hour he contacted me. I was able to fit him into a packed day of casting and right from his first reading his intensity and commitment to the character gave me chills. While we were shooting Dan not only lived up to my initial impressions of him as an actor, but exceeded them.

"Working on this film was one of the, if not the, best experiences I've had on a film thus far. I was exposed to talent, both cast and crew, beyond my wildest expectation," Bartkewicz says. "There was so much There was so much heart and hard work put into this movie. David allows you to make choices while still guiding you towards the characters truth. He was involved in nearly every aspect of filming. His writing is fine tuned and his vision is concise."

"Harrison Kane needed to be a human being and not a cartoon," Rakowiecki remembers. "We needed to see the vulnerability and regret in his character and also the weakness that allowed him to be seduced by the 'dark side' of success, fame and money. Lars Stevens nailed it from the very first casting session."

"The script was well thought out and rich in character material," Stevens says. "And the chance to play a big-time Hollywood director that 'bought in to his own hype' sounded like a lot of fun to me." "Lars showed a tremendous range and was able to play Harrison as a fully rounded character and not a caricature of a coked out film director. He really showed the humanity of a talented man who started out with pure intentions but lost his way," says Rakowiecki. "Along the way during the filming Dan (Bartkewicz), Jarred (Kjack) and I found more nuggets in the script which helped color our environment and gave me more to grow the human side of Harrison," Stevens says. "In other places David and Dan had the patience to let Harrison broil at the breaking point. That gave Harrison his texture."

"Walt was the toughest part to cast because he was truly a regular guy," Rakowiecki says. "But a regular guy who was highly ambitious and would do anything to achieve his goals. In fact, you are never quite sure what Walt's really up to or why he does what he does. And that matched up perfectly with Jarred Kjack. When you watch Jarred you have the feeling something is going on under the surface that you can't put your finger on. You never quite know where you stand with him, which creates an uneasiness, and that was perfect for the role of Walt," according to Rakowiecki.

"The film was well written in comparison to other independent projects I've worked on," Kjack says. "Walt is an ordinary guy who gets stuck in an extraordinary situation. My main goal was to keep my motives clear and never get distracted by what was going on around me."

"The Delivery Guy needed to be able to display a comedic touch, but also have a deadly serious side. Tony Mui was a revelation," Rakowiecki says. "From the minute he walked in he just understood the part and owned it completely. He's so talented and so entertaining, he's definitely someone to watch for. And we even wound up using the Chinese food bag he brought to his audition as a prop in the actual shoot, we couldn't find a better one."

"Working on the film was a blast," Mui says. "The script was great, it allowed me to display multiple personalities. I was able to throw my own style and flavor into the contents. And the director gave us the freedom to explore these characters within ourselves. He really did an amazing job in casting the perfect people for each character."

"The part of the Young Woman was a small but crucial role," Rakowiecki explains. "The look of the Young Woman was very important but even moreso was the way Nicolette (Callaway) was able to make adjustments during her audition. I think she's going to make a great impression and be very memorable in this small part."

"I was extremely lucky to assemble such a talented cast for a low budget, intense shoot," Rakowiecki says. "The creativity and commitment from all of the actors really blew me away. It was particularly hard on Lars and Dan because they had to be 'on' every minute of every day during the 11 day shoot. Even though the script was broken down into scenes, it's really one continuous 85 minute piece. So if we had scene 11 scheduled on a particular day we would end up shooting scenes 9, 10, 11, 12 and 13. The actors had to be extremely well prepared and ready for anything when the camera rolled."

DANIEL BARTKEWICZ (BRAD ZUHL) – Daniel Bartkewicz trained for nine years in the Meisner Intensive program at Actor's Playground and Actor's Training Institute. He is equally comfortable working on stage or onscreen and has performed nonstop in off-off Broadway theatre in New York City for over a year. Possessing a knack for multiple roles, he was last seen as Mr. Slinger, Father and Bully in 'Lilly's Purple Plastic Purse' at the Manhattan Children's Theatre. In that same vein, he also appeared as Robert, Father, Grandfather and the Count in Christopher Durang's 'dentity Crisis', in addition to his work as Swanson in Eugene O'Neill's 'In the Zone', and Elgin in Le Wilhelm's 'The Voyeur and the Widow'. Bartkewicz recently completed work on a feature length horror film, HAUNTED HAYRIDE, in which he plays the lead role of Billy. Other film credits include John in ONE BIG HAPPY FAMILY, Chet Jenkins in the award winning student film THE ELECTIONIST, as well as roles in JADED and NEW YORK LATELY. Bartkewicz's relentless drive to work makes him an actor to keep your eye on.

LARS STEVENS (HARRISON KANE) – For the past ten years Stevens' body of work has consistently grown and he is highly sought after by up-and-coming directors in New York. In late 2008 Stevens will be seen in HENCHMEN. Stevens was last seen in BUTTERFLY SCREAMS, which debuted at the Bruno Walter Theater at Lincoln Center in Manhattan, and was attended by political and entertainment luminaries from the U.S. as well as Europe and the Middle East. Prior to that he played a role in the hit web series WE NEED GIRLFRIENDS, which was recently picked up by Darren Star Productions (Sex and the City, Cashmere Mafia, Melrose Place) and given a script commitment by CBS. Also this year, Stevens appeared in the series THE MINOR ACCOMPLISHMENTS OF JACKIE WOODMAN and the film FEAR OF CLOWNS 2. Stevens can also be seen in the award winning film NIGHTMARE, which won the Austin Fantastic Fest Jury Award. He has appeared in several critically acclaimed independent shorts, including INSIDE YOU, BEASTER and WITHOUT A CLUE and earned a Best Leading Actor Award from the 2 Week Movie Making Madness Competition 2005 for his work in MY IMAGINARY FRIEND LARS STEVENS. He has appeared in over 20 other features and shorts, as well.