Transformers 4 Filmmakers Will Cast Via Reality Show

Four Chinese roles in Transformers 4 will be filled by the winners of a reality show airing on Chinese television, Paramount announced yesterday at a press conference in Beijing. Transformers 4 Chinese Actor Talent Search will be a new talent competition show in which the four winners – two with professional acting experience, two without – will earn roles in the film. The show is set to air in China beginning in June 2013. According to  The Hollywood Reporter, "a panel of judges comprising Sid Ganis, the former head of the Academy of Motion Pictures Arts and Sciences and the current chairman of Jiaflix; the film's producer Lorenzo DiBonaventura and casting director Denise Chamian; Paramount's marketing and distribution chief Megan Colligan. The film's Chinese backers will be represented by Jia Qi, deputy director of the film's Chinese co-producers China Movie Channel; and Liang Longfei, vice-president of m1905, the channel's portal through which contestants (who need to be over 18) can register for the show." Transformers 4 is planned as a Chinese co-production--the first big-budget American movie to begin production since the rules for co-production tax credits were tightened, leaving a number of films--including Marvel's Iron Man 3, originally announced as a co-production--unable to qualify for the program.