Pre-Production Unit- Researching Film Producers (The importance of Casting)

I have recently begun to research my role as a producer for this project, with the intention being that I can learn about the potential problems I may come across by looking at what producers before me have done- where they have struggled, and how they have overcome the problems in order to produce their finished product.

I began my investigations by trying to remember any films I had seen recently that really stood out to me because of their casting and locations, something that I aim to spend a lot of time and effort on in my own project. I remembered a film I watched over the summer holidays called "Cherry Tree Lane", an independent film in which a husband and wife is held hostage in their home by a gang of youths because of something their son did.

The entire film is over an hour long, and all takes place in one location. However, having on location did not hinder the film in any way, due to the excellent casting of the characters. For example, the main antagonist of the film; Rian (Jumayn Hunter) is a very violent and unlikable character, with his mannerisms being a major part of the reason we grow to dislike him as a person. In my opinion this was a fantastic casting choice, as by the end of the film (with the payoff being the family fighting back against the youths) I genuinely wanted to see Rian get hurt and pay for what he had put the family through.

After a brief internet search, I found that the producer of the film was Ken Marshall, who runs the UK based independent film company "Steel Mill Pictures". Steel Mill Pictures has a website, and so I figured that if I were to find out more information about Ken and his work, I should begin there.
I discovered that there were several other films that Ken has produced under the Steel Mill Pictures company, and one of which was a film called "Filth." With this information, I was able to find out more through the use of youtube, when I came across several interviews with Ken himself, in which he outlines some of the difficulties he came across.
One in particular which I found interesting was this interview at "Filth"s premiere.

In this interview, the conception of Filth is brought up, including the difficulties that he went through getting financial backing for the film. The interviewer explains that the films biggest star James Mcavoy is a "draw", but not a "guaranteed success", and Ken agrees, but retorts that the prospect of working with James Mcavoy is something that he could use to attract other cast members.
From this I learnt the importance of "star power" when it comes to casting decisions, and that it would be important in my own short film to try and assemble a cast with as much star power as possible. Obviously I will not be able to employ somebody of James Mcavoy's level, but I could still run some background checks on my cast applicant's previous works to see if they have generated any attention in the past with their acting skills and performances.

Not satisfied with simply checking out these interviews though, I decided to contact Steel Mill Pictures directly to see if I could get any advice on being a film producer. I did this by using a contact email which I found on the SteelMill Pictures website.
The email I sent was this;

I tried to keep the email as brief and to the point as possible, whilst still making sure to praise the previous works of the company. I am hoping that receiving advice from an established independent film company will up the quality of the work I produce, and therefore allow me to create a higher standard film as a result.