The man who helped cast Good Will Hunting shared advice about how to succeed in the film industry with a Dudley House audience last night.

Drawing from his experience as a highly regarded and well-known Boston casting agent, Kevin Fennessy told the crowd that acting and directing jobs can easily be found outside of Hollywood and New York.

According to Fennessy, most important is that Boston actors be persistent in securing a network of connections.

"How do you create a network without going out there and just doing it?" Fennessy said. "It's like any kind of networking--you must create a support group."

Fennessy attributed his success to a tireless and undying interest in film.

"I put on shows as a kid in the backyard," Fennessy said. "I'm doing the same thing now as I've always done--maybe on a different level, but still the same things."

Fennessy studied at the Boston Conservatory of Music and at York University in Toronto, Canada, where he was artistic director of the York Cabaret Theatre.

Fennessy started his casting work in 1994 at Collinger/Pickman Casting with big-name projects such as The Spanish Prisoner and A Civil Action, as well as Good Will Hunting.