Marketing Videos, Training Videos, A Movie, Oh My!

Yesterday I responded to casting calls for three projects: one provides meals and a DVD copy of the finished copy; one just provides meals during shooting as compensation; and one pays $350.00 per day (1-3 days). All three have one thing in common - the opportunity to get more experience and pad my résumé.

I received a reply to the first one today. The call was put out by the UT McCombs Business School for a series of marketing videos for a local software start-up company. I tentatively have an appointment to do an informal reading on Monday, July 6th. I will be reading for "Older Caucasion male: mid-forties to sixties, sophisticated, but not quite 'plugged into' what all that technology has to offer him." Guess I'll have to act sophisticated.

The second one was a call for approximately 30 extras for a short film to be shot in Giddings. The shooting is scheduled for the last half of July.

The last - and juciest - call is for actors for a series of training videos which will also include some still photography. The roles are of blue-collar manufacturing workers and supervisors. A few roles may require overnight travel. There's no hint of how many actors they need. It would be really great to get this!

I'm keeping my fingers crossed.

Cowboy Strange

I just finished a shoot for a movie trailer yesterday. It was an unexpected job, but I was grateful for the experience. I received a phone call from Jacob Walinski (a name I didn't recognize at the time) who told me I had been a background extra in a short film he produced last summer. He said he saw my headshot and wanted me for the role of "Emmett." (sometimes a "look" trumps talent) Hooray!

I don't know the whole story, since the trailer only has selected scenes, but basically, Cowboy Strange is a tough cowboy who comes to town and is beaten up by a group of men. Emmett is a farm-type who befriends him. As Emmett I was in three scenes, but had only one line (3 words).

The best part was that I got to wield a shotgun ... or at least a prop that looked amazingly real.

It was a great day even though the temperature was over 100. Everyone associated with the production was great -- we all suffered through the heat and consumed mass quantities of water ... and just between you and me, I had one tiny frozen margarita during a break.

Thanks to all the crew and cast for making me feel at ease. And a special thanks to the City of Manor police for allowing us to shoot a scene using the Police Department.

The first photo below shows Emmett working on a weed trimmer while ignoring the heat, the mic boom operator, and Jocob. Note to self: old bathtubs do not make comfy seats.

The second photo shows most of the cast and crew taking a break from the intense sun.

Wrap Party (better late than never)

There were several exciting moments at the wrap party. The first occurred when Leandra, the host and creator of the film, handed me a space-age cork remover for the unopened bottle of white wine (after she unsuccessfully tried to open the bottle). I took one look at the opener and decided I didn't have the required mechanical engineering knowledge to figure it out. Next to try was Emmett, Lenadra's assistant in the Delusions production. He struggled to make it work for a few minutes before another person tried, also unsuccessfully.

By this time the consensus was that the cork had been torn up to the point that nothing was going to work and I was wishing I hadn't requested wine. I should have said, "I think I'll have a beer." Eventually, however, someone procurred a low-tech, old-fashioned corkscrew from a neighbor. You just can't beat the "tried and true."After pouring myself a glass of wine I wandered through the livingroom past the lead actress (Chloe) and the Director of Photographer (Whit) and into the bedroom where Emmett was making copies of the film for everyone present. Chloe, who wasn't feeling well, grabbed her copy and left. Hope she has recovered from too much celebrating or whatever.

Soon all copies were done and the five remaining party-ers watched the film and the outtakes. It was a well-done film and Leandra is to be congratulated. Further acclaim came from her instructor who awarded her an "A" for the project.

For awhile, we reminisced about incidents that happened during the two days of shooting. When the conversation began to slow down I brilliantly suggested that maybe the assembled throngs would like to watch my stand-up comedy routine (luckily I had brought the file on a USB drive that was conveniently located in my pocket). After a lot of pushing and shoving I had everyone rounded up in front of the computer and my video began. Everyone laughed at all the right times and I received a standing ovation at the end. Well, maybe not everybody stood up. Okay, I admit it, they just said they liked it ... a little. That's all the encouragement I need to plow ahead with my planned (and half-written), second routine.