ALAS Fellow Extra Milers, the Extra Mile periodical will resume printing next week. Just when we all gave up hope and started going to temp agencies to pursue a "real" job, a call from the WILD came in today at approximately 1:35pm Eastern Standard time. At least it did for me.
I looked at my phone and saw it was "Extra Mile". At first I was going to let it go into voice mail thinking that this call would only entail a wretched voice demanding that I make my monthly payments. In a complete spontaneous moment, I answered the call on the third ring as my A-Team themed song ring was playing uncontrollably. Hesitantly I answered and I was mildly pleased to answer the phone as I was greeted by a very friendly, down to earth girl by the name of Iris.
Now just the name IRIS alone brings into mind a peaceful, euphoric setting. Such a lovely Flower it is. The following are 9 different definitions of “IRIS”
i•ris
–noun
1. Anatomy. the contractile, circular diaphragm forming the colored portion of the eye and containing a circular opening, the pupil, in its center.
2. Botany. any plant of the genus Iris, having showy flowers and sword-shaped leaves. Compare IRIS FAMILY.
3. a flower of this plant.
4. (initial capital letter ) Classical Mythology. a messenger of the gods, regarded as the goddess of the rainbow.
5. a rainbow.
6. any appearance resembling a rainbow.
7. Movies, Television. an iris-in or iris-out.
8. Optics, Photography. IRIS DIAPHRAGM.
–verb (used without object)
9. Movies. to begin or end a take or scene with an iris-in or iris-out, achieved by manipulation of an iris diaphragm on the camera or by editing the film.
There should be a number 10.
Iris , Female; Noun: Started working for Leah at Extra Mile, was very nice at first, though after several days working at Extra Mile under Leah’s regime turned into a nasty “flower” telling people not to call anymore and to stop wasting time “Sweety”!!!! AS a result the delicate young flower soon got de-bloomed and became a thorn!
Let’s hope this doesn’t happen to the newly recruited Iris at Extra Mile.
Truly the best is yet to come. Especially since the majority of us have not worked on background work for a while now. Well on Tuesday, March, the 4th, 2008, it begins. That’s right the promises, the hatred, the crappy non-Sag food, the line-ups and the broken hearted.
Yes, the game show that we have all been waiting for is here!!!! Its Millionaire Dollar pass- word with Regis Philbin as host. I waited three long months for this. That is to be working on some form of background, and paid work.
The best part is the reunion in seeing ALL of you people that I have not seen in ages. It will be an event if anything. Also with the fact that the one and only Bullshit artist of all time, Gene Roberts will be there!!!!
After getting the endearing call from the lovely untainted (for now) Iris, I received a call from the Extra Mile Foreman herself, Leah. She called me to see if I had any problems if she booked Gene for this? I was like “I have NO problems”, bring it on!!!
You see apparently, Gene Roberts job as a pool man over at the Stardust in Las Vegas fell through. Another BIG surprise was when Wayne Newton cancelled Gene Roberts as his opening act!!!!!
Yeah Right!! Well at least Gene still has his number one fan in Malaysia!!!! ;)
I waited SO long for this event to come and here it will be. Get tickets to the show if you must, bring your camcorders, alert the press! For it will be a day of reckoning! SPARKS will fly!!!
I can’t wait to see you all! It’s been SO long. I hope you are ALL doing well and I know we will have a grand ‘OL Time!
See ya at the Password!
Canada Anne =)
Friday, February 29, 2008
Sunday, January 20, 2008
Thought on the Writers Strike
Speaking of "reality" because of this strike, all these networks are being dominated by these "Reality shows" which in my opinion are "really' garbage. The so-called "new-age" of entertainment is pretty much material taken directly from the septic systems of Hollywood.
I actually feel for these writers as they have to compete with this new-age "disease" called "anything for a buck!" At least in the 80's they had some real TV shows with real plots and situational comedies and dramas. With shows now like "American Idol" why do you even need writers anymore??
It's sad to say but these reality shows are becoming more interesting then some of these new pilots. It's really the networks fault. They keep ordering these types of shows as it is way cheaper to produce. Also they don't have to deal with a real actor who will fight and negotiate their contract and it's terms.
More and more these reality shows are taking over and the "dumbing of America" is increasing as soon there will be nothing but these type of shows. Back in the days, they had real shows like "I Love Lucy" which was brilliant and exercised and challenged the writers minds to produce High quality programming.
Now there is no brilliance and no challenge, Without these two factors there is no real motivation. The end result is poor quality shows. A strike of this nature would have never happened in the 50's to late 60's.
As long as America allows itself to be captivated and entertained by these types of shows, then I hate to say it but this Strike in my opinion will drag out for a while.
A.
I actually feel for these writers as they have to compete with this new-age "disease" called "anything for a buck!" At least in the 80's they had some real TV shows with real plots and situational comedies and dramas. With shows now like "American Idol" why do you even need writers anymore??
It's sad to say but these reality shows are becoming more interesting then some of these new pilots. It's really the networks fault. They keep ordering these types of shows as it is way cheaper to produce. Also they don't have to deal with a real actor who will fight and negotiate their contract and it's terms.
More and more these reality shows are taking over and the "dumbing of America" is increasing as soon there will be nothing but these type of shows. Back in the days, they had real shows like "I Love Lucy" which was brilliant and exercised and challenged the writers minds to produce High quality programming.
Now there is no brilliance and no challenge, Without these two factors there is no real motivation. The end result is poor quality shows. A strike of this nature would have never happened in the 50's to late 60's.
As long as America allows itself to be captivated and entertained by these types of shows, then I hate to say it but this Strike in my opinion will drag out for a while.
A.
Tuesday, January 8, 2008
2007 Year in Review
"Through snow, sleet, rain and ice, blazing heat, port- potties from hell, non-sag scraps of food, and "Lashings from Leah" we have traversed and prevailed"!
Kudos to you me and everyone who have survived this year of many "extra" trials and tribulations!!!
Now to take a brief recap and to highlight the events of the year......
The year began for most of us on the set of "I am Legend".
AH! Yes who can forget the multitude of frozen hours spent outside by the South street seaport for six days and nights for that big scene that only lasted three minutes!
From hypothermia to the tsunami of people rushing and crushing everyone in their path once we wrapped trying to get their voucher signed. It was truly a memorable event, especially for those who had to be hospitalized for Hypothermia and being trampled in the food line.
Who can forget that food line? The mass of people lining outside of the tent shivering in the cold trying to get any kind of grub offered. Once you got the food, there was a P.A. at the front of the tent door with a counter, to count how many people were entering the tent for this awful food.
Even though the "Slop tent" was awful to even our non-union standards, apparently it was fine for the locals in the neighborhood projects. One adventurous local was daring enough to make an attempt to "hi-jack" the catering truck.
The culprit didn't make it far in his escape, as he smashed into the side of the tent! LOSER! The guy should have sampled the food before his pursuit of the catering truck and after a sample of the grub, he would have never bothered trying.
The worst part of that experience was once we were wrapped and this "Army" of extras are swarming back to the tent to get their vouchers signed. What a mess that was. It was So disorganized and there was no queue for people to form.
People were screaming, punching, kicking, to get that piece of paper signed so that they could get out and released from this nightmare. In fact it was such a catastrophic scene that the film crew should have been filming this scene as it was far more interesting then the scripted one. The best line ever during the trial of this experience has to be the one delivered by Doug the P.A.
Doug had a difficult time enough controlling 3000 people and did not need suggestions from people how to make the "Sign-out" queue run more smoothly. One guy offered Doug a suggestion and in complete frustration, Doug picks up the microphone and calls out "If anyone offers me anymore suggestions, I will clock them in the eye!" Brilliant!
For those of you who have seen "Legend" you will note that out of 3000 of us frozen souls" the only one that got seen was Crazy Al. :( Yes, my sentiments exactly. This means not only is Crazy Al one step closer to the union, but now he is standing outside of AMC theaters signing autographs! Shoot me now!
The rest of the year brought forth many more similar experiences in terms of hours waiting, and extreme weather conditions. Though "Legend" seems to take the award for the "Worst of 2007."
Some good sets and positive experiences should be awarded to that Barry Manilow Concert that we went to back in August. Yes it was the same bullshit of waiting around for hours for something to commence. However when we finally got into the concert, the brilliance of the stage and the majestic stars, combined with some really heartfelt songs, made this experience truly memorable, and in my opinion the best of 2007.
Other challenging sets of the year in my opinion was Law and Order (Chelsea Piers, because a day at Chelsea Piers is like a day in prison!) "Bourne Ultimatum", "Don't mess with the Zohan", (which Karly put a curse on ;), "27 Dresses", "Play or be Played", "H&R block", "Under Armor" and numerous Verizon commercials.
AH, Yes the Verizon commercials. Who can forget those. Waking up at insane hours just to get on a bus in mid-town Manhattan for 3am, just to be driven to either New Jersey or Long Island and sit in holding for an additional 6-8 hours before they even needed us!
At least with the Verizon, we did have a good time for what it was worth. For instance on the set of "Club Verizon", where we were stationed at that now defunct club, "Cro-bar ", we had to dance in Verizon uniforms for hours on end as Zombies! Here is where we developed the "Sleeping Series" starring: Mike Bell.
I believe our call-time for that set was 4am and our holding area was the lounge area upstairs at this bar. Mike Bell was on another set all night long and was "Prince of the Zombies" for being up for over 24 hours. We were all tired and burnt out that day, though Mike Bell truly deserves the award for that one for passing out on the booth area upstairs and posing so naturally for our "Sleeping Series".
The other Series to note would have to be the "Mustache Series", starring: Bill Rapp. Being the true professional, Bill Rapp was informed that he would have to shave off his mustache which was a part of him for many years, and he did. Yes, the once hirsute Bill Rapp had shaved off his distinguished mustache.
I recall how displeased Bill Rapp was after he found out on the "Club Verizon" that there were indeed many "hirsute" men, booked by Leah that were on this set and NOT dismissed or told to shave. Would you not be upset. Yes, exactly!
In true good form, and being a noble man as Bill Rapp is, he took this horrible situation and turned it into one of our best series of the year, which was the "Mustache Series". This series was introduced to us at the Verizon Shoot in Long Island on a soccer field.
It was another early call time of 3 am bus pickup at the Gemini Diner in Manhattan. It was a slow start to the day, however when daylight broke, Bill brought out an assortment of mustaches ranging from mildly hairy to scary! There were also an array of colors of white fluffy mustaches, black and gray ones.
We ended up spending the rest of the day modeling these mustaches. The funniest part was when Bill Rapp went to get his picture taken, he wore a black mustache and the P.A. didn't notice it wasn't his own. With the Verizon outfit on, Bill Rapp looked like that Mario Bros. guy.
Simon, took a crack at it too and put on a mustache. He had this little petite mustache and he looked kind of like Inspector Clouseau! Simon actually wore the thing on set while we were shooting for the commercial! What was even funnier was that the glue of the mustache wasn't adhering to his lip, so at times half of the mustache was hanging off his lip!
Upon reflecting on the past year, even though it ended very discouraging for me, I have to say the year had some really good moments. I want to thank you all for making this past year on some of these sets tolerable with your friendship and camaraderie.
In moving forward to the New Year, I want to wish everyone a great new year with many new prospects and successes to be fulfilled. I hope to continue working with you all in the new year. All of you! Save for that pathological liar, Gene (Scumbag) Roberts!
In conclusion and to "WRAP IT UP" , here are a couple of mottos for 2008:
" Happy 2008! Don't be late or the P.A. will be IRATE!"
"Happy 2008! Leah better NOT raise the monthly RATE!"
"Happy 2008! Will I ever get a waiver, guess it's up to FATE!"
"Happy 2008! Watch out Ladies, Gene Roberts is a SNAKE!"
"Happy 2008! Gene Roberts, I really HATE!"
"Happy 2008! I hope for YOU it will be GREAT!!!!!"
Goodbye, 2007,
Canada Anne
Kudos to you me and everyone who have survived this year of many "extra" trials and tribulations!!!
Now to take a brief recap and to highlight the events of the year......
The year began for most of us on the set of "I am Legend".
AH! Yes who can forget the multitude of frozen hours spent outside by the South street seaport for six days and nights for that big scene that only lasted three minutes!
From hypothermia to the tsunami of people rushing and crushing everyone in their path once we wrapped trying to get their voucher signed. It was truly a memorable event, especially for those who had to be hospitalized for Hypothermia and being trampled in the food line.
Who can forget that food line? The mass of people lining outside of the tent shivering in the cold trying to get any kind of grub offered. Once you got the food, there was a P.A. at the front of the tent door with a counter, to count how many people were entering the tent for this awful food.
Even though the "Slop tent" was awful to even our non-union standards, apparently it was fine for the locals in the neighborhood projects. One adventurous local was daring enough to make an attempt to "hi-jack" the catering truck.
The culprit didn't make it far in his escape, as he smashed into the side of the tent! LOSER! The guy should have sampled the food before his pursuit of the catering truck and after a sample of the grub, he would have never bothered trying.
The worst part of that experience was once we were wrapped and this "Army" of extras are swarming back to the tent to get their vouchers signed. What a mess that was. It was So disorganized and there was no queue for people to form.
People were screaming, punching, kicking, to get that piece of paper signed so that they could get out and released from this nightmare. In fact it was such a catastrophic scene that the film crew should have been filming this scene as it was far more interesting then the scripted one. The best line ever during the trial of this experience has to be the one delivered by Doug the P.A.
Doug had a difficult time enough controlling 3000 people and did not need suggestions from people how to make the "Sign-out" queue run more smoothly. One guy offered Doug a suggestion and in complete frustration, Doug picks up the microphone and calls out "If anyone offers me anymore suggestions, I will clock them in the eye!" Brilliant!
For those of you who have seen "Legend" you will note that out of 3000 of us frozen souls" the only one that got seen was Crazy Al. :( Yes, my sentiments exactly. This means not only is Crazy Al one step closer to the union, but now he is standing outside of AMC theaters signing autographs! Shoot me now!
The rest of the year brought forth many more similar experiences in terms of hours waiting, and extreme weather conditions. Though "Legend" seems to take the award for the "Worst of 2007."
Some good sets and positive experiences should be awarded to that Barry Manilow Concert that we went to back in August. Yes it was the same bullshit of waiting around for hours for something to commence. However when we finally got into the concert, the brilliance of the stage and the majestic stars, combined with some really heartfelt songs, made this experience truly memorable, and in my opinion the best of 2007.
Other challenging sets of the year in my opinion was Law and Order (Chelsea Piers, because a day at Chelsea Piers is like a day in prison!) "Bourne Ultimatum", "Don't mess with the Zohan", (which Karly put a curse on ;), "27 Dresses", "Play or be Played", "H&R block", "Under Armor" and numerous Verizon commercials.
AH, Yes the Verizon commercials. Who can forget those. Waking up at insane hours just to get on a bus in mid-town Manhattan for 3am, just to be driven to either New Jersey or Long Island and sit in holding for an additional 6-8 hours before they even needed us!
At least with the Verizon, we did have a good time for what it was worth. For instance on the set of "Club Verizon", where we were stationed at that now defunct club, "Cro-bar ", we had to dance in Verizon uniforms for hours on end as Zombies! Here is where we developed the "Sleeping Series" starring: Mike Bell.
I believe our call-time for that set was 4am and our holding area was the lounge area upstairs at this bar. Mike Bell was on another set all night long and was "Prince of the Zombies" for being up for over 24 hours. We were all tired and burnt out that day, though Mike Bell truly deserves the award for that one for passing out on the booth area upstairs and posing so naturally for our "Sleeping Series".
The other Series to note would have to be the "Mustache Series", starring: Bill Rapp. Being the true professional, Bill Rapp was informed that he would have to shave off his mustache which was a part of him for many years, and he did. Yes, the once hirsute Bill Rapp had shaved off his distinguished mustache.
I recall how displeased Bill Rapp was after he found out on the "Club Verizon" that there were indeed many "hirsute" men, booked by Leah that were on this set and NOT dismissed or told to shave. Would you not be upset. Yes, exactly!
In true good form, and being a noble man as Bill Rapp is, he took this horrible situation and turned it into one of our best series of the year, which was the "Mustache Series". This series was introduced to us at the Verizon Shoot in Long Island on a soccer field.
It was another early call time of 3 am bus pickup at the Gemini Diner in Manhattan. It was a slow start to the day, however when daylight broke, Bill brought out an assortment of mustaches ranging from mildly hairy to scary! There were also an array of colors of white fluffy mustaches, black and gray ones.
We ended up spending the rest of the day modeling these mustaches. The funniest part was when Bill Rapp went to get his picture taken, he wore a black mustache and the P.A. didn't notice it wasn't his own. With the Verizon outfit on, Bill Rapp looked like that Mario Bros. guy.
Simon, took a crack at it too and put on a mustache. He had this little petite mustache and he looked kind of like Inspector Clouseau! Simon actually wore the thing on set while we were shooting for the commercial! What was even funnier was that the glue of the mustache wasn't adhering to his lip, so at times half of the mustache was hanging off his lip!
Upon reflecting on the past year, even though it ended very discouraging for me, I have to say the year had some really good moments. I want to thank you all for making this past year on some of these sets tolerable with your friendship and camaraderie.
In moving forward to the New Year, I want to wish everyone a great new year with many new prospects and successes to be fulfilled. I hope to continue working with you all in the new year. All of you! Save for that pathological liar, Gene (Scumbag) Roberts!
In conclusion and to "WRAP IT UP" , here are a couple of mottos for 2008:
" Happy 2008! Don't be late or the P.A. will be IRATE!"
"Happy 2008! Leah better NOT raise the monthly RATE!"
"Happy 2008! Will I ever get a waiver, guess it's up to FATE!"
"Happy 2008! Watch out Ladies, Gene Roberts is a SNAKE!"
"Happy 2008! Gene Roberts, I really HATE!"
"Happy 2008! I hope for YOU it will be GREAT!!!!!"
Goodbye, 2007,
Canada Anne
Wednesday, August 15, 2007
7-day straight on set
I am coming of my7-day stint on sets. The week stared with the Kevin Bacon movie in New Jersey. On Tuesday, I had the Verizon commercial. Then I got booked for 3-all nighters on the new Adam Sander movie "Don't mess with the Zohan".
The first night they had us come at 9pm at this church on Columbus ave, a few blocks from the set which was at Columbus Circle. As soon as we get there they break for a walk-away lunch. The reason it was a walk away lunch was because this was a cheap production. I suppose we were lucky to even get the no-name brand chips and cookie crumbs provided for the 3-night stint.
After the "walk-away" lunch, we brought some chairs outside and sat around on the street by the church because it was way cooler than sitting indoors with no A/C on at all. Then we sat, and waited, and waited. Laughed,watched drunks stumble by and waited some more.
Finally at 5:15 am, they call us to set. This was just great considering "Mr. Sun" was going to awaken soon at 6am and they would have to wrap. So they had us standing around Columbus circle by Central park south to walk around like tourists.
The scene evolved around this Limo that goes out of control, and speeds through Columbus circle towards Central Park and ends up smashing in one of the t-shirt stands. It was fun watching it the first 20 times, though 3 nights in a row of this in different angles takes a toll.
The second night turned out to be so much worse for many people. This was because the first night the temperatures were warm. On the second night the temperatures dropped about 20 degrees below of what it was before.
Some people were wearing shorts and mini-skirts from the night before as it was to be a "summer scene". So you can imagine how crappy it was when not only was it cold, but it poured rain all night long. We thought that the rain would mean that they would shut down early, not the case. They had us out their in the rain standing without umbrellas looking at the stupid limo on two wheels, spinning around the Columbus circle. It was horrible. Still I kept shouting out to my fellow background Friends: "LEGEND WAS WORSE!"
The third night came and you can guess that a third of the original people didn't show up. Also the holding are changed to this really small hall in the congregating of a church. The only good thing at this locations was that there were actually some provisions for food this time, If you want to call stale bagels and cookies food. At least they actually had name brand chips this time which was highly impressive!
So they got us out on set at a fairly decent time, only 4 hours waiting in holding to go back out in the drizzly rain to do the same thing around Columbus Circle that we did for the last 2 nights.
I was fine to see it through to the end, unfortunately I had a huge conflict. I called up xtra xtra casting to find out my call time for the Honda Commercial, and it was the super early call time of 4am! This wasn't bad I thought at least the location was in Manhattan and a 20 minute walking distance apart.
My plan was to ditch the "Zohan" set, hop in to a cab, sign in at the Honda and come back at 5am to the Zohan to sign out. Sounded like a good plan at the time, though it didn't work.
The Honda commercial did start immediately as we signed in. Mind you we had the "Omelet guys" make us some nice breakfast from the truck before we got settled. I had a spinach omelet with hash browns. I must say it was the best "FREE" Spinach Omelet I ever had!
This totally made up for the food rations at the Zohan movie. Back to time, and limited time at that. After the Omelet express, they took our Polaroids and had us out on set by 5:15am. They had us on a very expensive block right by Henri Bendel and Harry Winston,fine jewels of the world. This place is SO exclusive that they have guards on a 24-7 watch and these steel iron gate. These were the kind of gates that they have on these exclusive super-rich homes to enter and if you take a picture or even think about it, you will be shot!
So you can imagine how these "Harry Winston" people hated having us outside there taking refuge in their doorway as it was still really cold that morning. The Henri Bendel People actually let us go in side the doorway. This is a place that I would on no other circumstance be able to afford or even look at a place like that. Truly amazing the power of money that is is.
Back to this commercial, they moved relatively quickly. Those Japaneses are good at what they do. In fact this commercial is to air in Japan. The Honda car itself was this "Eggplant" colored station-wagon like new Honda they are advertising.
Us extras, only 20 of us, were dressed up as Shoppers or business people. Same old background thing we had to walk up and down the street until they got the shot where they have this 19-year-old model in a little dress posing as if she is waiting to get into the car. Not surprising that this would sell to the Japanese market. Mind you the 19-year old model was really good and maintained her composure as the cool winds were slicing through her little tiny dress.
As I said these Japanese don't waste time and we wrapped at 10 am. Not bad plus there was a nice early lunch of baked ziti and chicken with some potato salad. They treat you right on these commercials.
I guess you can figure it out that I had no chance in hell to get back to the other set to sign out. After getting food and decent treatment on this set I was like "To Hell with the Zohan"! So I lost $50.00, big deal.
I got called back for the second day, another early shoot at 4:30 am on a Sunday. I got there on time and had a Spinach Omelet again, some coffee and sat around until they called us to set which was around 6am and we wrapped at 10:30am.
This is when I found out how commercials pay so much better. In fact better than SAG wages. Are you ready for this, they paid $250.00 per day plus a bonus of $50.00 for wardrobe and we brought our own.
So I lost $50.00 at the Zohan, but I made $600.00 in 2 days. Mind you, taxes will cut those winnings right down, Still this totally rocks. I hope I get the check at least in a months time. This is the only thing that sucks about these commercials is that they take forever to pay you. Oh well when it comes, this will be a nice gift.
This week, things have slowed down, though there is word of the "Sex and the City" movies shooting in the city soon. It has been a really busy month considering it's August and I recall last year at this time that I was lucky to get a phone call from the agency.
Let's see what next week brings.
CA
The first night they had us come at 9pm at this church on Columbus ave, a few blocks from the set which was at Columbus Circle. As soon as we get there they break for a walk-away lunch. The reason it was a walk away lunch was because this was a cheap production. I suppose we were lucky to even get the no-name brand chips and cookie crumbs provided for the 3-night stint.
After the "walk-away" lunch, we brought some chairs outside and sat around on the street by the church because it was way cooler than sitting indoors with no A/C on at all. Then we sat, and waited, and waited. Laughed,watched drunks stumble by and waited some more.
Finally at 5:15 am, they call us to set. This was just great considering "Mr. Sun" was going to awaken soon at 6am and they would have to wrap. So they had us standing around Columbus circle by Central park south to walk around like tourists.
The scene evolved around this Limo that goes out of control, and speeds through Columbus circle towards Central Park and ends up smashing in one of the t-shirt stands. It was fun watching it the first 20 times, though 3 nights in a row of this in different angles takes a toll.
The second night turned out to be so much worse for many people. This was because the first night the temperatures were warm. On the second night the temperatures dropped about 20 degrees below of what it was before.
Some people were wearing shorts and mini-skirts from the night before as it was to be a "summer scene". So you can imagine how crappy it was when not only was it cold, but it poured rain all night long. We thought that the rain would mean that they would shut down early, not the case. They had us out their in the rain standing without umbrellas looking at the stupid limo on two wheels, spinning around the Columbus circle. It was horrible. Still I kept shouting out to my fellow background Friends: "LEGEND WAS WORSE!"
The third night came and you can guess that a third of the original people didn't show up. Also the holding are changed to this really small hall in the congregating of a church. The only good thing at this locations was that there were actually some provisions for food this time, If you want to call stale bagels and cookies food. At least they actually had name brand chips this time which was highly impressive!
So they got us out on set at a fairly decent time, only 4 hours waiting in holding to go back out in the drizzly rain to do the same thing around Columbus Circle that we did for the last 2 nights.
I was fine to see it through to the end, unfortunately I had a huge conflict. I called up xtra xtra casting to find out my call time for the Honda Commercial, and it was the super early call time of 4am! This wasn't bad I thought at least the location was in Manhattan and a 20 minute walking distance apart.
My plan was to ditch the "Zohan" set, hop in to a cab, sign in at the Honda and come back at 5am to the Zohan to sign out. Sounded like a good plan at the time, though it didn't work.
The Honda commercial did start immediately as we signed in. Mind you we had the "Omelet guys" make us some nice breakfast from the truck before we got settled. I had a spinach omelet with hash browns. I must say it was the best "FREE" Spinach Omelet I ever had!
This totally made up for the food rations at the Zohan movie. Back to time, and limited time at that. After the Omelet express, they took our Polaroids and had us out on set by 5:15am. They had us on a very expensive block right by Henri Bendel and Harry Winston,fine jewels of the world. This place is SO exclusive that they have guards on a 24-7 watch and these steel iron gate. These were the kind of gates that they have on these exclusive super-rich homes to enter and if you take a picture or even think about it, you will be shot!
So you can imagine how these "Harry Winston" people hated having us outside there taking refuge in their doorway as it was still really cold that morning. The Henri Bendel People actually let us go in side the doorway. This is a place that I would on no other circumstance be able to afford or even look at a place like that. Truly amazing the power of money that is is.
Back to this commercial, they moved relatively quickly. Those Japaneses are good at what they do. In fact this commercial is to air in Japan. The Honda car itself was this "Eggplant" colored station-wagon like new Honda they are advertising.
Us extras, only 20 of us, were dressed up as Shoppers or business people. Same old background thing we had to walk up and down the street until they got the shot where they have this 19-year-old model in a little dress posing as if she is waiting to get into the car. Not surprising that this would sell to the Japanese market. Mind you the 19-year old model was really good and maintained her composure as the cool winds were slicing through her little tiny dress.
As I said these Japanese don't waste time and we wrapped at 10 am. Not bad plus there was a nice early lunch of baked ziti and chicken with some potato salad. They treat you right on these commercials.
I guess you can figure it out that I had no chance in hell to get back to the other set to sign out. After getting food and decent treatment on this set I was like "To Hell with the Zohan"! So I lost $50.00, big deal.
I got called back for the second day, another early shoot at 4:30 am on a Sunday. I got there on time and had a Spinach Omelet again, some coffee and sat around until they called us to set which was around 6am and we wrapped at 10:30am.
This is when I found out how commercials pay so much better. In fact better than SAG wages. Are you ready for this, they paid $250.00 per day plus a bonus of $50.00 for wardrobe and we brought our own.
So I lost $50.00 at the Zohan, but I made $600.00 in 2 days. Mind you, taxes will cut those winnings right down, Still this totally rocks. I hope I get the check at least in a months time. This is the only thing that sucks about these commercials is that they take forever to pay you. Oh well when it comes, this will be a nice gift.
This week, things have slowed down, though there is word of the "Sex and the City" movies shooting in the city soon. It has been a really busy month considering it's August and I recall last year at this time that I was lucky to get a phone call from the agency.
Let's see what next week brings.
CA
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