Now that Shreveport has become the hub of Hollywood South, one of the best ways to make some easy money is to take a personal day (or two) from work and spend a day (or two) as a movie extra.
I can't believe I forgot to tell you about my experience during Spring Break, but there was so much going on. Having been a crew member on Welcome Home Roscoe Jenkins, I thought the Extra work would be a piece of cake ... do some repetitious things for 10-12 hours, get fed somewhere in between and go home ... Little did I know it would be the longest 2 days of my LIFE. Here's my story:
Day 1 ...
8:30 am - I get a call from my dad telling me some "producer" was trying to contact me about a job and had called his house. I shouldn't have even answered the phone that early in the morning on my first day of Spring Break, but I figured it must be crucial for them to call me that early.
I sleepily scribbled down the local number and later found out it was a casting director (who shall remain nameless) looking for extras. He practically begged me to bail him out of a jam, saying some of his scheduled Extras didn't show up and I'd e-mailed him asking for work during my week off. He said if I'd help him out, I'd have work for the rest of the year.
I was told to grab some business-casual clothing and head to the set as fast as I could and meet with a guy named Tony. I was less then 15 minutes from the set, but I had to shower, choose clothing and get dressing ... I said I'd be there within the hour.
9:20 am - I arrived on set and asked around for the Tony guy ... He pointed me in the direction of the Extras holding area. All the rest of the group was on set, but he told me to wait there for the Wardrobe assistant. Less than 10 minutes later the short, dark-haired lady showed up and asked if anyone had looked at my clothes. I told her no. She rummaged through my clothes and decided that my tan slacks were better than the black ones I had on. She apparently didn't approve of any of the shirts/blouses I had on and left to go find me one from the Wardrobe trailer.
9:40 am - She returns with a baby blue and white striped shirt and tells me to put it on. As I walked to the bathroom to change, the rest of the group was walking towards the holding area.
A "holding area" if you're not familiar, is basically a covered area with folding tables and chairs where we are "held" until we're needed on set. Right outside of the area, on the dock, was a table with snacks and a couple of coolers with cold drinks like juices, water and sodas.
While waiting to be called in, I realized one of my friends was among the group. (Shout out to Kaylon). We waited for what seemed like forever before Tony came to retrieve us again. I nearly fell asleep ...
11-something: We were all told to take a picture (in our outfits) before going to set. Then we were shuttled back to the set -- a newsroom -- and were given props (folders, books and tapes) to carry. There were two P.A.'s (production assistants), so were split into 2 groups ... one on one end, the other at the other end. Basically our job was to make the newsroom look busy.
Walk here, go there, stop here, walk there. I worked in newsrooms for 3 years ... it was NEVER that busy. (And the movie did use Shreveport as the movie city's name). Being that all the women were in heels (not pumps, HEELS), the walk seemed longer and longer every time we were told to RESET (which means start over from your first position).
We walked ... and walked ... and walked ... with the exception of the people assigned to desks in the newsroom ... they just sat. As the actors went through their lines (some messing them up completely), we waited, walked, waited and then walked some more. Around 1-ish were were finally released to our holding area.
1-something: We were walked over to the catering tent ... where they feed cast, crew and extras. On the menu, grilled chicken, grilled pork and an assortment of veggies and desserts. Not as good as the last movie I worked on ... but I was hungry. The oatmeal cookies were the best thing on my plate. After 30 minutes or so we were called back into holding to get ready to go back on set. Once there, we were given new props, new cues and we walked ... again.
2-ish: The Wardrobe chick tells us to get into another outfit. We were changing scenes. She goes around picking through everyone's remaining clothing. By then she was much less picky and pretty much approved anything that looked halfway decent. I was told to put a gray jacket over my current outfit and that was my 2nd outfit.
3-ish: After our wardrobe change, we were hurriedly ushered back onto the set, where we waited at least an hour more for the director and actors to get their stuff together. My feet were BURNING and no one seemed to care.
We were barely asked if we needed a break (for the restroom, water, or just to rest our feet), so we took every opportunity to sit down when things were stagnant. Finally, they were ready and we did more walking ... (yay). Go here, walk there, walk walk walk. I swear I haven't hurt that bad since I marched in the Mardi Gras parade back in high school.
5-ish: We finally were taken back to holding. The lady took our pictures again and we were told to hang out for a while. The people sitting at the desks were asked to come back for another scene while the rest of us waited. We swapped out one more time I think before being let go for the day. Our day was over at around 7 pm. We stood in line to have our vouchers signed (something like a time card) by Tony ... and then we hopped a ride back to our cars. DAY 1 OVER
Day 2 ...
8 am - Our call was for 8 (heck, it may have been 7 am ... forgive me this was a while back).
We were expected to bring four MORE outfits PLUS the ones we'd brought the day before. I felt like I was hopping a shuttle to the airport when I got in the van to take me to the set. I had a hanging bag AND a duffle bag full of shoes.
My feet were STILL hurting from the day before and I was going to make SURE I had options this time around!
After checking in with Tony, the Wardrobe lady had us stand in line to pick through our clothes again. She put them all on hanging racks and tagged them with our names. After assigning our outfits as "Change 1, 2 and 3," we were told to get back in the outfits we first wore the day before. I had to get back in those dreadful heels! :(
9:30ish - We were shuttled back on set and basically told we would walk back and forth until they were done shooting the scenes. And we did. Back and forth. To and fro. Over and over. By the time they yelled the final "Cut!," the women were walking so slow because we were in pain (with the exception of the older lady who was "gellin'" on Day 2 .. lol).
11ish - We got the command to go change our clothes quickly. We rushed back to holding for the 1st new outfit of the day. The Wardrobe lady barely looked at people as we rushed into our clothing. She approved my outfit after 5 seconds of looking at it. I put on the same black pants she hated the day before, a black and white shirt and threw a black jacket over it. I was approved and shooed away.
11:45 am - We were back on set for more walking ... Do I really have to explain this process again? :) After about 30 -45 minutes of this we got a short break and were about to get a snack.
12:30 pm - We were told to make another wardrobe change. Wardrobe chick didn't like my shirt after seeing it on me and decided to outfit me in one that was 3 sizes too big and told me to throw a jacket over it. We were quickly ushered back on set for -- you guessed it -- more walking! But this time I had on comfy shoes and was not phased! :)
1:15 pm - Our walking was finally over and we broke for lunch. On the menu ... roast beef that was bleeding way too much for my taste, some type of fish and baked chicken. Veggies and desserts for days -- including cheesecake! And some watered-down punch. This time we weren't rushed through our meal and we later found out why. Our day was over.
2ish - Some of the group was asked to stick around because they were moving locations ... to downtown ... the rest of us were let go for the day. All this for around $7.50 an hour ... Whew! I swear I'll never do it again (unless Denzel comes back to town) ... I needed the money, but after I thought about it, I would've rather stayed in bed. LOL.
But thanks for paying my cell phone bill movie people! :)
** For those of you interested in being an extra (and I didn't phase you one bit) ... Go to www.gloriosocasting.com or www.bamcastingla.com for information about getting cast for movies currently shooting and shooting soon!
Here's what's coming soon:
1. The Olive Stone feature film W. starring Josh Brolin is in pre-production in Shreveport with shooting scheduled from April 21 through June 20. Resumes addressed to the attention of Lucie Bourgeau are being accepted by fax at (318) 603-9556.
2. The Lionsgate feature film Goodie Two Shoes is in pre-production in Shreveport with shooting scheduled from April 28 through June 6. Resumes and inquiries are currently being accepted by fax at (318) 682-5644.
Happy Filming Everyone! :) - mahogani
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