11:26 am - Tues 9/13/05
Commercial Doings

Well, the TBS thing didn't happen (P.S. Just got a call from J.S.--I've officially been "released").

But...

I have an audition today for another commercial starring John Cleese (For Titlelist golf balls. I'm going in for the role of the "Psychiatrist").

So apparently, I'm going to keep auditioning for commercials starring John Cleese until I actually book one.

And...

On Friday, I auditioned for a Natasha Bedenfield video, and when I got home from work last night, there was an email from J.S. saying I was "on avail" for that.

When I first got the call about the video audition, I was a little thrown--videos typically are non-union, very low-paying affairs ( For example: The Incubus "Megalomaniac" video I was in, seen round the world, paid a whopping $100)--but I assumed this was some sort of "exception to the rule", and didn't question J.S. about it.

And it turned out it was an "exception to the rule", but not the way I'd imagined...At the audition, the sign-in sheet was basically a blank piece of paper, and not the standard SAG sign-in form; apparently, the video is non-union, but there's some sort of SAG exception at play which allows SAG actors to do it.

So that's the "bad news"--If I book this thing, it only pays $200. No buyout, no residuals, nothing.

The cheap bastards.

But...

For the length of my little "vignette", I'm the only thing on screen, front and center: 10 or 15 seconds of Yours Truly, acting in front of an international audience.

And while I am dying for a big payday--I've often referred to it as a "platform" for getting out of Borders--a "high-visibility" gig like this is not bad either.

In the video, I'm an ex-con, now working as a hotel janitor.

In my bit, you see me get on an elevator, pulling things out of my pockets--A wallet, a watch, some loose bills, etc.--and putting them in a bag, my haul from the rooms I just robbed.

But then, since the song is about "second chances", I have a change-of-heart--I don't want to end up back in prison, after all--so I drop the bag, and walk away (Hopefully, whoever finds the bag in the elevator will turn it in to the desk clerk and not just walk off with it).

When I described the bit to someone at work, they asked "How do we know you're an ex-con?", and this is the part that cracks me up for some reason--at one point I roll up my sleeves, and you see prison "tats" on my forearms.

For the record, I don't have any "tats", from prison or anywhere else: I'm "tat-free", and very hairy.

So if I do book this, it'll be...interesting, to see how we deal with that.

And I thought this was interesting--When I got in the room, the casting guy said "The director really likes your 'look', so I'm going to really work with you here...".

Well, all he did was tell me the same thing he'd told the group of us when we were called into the room earlier. Then we did one take, and I was out the door, so if that was taking extra care with me, I'd be interested in knowing what he did with the other guys. But nevertheless, I was pretty happy to hear that the director "Liked my look".

But with my patented ability to see the dark lining in every silver cloud, I remember thinking as I walked out, "If he liked me going in, what am I supposed to think if I don't book the gig?".

And on that note, I have to fly...

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