Stripper Auditions
Day one down.
I woke up on the couch around 9 on Thursday. The cot that Tucker had setup for me upstairs looked a little harsh and the couch seemed rather inviting in comparison. Regardless, I didn’t get much sleep- I repeatedly dreamt about my camera breaking. However, once awake, I shook off my little nightmare and became quite productive. My dual screen editing system is now up and running. Soon, I’ll begin posting behind the scenes videos online. Also, I’ll be linking to Flickr and Youtube. Perhaps, most importantly, I’ve tasted the deliciousness of a Chick-Fil-A breakfast sandwich- highly recommended.
The majority of my time today was spent taking still photographs of our 6 hour casting session. We (and by we I mean Nils, Tucker, Ian and myself) departed for IHTSBIH headquarters around 1. The headquarters are about 10 minutes away from our house and basically consist of one half of an office building devoted to everything “Beer in Hell” related. Pretty much everyone important (“above the line”) has an office here. Of particular geek note today I met IHTSBIH producer Sean McKittrick, who for all those film nerds out there, also produced “Donnie Darko.” Fucking sweet. Nice guy too.
I saw over 40 people read for various speaking roles, most of which I can’t talk about. However, there is one role that I can discuss. Today, I watched as numerous scantily clad women, rounded up from local strip clubs, attempt to string together sentences in order to win the coveted roles of “Stripper 1” and “Stripper 2.” Guess how many we cast in speaking roles? Good guess. A few get to be extras, but to be quite fair- JESUS CHRIST. I mean, it’s expected that strippers might not be the greatest conversationalists in the world, but even so- I’m not kidding when I say that one or two legitimately could barely read. At this point I’m sure you’re going- Well dumbass, strippers aren’t paid to read, they are paid to be hot. Oh dear reader, not in Shreeveport, These chicks were not HOT, not pretty, not much of anything. I’m not even talking L.A. standards, but just general standards- wowie wow. I felt guilty watching them talk. I could almost feel their father’s absence.
On another note completely different note, I also took stills of another important aspect of casting- an office space I’ll call the “war room.” In this room are hundreds upon hundreds of headshots. Most are scattered across the main desk of the room and on chairs. A select few are posted to the wall. These wall shots indicate that the producers have decided upon them for a role in the film. The sheer number of people who have come into read for parts vs. the 25 or so that are on wall is staggering. Acting is such an unrelentingly hard life, it’s increasingly difficult for me to recommend it to anyone. Out of the forty or fifty actors and actresses I saw today, I can only saw with real certainty that ten or eleven had any real talent… on any level. If you really want this life, the travel, the auditions, the rejections, you must do it for the right reasons.
You must want to improve your craft. Believe in characters and stories. Doing it for fame or to be the next paparazzi target will only bring you constant rejection. I’m young in this industry, but one thing is for certain- you must bring passion to your work.
Or you’ll be doomed to a life of discarded headshots.
Can't post any of my production photos yet... but here's a few shots of life in Shreveport.
Editing Set Up
Ever growing alcohol table in kitchen
Toy table in living room
I woke up on the couch around 9 on Thursday. The cot that Tucker had setup for me upstairs looked a little harsh and the couch seemed rather inviting in comparison. Regardless, I didn’t get much sleep- I repeatedly dreamt about my camera breaking. However, once awake, I shook off my little nightmare and became quite productive. My dual screen editing system is now up and running. Soon, I’ll begin posting behind the scenes videos online. Also, I’ll be linking to Flickr and Youtube. Perhaps, most importantly, I’ve tasted the deliciousness of a Chick-Fil-A breakfast sandwich- highly recommended.
The majority of my time today was spent taking still photographs of our 6 hour casting session. We (and by we I mean Nils, Tucker, Ian and myself) departed for IHTSBIH headquarters around 1. The headquarters are about 10 minutes away from our house and basically consist of one half of an office building devoted to everything “Beer in Hell” related. Pretty much everyone important (“above the line”) has an office here. Of particular geek note today I met IHTSBIH producer Sean McKittrick, who for all those film nerds out there, also produced “Donnie Darko.” Fucking sweet. Nice guy too.
I saw over 40 people read for various speaking roles, most of which I can’t talk about. However, there is one role that I can discuss. Today, I watched as numerous scantily clad women, rounded up from local strip clubs, attempt to string together sentences in order to win the coveted roles of “Stripper 1” and “Stripper 2.” Guess how many we cast in speaking roles? Good guess. A few get to be extras, but to be quite fair- JESUS CHRIST. I mean, it’s expected that strippers might not be the greatest conversationalists in the world, but even so- I’m not kidding when I say that one or two legitimately could barely read. At this point I’m sure you’re going- Well dumbass, strippers aren’t paid to read, they are paid to be hot. Oh dear reader, not in Shreeveport, These chicks were not HOT, not pretty, not much of anything. I’m not even talking L.A. standards, but just general standards- wowie wow. I felt guilty watching them talk. I could almost feel their father’s absence.
On another note completely different note, I also took stills of another important aspect of casting- an office space I’ll call the “war room.” In this room are hundreds upon hundreds of headshots. Most are scattered across the main desk of the room and on chairs. A select few are posted to the wall. These wall shots indicate that the producers have decided upon them for a role in the film. The sheer number of people who have come into read for parts vs. the 25 or so that are on wall is staggering. Acting is such an unrelentingly hard life, it’s increasingly difficult for me to recommend it to anyone. Out of the forty or fifty actors and actresses I saw today, I can only saw with real certainty that ten or eleven had any real talent… on any level. If you really want this life, the travel, the auditions, the rejections, you must do it for the right reasons.
You must want to improve your craft. Believe in characters and stories. Doing it for fame or to be the next paparazzi target will only bring you constant rejection. I’m young in this industry, but one thing is for certain- you must bring passion to your work.
Or you’ll be doomed to a life of discarded headshots.
Can't post any of my production photos yet... but here's a few shots of life in Shreveport.
Editing Set Up
Ever growing alcohol table in kitchen
Toy table in living room
posted by greg at 12:26 PM
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