As I prepare for the production of my own music video, I recall casting for a show written and directed by my friend, Lance Alan, at the Zeitgeist in Detroit. What a friggin nightmare. Truly, the event was nothing like Im experiencing now, but finding just the right non-union talent couldnt have been more frustrating. Surprisingly, very few actors showed up. With all of the unemployed actors around, I find it odd that so few are actually looking. This juicy role couldnt have been better to highlight someone.
Now, I have another juicy role in my music video, Nevermind Me, which will feature me and one other actor in a passionate, tormented love affair. Who WOULDNT want that? Well, we found a dark, good looking guy who was too cool for school and I hoped wed nailed it except for one thing. He couldnt really Tango and we needed a TANGO. We tried working with him and me for that matter. After one meeting to choreograph the dance, the prospect of shooting that weekend vanished. We then met two more times, still with not much grace and power. In fact, wed lost footage of the only piece of choreography that I couldnt remember so I had to create something new during one rehearsal.
Sadly, we pushed the dates back again in order to ensure all of our necessary players were there. The cinematographer and makeup artist were in. Only one key player was out. My actor. The time had come to replace my luscious leading man. Now it was time to find a dancer. Apparently, my director usually gets work that comes to him from groups already assembled so he hadnt pursued a dancer through the normal channels. Im not sure how he searched, actually. This time, I decided to ask our friend, Danish, whod been helping out with certain steps. He seemed like a logical connection to dancers. We also asked my directors partner who values a connection so there was a second obvious choice, Personally, I thought wed have more success if we tried the casting bulletins.
Unfortunately, after buying a very large and mostly unusable wardrobe, I didnt have the dough to advertise so I used the only one that was free www.mandy.com . You get one free posting a month. I didnt pay for priority placement so I dont really know what my viewer ration may have been, but I received submissions from anything but a leading man type. Several didnt even demonstrate dance skills!
Heres how the ad read
Director: Joe Lam. Need brooding, moody tango dancer to play drug addicted, romantic lead of singer. Done film noir style. Must be comfortable with implied nudity, simulated drug use, kissing scenes. You will be the only actor other than the singer so this is a GREAT chance to be seen! There is pay for each day and food on rehearsal dates.
Ballroom experience. Prefer dark and handsome with a past in his eyes. Should be trim and roughly between 58 and 511.
The only submission I received with ballroom experience was 61 with a beard to his chest. Among my other favorites were a 56 Chinese guy and an All-American quarterback type, neither of whom listed any dance experience. Im mortified and deeply concerned that when I send over my headshot and resume that some CD is thinking, Is this girl insane? She clearly cant read!
Obviously, my videos been pushed back. Were expecting to shoot in September. The producers most definitely better put out a call on the professional sites that I receive my audition notices from or Im going to end up dancing with Kermit the Frog. And not the real muppet, but an over-the-counter, unanimated stuffed version of him.
Article source: http://www.amyarena.com/node/63
