Okay, so lately, I've had a pretty good streak. I booked two out of the three auditions I went on last Tues. which is great! Although, as I've said before, its never perfect. One of the jobs I booked is a non-union, jewelry store commercial. The budget is extremely low, so I don't get paid very much at all and I think its gonna be an embarrassing spot. However, I'm happy to book anything at all lately, as we're super broke.
I got a call from the make-up artist for the shoot letting me know that there is no wardrobe supervisor (which means there is no wardrobe at all) but that she had been asked to call all the actors and let them know what clothes to bring for the shoot. Although I think its weird, I have learned to expect that I'll be asked to bring some options for wardrobe. They don't usually end up using your clothes, but as a back up, they will ask you to bring whatever you have. On occasion, the production is so low budget, that they rely entirely on the actors to provide wardrobe. I think this is ridiculous! When I audition for a job, I'm looking to be hired for my talent not for my clothes. How do they know I have good taste? What if all my clothes were too small for me and my cellulite hung out the back of my shorts? What if all of my shirts were made of mesh? What if I only owned Hammer Pants? What if all my shoes were those clear, plastic, platform, stripper shoes? If you were producing a commercial, would you put the aesthetic appeal of the entire shoot in the hands of an actress? I would not!!!!
The make-up artist told me that I needed to bring "a variety of khaki shorts, baby tees, and sandals"... Um I don't have any khaki shorts, let alone a variety of them. Baby tees went out of style shortly after the release of the movie "Clueless" on VHS, and in terms of sandals, well I'm just not Payless. I don't have an inventory for you to sift through! When I told her I didn't have any khakis, she promptly told me I would need to run out and buy some!!!! Whhhhhhaaaaaa? Oh hell no! I let her know that I was not in the financial position to buy any clothes right now, to which she replied, "well you could buy them for the shoot and then just return them after." Maybe I'm a total square, but I think what she said was totally corrupt. Not only is it messed to abuse some random Target's return policy, but its even more messed up to pressure an employee to do this for the sake of your super budge commercial! How would you feel if you found out, that the shirt you'd just paid full price for, was actually worn by some nervous sweaty actress for eight hours (or more) then put back on the rack, unwashed for you to buy? Would that feel good? I'm telling you people, the film and tv industry thinks that that is what Target is for!!!! Anyway, I stood my ground and told her, I was happy to bring what I already own and hopefully that would be good enough. If khakis are that important, they can go out and buy them themselves. I wonder what would have happened if I'd said I would go out and buy the khakis and that I would bill them for my hours, mileage and reimbursement for the shorts... hum, must try that next time.
I've decided to become a crusader!!! Standing up for the rights of stupid actors everywhere! More to come!!!
