Hi Everyone,
Since there is nepotism in every industry, I am going to guess nepotism in Hollywood North works the same way. This is what I mean.
Okay for anyone who hasn’t guessed I am writing this blog about nepotism because I am pretty sure that the three people who hinted that I was getting booked on set was due to my knowing the Background Casting Director. One of the three people asked me some very pointed questions. My response to those enquiring minds was the same. It was, “If I have ever met (name of Background Casting Director) I don’t know about it. I have been cast by them for over seven years that I know of, but I have been an Extra for ten so who knows. I think I am getting cast because I have big hair and this is a big hair production.” I should have added that I am also slim and the majority of people on that production were slim. Yet they should have known that as they were looking at me and everyone else who was booked to work on that period production, which would include themselves.
For the record, I was a bit pissed off for a couple of reasons. The first being that people thought that the only way I could get booked on set was because I knew someone. Really? I have worked in film far longer than a lot people combined. Not only that, I am constantly reading about film and have been for over 6 years. Which of course is far more than the majority of Extras who not only don’t pay attention to the job they are getting paid to do, they also don’t learn about film, the industry that pays them. The second reason was that these Background, Extras, believed that the Background Casting Director would comprimise her position, reputation to hire me over someone else because she knows me? Really? She does not know me but she does know how I move, behave on camera. Part of her job is review the dailies. You know “stuff” that was filmed that day.
If I was late for my call time, caused a problem on set or in Holding, gave wardrobe or makeup a hard time, didn’t do my job, or worse, told the Assistant Director how to do their job, or even worse than that, told the Director how to do their job, Background Casting would know and I may not get called back for any future work. And I would deserve that. After all, I decide how I am going to conduct myself, on and off set, before and after I am on the clock.
With that said, I know that there is nepotism in Hollywood North. It all depends on the production though. You see, one day way back in either 2011 or 2012, I, along with about 250 plus other Extras, was booked to work on a direct adaptation of a novel. (Great book by the way.) It was one of those 3-4 day-long scenes where they needed 18-80 year-olds of any ethnicity to be green screened. Anyway, as I was signing in on the first day, I noticed the person beside me. I knew her yet couldn’t place her so I asked, “Where do I know you from?” It turned out we worked beside each other for a couple of months when we worked for different divisons of the same company. (We worked in a very fluid industry. People moved around all the time.) As soon as I could place her I remembered that she quit, stopped by my work a few months after that and told me she was hired by a Toronto airline. Her father was happy she had a normal job and she looked happy too. Surprised I asked her what she was doing working Background. That was when she told me that her family has known the Background Casting Director for years. She then pointed to her mother who was also booked to work that day. Does that mean everyone who knows the Background Casting Director gets work? I am going to say only if you meet the requirements and aren’t what I call “a problem child”. You know, someone who causes problems because they are a problem!
Before I finish today’s blog, I want to add that almost all of the Background Casting Directors in Hollywood North (Toronto) have been booking me for years. If I haven’t been the “problem child” before, I am not going to start now. Just saying.
Thank you for reading, A. Rebel’s Rant! ;D
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