Wonder About Getting Cast and Working on a Film - Watch This Video - Part 1

Hey, have you ever wondered what is it really like to get cast and actually work on a feature film? Well, when you watch this video, I'm going to be sharing with you the behind the scenes, the realities of what it's really like to audition, get the part, what takes place prior to actually walking onto the set. And then in the second part video, You're going to learn exactly what took place during the filming and if anything happens afterwards. So let's get started. Hey, I'm Aaron Marcus, and welcome to my Acting and Modeling Quick Tips channel. This is where I teach people who are just getting started in the industry and also help those who've been working for a while but want to take their career to the next level. Hey, if you haven't done this yet, don't forget to click the subscribe button and the bell, the notification button, which is really important, so that way every time I upload a new video, you will be notified. And if you like the video, please give it a thumbs up. That's helpful to me. So for this particular project, I auditioned for this feature film probably about 7 weeks ago. And let me just sidestep a little bit here and let you know Getting the audition is winning. Getting the audition is really hard because so many people are being submitted for every single role. And typically there aren't a tremendous amount of people— and once again, there are no specific numbers, but I've spoken with enough casting directors and I've heard there could be hundreds and hundreds of people submitting headshots and resumes. Sometimes maybe 30 people. And once again, these are not specific numbers because it will change from project to project and role to role, but it's somewhere in that range. And then, you know, then, you know, there's one person who gets booked out of those 30 auditions. And so that's why every time I go into an audition— and this is, look, this is just my philosophy, everybody has their own way of doing things— some people When they go into an audition, they like to see themselves getting an Academy Award and they are making a speech. Some people, you know, just go in with this positive attitude and know that they're going to book it. Look, I don't use any of that stuff because I truly don't believe I'm going to book any job that I audition for. And I'm not a negative guy. I just know the realities. And I've been doing this for over 36 years. And I understand that It's not like the Olympics. It's not who gives the best performance who books the job. Now you've got to be good, you know, you've got to give an interesting read, but it's not a matter of who is best. It's a matter of, once again, assuming that you gave a really good audition, but then it comes down to who fits the role the best. Do you look too much like the other principal actors or the star? Are you too tall? Are you too short? Are you in too good a shape or too bad? out of shape. Who knows? There are 10 million reasons why you get booked and don't get booked. And that's why my goal for every audition is to enjoy it. I want to spend— you know, it's a Wednesday afternoon, I get a chance to play for 3 minutes. That, that is what I go for, and that is my number one goal. So I get this audition for a feature film, and this was also very interesting, and this happens all the time. The The agent who submitted me told me that there were a number, you know, I think like about 8 or 9 different roles that were being cast, and they had everybody read for one particular role, and then they would decide who they think would be best for, you know, the other roles. And that's exactly what happened to me. I did not get booked for the role that I read for, but I did get cast for another role. So It took a while because once again the casting director will submit the auditions and the casting director certainly can make choices but ultimately it's going to be the director on a feature film and then certainly studios have to go ahead and agree with it. Most of the time they do if it's the director's first choice. Sometimes there might be some pushback. So that took a little bit of time, and I didn't find out for weeks that I actually got booked. Then I got booked for a very specific date, and I'm getting prepared. The other thing too was it's a small role. And, you know, I say a small role, and I know people say there is no such thing as a small— it's a small role, you know, it really is. I'm not saying it's not important, but it's a small role. And because it was small, they wanted to cast it locally. Now, I live about, oh, maybe about 5 hours of driving, not including any stops, from the location of where they're shooting. It's another state, so it's pretty far away. And they said they were not going to pay for mileage, which Sometimes they do, you know, but look, my philosophy is always ask. As a matter of fact, I'll leave a link below. You can watch a video that I created about negotiating for yourself, which will be really helpful to you. Now, I have an agent for this one, but the agent made it really clear. Look, they want to hire somebody under a local contract, which means you're not going to get mileage. I get it. He said, do you want to take it? And Yeah, of course. I'll be working with a famous actor, so I absolutely— I want to do it. And I don't really turn that many jobs down. I have turned some things down, but not that many. And look, this is a feature film. You never know what connections you might make. I'm assuming the director will like what I do, and why wouldn't the director think of me for, you know, something else in the future? So they changed the date on me. And, and it was, it was okay. I was still available for the second day. And then it was like a handful of days before the, uh, the shoot date, and they changed it again. And, um, and then I had to come in for, uh, COVID testing and for wardrobe. And they were very, very nice about this. They knew I was traveling a long distance, so They said, I'll tell you what, we are going to bring you in on a Monday morning. You will get tested, you'll go to wardrobe, and you're going to work on Wednesday. And so that's exactly what I did. I got up at 4 in the morning, drove, did the testing, everything was fine, went to wardrobe, everything was great. I was off on Tuesday, and Tuesday morning I got an email from the— The casting director. Second second. So you've got the director, you've got the first AD, first assistant director, then you've got a second AD, and then there's a second second. But actually, I take it back, this was the second AD. Not all projects have a second second, but this one, it was the second AD. And she sent me an email and she said, look, things have been a little bit crazy. We need to push my scene over to Thursday. Can you stay an extra day? And look, you know, I wasn't crazy about doing it. You know, there are lots of things I, I could also be doing if I were back at home. I've been away for a while, but I said sure. And, and they do not— they do not have to pay me for any of these other days. If they canceled me after, I believe, the SAG rule is if it's after 12 PM, you know, if it's the next day shoot, then they would have to pay me. This one they didn't have to. So anyhow, so now it's Wednesday, I'm shooting tomorrow, and, you know, I'm preparing, I'm ready to do whatever needs to be done. But I think one of the important things to keep in mind is things can be really fluid. And look, you can be angry, you can be bitter about Well, you know, they're changing all this stuff. It's not right. It's not— Hey, look, there are a lot of moving parts on a feature film. Watch the credits at the end of a movie and you will see the hundreds of people who are involved. So things do happen. And so anyhow, I had a very lovely day today. Got a chance to travel around Pittsburgh. A little bit. Actually, I just went out running a little bit by the river. Did that yesterday as well. And the weather was absolutely beautiful. And so tomorrow I've got an early call time and I can't wait to get in there. I have to get tested again. Then I will go to my trailer. I will put on my wardrobe because— once again, I'm not going to give out details, but there is a stunt involved. with what I'm going to be doing. I'm not a stunt performer, but I still will be doing something. They will have a stunt double for me. So I'm sure that we're going to be spending time with the stunt coordinator just to go over everything and to make sure everything is, is working perfectly and that I'm comfortable with everything that's going to take place. And then I'll head home on, on Friday. So anyhow, I just wanted to share that introduction with you of, you know, that can be the reality of working on a project. There are lots of unknowns. It is hard to book anything in this industry. And, but look, I've been very, very fortunate living in a small market and still doing almost 1,300 jobs. So anyhow, Once again, if you, if you haven't done this yet, don't forget to subscribe, click the notification button, and like the video. If you click the like button, if you actually like it. And, and by the way, if, if you had an interesting experience on a set, whether it was TV, film, uh, commercial, doesn't make any difference, and you can share some behind the scenes with everybody as to some things that took place that would be of interest, please share it in the comments. That's why we have the channel here. It's to have actors helping each other so we can learn from each other. Okay, I'm Aaron Marcus, and I can't wait to talk with you again soon. And as soon as I can, I will get the video part 2 up for you. See ya.