Central Casting Registration

GAH. I'm so far behind in life. Here I go abouts trying to remedy this situation.

Casting Central is the worlds (aka NY and LA's) premiere venue for supplying extras. All those bar scenes, crowd scenes, town scenes are filled primarily by this agency specializing in background actors. I'd heard about this place before and with my unemployed self, this seemed like a great opportunity to get on sets and make some nickles and dimes on the side. I did my research thing and figured out from reading the website that all an interested candidate needs is $25, some legal documents and 2 valid forms of ID to register. It's not clear how you go about getting work, but I figured they'd let me know when I arrived.

Here's the boring stuff. There are two types of registration - Union and Non-Union. Make sure you show up to the right one. They will turn you away and make you come back just to wait in the same ridiculous line. (I'm not speaking from experience, but I did overhear a conversation regarding this issue.)

Union Registration
Tuesdays & Thursdays
10:30am to 11:30am

Non-Union Registration
Mondays, Wednesdays & Fridays
10:30am to 11:30am

What to Bring

1. Registration Sheet
2. W-4
3. I-9
4. Harassment Policy
5. 2 Valid forms of ID (Passport, Social Security Card, Green Card, etc)
6. $25
   

All of this information is detailed on their site. The forms are up for download as PDF's under the registration section. Don't worry too much if you forget one - they pass out packets during the actual registration.

With all that boring paper work out of the way, I, clearly being non-union, planned my Monday accordingly to arrive at 10:30am. When I got there, I was surprised to see the front room FILLED with people. No one told me how...popular this place was. When I showed up at 10:27am, there were easily 40 people standing around. The crowd was fairly diverse; some people were there because they thought it'd be cool to be in a movie, others were doctors and lawyers secretly hoping to have their big break, the tan blondes were numerous along with a wide assortment of other quirky faces and types.

There was a long table in the middle of the room with people filling out the forms. Everyone else stood or sat on the perimeter waiting for things to get started. After a few minutes of shifting my weight around a woman walked to the front and started explaining the process. "Make sure you've filled out all the forms...make sure your identification hasn't expired...don't fill in this part...don't write on that half...don't guess your sizes...form two lines..." Basically for the next hour I stood in a long line and waited. I was behind a dentist who's wife was busy making "connections". The dentist had this portfolio of 20 different (or at least 7) headshots of himself dressed up as an assortment of characters.

Now, for a moment of digression.

It sort of brought things into perspective for me, looking at all the other faces in the room. The experience reaffirmed the notion that everyone in LA wants to find fame and fortune. It made me a bit queasy. Warning: Inserting mild rant of insecurities...

Actors always get a bad rep. It's probably because the whole concept of acting is based on the idea that a person is attempting to convince you that there is truth in a lie. Acting is, "living truthfully under imaginary circumstances," as Meisner once said. Yes, but it's so easy to say that great actors are simply great liars - something which society warns us against. Actors are fakes. It can be so narcissistic. It can be so selfish. And when I look at these amateurs, I fear that I'm looking into a mirror, that some how I'm searching for the same things they are. I hope I'm not. I still haven't figured out what draws me so deeply to the world of make believe, but I hope it's not for the selfish reason of getting noticed. This uncertainty makes me uncomfortable.

But back to the line. At 11:30 they pull all the applications, registration is closed. The room is still packed with people, all of whom will be able to sign up, but any others wandering in will have to come back another day. I eventually get my turn to hand papers over to one of the two individuals registering people. The nice old man checks my documents, I give him my drivers license and passport, he writes some stuff down and I'm off to the next line.

This line is much shorter, we're waiting to get our picture taken. When my turn comes round, I hand my $25 to the cashier lady, stand in front of the white scrim and look onwards at the digital camera. The misses taking the picture tells me to move my hair and there is a flash. It's not a bad picture, not great, but acceptable. She asks if I want to smile. I HATE smiling. I haven't figured out the art of making them look genuine. We take another picture anyways. I look at the result and cringe. We pick the first one.

There's a box on the counter full of packets. They have all the magical information regarding calling in, work, regulations, and etiquette. I take one and leave. It's 12:30pm by now. I'm exhausted. Waiting in line in grueling work.

I find the Barnes & Noble in Burbank, plop myself down and begin reading. To get work you must call a hotline. There are several numbers; one for non-union females, one for non-union males, one for union females and one for union males. You call up this number and listen to pre-recorded messages that inform you of shows, dates and the types of people they're looking for. Sometimes the messages are incredibly specific - pale Caucasian, late 20's, female with a bald head and blue eyes, size 4 - but sometime they're vague - 20's to 30's, club goer. The messages constantly change throughout the day. They claim that the best time for calling is between 2pm and 8pm on weekdays. It's a hit or miss situation, you can't really predict when a new message will be recorded.

Most of the calls will be for the next day. Sometimes you'll get a stray, "This is for next week," or, "We're just taking submissions right now," but most of the work will be for the following business day. Don't bother calling in if you're not able to work the following day. Also, plan for a working day to be 8 hours. If you've got any other appointments or events during the day, cancel them, reschedule, or don't call. Compensation for non-union extras is $8/hr.

Along with the show, the date and people types, they'll give another number. If you think your right for the role, you call the second number and hope to get through in time. The lines are ALWAYS busy. You will be calling this second number for at least 5 minutes before you get through, but often it will be more like 15 minutes. If it's more than 20 minutes, check the first hotline again, the message may or may not have been taken down in that amount of time. If you get through, a person will ask for the first 5 digits of your social security number and your name. The two responses are either, "Yes, I can use you," or "No".

It's a game of luck. You've got to call in at the right time and then be able to get through the second switch board. There are calling services that one can pay for which will call the hotline for you and try to get you a part. Extras Management came around during registration and passed out flyer's of their call-in service which costs about $2.50/day.

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A few days later...

It's hard work being an extra. I ended up checking the first hotline probably 15 times a day. Once at 9, next at 10:30, 11:30, 12, 12:30, etc. I would check it every half hour or so. You can skip the messages you've already heard which is good, but man, getting through to the second line is nearly impossible. In two days, I managed to get to three human voices. I got turned away all three times. They either had filled their quota or I wasn't right for the part. It's tough.

I also want to make mention of the frequency of parts. Being a standard brown haired, blue eyed, size 8, early 20's gal, there are between 2 and 3 messages for this type a day. Down side to being a typical extra is that a butt load of people are competing for the same spots. This means BUSY LINES. If you're a more specific type - a bald headed, tattooed female - you're not going to be needed as often, but you won't be competing with a giant pool of ladies who look just like you (aka increasing your odds of getting the role).

I haven't called in a week or so because I've been busy trying to find a steadier form of income. The good news is that my information will be good for another 2 years. I can still call in whenever I want. Honestly folks, I didn't think it was going to be quite so brutal, but being an extra takes dedication and lots of phone minutes. Be prepared.