February 14, 2009

The casting (without the couch...)

I went for the first "casting" today, purely out of curiosity. This talent agent had been flagging down people on the bridge just outside of IFC, and this was the second time that she flagged me down and asked for my number. With the encouragement of a friend, I decided to go see what this is all about.

The funny thing is that I ran into my friend Roger at the office of the talent agency. The agent - whose mother is originally Taiwanese - was surprised that she ended up grabbing two Taiwanese who are actually friends. Roger also decided to give it a shot at the behest of a friend...

After a quick interview during which the agent jotted down some basic info about me, we went into a small room for the casting session. No, there was no space in the room for a couch; and yes, the room had glass walls so people can see very clearly what's going on inside. I stood in front of a video cam set up on a tripod, and proceeded to introduce myself. I was asked to act out a few basic emotions, and sang a few lines of a pop song to demonstrate my "talent".

So...am I gonna get any work as a "talent"? Dunno. The agent told me that there is a certain air/character about me that she liked. But then again she probably says that to everyone who comes through the door. We discussed various types of print and TV campaigns that might be suitable for me, and I agreed to give this a try if some of her clients found me interesting. No, they don't do any work for the pornographic industry (damn!!) or anything illegal.

Let's see what comes out of this, and no, I'm not gonna lose any sleep if no one thinks I'm worthy enough to be a "talent."

3 comments:

  1. This is too funny! You have to let me know if you ended up in any TV ad and I'll organize a party and tape the first run.

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  2. nice to see you there too. Roger

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  3. Oh, we can say we knew you before you were famous!

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