Movie Extras? TV extras?

Question

I want to be an extra in a TV show or a movie. How do I get started? Where can I find places that I can be filmed? Anywhere in Connecticut!!!!!! Any ideas or comments? How do I know if its fake...? I really want to do this. I just turned a teenager and I want to start this to make my own money. So please help me and find some websites that I can see and it will show me how I can get to be an extra. PLEASE HELP

Answer 1

You've gotten some good advice, but I think living in CT this may help you:

You can see if your state has a film alliance / commission / society or whatever your state calls theirs (some have more than one). Sometimes they post audition information for projects filming locally. Do a search for Connecticut Film and see what you get. Explore those sites and see if you get any info from that. I found this on my first try:
http://www.cultureandtourism.org/cct/cwp/view.asp?a=2126&q=318914&cctPNavCtr=|#45493

From that one page you can see the e-mails and websites of those that cast some projects in CT and contact them, etc. I highly suggest that you have your parent contact them though if you are under 18. Also, any of them that are casting services will likely charge a fee to register with them and for extra work that is normal unlike talent agencies who are not allowed to chrage upfront fees but take a 10% commission on the back end.

Keep looking and I'm sure you'll find more.

Good lucK!

Answer 2

Well let me tell you from personal experience as an actor it's not going to happen overnight and paid jobs are out there but you usually wont get them for a while. Check into classes around where you live, Hartford has a few I know of. As far as wanting to be an extra I live in Massachusetts and there are a couple places that send out emails when they need people or are searching for parts. BostonCasting.com and CP Casting are two great ones. Just keep doing your research and if its a scam mos likely they will ask for money up front, like agents dont get paid unless you get paid. If they want money up front for their services then don't even bother.

Answer 3

My husband got a paid extras part on the recently aired VALENTINE'S DAY .... on the abc. It was filmed a year ago and he was there all day on set on one of the coldest days of the year... and he was on screen for a total of three seconds LOL .. infact we saw our car more than we saw him. But how he got the part was I heard them calling for extra's on the ABC and contacted them and it just went from there.. but what I'd do if I were you is check the yellow pages for casting agents... some specialise in getting extras for various films and television productions. Give them a call and ask their advice and if they have any need for extras in the near future. Some extras get paid and some don't .. but it can be very interesting.

Answer 4

Call the office of the Mayor in your city and ask if there is Motion Picture and Film commission, where you can find out what's filming in the area.

Answer 5

You need to enlist the help of your parents, as if you are not 18, they need to be there with you. You need your parents support as they may have to take time off from work, etc. If they are game, they can help you to find an agent where you can sign up.

Answer 6

Anyone can be an extra in Film and Television.

Unlike actors, extras do NOT have agents who take a 10 percent commission. You simply register with extras casting companies and call in each day on their casting lines to get work. Unless you hire a "booking Service" for about $30 -$50 a month to "call-in" and get you the work. Of course these "calling or booking services" really do not "call-in" to get you the work, they simply know people at the extras casting companies and get lists of what they need, and act as "sub-casting agents". Think about it, why would the extras casting company individually call each and every person, when they can just call a "booking service" and say, "we need 120 people for a party scene". Then the "booking service" does all the work and calls each of their clients themselves! SAG is trying to regulate these companies at some point, but the fact remains that these services can get you much more work than you can on your own just calling in on the casting lines all day trying to get through the busy signals.

The Screen Actors Guild does have jurisdiction over backround actors, however, the contracts only require a small number of union extras to be hired for a given union production, and the rest of the extras are non-union. This is part of the contract that production companies sign with the union. There is a publication called "Extra Work for Brain Surgeons". It truly is the Bible of Extra work. I am NOT one to try to sell books for anyone. But I am in the know about this subject.

Central Casting is the largest extras casting company in the world. (all of the info needed to register is on the site):

http://www.centralcasting.org/LA/actors/registration.html,

followed by Bill Dance Casting. You simply register with these places, and then you work. There is a huge amount of work for non-union extras, and just a small amount of union extra work. As a matter of fact, one can work every day as a non-union extra, but if you are a SAG member, it is much harder to get union extra jobs. This is because a given TV show for example, only has to hire 10 union extras, and the rest can be non-union. If you sign up with a "booking service" or "calling service" as they like to call themselves, you can literally work every day. But the pay is not much more than minimum wage for non-union, although overtime is usually the norm as well as "wardrobe allowance" and sometimes "mileage allowance". You also can get paid extra for using your car, pet, or props in a scene. There are many SAG members secretly doing non-union extra work simply because there just is not enough union extra jobs to go around.

You must live in LA (or within driving distance) of course, get a "Thomas Guide" map book, and have a cell phone and a car. But if you do your homework, you literally can work every day, no matter your experience or looks. You can be young or old, tall or short, overweight or underweight, some one-armed dude, or whatever. There is plenty of work to go around, and Hollywood needs all types of people. You don't even need headshots or a resume, they take a digital photo when you register with all of those extras casting companies. Just stick with the legit companies. There is a nominal $25 or so fee to register. Even SAG member have to pay a "photo fee" to register.

So there it is.

Don't take bad advice. Just register with the big extras casting companies and follow the rules of working as a fim/tv extra. As I said, I am NOT out to sell that book, you can do some research and find out all you need, but be careful as there are tons of bottom-feeders scamming people who want to work in film/tv as extras.

If you are lucky, you can even become "SAG Eligible" from doing non-union extra work, but that is a whole other long story.

Here is a link to HollywoodOS (the company that publishes that book "Extra Work For Brain Surgeons").

http://hollywoodos.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=blogcategory&id=37&Itemid=80

Peace Out,

Alan

PS AFTRA (American Federation of Television and Radio Artists) has jurisdiction over Soaps and Sitcoms among other videotaped and radio broadcast productions. This is a whole different story, and anyone can walk into AFTRA and join for about $1,250

Answer 7

http://www.castingaudition.com/