Vids

Music Videos

     The best thing about music videos, for a non-union extra, like me, was knowing I would make at least 100 dollars. In 1994, non-union extras got paid, $40 for 8. We even made a joke about it. Whenever some smartass movie extra, who thought he, or she, was a star, spouted, “What’s my motivation?,” someone in our group would holler back, “$40 for 8, you a*****e!” Sometimes we said it, on purpose. We also liked to say, “All under 4, and all over 10, is a good day.” If you were booked, you were guaranteed 40 bucks. Period. Shortest day, non-union was about an hour. All over 10 usually meant you were getting double time, or 10 bucks per hour. On every single music video, I worked, my base was $85 for 8, or higher. Music videos, are not governed by SAG, or AFTRA. They are governed by the music industry.

     My calling service, booked me on an audition. I normally did not like auditions, because they do not pay anything. If I went to a set, or a studio, I wanted to get paid. I was not trying to become a star, so no freebies, none of the time, unless it was my idea. Sound selfish? Good! The calling service said they would make it up to me, if I did not get picked, so I went to the audition. I was told to dress like a used-car salesman. There were 4 other guys there, and production picked me. Made 200 dollars. Once again, my wardrobe did the trick. Production told me they really liked, the clothes, I was wearing.

     Another video, had us dancing, via a dance choreographer, assigned to us, by production. The cut, that I have, does not feature our dancing, but we are clearly visible, in the video. There are 3 of us. We are “redneck, white trash types,” sitting in  the front yard, on lawn chairs. Suddenly, we all jump up, and grab our crotch, at the same time. That image, of us, ended up in a national magazine. My only famous photo.

     I stood in, for a drummer, on a music video. Sat behind the drum set, while production lit, the scene. I was not booked, as a stand-in, but I did it anyway. No “bump” in pay either, but I did it anyway. I needed the experience, and when I get home, this shoot goes, on the resume. We were at one of my favorite studios. It was a small call. Only 5 extras. We all had the same calling service, so we knew each other. One of our friends, ended up, being featured. We were all very happy, for her. 

     I also worked on sets, that featured famous musical performers. We did a beer commercial, with a band that played, “Grunge” music. Nothing against grunge, but after 11 hours, I got tired, of listening, to the same song, all day. Two waitresses were supposed to, “Surf the Crowd” at a rock concert, in order to deliver  beers, to their customers. Sounds ok, but some of the extras were touching parts, of the body, that did not need, to be touched, in order to pass a girl, lying flat, on her back, over your head. This caused a slowdown, because the girl became angry, and so did the director. He told us that he did not want to get an R rating, for this commercial. There was about 200 of us, and the girl never surfed anywhere near, where I was standing, so I did not need to touch her, at all. I found it difficult to feel very sorry for her. I’m sure she was well compensated, for any discomfort, she may have endured. Otherwise, we might never have finished the commercial, and we did finish the commercial.

     The best one was a beer commercial, that was supposed to be a rock & roll festival, along the lines of “Woodstock,” in 1969. They had a live band impersonating another, more famous, live band. If not for the girl, who dared to bare her breasts, for all of us to see, the shoot might have really sucked. Production justified this topless behavior, by saying they were shooting a European version, of the commercial. Yeah, right. You wanted to see her breasts too. Just like the rest of us. She was well compensated too. This was a 2-day shoot, and getting more than one day, on the same commercial, or music video, was not easy.