Wednesday, May 16, 2007

Million Dollar Baby

Today, at the tender age of nearly fifteen months, Sam became a card carrying member of the screen actors guild. Back in November, I sent some snapshots of him to a few local talent agencies, just for kicks. Well, I never heard much of anything from any of the places until Monday afternoon.

There was a very last minute audition call for kids ages 12-18 months to appear in a national cell phone commercial. Since it was right around the corner from our house, we (I) decided it would be a good way to kill some time. Sam and I showed up, and honestly I thought nothing would come of it. The people in charge wanted Sam to look into a video camera, wave and say 'dada' on command. Well, he had about twenty seconds to perform, and all he managed to do was try and grab the (very expensive) lens.

So you can imagine my surprise when the phone rang last night with a request that Sam make an appearance in said commercial. All we needed to do was show up at the shoot location at 11am with three or four different outfits that would be appropriate for a birthday party. Despite getting lost, which made us a teeny bit late, everything went very well. Sam was only mildly annoying during the hour and a half long wait, but once they turned the lights on him and said 'action' he was an angel! The other kid, who was supposedly a veteran, wouldn't stay in his little birthday party chair, and kept crying during the song. Sam sat, smiled, played with the noisemakers on the table and clapped when appropriate. He didn't even try to get his hands on the very lovely, and very real, cake.

At the end of the day, he probably won't get paid very much for this gig. Since he's wee, he had no lines and is therefore considered an extra. However, the agency said that since this is a national spot, it will be a big help in getting him more work in the future. I'm not looking to make my kid a big star or anything, but we figure that a little extra money in his college fund for something he very likely won't remember is a fair trade. And besides, I can use his talent reel to embarrass him in front of his prom date, right?

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7 comments:

super des said...

That is hilarious. You will have to get a copy and youtube-it so I can see it, since I avoid tv commercials at all costs.

Congrats to Sammy, and we won't let you become a stage mother.

:D

Becky said...

congrats to Sammy! You will have to tell me when it airs so I can watch the commerical! We won't let you become a stage mother! He enjoyed it so that is all that matters!!

Lora said...

So awesome! I'll keep my eyes open for his big break!

susan said...

Yay, Sammy! We'll be watching for you on the big screen!

Anonymous said...

How cute! :)

I'll be watching every cell phone commercial VERY closely from now on!

Amy Jo said...

I'll let ya'll know when it's going to be on. I can't wait!

Rinny said...

This is so neat! Yep, I said neat.
It is the perfect way for Sam to contribute to his college fund. Congrats on your star.