If I had a pencil
for every time I have been penciled for a job and not got it, I’d now have an
awful lot of pencils. At the very least, I’d have break into a new pencil case.
Admittedly, I
just used the word pencil far too many times (there I go again). Perhaps
this will help illustrate my point; the pencil-ratio of this blog and the
pencil-ratio after castings pretty much match up 1:1.
(For those who
don’t know, being penciled for a job means you’re down to the last few – and
they'd like you to remain available for the shoot dates, just in
case.)
The most recent occasion was particularly frustrating. The company had got as far as asking my
availability for a wardrobe fitting and checking that my passport was
up-to-date for the shoot, then called again the following day to say I hadn’t
got it.
To be fair, I was
surprised I’d been in the running for the job; I didn’t think I did very well at the original casting (which I've already covered here). It’s a shame, though; being penciled brought it back into my mind again – and the prospect of the money
couldn’t have been better timed in the lead-up to Christmas.
At least things
are heading in the right direction. If I never heard back, I’d assume I was
doing something wrong. That said, it’s also possible that I’m not doing something
right, to ease my transition from
pencil to ink.
Perhaps it will
end up like that old cliché of waiting for a bus: eventually, a load of jobs
will come along at once.
Here’s hoping...