I’m starting to
wonder if being pencilled for a commercial actually means anything.
When you're pencilled, the production company want you to keep the shooting dates free in your diary; in other words, you’re down to the last few. It’s a step up from the alternative, which is not hearing anything, and assuming – but not knowing for sure – that you’re out of the running. I’ve been fortunate enough to get to this point a fair few times in the last couple of years, but have been unlucky enough to not get any further.
In some senses, it’s a boost in confidence: I must be doing something right. Then again, maybe I’m not getting it quite right enough. I'm aware that's a stupid thing to say, knowing how fickle the world of commercial casting is. A lot of it is down to how you look – but it’s frustrating to get close so many times, without getting the money in the bank.
The worst thing is you often don’t hear anything else after being pencilled. The filming dates get closer and closer with no further word. You set an assumed deadline in your head: the day you’d expect them to have made their mind up. That date passes, but you still keep checking your phone, while pretending that you’re not, until the shooting day comes and you know for certain that you haven’t got it, by which time you’re bald as a coot.
Actually, it could be worse. At least I’m halfway there. The law of averages suggests a job will come soon – and the money is often good enough to at least partially make up for the time without, though this doesn’t help in the short term.
When I first starting to go up for adverts, ten years ago, being pencilled meant something; in most instances I either got the job, or was kept in the loop when I didn’t. So what’s changed? Maybe it’s me. Perhaps in the last decade I’ve become shit.
When you're pencilled, the production company want you to keep the shooting dates free in your diary; in other words, you’re down to the last few. It’s a step up from the alternative, which is not hearing anything, and assuming – but not knowing for sure – that you’re out of the running. I’ve been fortunate enough to get to this point a fair few times in the last couple of years, but have been unlucky enough to not get any further.
In some senses, it’s a boost in confidence: I must be doing something right. Then again, maybe I’m not getting it quite right enough. I'm aware that's a stupid thing to say, knowing how fickle the world of commercial casting is. A lot of it is down to how you look – but it’s frustrating to get close so many times, without getting the money in the bank.
The worst thing is you often don’t hear anything else after being pencilled. The filming dates get closer and closer with no further word. You set an assumed deadline in your head: the day you’d expect them to have made their mind up. That date passes, but you still keep checking your phone, while pretending that you’re not, until the shooting day comes and you know for certain that you haven’t got it, by which time you’re bald as a coot.
Actually, it could be worse. At least I’m halfway there. The law of averages suggests a job will come soon – and the money is often good enough to at least partially make up for the time without, though this doesn’t help in the short term.
When I first starting to go up for adverts, ten years ago, being pencilled meant something; in most instances I either got the job, or was kept in the loop when I didn’t. So what’s changed? Maybe it’s me. Perhaps in the last decade I’ve become shit.