[Anonymous37919]

Do you think the movie industry is about having fun and gaining fame? Think again!

It's honestly a lot of hassle. I'm not wanting to be a big star, or anything. I'm happy just to be an extra. But I think a lot of other people that want to be in movies are often not totally professional, are the snooty sort, and also immature. The same goes for some of the crew, who I think just like to exploit novices. Yet despite that, I've met some nice people through acting.

Firstly, some people tend to think, 'I'll meet such and such if I sign up as an extra' on a casting site. Nope. While you can meet people, it's not what you registered for. You registered to be a supporting artiste, which means good pay, yes, but long hours of preparation for a few seconds of your pretty face showing up, maybe only as a blur. But too often, the select few who aren't dedicated enough realize that's boring, so they just disappear off the set. Personally, for that reason alone, I hate people who let my country down by thinking it's supposed to be a meet and greet. It did happen before. Then Scotland got snubbed by Marvel recently, which isn't fair at all. You probably wouldn't snub Canada and only use Americans because some Canadians may have been jerks on your production. So why snub Scotland, Marvel, and only use England for extras, all the while having the cheek to use my city to shoot in? Uh!

Also, I said before I've been a victim of black balling. Because I messaged this fancy pants (Nicolette) amid a ton of nonsense, she told a guy making a film called Blood's a Rover not to hire me, and I think he's been messaging other film producers too, as I suspect they lied to me about not needing extras when I clearly saw that they were. You can normally see their followers, and I guess seeing certain users there networking with one another says it all. And I got this email from a guy who is married to the director of that 3 hour independent film I'm not getting a part in, and he just doesn't get it. Also, if he's threatening to report me for abuse, what does that make this slandering a-hole then?

https://www.facebook.com/nicolettemck/

Dear Peter A,

If indeed you have taken on legal counsel I'm sure their advice would be for you to refrain from contacting people directly regarding your situation and leave any such contact in their capable hands. My advice to you is to heed that advice and not to contact us at any time in the future. Neither Tim nor I have anything to say to you on any subject. I can assure you that we would not be in a position to offer a positive recommendation should anyone ask us for one given our experiences with you.

Hopefully this will be the end of your communications with us on any media.

Neither Tim nor I will respond to any future communication from you directly but will retain anything sent including this message to be forwarded to Police Scotland for their case file.

Michael Granados

Have you considered seeking employment in a completely new area, outside of acting?

[Anonymous37919]

Nope. Acting isn't exactly employment either, for some people anyway. Many films I was in as an extra were self-funded through setting up an Indiegogo page, so all I got was a credit and a thanks on Facebook. But that's okay, as even low budget stuff is still good.

Peter, I hope you don't take this the wrong way but I want to say that while I understand you've been black balled and I understand you wanting people to know it's unjust, you keep writing this women's name on this board. Last time it was her full name. I really worry there could be potential backlash from this women if she ever googles her name and this site comes up. I worry for you. I completely understand your anger and you have a right to it by the sounds of it but in today's world of massive connectivity, we must be guarded in some respects. Perhaps you are t using her real name and what I'm saying doesn't apply in which case I'm sorry. If you are using her real or professional name however, please consider my words.

With that said, I knew some extras years ago and I always wished I had the confidence to do it. I admire your courage and dedication to doing it the right way. People have different ways they do things and different reasons for doing them. It's not all right/wrong, good/bad, black/white. I do believe some ways are more honest and I appreciate you having good intentions. (((Hugs)))

[Anonymous37919]

Yeah, okay. I'll refrain from doing that from now on, so not to look as bad as them. It's just rather nippy though. I'll probably have to look into getting a personal helper unrelated to social services. A member already posted some links, so I'll have a look through those.

When I ditch the support people, they keep sending me financial assessment paperwork to fill in again. Surely they shouldn't have to keep doing that. It's not the fact that they are support workers obtained through a social worker that annoys me. It's the fact that the people they find for me cannot always be flexible, or they don't act like they want to be there during my shifts (as in, they're unprepared, rude, and seem to be disinterested). The last guy I had came from a nursing home. He was flexible at least, but he was better suited to care work in housing, and by the looks of things, he was overworked.

But I think it could work out too expensive paying for an accomplice. It seems silly doing this when my only use for this person would be to go with me to a film set. I'm not sure what else I'd need them for. Unfortunately, support agencies don't match you up with support workers based on personal interests. It's just whether they're a good carer or not, and I can only work with guys which means it's tough to find someone since it's mainly women in this field of work.

Why do you need a male companion? Is it preference or a specific need? I'm glad you listened about using the name.....I really want you to protect yourself.

[Anonymous37919]

Having only male workers means I cannot get carried away with unrequited love; I've had issues there. Plus, social services are aware of incidents from before, so they know not to provide women anyway.

I am also an actress,
I totally understand the struggle. I was an extra in a very successful Bollywood film called Dhoom 3, and while it seemed like it would be fun, it was probably one of the hardest things I've ever done.

We, as actors, were treated like **** on the set. The directors couldn't all agree on what they wanted us to do so we were always being yelled at by one or another director, also the producers. For "lunch" they just gave us crappy little sandwiches and the world's smallest bottles of water, despite the weather being in the 30's (C).

It was absolutely awful, it made me rethink whether or not iwant Ed to be an extra in movies anymore. As of now, I just do an occasional commercial here and there. I think that is a better route for me.

[Anonymous37919]

I was an extra in a web series called Judas Goat, about vampires. I am just a bar patron with no lines. You see me for a few seconds seated at a table. When I emailed the director several years ago to ask about when we would get to see the clips, he offered to give me a credit. Unfortunately, he only credited me from episode 2 onward, in the initially released episodes which got uploaded on Vimeo, because maybe it was too late to credit me in the first episode. Apparently, IMDb only credits people based on the 'original work' so stuff they class as re-releases don't count. I'm credited in the 45 minute version on Steam, though. So I'm listed as uncredited in the only episode I show up in, while I get "credit only" for all the rest (since they basically recycled the credits for the rest of the series - just without my name in the pilot episode). How odd.

I was a zombie in my only feature film - Redcon-1. IMDb says it's in post-production, but I heard they've been adding new scenes a lot, which is delaying its release. It's supposed to be finished now, so hopefully we will see it this fall. Being that I was only a zombie, I doubt I'll be credited.

I've also been in other short films, but only as an extra. My friend and I often make our own short films from time to time, so we can fire them up on IMDb as well if the quality is above average. But I hope one day, I'll get a line in a major movie.