Pencil

Maybe non-refundable deposits would cut down on Willy-nilly long-term penciling.

• 10 years ago
• 21

If only the agencies and CD's saw it like that! I was also booked for 3 months on a thing called Inkheart a couple of years ago. The whole 3 months were cancelled the morning before I was supposed to start filming! Not impressed!

• 10 years ago
• 22

Pencil update!! I continue to be pencilled on various TV jobs but am trying my best to ignore them, take on other work that comes in and then the production companies may eventually realise that we need to earn a living and can't be picked up and dropped as and when they wish (I can dream!!) The latest one made me laugh....."We want to pencil you for a recall".....pencil for a recall??!!

• 10 years ago
• 23

I'm on a pencil at the moment but if something else comes up, then I'll get my agent to contact the company to let them know and if they can't give an answer, I'd take the firm job offer.

• 10 years ago
• 24

Forget the pencil.

It's cut and paste you want to worry about.

• 10 years ago
• 25

I was told I was on Light Pen once....

• 10 years ago
• 26

I know, for the most part, they are not worth it and it's just a means of keeping you hanging on. And when they don't even let you know in good time that you're no longer being held on one is bad manners at the best. However, I've just got a call back for the pencil I was on so am pretty well pleased.
All the best
Toni

• 10 years ago
• 27

I'm on pencil now - first time - surely sometimes they convert - right ?

• 10 years ago
• 28

BIRO!!!!!!!

• 10 years ago
• 29

PERMANENT MARKER!!!!! These pencillers can pencil- off. They don't mean anything,but what can we do?

• 10 years ago
• 30

Some of the posts on here have referred to being penned as the definite - not true.
9 years ago, fresh out of Guildhall and innocent a out what various pieces of stationary meant in reference to a casting. I was penciled in for a Magnum commercial. I was then recalled and told i was penned in. Because it was a worldwide campaign plus billboards, (&was a decade ago), it was a life changing amount of money - i could have bought two housed outright in my Nothern hometown.
When it reached the pen stage, and giddy about this and going to barcelona for four days in a weeks time to film my first professional acting job, I spent a little bit more than i should have on Oxford street. A lot more in fact. Selfridges style.
Yes - very stupid i know, but i was only 23 & completely naieve to the fatcats of the commercials industry.
The NIGHT before I got a call from my agent to say i was no longer needed. There were tears, there was a lot of hatred towards the industry, there was a lot of financial bailing out by my kind mum. Im nearly 32 now and still when i buy any clothes -even from primarni she asks whether i can afford it & have i signed the contract on the job now.

To add insult to injury, when the ad aired - the girl was a much prettier version of me. I googled her and sure enough she was a model. Nowadays i completely ignore the 'pretty but not a model' breakdown , as when the CD takes their chosen few to the CEO of whatever, they nearly always cast a model. But ladies - thats a whole different thread & rant.

My good friend works as a creative for BMB, one of the leading ad agencies. She writes ads; and recently did the McCain Oven Chips Happy Days campaign. She says the CDs decision and directors input is futile, as is hers. It comes down to one thing - the client wants what the client wants. And if they want to take the booked in actor off the project at 9pm the night before because their look doesnt fit their brand. They can. Because they are paying.
Clearly -these money men need to be in on the early stages of casting to avoid tons of dissappointment all round - but of course, they are too busy for that.

Im priviledged really to have had such a bad experience early on. I had to get tough. And taught myself to ground myself and not let this industry run away with my emotions. These days i seek the positives & take things - particularly pencils, biros, fountain pens, inks & quills, in my stride.

Nam Myoho Renge Kyo ;)

• 10 years ago
• 31

Nicky Campbell...pencil for a callback?!!! Now that can f right off! If anyone gets a call like that immediately and without hesitation say 'I can do my job why can't you do yours?!' Or more diplomatically refuse to be pencilled and politely say exactly that. I refuse to be a pencil for a call back, call me if and when you have something to tell me and only then' BTW they know exactly what they are doing to us! I just got a 'down to the last two' for a US commercial 'so we need your measurements and sorry about losing your phone number (I filled out the forms at the audition and callback). I suspect thatthey realised at the last minute they hadnt anyone on on standby in case of illness... sick...

• 10 years ago
• 32

Mm pencils. Had a few myself, been as far as recieveing the filming dates and flight details , only for everything to change and change again , until I've even forgotten what I was casting for in the first place.
The trouble is , as much as its annoying ,frustrating etc etc etc , who here wouldn't cross hot coals to get a job they would enjoy, rather than keep plodding on in the jobs which earn regular or irregular money in the so called real world.
I held off confirming I could do a month of weekend work for a mate of mine, just in case the job I was pencilled in for actually came off.
It's this hope of the job which could open doors , that keeps us waiting and hanging on . It's this hope of a tiny springboard to launch us into a world of creative work , that tests relationships , work and personnal .
It's this hope of justifying to ourselves and everybody else , just why we are still here chasing castings.
I am learning , albeit very slowly , to accept that I have to let all the disappointment wash over me. Because if I don't , then I take the negative attitude , which in the past has probably hindered me on my journey & ilet it affect all my future decisions.
So forget the bad situations from the past ,and start your year right now .
My new start kicked off on the 10th of feb , which was my birthday. The break up of a relationship just beforehand and the fall out from it made me take a long hard look at my life. I realised then , I either let the negative stuff fashion the way I approach everything , or I get out there and give myself the chance I deserve.
That's about as deep and meaningful as I get .

A pencil , it's something you take with a pinch of salt. But don't let it rule your life, because there's plenty more people and projects out there with your name on them.

• 10 years ago
• 33

Nicely said, David! Totally agree.

Water off my feathery tail.

I'd like to re-brand my current 'heavy pencil' to a pimp-my-ride paint job in skittles tropical rainbow please ;)

• 10 years ago
• 34

Haha Yasmine that's how I'm going to think of all pencils from now on.

• 10 years ago
• 35

Nice one, Carli!

Now that is a tasty pencil!

• 10 years ago
• 36

Never turn down work for a pencil - light or heavy. Pencils mean nothing really.

• 10 years ago
• 37

Just recently I was contacted direct by a company who I had done work privately before after they found my profile on another casting website, it was an online video.. Six months later they emailed me asking me if I would consider going to see them as they are currently casting a commercial. I went along and the decision maker told me he wanted to work with me as he likes to use people he has worked with before. The audition went well, or so I thought, with him giving me very positive feedback that what I did was just what he wanted. He said he would contact me on Tuesday to let me know.....of course you know what's coming next ......no email. I decided to contact him as another job, a photo shoot came in for one of the filming days, so I emailed to ask if my role had been filmed. He didn't even have the decency to reply that the role had obviously gone to someone else, bearing in mind that he contacted me direct in the first place. I ll be ok in a couple of days lol. And of course I can't wait to see the advert when it airs!!!!!!!
Onwards and upwards as my agent always says!!!!

• 10 years ago
• 38

Although you will not be able to mention his name here. It's worth it for your own records , to keep a note of him, the date of contact , project details etc . In fact anything relevant . So that should you be contacted regarding any future projects , you won't be caught out again by broken promises and misleading conversations . Right up front you can say unless I have a solid offer of work , then its first come first call in my diary. It's not to say being rude , just honesty that might protect you in the case of this person .

• 10 years ago
• 39

Thank you David !

• 10 years ago
• 40