The Truth About Courtroom TV

The first time I served as a paid extra was for America's Court with Judge Ross.

Never heard of it?  Here's a sample case via glorious YouTube:

Believe it or not, that shit ain't real.  Of course it isn't, but I was pretty surprised to see what sort of fake it was.

Unlike Judge Judy or Judge Joe Brown, this show is not an arbitration where both parties sign contracts to be bound by the "court's" decision.  America's Court takes real case FILES, and then has actors re-enact the cases, relying heavily on improvisation.  Judge Ross is a real retired LA judge, and even the bailiff is "an active duty sheriff" (not sure how he has time for this show).

The day I was there, they had us record seven cases.  Two of those cases used actors pulled straight from the audience.  I could probably have played the role of "Art Collector" if I had just raised my hand (nobody wanted to do it and the guy who eventually did it was ridiculous).

If you ever watch the show, take a look at the audience.  Notice something about everyone in the first four or five rows (only six rows total)?  They're all women.  I can't imagine anyone wanting to watch courtroom TV for the babes in the audience, but I suppose it's better than using the troglodytes like me who end up in the back row.

Still, you can get paid $8 an hour to sit quietly in a chair for about seven hours, while your fellow extras all bitch about the pay (which we knew beforehand), the hours (we were warned beforehand) and the air-conditioning (which was pretty damn cold).

I never cared for courtroom tv and I probably never will, but I'll say this:  despite the shortcomings of America's Court with Judge Ross, I was impressed with how Judge Ross takes a ridiculous case and manages to deliver his ruling with a small lecture on parenting, family, or personal responsibility.  It's actually something I think might be good for people; it's like they hid Arthur or Doug-styled lessons in these crazy cases to teach adults how to be good people.  I'm not even being sarcastic, though this whole paragraph reeks of it.

Still, with only a judge making decisions you can avoid a hung jury...

_V.S.

Pro Advice: Choosing an Agent

I've tried acting multiple times, but I can't do it.  Maybe I'm just not born with the talent for it.  However, if YOU have the talent for it, you'll eventually be thinking about choosing an agent.  I don't know anything about agencies, but I did learn something today from someone who I imagine knows quite a bit.

Today I went to an interview to set up a profile with a company that helps productions find extras for movies and television.  I plan on taking work as an extra for the following reasons:

• To get me on set, where I can see how things work from the inside.
• To introduce me to other people interested in film or acting, people I might want to work with down the line.
• For the meager pay.  It's crap pay but when I'm not working I would like to stay busy and wouldn't mind a few bucks for it.  

Anyway, I was being interviewed alongside two others who wanted to do work as an extra.  One of the other two wants to get into acting, and when he mentioned that he didn't want to pick a talent agency until he knew the ropes and could present himself well to a decent agent, our interviewer dropped some advice.

He essentially said that there are two tiers of casting agencies:  The top tier (companies like CAA, UTA, WME) and then...everyone else.  You typically start with one of the "everyone else" agencies, and it's not such a bad thing.  He said to not worry about getting trapped with a lower level one, because they can't really keep you (and probably wouldn't want to if you weren't meshing well).  Even if they keep setting up auditions for you, you don't HAVE to go to them.  

Once you do well, the top tier agencies will come to you, and sweep you away.  They'll be able to offer you much more and there won't really be any reason to stay with your original agency.  Even if you're feeling guilty bailing on them, it's just how it's done so they apparently won't take it personally.  Besides, you can't limit yourself because you feel awkward about moving on.  Goodness.

Anyway, the other interviewee seemed assured and will probably be finding an agent sooner rather than later.  As for me, I'm hoping to someday be that guy behind the other people in the back of that one scene.

Let me know what you think of this guy's advice.  Helpful?  Wrong?  Misleading?  You might know better than me.