Average Joes Can Find Stardom on Miami Shows
Magic City-based movies and TV shows need locals as extras
usanetwork.com
Miami-filmed TV shows like "Burn Notice" are looking for a few good extras...sometimes.
If you know how to walk down the street, lie on a beach, or applaud at a basketball game, you're halfway to becoming a movie or TV show extra.
It’s a little known fact that those pedestrians, beach goers, and sports enthusiasts that you see in your favorite shows are actually locals paid to blend into the background.
And though Miami will never be mistaken for L.A. and its neverending need for extras, there are some Miami-based shows that hire occasionally.
Dee Miller is a Miami casting director with Casting Directors Inc., responsible for finding the extras for the first three seasons of “Miami Vice” and the Bollywood feature film “Dostana,” filmed in Miami.
“Every movie is different. You never know what they’re going to ask for,” Miller said.
“Dostana,” called for a basketball scene and Miller had to cast everything from cheerleaders to spectators to fill the stands.
Ellen Jacoby, head of Ellen Jacoby Casting International, is another prominent figure on the local extras scene. Jacoby, who currently casts extras for “Burn Notice,” has also found Miamians for “Confessions of a Shopaholic,” “The Truman Show,” and “Bad Boys,” to name a few.
Jacoby said that though there are a few shows still looking for locals, her company is losing business because the state of Florida does not provide much incentive for production crews to come to Miami to film.
“I used to cast thousands of extras, but the numbers are nowhere near that anymore.”
Call it the "CSI: Miami" Syndrome: a show set in Miami but filmed elsewhere.
Thankfully there are still shows that want that authentic Miami setting, and if you're lucky to find work on one of them, the pay is pretty decent.
Extras are paid a base rate of $75 to $105 a day, but the rate increases if a scene calls for a person with a specific wardrobe or a special skill. Meals and parking are almost always provided.
Seems easy enough. So how can you go about becoming an extra? The first step is to apply to a local casting agency. Local agencies include Marian Polan Talent Agency (954) 525-8351 and Exceptional Events and Entertainment (561) 740-2122 or www.eeetalent.com.
