Does anyone know how to be am extra in a film in the UK?

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Sounds-Unfamiliar@reddit

Agencies that supply extras to recurring shows like the soaps often want exclusivity, so if you're registered with then they don't want you to register with other agencies. Kind of sucks to be honest.

They say you should never have to pay up front but it seems many charge something whether it's for professional photos and a file on their website. It doesn't necessarily make it a scam, but knowing you still might not get work when you've paid some money to them, it's off-putting.

I'm with casting collective and they offered me one role since April but it's not even in my area so I had to decline.

I applied to Stark, they want £45 for professional photos and £25 to be placed on their site... But they want exclusivity.

I've also applied to Nemesis as a friend of a friend appears to be getting regular soap work / commercials through them. Not heard back from them.

(North West England!)

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Icklebunnykins@reddit

Universal Extras - if they don't find you 5 lots of work the renewal is free. Costs about £70 upfront but I've had a fair but from them

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_methuselah_@reddit

They are one of the worst agencies for treating SAs! Nasty people.

(SA - Supporting Artist, the proper name for extras)

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Icklebunnykins@reddit

Ooohh what are better ones please?

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_methuselah_@reddit

Whereabouts in the UK are you?

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Icklebunnykins@reddit

Gloucester so done quite a bit in Bristol and South Wales

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NortonBurns@reddit

UE used to be OK, a decade ago. I fell out with them even before they adopted their current model.

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Winter_Parsley8706@reddit

Awesome, what sort of things have you been in?

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lookhereisay@reddit

I used to do this. Register with a few agency. If you have a unique look or something like “tough guy” then more work will probably come in. My speciality was period dramas as I had no hair dye/piercings/tattoos and a face that “hasn’t seen an iPhone” as the kids would say!

They need flexibility which is why I had to stop. You need transport as call times can be 4am in the arse end of nowhere. Or sometimes it’ll be city centre in the middle of the night.

Money is fair, you’re fed (BBC is pretty decent) and if you say a line or get your hair slightly trimmed you get a bit of extra cash. Be nice to all the crew and they’ll suggest you for extra bits on set.

I’ve done Eastenders, Holby and stuff like that a lot. Also some adverts (met Stephen Hawking). Lots of BBC period stuff, especially Call the Midwife. Harry Potter in my youth was amazing and got to see all the famous people (but you don’t talk to them unless they talk to you first - which Robbie Coltrane did!).

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NortonBurns@reddit

Yeah, I was part of the period drama crowd, back in the day. Regular on Midwife until production changed it all in season 7. Every season of Selfridge, the early seasons of the Crown. I got hundreds of days out of those three alone. Any time a brylcreem short back & sides was in order, I'd be there. There was one point where you'd walk into holding & know 80% of the people there, every time.
My hair was cut in just the right way that I could knock the brylcreem look out & be a regular on Enders a couple or three times a month, too. I played the same character for a decade.

It's all changed in the past decade, and not for the better, for the SAs - and the beeb don't feed you unless they're on location, or doing 'reshoot Saturdays'.

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100flavors_of_crazy@reddit

A friend of mine works for https://www.mfscasting.co.uk/register He was in a couple of movies and a few tv series he told me they treat him really well and he enjoys the work.

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moonberrycloud@reddit

There are agencies in the UK where you simply sign up, upload your details and some photos and they will contact you if you fit their requirements.

My Dad started it when he retired and he has been an extra in a fair few TV dramas, and a couple of British films.

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Experiment328095@reddit

My mate and his dad do this, they’ve been in the Avengers, Fast and Furious something and Trainspotting for about 20 seconds of screen time between them 😂 bloody good fun though

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Otherwise-Run-4180@reddit

I'm told that it can be worth it for the catering alone (assuming a decent sized production(.

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albinoloverats@reddit

Oh man, sign me up. I love a good buffet 😆

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_methuselah_@reddit

The bigger the production, the worse the food.

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Experiment328095@reddit

Haha yes! I’ve had many a rundown of the amazing spreads “you ever had mini chicken curry sliders mate? Changed my fucking life!” was a memorable quote 😂

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_methuselah_@reddit

I do this. In short: you can sign up for various agencies. You may - or may not - get asked if you’re available for certain days. You don’t get to choose what productions they ask you for. They might ask you two, three, four times in a week or once a month (or less). You will actually work far less than that. Batman won’t be called Batman, so you may not realise that’s the production name.

Big productions are a pain in the arse. With a couple of hundred (or more) SAs you’ll get called for 4am/5am or even earlier. You’ll sit around for hours before actually doing anything. You’ll be queueing behind a LOT of people for meals (and for the ladies, the loos). There’s often nowhere to sit if you’re not being used. They may be filming a winter scene in summer, or a summer scene in winter. Heavy overcoats in 25+ degrees isn’t fun. Nor are shorts and t-shirts when it’s bloody freezing and/or raining.

Sometimes though, it’s fun.

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DeapVally@reddit

Google does. You sign up to an agency. Pick one.

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OrionGrant@reddit

I've done it a fair bit, depending on what you're being cast for, it's fucking hard work.

I did a bit in upcoming BBC show and it was a long day, and that was just for rehearsals, it was filmed at night and it was getting pretty cold.

Money wasn't great, but BBC do pay for travel and a few extra bits.

I've learned to be quite picky with gigs because of this!

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Psimo-@reddit

Mandy have regular casting calls for background artists

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NortonBurns@reddit

It's booked through Supporting Artist agencies, there's almost never any 'direct casting' & certainly not for a big Hollywood franchise.

You won't get to really pick & choose what you get to work on. they'll issue availability requests (known as AVs) & you respond with whether or not you're available for those dates. You then wait from three to 40 days to find out if you've been booked (usually if it's more than a week, they've chosen someone else & you're just being held in case there are drop-outs closer to the date.)
Early on in a production, you may not be able to even tell what the production is called. It will have a code name that eventually gets disseminated by word of mouth around the industry.

Some agencies will insist you live within an hour or so of the shoot, others don't mind so much if you travel halfway across the country, so long as you figure out your own travel & accommodation. Big productions are notorious for cancelling last minute though, so if you're 200 miles from home & are booked into a hotel for the duration, at least make it one you can get a refund when they use you for the first date & unceremoniously dump you from the rest.

Batman is likely to be shooting at Warners (Leavesden) near Watford, with exteriors in Glasgow, Liverpool & Manchester - same as the last one.

idk any code name for it yet, or who will be doing the booking. If you're in the south, then signing up with Entertainment Partners & Casting Collective will probably get you the biggest ticket in the sweepstakes. I'm not familiar with northern agencies.

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JavaRuby2000@reddit

If you live down near Leavesdon Studios they often put out casting calls. If you check on the WB website. They are also often posted in the local newspapers and reposted on the local Beds / Herts and Bucks Facebook groups.

This is the company doing Batman casting though they have a couple of open calls in Glasgow. I suspect one of them may be the one you are looking for: https://www.castingcollective.co.uk/artiste/casting-calls

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ShitBritGit@reddit

A friend of mine got into it years back, I think he looked for an agent - when a call goes out for a bunch of extras they go to agents "I need 30 people to stand here" and they'll call you and ask if you're free on Thursday. A slice of your pay goes to the agent (and another for the tax man, etc) but you'll get onto film sets. My friend started 10 years ago and is now getting small parts with dialog, short scenes where he is the only one on screen, etc. Weird watching Ungentlemanly Warfare or whatever it was called and seeing him have a small role, sharing the screen with some very well known actors.

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