Background extras are probably one of the most important part of any movie or TV set.
Extras provide the atmosphere necessary for a scene to come to life. However, many times extras are put down, belittled or even ignored by producers, casting directors, and production assistants.
One city that has become filled with TV shows and feature films is Atlanta. Ever since Georgia implemented their film and TV tax credits, other states (North Carolina, Louisiana and California) have struggled to compete with Georgia’s growing film industry. To better understand the impact background actors and background extras have had in the last few months we reached out to two of the biggest extras casting directors in Atlanta.
In our new series The Background Extra, we will highlight our discussion with these top casting directors. We asked questions that ranged from feeling threatened on set to landing a speaking role while working as a background extra.
In our first part to our six part series of ‘The Background Extra’ we asked Jamie Lynn Catrett and Heather Taylor how important are background extras to Georgia’s growing film industry and their responses are motivating, honest, and ultimately inspiring.
Check out Part 1 of the interview here:
Georgia’s film industry is expanding rapidly and because of that there is a high demand for background actors. How important do you feel background extras are to Georgia’s growing film industry?
Jamie Lynn Catrett: Background actors are imperative to the industry because most of the time, without background actors, production doesn’t have a shot. As more productions come, we will need more and more background players to fill the needs for scenes. We’ve seen an increase in productions, and are always looking for new people!
Heather Taylor: –I truly feel as if background actors are literally just as important as every other department that makes up a tv show, movie, or any other production. Some shows rely more heavily upon background performers than others. The shows that I have worked on I can honestly say – they make our scenes complete. Without background performers a scene is incomplete. Incomplete in the same way as if the scene called for a light to be on and there was no lamp – there would be no shot. There’s no way around it, without BG most all scenes wouldn’t work or make sense. Having BG especially the right looking BG pertaining to a scene can make or break the whole moment.
Stay tuned for Part 2 of ‘The Background Extra’ series as we discuss with these amazing casting directors how to land a speaking role as a background extra.
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