Casting call

I received a casting call as follows.

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I am a Casting Producer at a major production company, and we are currently looking to find people who have left the hustle and bustle of a large city behind for more a more relaxed lifestyle in the country.

I was hoping that perhaps you would know any families who are currently in the middle of making that transition from the city to the country. We would be very interested in speaking with any families that could fit this bill. We know it's not always an easy move to make, and can come with many challenges, new discoveries, ups and downs etc. and we'd like to be able to follow all of those moments as they settle into their new home (can also be a vacation home).

We heard from the network that they are now mainly interested in people who have a second home or vacation home in the country that they retreat to. They're looking for couples ages 20s - 40s with at least a couple kids still living at home. As far as the property goes, there are no restrictions for size, location, etc.

We appreciate any referrals you can provide. Please feel free to email with any questions.

Paul O'Malley
VP of Casting & Talent
paulcasting12@gmail.com

Another casting call

I was contacted by an assistant producer at Blast! Films seeking families looking to move from an urban to a rural environment for a film documentary. I am posting the relevant information but I do not have any additional details. Any questions will need to be directed to Tom Evans at Tevans@blastfilms.co.uk

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I’m contacting you with regards to a new feel-good network series following ordinary families who want to escape city-life to peaceful off-grid living in the glorious American wilderness. Each show will feature one family viewing three featured properties with a view to buy and they will spend a few days getting a taste of life unplugged from the urban mayhem.

I’m looking for normal families from various backgrounds for the series, and for the pilot (now in production) we really want to feature some stunning properties but we need to find the right family/budget before we can start looking for locations. Most importantly, this is a warm and supportive series; we hope to give the family a taste of the good life and inspire the audience to get back to nature.

This is an excellent time to be making this, as I’m sure you are aware interest in living off-grid has never been greater and continues to grow. The series will offer a great opportunity to show-off some fantastic properties and scenery on-top of the human benefits of country living and I’m hoping you would be interested in speaking with me about this further.

Please don’t hesitate to contact me if you have any further questions or would like more information. It would also be a great help if you’d forward on this post to any families who’re thinking of heading off the beaten track and you think might enjoy this experience.

Thomas Evans
Assistant Producer
Blast! Films
Imperial Works, Perren Street
London NW5 3ED
T: +44 20 7424 8036
M: +44 77 2766 9842
www.blastfilms.co.uk

Confessions of a thriftaholic

Last week when I spoke to the English woman about the casting call for Blast Films, our discussion centered quite a bit on how so many rural people are generally thrifty, and how it helps to be immune from fashion if you're going to live in the country. I told her that we never, EVER recreationally shop. Ever. I also said that ALL of our clothing purchases, with the exception of sock and underwear, occur in thrift stores.

This concept seemed to boggle her. "Don't your daughters ever long for shopping experiences in new shops?" she asked. "Don't they ever want to buy a new pair of designer jeans?"

I laughed heartily at this concept. "My older daughter is our little fashionista," I told her. "She loves nice clothes. But we're so used to thrift store prices and the ability to buy anything we want for a fraction of the cost, that whenever we go into a retail store and look at their clothes, the kids come away with sticker shock."

You see, this woman was operating under the identical premise that so many people (especially women) have, to wit: shopping is fun.

Fortunately our girls got their shopping genes from me, and here's my take on the subject: I hate shopping.

I really do. I never long to waft through a mall, fingering garments, trying things on just for fun, blowing a wad of cash. I get bored just typing about it.

Have you ever read Confessions of a Shopoholic? It's a light-hearted amusing book, and it was successful enough that the author wrote a bunch of spin-offs (Shopoholic Takes Manhatten, Shopoholic Ties the Knot, etc.) One of the spinoffs was called Shopoholic and Sister, in which the main character (Becky) tries to forge a relationship with a newly-discovered half-sister named Jessica. The best bonding experience Becky can imagine is shopping together, so they go off for a day-long outing in stores. Trouble is, Jessica was raised to be thrifty and she finds shopping to be a total bore.

I enjoyed that book because I am Jessica.

Thankfully, so are my daughters. When I told Older Daughter about my conversation with this lady from London, about whether she ever longs for shopping experiences, Older Daughter had a good laugh. "I can blow a wad of cash at a thrift store and emerge with a mountain of clothes," she said, "versus a single pair of designer jeans bought new at a retail store."

Our favorite thrift store is Value Village, which has a wide selection of clothing, books, household items, kitchen items, etc. I estimate that 95% of our shopping is done at VV.

We were in Value Village this week, and Older Daughter found a skirt she particularly liked for $5. I'm guessing it would be in the realm of $50 or so in a retail establishment. As we paid for it, she exclaimed, "I just LOVE thrift stores!"

So no, I'd say she never longs for shopping experiences. (Except at thrift stores, of course.) We're at minimum an hour's drive from the nearest retail stores, so none of us can ever impulse-shop anyway.

Which, now that I think about it, may be one of the "keys" for people who live self-sufficient lives -- we're indifferent to fashion or other trendy issues and just prefer to live as frugally as possible, immune to the lures of advertising, cultural peer pressure, and trends.

Something to think about.

Casting call for off-grid folks

A few days ago I received an email as follows:

Dear Patrice.

I hope you are well and don’t mind me getting in touch out of the blue. I am a Researcher at Blast! Films in London England where we are developing a one-off documentary film for the Bio Channel. I hoped that you may be able to help us in our research.

The film will feature in families who are living “off-grid” in North Idaho and surrounding regions, and will explore the inspiring challenges and unique pleasures which this way of life offers. The film will be very positive in tone - a sensitive and layered portrayal of a unique way of life. We are not looking to make a reality-TV type show but rather intend to explore and promote off-grid living as a real possibility. Examples of the kind of intelligent and thoughtful films we have made previously can be seen here: www.blastfilms.co.uk.

We want to speak to as many families as possible who would describe themselves as “off-grid” or self-sufficient. We are in the process of having confidential research conversations with families who are interested, with no obligation to be involved in filming.

I wondered if you might be interested in speaking to me further by phone? Or if you might be able to help us in spreading the word to anyone you think might be suitable.

I look forward to hearing your thoughts on this.

Thanks for your time and all best wishes,

Hannah Boyd
Development Researcher
Blast! Films
2 Imperial Works, Perren Street, London, NW5 3ED

Cellphone: 00 44 (0)7899 915 957
Switchboard: 00 44 (0)207 267 4260
Direct Dial: 00 44 (0)207 424 8037
www.blastfilms.co.uk


I spoke with Hannah at length by phone about the nature of this project, and she made it clear the filming will be portraying ruralites in an upbeat and positive way. It’s not about “preppers” or “survivalists” or anything sneering or derogatory. Rather, it’s exposure to a largely urban viewing audience what it's like to live off-grid or otherwise self-sufficiently.

And when you think about it, most city dwellers don’t have a clue what it’s like to produce electricity or milk a cow or clean a barn or gather eggs or plant a garden or can peaches. This is all strange and exotic to them. What’s the motivation behind such hard work? Why milk a cow and make your own cheese when dairy products are readily available at the grocery store? Why install solar panels or a windmill when you can just flip a switch? …These are the types of questions this documentary aims to answer.

The filming will be limited to north Idaho and the surrounding areas (eastern Washington or western Montana) because that’s where an existing film crew is already located, so their pool of potential applicants will be more limited. If there’s anyone in this region interested in talking with Hannah about this project, I urge you to get in touch with her. She’s a durned nice woman and will be happy to answer all of your questions.

Casting call: National Geographic's American Preppers

Okay readers, here’s an official casting call from National Geographic’s American Prepper series. Don't mistake this for the Doomsday Preppers; apparently this is a whole new series with a different focus.
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Hello,

I hope you don’t mind me contacting you. My name is Gabrielle Zieden and I‘m working with National Geographic on a new documentary series featuring Americans who have gone off the grid.

Our filming objective is to capture the essence self-reliance in the American wilderness. Our casting call reads:

If you believe society is failing, and you have skillfully prepared to live the TRUE life of an American Prepper, then we want to hear from you.

National Geographic is going beyond the brief, 15-minute glimpse of basement bunkers, and into the wilderness with a true American Prepper family for an in-depth and intimate look into the lives of these brave homesteaders. In this new documentary series, we want to accompany you off the grid and into your world of committed basic survival, documenting and earning an education in what it actually means to be prepared.

Whether you are planning your move into a remote bug-out now or are teaching others how to do so successfully, this season-long documentary series wants to follow you on your daily journey. Do you know of a family or group who is independent of society, honorably existing on the most basic level, and prepared in the event of a major global crunch? Are you part of a devoted prepper community that is thriving? Do you wish you had the platform to break down the myths about preppers, and show the artistry of living in a survivor’s world?

Please include any articles, photos, or videos that can help us gain a better understanding of your way of life. We are sensitive to OPSEC concerns and your information will be kept in absolute confidence.

If interested, please email americanprepperscasting@gmail.com

If this sounds like something you are interested in, or would like to learn more about the project, please do not hesitate to contact me. I hope to hear from you.

Best,

Gabrielle Zieden
Casting Associate Producer
National Geographic
(646) 216-9156
americanprepperscasting@gmail.com



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Curious, I emailed Ms. Zieden and what follows is our emailed conversation.

Me: While I wouldn't mind posting this casting call on my blog, I'm certain one of the first questions readers will ask (besides the obvious OpSec one) is, what's in it for them? Just the fifteen minutes of fame?

If you'll pardon the crassness of the question (because I can assure you, it will be on peoples' minds) I might post the casting call.

Ms. Zieden: No problem for the question! We are able to offer compensation to the people who participate, along with the opportunity to help educate and warn people about the need to be prepping. The more people who we can get prepping, the less competition there will be for precious resources when the time comes!

Me: Thank you for replying. I spoke to one of your reps at a Preparedness Expo in Colorado Springs last May [Note: This rep was from the Doomsday Prepper program, not the American Prepper program; at this point in my conversation, that distinction wasn't clear], and she admitted it was an uphill battle trying to find people willing to participate in the show. She said those responding to the casting calls tend to be from the extreme ends of the spectrum. In watching a few of your shows, I'm inclined to agree. Those of us who are not off-the-deep-end-preppers (but who are merely taking sensible precautions against an uncertain future) are a whole lot less likely to bare our souls on TV, so to speak.

Anything else you want to add to the casting call before I post? I'm all ears.

Ms. Zieden: We definitely understand it's an uphill battle, which is why we're excited for our new show, which will be more documentary style and follow people over the course of several episodes. The longer filming time and longer screen time we're able to show people makes for a more natural, nuanced story.

We find ourselves in a bind when the people who are concerned about us not telling the story they'd like to see also won't agree to be on the show, so if you can think of anyone you'd be proud to represent your community, please reach out.

Me: I can understand the Catch-22 (people who are concerned about not telling the story they'd like to see, but who won't agree to be on the show). On the other hand, speaking as someone whom you couldn't pay enough to be on the show, it's too dangerous a prospect. Who wants to lay bare for all the world to see what should be private matters? Also, wasn't there a case where someone who had been featured on the show later had all his firearms removed by gov't officials? I don't know the circumstances but that sounded scary.

Ms. Zieden: We are more interested in capturing survival and prepper skills on camera so our viewers are able to learn along with the subject of the documentary rather than giving away personal info (such as location or family information) but I understand how this could be a concern. I was also hoping that letting you know that while we are looking to shoot over a 6 month period we will only be filming on 50 or so of those days leaving the rest of the 6 months free for our subject to handle any business or family matters they do not want on television would assuage your concerns a little. Again I would really appreciate any sort of direct connections you could make between me and whomever might be interested in participating.

Thank you so much,

Me: I don't personally know anyone interested in participating, but my blog readership tops around 60,000/month, so I'll post your casting call as well as excerpts from our email exchange and we'll see what happens.

Good luck. I applaud your efforts even though we (my family) wouldn't want to participate.
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So, dear readers, that was our conversation. If any of you feel you can reveal your prepping efforts without compromising OpSec, then perhaps the extra money offered by National Geographic may be worthwhile, especially if it helps further your preparedness.

I want to make it clear that during our emailed conversation, I was under the impression this was a casting call for Doomsday Preppers, a misunderstanding which Ms. Zieden soon corrected. The focus of this new series appears to be much more skills-oriented and less invasive of privacy.

If you do chose to apply, let me know! (You can email me privately at patrice@patricelewis.com) All other questions will need to be addressed to Ms. Zieden, since this blog post is the extent of my knowledge.