I was lucky enough (via some well-placed nepotism) to land a job in a Baltimore Energy commercial. It was my first TV gig (if you don't count the truly awful local kids TV show I was on in Connecticut -and I know I sure don't) and was really fun.
I learned a lot on that job. I was supposed to unveil this huge lightbulb that I'd "brought home" in my big red pickup truck because I'd chosen my own energy company. The director came up to me and said, "Give me a look that says, 'Wow, this is big!'" (Which was original since the slogan of the campaign was "THIS IS BIG!") That was the only direction he gave me - over and over, "Gimme a look that says, 'Wow this is big!'"
We did a bunch of takes and I was berating myself since it was obvious that I wasn't giving the director what he wanted. I tried to use the ol' Strasberg method and re-experience what it was like when I first saw the New York skyline.... I tried to imagine myself transported back in time and seeing a T Rex... anything to get the emotion that would convey what he was looking for. And even after they wrapped, I got the feeling that I hadn't done it.
Then I saw the commercial.
It was full of other people looking at the lightbulb with cheesy, over-the-top, bulging-eyeball stares that might just as well have had spinning bow ties below them to point out just how CRAAAAAZY BIG THIS THINGS WAS! HOLY COW IT'S A HUUUUGE LIGHTBULB MARTHA!!
The biggest thing I learned on that shoot was that the professional world was not going to be nearly as professional as I had thought/hoped.
But it was still a total blast!! My mom and Aunt Holly were there, as well as my favorite producer Mary Holland, and we had a ton of fun. My first contract, my first commercial, my first truck.
And obviously, Gram had to make the next Snakespoon into the scene from the commercial. Yes, that's me holding my contract. Brilliant.
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