Etiquette and Recommendations for Commercial Shoots

Two words: sick. day.
Put these opportunities off like this and you'll never get rich and famous, Bunk.

Waaaay back in the day when I was in show business I had a few occasions where I would be needed for a photo shoot, a promotional appearance, or a commercial. For most of them I didn't risk asking for the day off from my real job, but took the bigger risk of calling off work. I guess I didn't think what might happen if someone checked into my whereabouts or if someone might actually see the thing and know what I'd done.
No matter, I wound up retiring with 33+ years in spite of my efforts to get fired.

I'm glad you had a great day, Bunky. Mmmmmm... Tastykakes!

I would love to request more time off, but unfortunately we're slow right now, and I get paid per client, I don't get vacation days, and I don't get insurance. When I take time off, I lose a crap-ton of money, and then to use that much gas for a non-paid deal? It is unfortunately not always feasible. This was a rare form of luck where I had a replacement coming in for me because she HAD to, and I just happened to hear about it just in time, etc.

If I could get rich and famous doing this or something like it for a living...wow. It puts stars in my eyes thinking about it.

The road to fame is tough. I suggest you start with AGT (Allentown's Got Talent) and see where that leads you.

I'm not sure if you're joking or not, RCMAC! *laugh* Allentown's Got Talent sounds SO made up.

I'm not really looking to get rich and famous so much as I want to do something I love for a living. I think many of us have that same goal. There's not too much worse than working a job that you hate so much that you fear it will drive you insane. Can we all do what we love for a living? Nope, but the key is to at least find something we can tolerate. I can't say even that much for what I do now or for my profession in general.

I was going to be a rock star when I was young. And a model. And a comedian and actor. I quit trying at the very first failure. If only I knew back then what I know now. If you want something in life, you have to keep working at it until you get it. If you don't eventually get any closer, you probably don't want it as bad as you think you do.

So if you really do want to be rich and famous, keep at it. More than a few friends of mine have proven that success comes from trying over and over again. Researching your desired craft and learning all you can about it along the way can't hurt either.

If being rich and/or famous is your goal and not a side effect of your goal, you're doing life wrong.

^^ Jeff, that's kind of where I was going. I don't care so much about fame and glory, but to have a hobby (or obsession) like coaster riding and somehow turn it into a seriously bankable income? Doing what you love and getting paid to do it? THAT is something that not many people truly get to do, and they are fortunate that they get to do it. Getting paid very well and all that other stuff? Just a perk of an already awesome way to live. We kind of veered towards the R&F thing because when I responded to RCMAC, I was just saying basically, "in a perfect world, if I could travel the world riding coasters and writing about them or hosting a show on them, that would be a dream come true". And a pretty decent side effect (as a TV host anyway) would be some good money. I'd do it even if the pay was comparable to what I make now (not that much). Doing what you love makes money not nearly as important, I think.

Like I said earlier, I couldn't care less if any of these pictures make it to the ad campaigns. Getting some exposure's never a bad thing, but I did this for about 99.9% fun, got paid nothing for it, and loved every minute of it. Every opportunity I get to do this kind of thing again, I'm taking it just for the sheer fun of it. If something ever actually happened as a result of these opportunities, well...who wouldn't have a little daydream about it every now and then?

Good that you had such a great time doing the ads. I'm with you in that in a perfect world, I too would be traveling the world riding roller coasters and writing about them. ( I do write about them but don't get paid a nickel for doing so.) How many people get to do what they really want? I wanted to be an actor and spent several years in New York going to acting school, but maybe I didn't want it enough. And while I was talented, there are many who were far more talented and more willing to make the necessary sacrifices. So I put that behind me long ago and currently work as a paralegal at a law firm, dreaming of getting a job in the roller coaster industry. BTW, unless I missed this somewhere in the thread, what is your profession? Now you've got me curious.

I think we actually had a thread once talking about getting jobs in the roller coaster industry/park industry and how it is nearly as difficult as getting an acting/writing/modelling/music job because it is so specialized. I don't recall specifically what it ended up talking about, but there was something about all this stuff, I swear.

Bobbie, I am a nurse. It is not so much that I don't like nursing, but I no longer feel an affinity for it like I used to. I really kinda picked outside of my normal likes and dislikes for a career, to be honest. *laugh* My whole family was shocked when I chose nursing school over some other things because I've always gravitated towards language and writing and art until the medical thing. I think I "chose poorly" (to briefly quote Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade).

At least you're young enough to change careers if the opportunity presents itself. Coincidentally, one of my paralegal friends here at work is fed up with the legal profession and wants to be a nurse, lol. As to jobs in the roller coaster industry, now that I think about it, there are far more jobs for actors than there are for people in the roller coaster industry; that's how specialized this is.