Film / TV / Media Crew - Technical, employment opportunities and ranting

My dad did in NZ, he was in Shortland Street, Sparticus, loads of TV ads etc... Good fun if you've got loads of time to burn. He was being paid but not much.

I don't think you'll be buying many bike parts if you're in the UK though - I've dealt with talent pay a lot though not extras as they didn't fall under my remit but even paid actors with a decent amount of lines really aren't being paid very much in the drama's I've worked with.

One of my uncles did it regularly for many years and that was his sole income. He's I guess 50-60 now and was doing it from his late 20s for probably a good 10-15 years.

By all accounts it was/is very hard work with a lot of grafting and schmoozing to get on sets, but it was a lifestyle he enjoyed at the time. He was in all sorts of films and had several roles where he was bumped up on the day to a more prominent position - Sliding Doors / Saving Private Ryan etc.

I did a bit of it early in my career as well including, memorably, being bumped up on the day to 'person who grabs Ian McKellans arse'. I like to think he had a word with the director prior, 'do you think one of them should get a bit over familiar?' 'sure' 'that one, please'.

He's always said the agency was crucial - think he was signed to Mad Dog but there are several out there. It's something you have to work at regularly to be the one they think of. Agencies often recommend the same faces again and again so my understanding is you either have more work than you know what to do with or no work at all. I used to do some work as a 2nd AD and, again, it was all the same faces on every shoot.

My only thought is that so much background stuff is composite these days - crowds are all built in a computer, sets are built in a computer (or at least displayed through one and composited: https://madewithvero.co.uk) And with Covid I can't imagine there are huge numbers of productions with big gangs of extras like there used to be.

There'll be some for sure (chatting the other day about a big historical thing shooting in Bristol) but it would be tougher than it was 10 years ago. I would weigh up carefully how much you'd need to earn. Rates also vary hugely depending on production. If you go full tilt and put the time in / look right on camera then you'll be on bigger productions with bigger budgets, higher rates, more days, more perks etc. But if you're applying via StarNow for a music video they'll think they're being generous for giving 50 quid, no travel expenses, for a 12 hour day standing in the rain without an EasyUp.

Friend who used to be on here (wife of forum bodkin) is currently one, working constantly. Pm me your email and I’ll forward it to her so she can give you her experiences.
Obviously pandemic slowed down the work, but she was getting pretty regular work on big features, before then. Helped that she’d studied drama and kind of knew what was expected..