It’s award season again and across the pond, the Beverley Hills are alive with the sound of red carpets being rolled in preparation for the world’s finest to strut their stuff.
While some people don’t mind working in an office from nine to five, there are some of us (like Dolly) who just couldn’t bear the thought.
If you reckon your chances of picking up Best Actor/Actress/Picture at this year’s Oscars are slim, there’s a range of other weird and wonderful jobs that could get you that little bit closer to the glitziest and most glamorous that Hollywood has to offer…
Clapper loader
It might sound like a funny sort of job, but this is basically the person who claps the black and white board when the director shouts action. Sound simple? In actual fact, this person has the most important job on set. It’s more than shouting ‘take three’ down the camera lens – the clapper loader is in charge of making sure that film has been loaded into the cameras. Imagine after a full day of filming the director finds that nothing has been caught on tape? Talk about being under pressure!
To gain experience as a clapper loader, you could look for work experience as a runner or camera assistant to learn the basics of loading the film and to see what it is like to work on a film set. In no time you could be earning a salary between £11,000 and £40,000. Not bad!
Seat fillers
Seat fillers, well… Fill seats at award ceremonies to ensure there are no empty spaces seen by the viewing public. Seriously.
Jim Gillette from Fill a Seat in Philadelphia said: “Generally, the producers of the award shows recruit friends and employees to fulfill this function – at least in my experience in Hollywood for 15 years. Indeed, there are folk who go to the Oscars every year as seat-fillers… It’s their big night out in evening clothes!”
If your dream is to keep the likes of Leonardo Dicaprio’s seat warm, then there are a number of companies that could let you do this! Have a google, fill out an application form and see how it goes. Who knows? You could be keeping George Clooney company at next year’s BAFTAs! The ability to be cool, calm and collected when faced with a celeb is essential – no screaming at Eva Mendes that you love her.
Body doubles
These people stand in for actors in scenes that they might feel uncomfortable or require a certain skill or talent. In Flashdance, for example, it’s thought that a male body double was used in the final dance sequence, and speculation is rife that Golden Balls himself, David Beckham, used a bum double for his new H&M ad.
Becoming a body double doesn’t always require you to look identical to the actor you are replacing but some similarities would be an advantage. Hand, feet and leg models are extremely popular. Get in contact with casting agencies that specialise in body doubles or send along a portfolio of work. Pay for body doubles depends on the type of work you do but just think – one day you could be replacing Daniel Craig or Jennifer Aniston. There’s a claim to fame!
Stunt Person
I doubt there’s a TV programme or film out there that hasn’t used a stunt person.
To get this job would take a lot of dedication, but in the long run, you could end up working on the set of a James bond film and earning thousands – or even skydiving into the Olympic Stadium dressed as the Queen!
Working as a stunt double takes a lot of physical training and learning of new skills, from being able to do stunts on a motorbike to mastering the art of falling from a huge height without hurting yourself. Dean Forster is a Stunt Co-coordinator from Oxford. He has been in the industry for over 20 years and has worked on films such as Mission: Impossible and The Bourne Ultimatum. Recently he appeared in Mr Selfridge on ITV. He said: “If you want to be a stunt person never stop training.”
Popcorn Sprayer
While this might not be essential to award season, it is when watching the latest blockbuster – and we’re 90% certain Ryan Gosling’ll grab a bucket of the stuff when attending his many movie premiers.
Popcorn sprayers have a pretty important role in the film industry – it isn’t the most glamorous job in the world, but everyone needs some sort of taste to their popcorn.
If you think this would be an easy job, imagine having make sure that every bit of popcorn is covered in salt or toffee. Pretty time-consuming. So the next time you tuck into a bag of popcorn at the cinema just think of how much hard work went into it…