I'm sure most of you have seen or heard about our crazy week, but I wanted to share a few pictures & some details now that we're home & settling back into our routine. Last Tuesday, I got a call from a local agency that wanted the babies to come out for a casting in a local commercial (Beaumont/Port Arthur area to be exact .. near Louisiana) for the Neches Federal Credit Union ("with 7 convenient locations to serve you") :)
Last Spring I received information from one of my MOM groups that TX Children's Hospital was looking for twins/triplets for an ad, but by the time I sent in our info, the spot had been filled. The casting director had saved our info & requested we come out to a casting call since they were looking for twins (multiples are very popular since they often want the option to switch out a baby if one gets fussy, etc & identicals are ideal, but if the camera is far away or shooting from the side/back, they just prefer they look similar enough). I called Grandpa Frank to escort us & the next day (Wednesday) we showed up for our first official "casting call" :) The commercial basically is about a father mowing the yard with his son in a baby carrier, then they get a "great low interest loan" at the Credit Union and are able to purchase a new riding lawn mower for their new house (not sure exactly, but that's what I gathered from this weekend...) At the casting call, Cassandra did the best in the carrier & with the "dad" :) Brandon & Alyssa tolerated it, but weren't as engaging as Cass. There were a few other sets of twins, but I guess they liked our crew the best because we got a call the next morning (Thursday) from the casting director who said we were the top choice for the commercial, but if we officially got the job, the producer would call to give me details. That evening I got calls from the producer & wardrobe to give me specifics, and get our schedule for the shoot. The job paid $800 along with gas money & hotel. :) Oh yeah, we're BIG time now!
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| Off to the Casting Call with our "manny" Grandpa Frank |
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| Mommy & her BIG old babies! |
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| In the casting call ... Grandpa Frank always within reach! |
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"How'd we do mom???"
We were scheduled to shoot all day Sunday so we drove up Saturday afternoon to get settled without throwing our schedule too much. After checking in and letting the babies run around the hotel like a bunch of crazies, we walked around the area. The Port Neches "mall" (if you can call it that) was behind the hotel & we ended up getting a picture taken with the Easter Bunny (2/3rds were a success .. pretty good odds for us!). That night I met with the producer, director, wardrobe, etc to go over what the babies were wearing, & get our "call sheet" & maps for the following day.
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| .... and we're off to Beaumont! |
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| About to go CRAZY in the hotel room! |
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| Our FAVORITE part of the entire room .. these extra 3 babies who were SO friendly & always waiting to play :) |
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| (yes, we were THOSE people....) |
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| "Wait for me guys!!" |
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| Nevermind.... I'll just read in my high chair |
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| Look who we ran into at the "mall"! |
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| 2 out of 3 isn't bad, right?? |
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| The room wasn't as packed as I would have thought it'd be with 3 cribs, high chairs, suitcases & 5 people! |
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| Mommy & Daddy had to hide by the bathroom, behind the closet door, until the babies passed out (oh yeah, this is how we ate our dinner...) |
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| ....then we watched a movie on Netflix while the peanuts slept |
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Don't they just look so peaceful?
On Sunday we were shooting at 2 different locations (a house & the credit union). That morning the director had a pair of sunglasses he wanted the baby to wear, so basically whoever wore them got to be in the shoot :) The girls pulled them off immediately, but Brandon kept them on like a champ, so he was the chosen one! Originally they had wanted a father/son commercial & to me the girls look too feminine, so it all worked out! A few times, they asked if we wanted to switch babies, but since Brandon was doing so well we decided to stick with him (plus to me it'd be obvious with all the close-ups that the babies were different).
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| We got our beauty sleep, had a BIG breakfast & off to the first location of the day! |
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| Hurry up ... & wait. |
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| Could he BE any cuter??? |
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| "MOOOOOOOOM, you're embarrassing me!" |
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| Mowing the lawn |
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| Behind the scenes |
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| Checking the shots |
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| On break now |
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| Our wonderful little family! |
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| Nap time! Right on schedule (making mommy happy!) |
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| My wonderful manny/hubby .. couldn't have done it without him!!! |
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| YUMMMMMMY (impromptu snack time!) |
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| 2nd shot at the same location |
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| Just chillin with the guys! |
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| Sheesh, those actors are so high maintenance! Gotta keep my little man shaded & happy! He started (loudly) requesting "agua" every time the director said "cut". As soon as he discovered the crew was laughing at his demands, it only encouraged him more! But of course mommy came running with his water bottle every time :) |
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| Putting the decal on the new mower |
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| Back at the hotel for lunch, play time, movie, nap & snack. |
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| Watching our Preschool Prep DVDs before nap (still have do to our schoolwork even on the set!) |
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| Final shot at the 2nd location |
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| These two were the BEST sisters in the WORLD! So supportive of their favorite brother! |
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| Behind the scenes |
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| Brandon LOVED being the center of attention ... wonder who he gets that from? |
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| ....& we're legit! Hmmmmm, what to do with our first BIG pay check??? |
With all the excitement, I forgot to ask if we'd get a copy of the commercial, but of course if I hear anything or as soon as I see it, I'll forward it along! The production company shot 4 different commercials this weekend to be released from April 2012 - April 2013 so over the next year sometime ours should air! If you're in the Beaumont area, look for my little prince's debut! :) Thanks to everyone who was genuinely excited for us & supporting us these past few crazy days!
*****updated*****
Here is the much anticipated video of our little star! Please, no autographs....
