Joyful Noise

I'm super-excited that the movie Joyful Noise is coming out in January. This is the first movie I got to be a background artist in (that's an "extra" in cinema-speak). The movie trailer for the movie just came out and you can see it on You Tube (or by clicking on the photo above if you're reading this directly from my blog site).

The scenes I filmed in this movie were shot back in March in Conyers, GA and at the Atlanta Civic Center. Thanks to my good friend John Ridings, a veteran background artist, we ended up on the second row for the entire three days we were filming at the Civic Center. We were right in the middle of the action and could practically reach out and touch the folks on stage. On some shots from the stage there are close-up shots that I'm sure we were in. All in all, it was a lot of fun, I made a few bucks, and I also got royally entertained while filming it.

The best part of my short stint in the movie industry was the people I met. I have shared this before, but there is a whole sub-culture of people who make their living and otherwise spend their time as movie extras, er...background artists. Most of these folks - at least the ones I got to know - are wonderful people, and very interesting. I got to know many of them and to hear their stories - believe me, when you spend 14+ hours on set with someone for several days, you get pretty up close and personal. I am grateful to have had the opportunity to meet these actors; they may never win an Oscar, but they'll always be stars in my eyes.

For now my movie days are over - with my new job I can't make the casting calls I could when I was unemployed. Regardless, I met some great friends making movies and, who knows, maybe someday my grand-kids will be watching an old movie on TV and see their old grandpa on the screen. Here's hoping for this movie to be a hit!

P.A. Another screen adventure I'm in also comes out next year. That movie is a Disney film called the Odd Life of Timothy Green. In Odd Life I spent a couple of days sitting right next to Jennifer Garner.