Never in a million years did I want to be on reality television, let alone audition for one. I am comfortable living my life with my family. However, as soon as I started freelance writing, I started using a great asset called Help a Reporter. Basically, it is a service that brings writers and sources together in an easy-to-use way.
One day as I was scanning through the different pitches from writers, I saw one for a TV show about stay-at-home dads who wanted to share their story. I responded by sending an email in which I touched on how I decided to stay at home with my two young boys. A few days later, I received a follow up email from the casting director. The casting company was interested and wanted get some more information from me. I responded with an interview time and I spent the next few days preparing.
Phone Interview – The first phone interview lasted about 10 minutes. The casting company wanted to pull as much information on why I chose to stay at home with the kids, what activities we do, how my wife handles me staying at home, and do I actually enjoy being Mr mom. I answered these questions to the best of my ability and tried to stay calm. I was informed during the interview that a major network is interested in the choices on how a man becomes a stay-at-home dad. At the end of the call, the casting director instructed me to film b-roll footage and set up a Skype phone interview.
Skype Interview – For the next interview, I had to purchase a video camera for my computer for the face to face interview with the casting director. For this interview, the casting director and his assistant interviewed my entire family through Skype. The entire interview took an hour and I answered a variety of questions. From how do my wife and I handle finances, how do we reconcile our finances, and does my wife enjoy the work world. Honestly, there were a few questions that I did not expect and I felt a little under prepared. The biggest advice from the casting director is to let your personality shine and be yourself. At the end of the interview, I was instructed to make a b-roll video.
B-roll Footage – B-Roll footage is unedited video that is shot with out script and just like real life. I had my cousin come over for the 20 minute b-roll video recording for us. I was filmed with my family and wife in our normal routine. We played games, wrestled, and showed the casting director our nightly schedule. Quite honestly, when filming the b-roll footage, I was not a fan of how my voice sounded in the recording – maybe I am not used to seeing myself on video. Because we were under a tight deadline, we had to film the b-roll footage last minute and I skimped on thinking it out. Lastly, the hardest part though was to upload the entire video to Vimeo. The video took about 12 hours to upload because the entire file was 400MB or so.
Another Skype Interview – The last Skype interview was for my wife and me to play a game. It was like the Newlywed Game in where we would both answer various questions about each other. This last interview was shorter in length – about 20 minutes. At the end of the video we asked where we were at in the process. We were informed that I was in the top ten for the show and to wait for further instructions. At this point, the casting company compiles all the footage and puts it together for the network. Then the casting company is done and moves on to their next assignment and everything is in the network’s hands.
Reflections – The way you find out that you don’t make the show is that you never hear from the network. It has been over three months, and I get the strong impression that I was not cast which is fine with me. This whole process is exciting but a little scary because you are inviting anyone who has a television into your life. Further, I would recommend to film something exciting for the b-roll footage – like out in public, going out to eat, etc. Also, you will get rejected many times before you will get cast – just don’t give up!
