THE NIKE COMMERCIAL THAT WASN"T

So the day finally came. I finally got the big call for a National Commercial spot. This time the product was NIKE and the spot involved Lebron James and infamous Director Mark Romanek. I don't even think I realized how big of a deal this was until I received the call sheet and discovered just how elaborate a gig this would be. I mean, on paper, I had every right to be ecstatic. The celebrity personnel, the magnitude of this shoot, the fact that the usage for this spot invovles every component- network, cable, internet, foreign, industrial, behind the scenes- everything. There would be an enormous money making opportunity here. All these elements ran through my mind as I drove down to the LA sports arena for work at 5am on Monday. Upon arrival, I quickly learned from a fellow actor, that the only way to make residuals off this spot is to have your face in the final cut for at least half a second. I wasn't too worried about it because our audition bit ran about 5 seconds and was a nice tag to the end of the commercial. As the shoot commenced, I discovered that there was no guarantee for any of us that we would make the final cut. However, I feared not because I thought our bit was a vital part to book end the commercial. In addition, the Director, Mark Romanek, seemed to really be on our side to get our bit in. I decided to be a total teamplayer and make myself as available as possible for the director. I would have finally had my moment had there not been a discrepancy about one of the shots on day two that delayed everything by two hours. The result of this delay landed a few of the final shots on the gym floor with no hope of making the spot. In any case, I left with the knowledge of having a great working relationship with an amazing director and will now do everything in my power to work with him again in the future.