my 30 seconds of national fame

For Slouching Mom, and everyone else who has asked, here is the national commercial I filmed in 2001. It played during flu seasons of 01-02 and 02-03. I think it is missing a few opening seconds of us lying in bed, coughing and miserable.

(do you see why I laughed when people wondered if The Big Guy was concerned about my being in bed with another man for this shoot?)

When I filmed this commercial my husband and I were house hunting in the greater Los Angeles Area. I knew not to count on the money from the commercial until I had it in hand because you only get the big bucks if the ad actually airs, and I had had plenty of friends film commercials that never made it onto the airwaves.

One day The Big Guy and I had looked at a little house we loved... 3 bedrooms, hardwood floors, nice neighborhood.. but just slightly out of our price range.

When we returned home there was a check in our mailbox... the check from this commercial. It made up the difference we needed for the down payment. We called our real estate agent and told him to make an offer.

And thus we bought our first home.

It may not be my most brilliant performance, but it was definitely my most lucrative.

It is frustrating, though, as an artist, to work long and hard on many live performances of which I am very proud, and were only seen by a few hundred (or, when I was lucky, a few thousand) people. And then I did this commercial and everyone I knew saw it, and called, and thought it was so great. So while I'm so glad that I did it, it's a bit sad, because there are many, many things I would rather be known for. And PAID for. (and why I can get paid so much for one day's work hawking a product, but can't get paid enough to buy my gas when I'm doing a play is a rant for another day...)

I don't have many of my shows on video, but I do have a few... and when my new computer is returned to working order I'll see if I can get any of them onto the computer. Live performances don't tend to translate well onto video, though, so be forewarned.

Additional random info... This 30 second spot took all day to film. We spent probably well over an hour shooting a shot where I push opened a door. It took me forever to get it right... they didn't want me to bend my elbow at all, and for some reason this was hard for me. Anyhow... I did finally get it right, and the darn shot never made it into the commercial anyways. We also spent a lot of time filming the very short shot where we turn from looking at each other to looking at the camera. The director wanted our heads to move, and not our eyes. I see that my eyes still move and look before my head does. AND, in one very silly moment, the director stuck a fake gun under my pillow and instructed me to pull it on my husband during a take... just for kicks and giggles. He had no idea it was coming. That would be a fun video to see. Oh. And the food they served us all? Incredible. When I showed up really early in the morning and was in the trailer waiting to start they asked if I was hungry. "Not really" I said. They insisted, they'd get me anything. "Maybe a muffin and some fruit" They asked what kind. "Whatever." They asked again. "Blueberry muffin, or whatever they have." They returned a few minutes later with a banana and FRESHLY made mixed berry muffin. Yum. Lunch, dinner and snacks were all delicious, too. All day long people told me how terrible I looked, as a compliment of course, since I was supposed to look sick. I didn't bother to tell them that I was wearing NO makeup. But apparently the difference between looking sick and looking happy, healthy and ready to sleep? Lip gloss. Now you know. And last but not least... the director of the video was a former member of the band Ratt. And no... he did not still have the big hair.