As an actor on a commercial set, nothing will get you in trouble faster than being on your phone and taking pictures when you shouldn’t be.
We certainly live in a time when photos on social media have tremendous appeal and a photo with the cast or director to commemorate the day does have its place. But there’s definitely a right way to go about this and a wrong way.
The wrong way: taking pictures on set without permission and posting them is a mortalsin on most sets, commercial or otherwise. Even scrolling social media while sitting on set is highly frowned upon. Actors on phones can make already anxious clients and ad agency folks even more so. Almost all commercial contracts have a clause about pictures, picture taking on set, and non-disclosure. Violating that contract can get you fired, or, even worse, sued. (The worst perpetrators of the picture taking & posting in my experience are the parents of child actors who are eager to document their kid’s experience on set.) You do not want to be the person who screws up an ad agency’s carefully orchestrated media release plan for a product with a behind the scenes TikTok.And the dopamine rush that attends the wave of likes from your friends and frenemies upon seeing your Instagram story about #setlife is just not worth the risk. Resist the temptation! Your job and reputation are not worth losing over a social media post.
Another watch out: commercial shoots do not usually have stand-ins, so occasionally you might be asked to set to stand-in while the DP is adjusting the lights. Yes, it can be a tedious few minutes as the grips and PA’s are hustling around with equipment while you stand in place. Still, do not be on your phone then. Do not scroll. Do not take selfies. The cameras may not be rolling, but literally every decision maker on set is looking at you either live or through the monitors at a time like that. You’re at work and your attention and readiness speak volumes about your professional character.
So, as a best practice, play it safe and avoid the siren song of Instagram entirely by notbringing your phone onto set with you at all. Leave it in your trailer or in the holding area with your personal effects. Even if you’re not actively using your phone, the possibility of an alarm or notification going off in the middle of a shot is horror you want to avoid. Also, just having your phone turned off and on your person while shooting a scene can be a problem; the outline of a phone in a pocket is noticeable and rarely
desirable.
At wrap there is usually an opportunity for a quick pic before everyone leaves and if you’re desperate for a picture that’s usually the best time to do it. Pro tip: mention your desire for a picture to the 2 nd AD ahead of time. Get permission. Even better, the 2 nd AD may even be able to coordinate a photo op for you so don’t have to initiate it. Sometimes the director is kind enough to share stills or behind the scenes pics with the actors, too.In all these cases, be sure to keep those pics offline and off social media until you know definitively that the commercial has aired.
My friend and veteran actor Will Kinnear once said a really smart thing about picture taking on set and I’ll paraphrase him here: apart from the trouble it can get you in, doing a lot of picture taking on set makes you look like a tourist and feel like a tourist. That’s a dangerous head space to be in as an actor with a job to do. Moreover, that activity sends the message to everyone on set that you are visiting, that you have never been here before and might not be back. And if you are someone who truly wants a career as a professional actor, that’s not a great look. You don’t want to be thought of by the director, the crew, or other actors as amateur and unserious.
In the words of famed acting coach Vince Lombardi, “act like you have been there before.” You trained hard, you won the job in a competitive audition process, and now you get to do the work. Leave the phone, take the memories, and build your reputation as a professional who can be trusted.
–Matt Miller is a commercial director, recovering casting director, and long-suffering Cleveland sports fan. mattmillerdirect.com