Casting Agents Expand Into Print

The last time Caryn Cellaigh appeared in a print advertisement, she had her baby teeth. In the ad, for a product called Mighty White’s Great Zeeth toothpaste, the 3-year-old was brushing her pearly whites.

Now 23, Cellaigh recently moved to Hollywood from Chicago to cut her teeth on bigger things--like TV commercials. But the jobs are tough to find. So she signed on with a Hollywood casting service that has helped her land jobs as an extra in films and music videos.

That, however, isn’t paying all the bills. And while Cellaigh originally went to the agency in search of minor roles in TV commercials or films, she is now pegging her hopes on the agency’s newly created print placement division. “I consider myself more of an actress than a model,” she said, “but these days you have to take whatever you can get.”

With the advertising industry still in a tailspin, far fewer TV spots are being filmed. By one agent’s estimate, commercial bookings are down 30% from a year ago. So Cellaigh, like hundreds of other actors and actresses, once again finds herself trying to make ends meet by getting her face into print advertisements. This is a far cry from the big-screen expectations many models, actors and actresses have when they enter the glitzy Los Angeles market.

Although print ads might not have the glamour of screen roles, the pay for a day’s work can be five to 10 times higher than the $40 a day that most Hollywood extras make. New York ad agency McCann-Erickson estimates that nearly $50 billion was spent domestically on print advertising last year. Because the cost to produce a typical print ad is usually a fraction of a TV spot, many advertisers who have continued to air last year’s TV spots are still creating fresh print ads.

Very aware of this trend is 13-year-old Judi’s Casting Service. The Hollywood company is one of nearly 100 casting agencies of various sizes operating in Southern California. Over the past few years, many casting companies--strapped for business--have closed their doors.

Until now, Judi’s Casting--which provided extras for the film “E.T.”--has placed its clients as extras in commercials, films and TV shows. But last week the agency opened a separate division that will place clients only in print ads. Agency officials conservatively estimate that print ads may account for half the firm’s revenue within three years.

“This is not just a quick fix during a harsh economy,” said Kevin Burton, the agency’s talent coordinator, who has been a model for Ralph Lauren print ads. “The clients may see it as a way to get work right now, but we see it as a way to build our business.” The agency collects a 15% commission for each client it places.

“We got into this business by default,” Burton said. When his agency sends clients out as extras on films or TV commercials, it frequently gets calls from photographers or creative directors who want to use the same clients in print ads.

For some clients who have aspirations of Hollywood fame, the adjustment might not be easy. But for Nancy Felber, a West Hollywood interior designer, it was a snap.

Earlier this year, Felber, a full-sized woman in her 40s, signed on as an extra. Her first experience was rather disappointing. She spent long hours on a Hollywood set only to be jammed into a crowd scene.

But an audio stereo company recently featured her in a full-page print ad scheduled to run in home electronics trade magazines. “It’s not the cover of Time magazine,” she said. “But it gives you a lot more credibility than some crowd scene in a movie that ends up on the cutting-room floor.”

Lisa Ann DeMiro, a 21-year-old student at Cal State Long Beach, is also anxious to move into print. In recent months she’s been an extra in several films as well as in a Miller Lite TV spot, but there’s only so much satisfaction--and not much money--in that.

“Besides,” she said, “I need the exposure.”

But one skeptic says the Hollywood extras--and their agents--may be daydreaming. “Most extras are not young, beautiful people,” said Nina Blanchard, whose Hollywood talent agency acts as an agent for actors and actresses looking for work in commercials and print ads. “Remember, print ads are much less forgiving.”

Saatchi Office May Grow

Plenty of hiring appears to be in store for the Torrance office of Saatchi & Saatchi.

Last week, a big chunk of the estimated $75-million Silo Inc. home electronics ad business was won by the Northern American offices of Saatchi. Ed Wax, chairman of the agency, said that while account planning will be handled mostly out of New York, much of the advertising will be created in Torrance, which already creates Silo ads on the West Coast. “They’ll have to hire lots of people in Torrance,” he said.

A Headhunter Quits

Veteran Los Angeles ad agency headhunter Charles Sharp has closed his executive recruiting business after 11 years.

Sharp, who has placed executives at dozens of local agencies, moved to San Diego, where he purchased a commercial flooring firm. With the industry downturn, few agencies are hiring senior employees--and willing to pay 20% commissions. Said Sharp: “I realized several years ago that the ad industry was changing. It is no longer dynamic and expanding.”

Briefly

The hotly contested $2-million UC Davis Medical Center ad business has been handed to Schroffel & Associates of Los Angeles. . . . Food 4 Less Supermarkets has named seven finalists for its estimated $20-million account and may select an agency by late July. . . . Today’s telecast of the “Orpah Winfrey Show” reunites former Pittsburgh Steeler lineman “Mean Joe Green,” now 44, and Tommy Okon, the young “boy in the tunnel”--now 21--who co-starred in the famous Coke commercial where an injured Mean Joe gives the kid the jersey off his back. . . . Nike’s newest “Bo Show” commercial, to air during the baseball All-Star game July 9, will co-star former heavyweight boxing champion George Foreman.