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RSS'The Informant' seeking extras for movie set to film in Decatur in May
DECATUR - What Rich King thought might be a quiet little weekend day has stormed out of control.
King is the extras casting director for the Steven Soderberg-Matt Damon film "The Informant," which begins location work in Decatur next month.
The film is based on Kurt Eichenwald's account of the early-1990s ADM price-fixing scandal, in which Mark Whitacre (who will be portrayed by Damon) worked with the FBI to uncover the crimes.
Within the past week, King placed an advertisement on the Web site Craigslist.com. (Go to tinyurl.com/3je4pv to see the ad.)
Among the ad's contents are the following:
"Looking for people who would like to work as Movie Extras. We are seeking all ages (over 18), all shapes, size, types and ethnicities to be Background performers. ¦ please bring small photo of yourself."
The casting call will be 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. Saturday at 132 S. Water St. in Decatur, the Millikin Bank building.
King admitted he used Craigslist hoping to keep the casting low-key.
"We're not even going to hire 500 people," he said. "And I don't like to tell people 'no.' "
Workers at the Decatur offices for "The Informant" were even kept in the dark about the advertisement. As a result of the call becoming widely known, King is uncertain if he'll be able to see everyone who comes.
"I thought we could go through quietly, and I'd get a chance to talk to some people and get the casting done," he said. "But now that it's out ¦ well, it depends. I don't know what to expect now.
"We had 18,000 people turn out a couple of weeks ago for casting for the 'Hannah Montana' movie, but that was fine because we've got concert scenes in that. For 'The Informant,' there's just not that many people that we'll hire. It's going to be like 'American Idol' “ if 10,000 people show up, just a few get on.
"I wish it were a bigger film."
The photo is the most important thing for those willing to brave the odds, King said. A picture can be brought to the audition, e-mailed to theinformantcasting@gmail.com or sent via regular mail to Rich King Casting, 6671 W. Sunset Blvd., Suite 1597, Los Angeles, CA 90028.
Extras will be paid $75 per 10-hour day and given breakfast and lunch, King said.
"It's a little bit more than minimum wage," he said. "It's just an experience, really."
Tim Cain can be reached at timcain@herald-review.com or 421-6908.
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