MY FIRST JOB IN TELEVISION: STAND-IN FOR A DOG

     Talk about starting at the bottom: my first job in TV included standing in for a dog while they adjusted the lighting for a dog food commercial.  Yep, there I was, an honors graduate of a top flight university, down on my hands and knees with my nose hovering just inches away from a bowl of dog chow.  Why didn’t they use the actual dog?  Because Rover (or whatever his name was) was the STAR and needed his rest so he could be bright and peppy when the cameras started rolling.

     Fair enough, you might say.  Then why not get another dog, a stand-in dog?  Because as it turned out, using me was actually cheaper than hiring a dog.  Hiring a second dog would have meant hiring a second animal handler from the appropriate union…plus providing a second trailer for the second dog.

     So there I was, on all fours, with the Cameraman having a good laugh at my expense by saying things like, “Could you move your left paw a little closer to the bowl?”

     If you want to break into The Biz, I can pretty much guarantee that you will have to perform some similarly less than dignified tasks.  You have two choices: be sour and resentful (not a good option) or laugh about the whole thing.  Option #2 usually earns you huge points with the crew and director.  It did for me – and they then spent the next several months trying to help me advance in my career in every possible way they could.