Crazy Casting Calls

Although infomercial casting usually goes swimmingly, there are notable exceptions. DRTV Producers at Concepts TV Productions know firsthand how misleading a headshot can be! One of our funniest stories occurred while producing a TV commercial for Cubic Zirconia earrings. Hundreds of headshots were submitted, but only a few were selected to model the sparklers. We did our casting solely from headshots. One model submitted a recent Polaroid of herself. She was just as beautiful as her headshot! The day of the shoot arrived: the crew was lighting the set; the makeup artist was working on our models. ­Our clients were anxious to meet her‚ and then she walked out for her close-up. But‚ she had only one ear lobe! Funny? Not at the time! She did look beautiful from one side though.

Another favorite story of ours involves a DRTV Diet Commercial. This specific casting was for actors who would reenact the real success stories from dieters. We selected talent we’d used in previous DRTV Commercials and we auditioned some new faces. The shoot ran smoothly, our DRTV Producers got all the shots needed, and there was just one model left. At 4pm on the day of the shoot, our last model arrived, and she was 8 months pregnant. Not exactly the ideal spokesmodel!

Direct Response Television Producer and founder of NJ Based Concepts TV Productions, Collette Liantonio has been in business for over 30 years with hundreds of DRTV success stories in Infomercial Production. Of course some of her DRTV Commercials are intentionally funny, such as “The Potty Putter,” a legendary gag gift spoofed as one of America’s “funniest commercials”! “I knew the actor in Potty Putter would be perfect for the part‚ he was my oldest son and my L.A. Producer. He loved the humor,” says Liantonio.