Casting director for 'Fun Size' needs 1,500 extras, check out what she wants

CLEVELAND - Paramount Pictures is looking for 1,500 local people to be extras for the new movie "Fun Size."

Children over the age of 6 are welcome at the casting call on Saturday at the Cleveland Playhouse, from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m., as long as a parent or guardian accompanies anyone under the age of 18. Hundreds of adults also are needed, as well as adults with certain cars.

"Fun Size" is a comedy starring Victoria Justice, star of Nickelodeon, Thomas Mann and Jackson 'Tek' Nicoll.

To find out more about what kind of extras the producers will hire, we caught up with independent casting director Lillian Pyles. She lives in Cleveland, and is again working for Paramount Pictures for this new movie. Her work on movies made here in Cleveland is extensive.

Pyles worked on Cleveland casting auditions for Paramount Pictures, "True Grit" in 2010. She was the Cleveland extras casting director in 2008 for "The Soloist" by Universal Pictures. Pyles also has been involved in numerous other movies, commercials and other productions.

For "Fun Size," the extras will be paid.

"It depends on the budget of the film, how much the extras get paid," Pyles said. "Extras are paid one salary, then the stand-ins are paid something else and then the doubles something else," she explained.

"We need all types," Pyles said. "In some areas we need what's called a stand-in for the main characters. So we've got to find someone who looks like identical to the main characters to stand in during the lighting tests, during the wardrobe tests, for the specialty people."

Pyles said some extras may be paid to work for two weeks at a time, while others may just be needed one day.

"We need hundreds of vehicles, because it's all got to look real," Pyles said. "So we need vehicles to park in the street. There are certain blocks we need some specialty vehicles, like a '73 Impala, we need a Cadillac, we need convertibles, we need some fast and furious cars -- some shiny some, not so shiny. So we'll need extras who have the cars who can drive the cars in the scenes."

The plot of "Fun Size" takes place during Halloween, so there also is a need for extras with costumes.

"We're asking for innovative costumes -- things that people can design themselves. Not so much the regular costumes you buy in a store -- we're looking for people to create their own costumes."

Pyles is asking people who want a shot at being an extra to simply go to Saturday's casting call and not send any emails. For a chance to be in the film, there is an open casting call Saturday at the Cleveland Playhouse, 8500 Euclid Avenue, from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. There will be free parking. If possible, producers ask that you bring a photograph of yourself and your kids, in Halloween costume.

To hear more about the casting requirements, watch the video under the headline to this story. Pyles also shared her thoughts on film-making in Cleveland in that video.

"Cleveland is a film-friendly town," Pyles said. "This is 'Everywhere USA.' Cleveland can be whatever you want to make it. It's an absolutely incredible thing for Cleveland because it creates jobs. Not only for the people who want to be actors but for the crew, people who own businesses, people who own restaurants."

Another film set to be shot in Cleveland is “The Avengers.”

The casting call for that shoot will be in early July, as newsnet5.com reported in April.

So, if for some reason you don't make the cut on the audition for "Fun Size," you'll have another shot to be in a movie made in Cleveland in the weeks ahead.