Jump to content

Casting Call For Gold Prospecting TV Show


Recommended Posts

3 minutes ago, tboykin said:

Kate called me, left a VM. They want to talk! I will call her back tomorrow. Should I take the gig or not?

If your serious.  Take the Gig, it's once a once in a lifetime thing.

Link to comment
Share on other sites


About a year ago, I received a similar call.  A little different concept, but essentially a "reality show" about treasure hunting.  I even contacted Chris about it to see if he was interested.  He wasn't.  We thought, what the hell, what do we have to lose?  So we did the online interview with one of the producers and everything looked good.  Even though I thought the whole concept was weak, it sounded fun, and we got paid!  Well, long story short, after the interview, we heard nothing more.  Zip.  So, a lot of concepts get thrown out there, but if they can't line up sponsers, "advertising", then the whole thing gets dropped.  They are looking for "interesting people", someone who will create a buzz, a conflict, a villain, that will make people want to tune in to see what happens next.  Real prospectors don't qualify, although I'm sure there are some on here who could fit the bill :-)

Digger Bob

  • Like 2
Link to comment
Share on other sites

55 minutes ago, Digger Bob said:

 Real prospectors don't qualify

Yep exactly. I applied to some of these too and discovered the same thing. Prospecting and mining are mostly irrelevant, they are just writing a story and what the characters do is less important than the characters themselves. Big character and big breasts are what they are looking for.

There are only 7 stories ever written, and if I'm going to read a permutation of one of them then it's going to be written by Steinbeck not schlock trying to emulate the last 10 mildly successful shows that preceeded it. This here is why we end up with nothing but comic book movie crossovers for a decade straight in the theaters and why people like me haven't watched or owned a TV for years.

There are real prospectors risking real money and real lives and they know how to find them if they want, they just don't want to. 

  • Like 2
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Jason  and Diggerbob are correct. I was fortunate enough to be included as a character in one of these reality shows about gold hunting and was interviewed. This production companies  name escapes me now but they are in the business and have many  shows to their list on tv. Anyways they came up, three of them....two camermen and the director or concept idea person for the company, who happened to be the great grand daughter of the director (Greek Fella) who produced and directed Cleopatra back in the 30's.  We did what they call Quick Reals for three days. We basically shot some film with showing us finding, chasing claim jumpers away with guns, and selling gold, to me as I was the buyer of the gold. We were told the company had to go back east to sell the idea to all the networks like Discovery, National Geographic and so on. Well we were put on the shelf, that's what they call it..never heard from them...lol :wacko: again. They want crazy sh-t, not miners who put the nose to the ground and seek gold day after day...they love drama,without it, it don't last long. Weeks went by and she called us saying the day she had to go east to sell the idea she got sick and one of the camera guys went instead....she said he sabotaged it, she  left the company..forming her own production company. It was a fun experience....oh and than their was the guy with the parrot who traveled the States interviewing gold seekers and mining with his parrot which was marketed for kids....that one never made it either. But......good luck to anyone who gives it a go. You may have a better experience than I... 

  • Like 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Haha thank you for posting that AuWanderer. I don't think I've seen a reel that illustrates the point better than that one!

Well, best of luck to anyone who does these. I try to shutup about them, but they just won't stop. 2 or 3 new ones a year.

And also since at least 1 producer is browsing this thread...I hope they realize not all prospectors are brash, toothless bumpkins that grew up in ole Kentucky spitting chaw, eatin' possums and using rifles as walking sticks. Because most of the succesful guys I've met are actually intelligent and hard workers, and pretty normal people like you'd find in any job. 

These shows can happily find the exit door IMO. :biggrin:

  • Like 2
Link to comment
Share on other sites

6 hours ago, jasong said:

Because most of the successful guys I've met are actually intelligent and hard workers, and pretty normal people like you'd find in any job. 

Jason,

As some would say I hear ya but I don't think a good prospector is exactly normal.  You might think yourself normal but most normal people wouldn't suffer the discomforts, take some of the risks and go to the hard to get to places that a true prospector would.  I think any prospector has a bit more of an adventurous spirit than normal people is all I'm saying and I am sure you fit the description of a prospector. 

I do really respect the true prospector that can actually make a living from prospecting. I tried briefly in 05 and couldn't see a way to make it work so I went back to normal work for another 10 years.  I like to dabble in it but not willing to go all in and risk my limited finances. It's a tough gig with risks every step of the way which maybe is one of the reasons we tune into these shows even though we see that some of it is staged.  

Terry    

  • Like 2
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Most of the people promoting these show concepts don't give a sh*t about the cast they hire.

What they really are trying to come up with is the sponsors money.

They siphon their profit off the top before the show even begins filming, it's in their contracts.

The unscripted part is not true. We all can pretty much guess the kinds of

manufactured situations they will dump their 'stars' into.

The first thing to do when having any sort of contact with these folks is to hire a trustworthy and adept lawyer.

A touch harsh for a reason. People unacquainted with these kinds of businesses

can really wind up being taken advantage of.

fwiw

 

 

  • Like 4
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Well I got a phone interview today. Seems like an interesting concept and will report back if anything develops.

It seems like part of the show would be Survivorman style - just solo with equipment and a camera. Though much can happen in the editing room. It would at the very least be an interesting life experience. And to me, that's what it's all about.

  • Like 2
Link to comment
Share on other sites

nothing ventured....nothing gained hey:smile:

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Create an account or sign in to comment

You need to be a member in order to leave a comment

Create an account

Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!

Register a new account

Sign in

Already have an account? Sign in here.

Sign In Now
×
×
  • Create New...