Every so
often, as you'll learn more in my cheer leading blog to come, I peruse the Star
Now website, usually with no success.
For those
players who don't know what it is, it's a site for actors, models, dancers,
extras, musicians, make up artists and film crew to either find jobs or to find
people to do jobs for them. It's free to view and free to post listings, but to
apply for jobs you need to have a paid membership. It's kind of like having an
agent, only way cheaper!
I've been a
member of Star now for over five years. I found out about it when we were
casting for a uni film back in 2008 and decided to join, not actually having a
scerrick of acting or modeling experience other than playing a fairy in a
midsummer nights dream and a munchkin in the Wiz musical back in high school.
Some would
call me a fame whore... Many years ago I expressed an interest to one of my
friends in being famous, and she has never let me forget it. It's not that I
want to be famous, I don't actually desire to make any money out of it, or sign
autographs or any of that jazz, so what I wasn't able to articulate then to her
was that I have always been fascinated in all areas of film and television. I
love editing and love my job and helping on shoots, but I also love being part
of shoots. To a lot of people this doesn't make sense... Why would someone want
to spend hours and hours unpaid waiting to walk behind some people talking a
few times? I explain it to them but still get the looks of bewilderment. In the
time I've been a member I've been fortunate to be cast a few times, in a
feature film, in a TV pilot, in a short doco, and now in this shoot I'm about
to tell you about.
I originally
saw the casting and thought this is cool, they want real people not super
skinny plastic surgery ridden real models, so I applied.
Honestly I
didn't really read too much into the subject matter, or give it a second look,
just sent an email expressing my interest. I was surprised when I got an email
back because 99.9% of the time I apply for things I get no response, or the
courteous "thanks for your application, but we don't need you."
You may be
confused about why I'm blogging about this... Applying for things is not
exactly out of my comfort zone... And you're right, it's not, but what has
taken me out of my comfort zone is the subject matter.
I care about
social justice issues when they are immediately in front of me, but I won't
lie, I avoid reading and watching news about serious issues because they don't
directly affect me, and if I worried
about all the horrors in the world I'd never sleep. I don't think this makes me
a bad person or uncaring, but it does make me a tad ignorant.
The subject
matter is human trafficking, something I know very little about, only that I
thought it was something bad that happens in other countries. Imagine my
surprise to learn that this is actually something that occurs here in the “lucky”
country.
I told my
housemates I was joining the project and one of them actually laughed out loud,
proclaiming "that doesn't exist in Australia!"
This is
called the We Exist Project and is a collection of photos as well as a
documentary about raising awareness that these people do exist and are closer
to you than you may think.
It is headed
up by a girl names Carli Carey and is being released in July to highlight the
circumstances faced by 27 million people worldwide who are trafficked for sex
and labour. It is supposed to be a confronting collection and has some
phenomenal photographers and make up artists who have all volunteered their
time and are making this project truly amazing.
I went along
to the launch night for this project at a pub in Balmain and had the
opportunity to meet Carli, her husband and all the amazing models, make up
artists, wardrobe assistants, camera people, photographers and models. We
mingled for a while, and then Carli stood up and gave a talk about the project,
how it was a small idea she had that gained an overwhelming amount of support
and has grown to be a huge project in the name of freedom, justice and
awareness.
I'd go into
more detail about the project itself, but I won't do it justice.
Head to this
website, or follow the project on Twitter or on Facebook and see some of the
incredible photos that have already been.
While this
is an opportunity for me to get photographed, it's an opportunity for
awareness! It has opened my eyes, and if I can do my little bit to share it
just by writing this blog I will.
Website
Facebook
Twitter
As is the
nature of a volunteer project, sometimes things fall through on the day, and so
the shoot I was on my way to had to be rescheduled due to no makeup artist
being available, but as soon as it is done I will upload images. And if it does
fall through, which I hope it doesn't I have already been able to be a part of
something that does have the potential to have a global reach, and from where I’m
standing or sitting, that’s pretty damn cool!!
In the
meantime… here are a few of the images so far.
WE EXIST // - 10/10
