The last time I had a residual check, it was last year, for 35 cents. It cost more in postage to mail me that check, and it was for a show called "What Should You Do?" A recreated events show where I played a girl whose math class gets held hostage by a gunman so she pretends she is pregnant and having a miscarriage so he'll let her go. I had two lines for my co-star credit: "I'm pregnant. And I think I'm having a miscarriage." Except, ham that I am, I really wanted to sell this. So it was more like, "Hunnnn! Hnnuuuh! Uhhhhhhgggghhh!! I'm pregnant - And -RRRRRRRRgggggggg! I think I'm havinnnnnnnnggggguh! a miscarriageeeeooooooooohhhh!"
The crew members came up to me after we broke for lunch and said I was amazing. Yup! Those two lines were AWESOME! "This is going to be fantastic for your reel!" The director said. "Great work!"
But the weird thing is, I NEVER saw the show air! They had given me dates, they had changed dates, my dad had recorded EVERY episode and we never saw it. I know it ran cause I got a few residuals for it, but I never saw it and I never got a copy of it because they told me that sending me a copy wasn't in their budget.
And I never got credited for it on the imdb. :(
But I DID keep getting residuals for that show, which I shot in 2004.
A few weeks ago, I got a phone call from a lady in Maryland who's in charge of payroll for America's Most Wanted. (Even though the imdb does have my credit on it (yay!) it credits me as "Halloween House Woman," so I sound like I did background for the show and added the name myself to make my role sound bigger than it was. Boo! ) She says, "Hey! We just re-ran your episode and we'd like to pay you your residual, but I just looked in the computer and it shows that you never cashed the last check we sent you."
"Well! That's because I never received it!" I cheerily replied. Cause trust me, Mama would've if Mama had it!
She confirmed my address and said to expect two checks.
Open my mailbox and what do I find? My rent! From America's Most Wanted! In the nick of time! Money doesn't grow on Trees! It grows in mailboxes!
Seriously, am I not having the best week ever?!!?
Wouldn't it have been awesome if she'd have put a recorded card in there that actually said "Boo" when you opened it? Now that would have been funny.
ReplyDeleteSeriously, you are having one F-I-N-E week!
Yay!! I'll never just AMW again. ;) Glad you got money for rent.
ReplyDeletePS I started from the very beginning of your blog, and I must say, it's addicting! I feel like I'm having one of my marathons, catching up on my favorite TV show that I've missed for a few weeks...or in this case, a year? Anyway, I just finished March of 2009 and am eager to see where life took you after that, but..I need sleep. ;)
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