This past week Kal-el's modeling agency out of Nashville gave us a call and asked if we would be interested in having Kal-el appear in his very first commerical. We were so happy that he was chosen out of several children from several different agencies. We of course said yes after hearing the details. The commerical is for Williamson Medical Center in Franklin TN and it will air in the general Nashville area. Kal-el played the role of a "young professional's son". The scene centers around a father coming home and interacting with his son after work. The commerical is entitled "What Matters Most" and is a very family oriented commerical. We thought this would be a great first time experience for Super!
Chris and I had a wonderful drive up to Tennessee with no major occurrences other than a wet diaper and some less than favorable weather conditions. The filming location for the particular scene that starred Kal-el was in a beautiful home in one of Franklin's neiborhoods. When we arrived we were meet with a warm welcome from the film crew as well as the director and producer. They were crazy about Kal-el from the minute then saw him and after he warmed up a little he turned into as little ham as he interacted with them. Two of the producer's 9 children..that's right 9!!! were there so Super really enjoyed playing with them. The fact that they were both very pretty little girls didn't hurt! :) While the crew finished filming the prior scene we were told to make ourselves at home. Some very yummy catered food was brought in and Kal-el wasgiven some tennis balls to play with because he kept saying ball and one of the crew went to round some up for him. Wow acting like a star already...huh Super? :) Kal-el got his hair brushed by the makeup artist (thats all they do to kids) while his clothes were being steamed. He loved every single minute of the attention. He kept staring at her powder brush that she used on the other actors and eventually started whining for it. He sees Mommy use hers and sometimes gets to play with it. After a few more rounds of tossing the balls back and forth it was time for Kal-el to film his scene.
The room with all the film crew, bright lights, and big cameras seemed a bit overwhelming at first. Most of it was somewhat familiar to me from my modeling days but commerical set ups are a bit different and require the involvement of more individuals to execute the game plan. Once Kal-el had a second to take it all in he started to notice everyone around him and seemed to be totally at ease. There was only one problem. My sweet boy liked everyone on set EXCEPT the guy who was supposed to be playing his father...uh oh..not good especially considering they were to be the only two individuals in the scene. Not sure what the actor's deal was but it was painfully obvious that he was a little uncomfortable with kids and had not a clue how to interact with them. The director had to give him very specific instructions about working with children. He eventually caught on. It really was a major team effort. Chris played a huge role in getting Kal-el to walk right where they needed him and to smile on cue. Lots and lots of balls had to be thrown back and forth to keep Super happy and to ward off any boredom. I had to stay stragically hidden behind a door opening for the majority of the filming. I was trying to remain unseen because I knew Kal-el would run over to me if he saw me. I would occasionally stick my camera out and sneak a shot of the filming process. Chris did most of the work because Kal-el responded better to his requests. No suprise there! lol Kal-el would get distracted and occasionally run over to the director's camera seat on wheels and yell "CAR!" Everyone thought this was so funny. He would also grab the teddy bear on set, proceed to kiss it, bite it's nose and then full body tackle it! More roars of laughter. Kal-el is so rotten. :) We were finally told that it was a wrap. They got all the shots they needed. The director told us he was very pleased with how filming went.
We had such an awesome time and I am so proud of Kal-el. I absolutely can't wait to see the results once the editing process is finished. Looks like Mr. Hollywwod might be following in Mommy's footsteps, then again he may end up not really caring for it, which is totally fine to. Whatever he chooses Chris and I will always support him 100%. Either way he can now say he appeared in his very first commerical at 19 months old! So glad we found a dependable professional agency for little man and we look forward to hearing from them in the future. I will be sure and post the commerical as soon as I can get my hands on it!
On the ride down...can you tell he wants my camera out of his face lol
The beautiful shoot location
Sharing an apple with Daddy inbetween takes...
A quick change of shirts with Mommy..
On set :)
All done time to go home..they let him have a couple of balls for the drive home :)