Casting Call for Audience of Obama’s MTV Town Hall?

[Geee]

ABC News:

ABC News' Sunlen Miller reports:

When President Obama sits down for his MTV town hall this Thursday, the audience of young people who will ask him questions will have been gathered by a casting call.

According to the casting call for the event from talent agency Backstage.com, first reported by National Review Online, the company requests applications for the event, asking what issues the person is “passionate about,” requiring a “short description of your political views,” and also asks for a recent photo.

[SrWoodchuck]

Geee!

 

Bring your union cards.......white lab coats and hard hats will be distributed at the door. Paying more for ethnic actors.

 

Some speaking parts.....scripts provided.

[Casino67]

Update: Back Stage National Casting Editor Luke Crowe provides additional information in a statement to Mediaite: (via email)

 

We publish upwards of 20,000 casting notices every year, but I don’t recall any of our articles ever receiving this much individual media attention. So I was stunned when we started to see a huge surge in traffic because of all the sites writing about this casting call. When the “Obama Town Hall” info first crossed my desk, I thought it was a unique opportunity. It seemed like a clever way to engage people in politics, and an interesting way for people to get seen on a major cable TV network. But I certainly didn’t think it was controversial, and would never have expected the attention it’s receiving.

 

I should note that although Back Stage reports on all sorts of casting and performance opportunities – the full gamut of the entertainment industry, from theater, film, TV, commercials, infomercials, music videos, and PSAs to reality TV series, game shows, talk shows, talent shows, comedy clubs, etc. – we rarely report on casting calls for audience members, political or apolitical. Because being an audience member doesn’t usually involve real “casting,” it’s filling a seat; it’s about being entertained instead of being on-air talent. But the “Obama Town Hall” casting call seemed like more than just a standard call for audience members – it’s a chance to possibly interact with the President on MTV.

 

I think it’s very cool that MTV opened up this opportunity to the general public via their casting call, instead of quietly selecting participants behind closed doors. It’d be great to see more stuff like this from politicians of all stripes. Back Stage is happy to publish casting notices for political commercials and media events for any respectable political party.

 

Source

[NCTexan]

Casting call for another Obama event... 'nuff said!