Casting a new light on ad auditions

Following a conversation between actor Lucy Scott-Smith and her father about her 'successful' career in London, Scott-Smith decided to pen her own take on the process of advertising auditions.

Selling Out is a brilliantly funny and, at times, sad portrayal of the sometimes nonsensical hoops actors are asked to jump through before landing a part. The film is directed by AMV BBDO creative George Hackforth-Jones through Flare Productions, AMV's in-house production company, and is based on Scott-Smith's own experiences of ad world auditions (she recently featured in Amazon’s Ironing spot).

“Auditions can be a pretty surreal experience and most of these set ups were things that actually happened to me," said Scott-Smith. "They become so normal and it’s not until I’m chatting to my parents about what I’ve been doing that day that I realise how ridiculous it sounds.”

“I think sometimes we can take ourselves a bit too seriously in the ad industry and don’t necessarily think how exhausting castings can be for actors, even if they’re only there for 30 seconds," adds Hackforth-Jones. "Lucy’s film is a good reminder to be nice. We’re not making French art house, we’re selling teabags.”