Two Florida contest skateboarders made national airways this week when their skating skills opened the doors for an opportunity to be part of a national television commercial for Office Max and Office Depot. The two office supply companies merged last year in a big deal on the New York Stock Exchange. More to come as the story is finalized for publication.
It all started a couple months ago when a talent agency in Naples, FL began searching for skateboarders who could “drop in a huge half pipe”. That announcement captured the attention of several skaters in Florida who tried out at the casting call in Miami. But before you could go to that actor audition, Schilling Advertising Agency, from New York City mandated that each skater needed to film themselves dropping in a big ramp and say a couple of corny punchlines. (It was obvious they agency wasn’t that well versed in the skate scene.)
The talent agency submitted 31 applications in total to the casting agent for the top 3 jobs which included $2,500 for the main role, and two (2) $250 background skater roles. Two skaters earned some cash, as Titus Massinello and Will Schumatti were selected and asked to return the day before the shoot to prep them for their roles. Both were well above what the agency needed in skill level for their roles as “extras”. The main role was secured by an actor Mavrick Moreno who had to spit out the line “Cool computer, where’d you get that?”
Titus and Will both made the most of it, basically getting paid to skate in Brian Piccolo Skate Park in Cooper City, FL. When the commercial aired on national television this month on ABC, NBC, CBS channels just in time for “back to school”, both boys were not visible in the tv ad, though Will made the opening scene (see the blurry image of a skater on a ramp in the upper left corner) hahaha. Pretty funny we thought!
On a side (and funny) note. The Director tried to control the rambunctious skaters who did what skaters do best, skated! And when he said “Cut!”, the two just kept skating. When the Director yelled “ACTION!” it really didn’t matter because the skaters were already skating (lol). When it was over and the Director screamed “that’s a wrap!”, as you can guess, the two didn’t even hear him; they just kept skating. In fact it was tough to get them two out of there when the shoot was finally over!
The entire production was licensed in Florida by Highland Talent payments.