VOLUNTEER

I want to thank you for considering joining our team for what I believe will be a fun and fulfilling experience as we create episodes 1 and 2 of “The Underground” this summer. We plan to produce episode 1 during Western Michigan University’s summer I semester (May and June) and episode 2 during summer II (July and August). Everyone working on “The Underground” are volunteers or interns helping for class credit. There are no paid positions. Once completed we plan to publicly screen both episodes, enter them in award competitions and post them on YouTube and our website so that visitors can view them for years to come. 

VOLUNTEER REQUIREMENTS:

Time Commitment: Production will occur primarily on the weekends, but occasionally during the week after 5pm.

Transportation: You must be able to transport yourself to and from the set. Production is expected to occur primarily in the Kalamazoo and Portage, Michigan area, but may also take place anywhere in the lower West Michigan area. 

Computer: You must have access to a computer with internet access to receive communication and to download documents and videos.

COVID 19: Actors are required to perform maskless when on camera and will likely be in close proximity to one another. Therefore, I highly encourage all who are on set to be fully vaccinated and boosted for the safety of all participants.

VOLUNTEER ROLES:

Actors: Each episode is expected to have 4-8 primary actors with an additional 1-4 smaller roles. All ages, gender and ethnicities are encouraged to audition. No experience required, but it is certainly preferred.

Crew: Though the crew is expected to primarily consist of student interns, in the event that we are unable to find who we need, we would love your help. Our crew will consist of the director, producer, assistant director, boom operator, script supervisor, and art director. Though these positions are the crew’s primary roles, they will also have additional responsibilities. 

Location Coordinators: One of the most challenging aspects of a low-to-no-budget production is securing locations to shoot. Anyone can be a location coordinator. If you know of, and are able to gain permission for us to shoot in a location, that would be exceedingly helpful. It could be access to an apartment, home, business, facility, jail, police station, warehouse, airport, plant, school, etc., during any time that is convenient for you for no more than 4 hours.

Additional Help: If you have an area of expertise that you’d like to contribute to the project, please let us know. This might include: makeup, wardrobe, prop master, fundraising, marketing, photography, etc.

NEXT STEPS:

If you are interested in an acting role for Episode 1 (May-June) or Episode 2 (July-August), we are holding auditions Wednesday, March 16th, 6pm at WMU and Saturday, March 19th, 3pm at The Point. Click on the “Auditions” button below for more details and the “Cast/Crew” button to get an idea of the roles we need to fill. If you are interested in volunteering as part of the crew or in another capacity, please click on the “Cast/Crew” button as well. If you have any questions, click on the “Contact Us” link at the bottom of this page to reach out to us.