Dear All----

I wrote to Terry (My note is the first one, below) to ask whether the notes we have been receiving are to be taken as rejection notices or not.

His response follows my note. Now it's all clear....as mud. Good luck to all. Sitting down here in bayou country, I am not expecting the chance for sudden fame, but some of you "up there" might still get a call. It'll be fun to watch to see how this goes.
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MY LETTER TO TERRY:
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Dear Terry,

Thanks for your prompt response! You are so kind and gentle in your responses that it is unclear whether or not you are sending rejection notices!

I was not pressing for myself to be included. I was simply not certain whether the note I received was to be considered as a final note.....Of course, there must be some culling of participants after an open audition, and I know that several other friends from the Oral Cancer Foundation were also not certain about whether your note was a courtesy progress note, or a soft rejection.

Since I have your "ear," how about clearing up the process for this particular project for all of us: Has the casting crew culled the list and made recommendations to the producer, and were your emails sent yesterday intended to be rejection letters, based on the auditions, or are all such decisions yet to be made by the producers? Also, will any persons not involved in a live audition be considered for the filming? I will pass along your information to the members of the Oral Cancer Foundation forum, and perhaps you will have less email on the subject!

Thanks....

--Colleen T.
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TERRY'S RESPONSE:
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Hi again Colleen,

I was just trying to be as honest with you as I can about the status of our project. I do not want to get your hopes up because certainly the odds are more in favor of those who were able to attend a casting session being selected for the commercial than those who were not. The casting sessions allow the director (who is also the person that will be asking the questions when it comes time to shoot the commercial) opportunities to meet people and assess whether or not they would be good to use in the commercial. There are quite a few factors that go into the selection process -- aside from the obvious, a lot of it is the director's "gut instinct" or "feel" for a person. But in reality, if someone has a great story, but has difficulty in sharing or talking about it in a way that engages the audience they're talking to, unfortunately, they will most likely not be selected. There are times though when the story triumphs and the director may take a chance on someone and "coach" them along the way too. But those instances are rare.

As for our project, we are still collecting information and stories and no decisions have been made yet as to who has made the cut and who hasn't. All information will be reviewed early next week and those who did not attend casting sessions but submitted videos (either through email or on DVD) will still be considered -- although like I mentioned previously, their odds of making it are certainly lower. However there is always the chance that if the producers and director find someone who did not attend castings but whose story interests them, will be pursued.

Once we make our selections, we will reach out to those selected and begin scheduling things further. Hope this clears things up.

Thanks again,
Terry