Be warned - Love Story Auditions

As we all know, the auditions for the "film" Love Story have been haunting this site (and other areas) for some time. I know many actors who sent the "director" their details nearly 6 months ago and have not heard a thing. I emailed Serge (the director) about the project and he could not give me ANY details. I find this a worry as the questions were quite simple - i.e. what is this film for (festivals? competition?), what sort of characters are you looking for and estimated hours. I thought these basic details could be given to actors - what's the big secret? Whenever student films advertise for actors we are always given simple character information and basic details.
When I questioned his reponse the only answer he could give me was that Natalie Portman did not know what role she was auditioning for in "The Phantom Menace"!!! I am sorry but who does this guy think he is? George Lucas? AND Natalie Portman's audition would have been set up by a top-notch agent - she didn't have to send photographs and personal information to some unknown director.
Just be warned. This sounds really suss to me.
Any one else heard anything?

I emailed him asking him a few simple questions also and frankly his response was downright rude.

I think he's a bit shonky. But that's just my gut feeling.

~K

[%sig%]

I think he could be a bit early with trying to get talent, in so far as the other details may not be as advanced as they should be and he may not know himself as precisely as he should when asking for expressions of interest, which could therefore lead to the inability to provide the details that are being requested by interested parties.


This and that he is trying to do too much himself (at a guess) would probably lead to the state of chaos that would be appearing to ensue.

But I must agree that if you are going to be asking for talent to fill positions you must know what that position is and have a job description, ie script, or at least a very good outline of the character(s).

Although if shooting is to begin within six months or so a script should be available with character outlines etc. I am thinking.

Yeah i e-mailed him my picture and short bio of myself to hopefully audition but as yet i havent had any reply at all and that was about 3weeks ago. Has anyone auditioned for it yet or hasnt he called anyone back?

[%sig%]

Hopefully I can help people out here with some third party info. I do not wish to slander anyone involved here, this is simply some factual info as I have it as there seems to be a lack of it from Mr Sharrinovsky himself (Serge please follow this up and correct any mistakes, errors, bad assumptions etc I may be making, It sounds like everyone wants to hear more about this!!)


I was involved in a play with Mr Sharrinovsky in late 2004: (he was called in at the last minute as an unknown because a critical role needed filling). One of our cast members knew of him through attending the PAC screen workshops in Perth. (He is also apparently a newsreader for Channel31).

Serge attempted to evangilise his upcoming feature film to the cast of the play, emphasising that he needed an 'enthusiastic cast of around 30 actors' and much to everyones astonishment, he was unable to get "dedicated, committed people'. He also made it known he was in the process of canvassing potential financiers/producers, aiming for a budget of around $3.5 MILLION to produce his film.

Everyone seemed astonished he had such a big project in the works and was still unable to get serious actors involved - My first thought was that people would be lining up at the door for a chance like this. He said that the casting agencies were no good and didnt return his calls.

I had the opportunity to discuss the project with him at some length, during which I gained the distinct impression that he was being rather unrealistic about it: read on for why.

He said he had approached Rove McMannis and Nick Gianoppolis but Roves people had told him there was no time on his schedule. I cannot recall what he said about NG: it was a no-go however. He also said he had the interest of a guy who had worked with ILM (Lucasfilm) and on Jurassic Park.

He had no storyboards / locations scouted / rudimentary post-production work in place, I suggested this would probably have been good to have everything prepared before approaching people asking for millions of dollars to produce. He also said he wanted to have his distribution channels secured at the outset: before any filming (or indeed pre-production?) was in place.

I suggested he may find it to his advantage to film digital considering the likely limited budget, but he seemed determined to use film, despite the expense (shrug: if you have the money, why not...)

I am no director or production guru, but he was impressed enough with what technical jargon I was familiar with (big words like 'steadicam' ! ) to offer me the job of AD (!!). At this point I started pushing to see the script: He skirted around this: the best I could get out of him was that someone had stolen or otherwise somehow ripped off an earlier script of his and he was consequently fairly paranoid as a result.

At the time of discussion he planned to produce the music himself. (This may seem more relevant after checking out the links at the bottom)

He suggested he would 'even be happy to act in it' , there may have been mention of the lead role but I do not recall correctly. In any case in my opinion Serges talent, whatever it is, is NOT as an actor. This became clear very quickly during our play rehearsals.

After some urging he agreed to send out a 'synopsis' to the play crew. This consisted of about half a paragraph which was very brief and uninformative. The final conclusion was a suggestion that he get back to me/us when there was a working script to be looked over. I have not heard from him since.

Hopefully this clears a few things up. On a *personal note*: after having worked with Serge I was left with a poor opinion of his professionalism, to the extent I would probably actively avoid participating in any future productions he may be involved in. Although a sentiment shared amongst several people I have discussed it with, this IS an opinion only and should not be taken on its own or as a direct reflection on 'The Love Show' production.


*FURTHER INFO ON SERGE SHARRINOVSKY*

I did some quick web research (At Serges suggestion - 'Look me up on Google') and found the following items of interest:

http://www.loveshow.com.au/ - "The Love Show" Official Site. (No real info here, links to 'cast, crew, bios' go nowhere). Page headers indicate the Authors are "David Valentin & Serge Sharrinovsky". Mr Valentin could be the person referred to earlier in the post as affiliated with ILM: There is an IMDB profile of a David Valentin which is consistent with this here: http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0884159/


http://www.mp3.com.au/artist.asp?id=405 - Serge Sharrinovsky the MP3 artist! It seems Serge has an interest in a musical career.
http://www.macidol.com/jamroom/bands/421/music.php - More Serge the artist
http://www.bandace.com.au/displayArtist.php?id=16 - Serge Sharrinovsky the Multimedia Artist and Producer!
http://www.perthbands.com/index.php?act=bands&feat=display&bandid=473 - More of the above. There is more of this kind of fare on google if you can be bothered searching.

His old homepage is now gone, replaced with the love show page, (http://www4.tpg.com.au/users/adsll3sp/ ) but when I first looked at it it was full of downloadable samples of clips of Serge the Video clip artist (These immediately reminded me of certain Australian Idol contestants who were probably eliminated early in the running: possibly not the best advertisment for Mr Sharrinovskys industry credibility).


As suggested in an earlier post it seems he has been aggressivley advertising for cast/crew across a number of different sites: including this one:

Theatre.asn.au (of course)
Film & Television Institute: http://www.fti.asn.au/forum/index.php?forumLevel=453
PerthAuditions Mailing list http://groups.yahoo.com/group/perthauditions/ (members only can search posts but hes posted the same thing here about six times)
The Conversation Room (Down for the moment so I've posted the google cached version)
http://216.239.63.104/search?q=cache:W9X6WAAPEsMJ:forums.geoffrey.com.au/viewtopic.php%3Ft%3D932+%22Serge+Sharrinovsky%22&hl=en

Thanks for the info.. I think its now firmly established this man and his project are highly suspect and not to be taken seriously.

Thanks Andie

GS wrote:
>
>
> (He is also apparently a newsreader for Channel31).
>
>

No, just a weather presenter on Sunday afternoon/evening.

As for being suspect, I think as was said in another post he has not done his homework or preparation for such an allegedly big production and doesn't possibly know how to delegate (if he has anyone to delegate to) and doesn't have the groundwork covered sufficiently before calling for "talent".

There was, incidentaly, a short lived program on CH31 a couple of years ago called by a similar name, and I believe said Sharrinovsky was the producer or such. I don't know if it is related in any way and I think the production values were a little cringe worthy.

Just a few thoughts and educated assumptions.

I dont see how he thinks hes going to get finance for this film if he hasnt done any ground work. who in there right mind would give someone millions of dollers to produce a movie without seeing any script or story outlines and major ground work. its anyone how he keeps posting up asking for people to apply for auditions and cast when already lots of people have and he hasnt responded to them.

[%sig%]

Hey guys

If youÂ’re all supposed to be such good or professional actors and you know better then anyone. Why on earth would you even bother getting so bitchy about my little insignificant film project if itÂ’s not your cup of tea anyway. I certainly canÂ’t meet all your great expectations.

I wish you all the best in your film/movie acting careers.

PS to all those that have already sent there EOI's in. I thank you very much for your overwhelming response and cooperation. I'm sorry its taken so long and I haven't had a chance to get back to you all as yet. I have made a few possible short lists but please be patient. I've just finished the 900 story boards for the film and I'm busy working on the simple video animatics so I can show you exactly how the film goes. But please be patients it takes a few days just to complete a few minutes so I still have a lot of work ahead of me.

Kind Regards
Serge Sharrinovsky

OK, I am not attached to this film, But i do know 'of' 'Serge Sharrinovsky' though my association with the media.

I can guarantee that this film is totally legit.

You got to remember that serge has had a lot of trouble getting local organizations in this industry to be involved; I donÂ’t think any funding has come from screen west, or any governing national funding bodies.
But besides this it has its 3.5million dollar budget through international investors if it, it could be more. And I do believe it has known actors attached from the eastern states.

Serge’s story in itself, in getting this production on the road, is a movie in itself. ‘Small guy, has to overcome hurdles to achieve the greater’. This guy has got to the point that not even of the far greater more establish production companies have been trying to achieve for years in Perth and if not nationally...

I spoke to Serge and he answered all my questions and was as forthcoming as I would expect him tpo be. certainly more forthcoming than my agent in the states used to be about who, where and what I was expected to do... I do have an audition and I will hear back, if successful.

Being a starving actor of the old school ( pre grants and up yourself drama schools for the offspring of dentists and doctors) i'm probably more pragmatic and less up myself than many on this board. And yes Ive been an equity member for years...

So I would remeber that we put our lives on show every time we audition, and thats the beast.

Serge Sharrinovsky wrote:
>
> PS to all those that have already sent there EOI's in. I
> thank you very much for your overwhelming response and
> cooperation. I'm sorry its taken so long and I haven't had a
> chance to get back to you all as yet. I have made a few
> possible short lists but please be patient. I've just
> finished the 900 story boards for the film and I'm busy
> working on the simple video animatics so I can show you
> exactly how the film goes. But please be patients it takes a
> few days just to complete a few minutes so I still have a lot
> of work ahead of me.
>
> Kind Regards
> Serge Sharrinovsky

AH wrote:

> I can guarantee that this film is totally legit.


This is encouraging to hear, because you have to admit, everything we've heard from the man himself verged on sounding sus' ...


> You got to remember that serge has had a lot of trouble
> getting local organizations in this industry to be involved;
> I donÂ’t think any funding has come from screen west, or any
> governing national funding bodies.
> But besides this it has its 3.5million dollar budget through
> international investors if it, it could be more. And I do
> believe it has known actors attached from the eastern states.

Information which it might behoove to be up front with, especially because local organisations like Screen West are actively looking for projects, but rejecting the ones they think are below par. Without strong information to the contrary we are likely to assume they are not involved for a reason.


> SergeÂ’s story in itself, in getting this production on the
> road, is a movie in itself. ‘Small guy, has to overcome
> hurdles to achieve the greaterÂ’. This guy has got to the
> point that not even of the far greater more establish
> production companies have been trying to achieve for years in
> Perth and if not nationally...


Again, I encourage this man and admire his persistence. The story you tell above could be interpreted one of two ways...'Small guy has brilliant idea, no one listens so he produces it himself anyway'; or 'Small guy has lame idea, no one listens so he produces it himself anyway'...

I'm not claiming to know which interpretation is the most correct, just that so far there has been no convincing evidence to convince anyone either way.


Cheers
Craig

It's been about a year since these posts....did anything ever come of it? Or were we right all along?


crg

crgwllms wrote:
>
> It's been about a year since these posts....did anything ever
> come of it? Or were we right all along?
>
>
> crg

We were right all along. Another dreamer leading some dreamers up the garden path as usual.