I'm in two PING golf commercials

I shot a commercial at my alma mater, U.C. Berkeley. Ever since The Look for Less - which, by the way will be airing on Sunday, March 12, 8:00 p.m. - I've been working with that same casting agency to find more gigs. (I was also in an industrial video which Intel is using internally, so I won't get to see the final product.)

These PING commercials are part of the Drive Across America campaign, which are being shown on ESPN, CNN, MSNBC, and the Golf Channel. Look for these new ones to start airing in about a month!

We started by filming in a classroom, and then we moved outside, pretending to be "protesting" with signs and everything. Then there was a golf demo, shooting into a net. The directors and producers asked who was a good golfer and then chose some of us extras to swing the club. I tried to get in there since I love to golf, but I ended up getting overlooked.

Anyway, I was chatting with the ping guy, the spokesperson who does custom fittings across the country. I was just asking about the new clubs, and he said he'd let me try them out, so I started hitting some balls after the shoot.

The director noticed because he came over to us and said, "She's got a great swing! Why didn't we use her earlier?" I told him that I tried to volunteer, but no one seemed to listen to me. So anyway, as everyone was getting ready to leave, one of the crew guys pulled me aside and quietly told me that they wanted to shoot me for another commercial in the afternoon. It's apparently pretty hard to find a female golfer with a pretty swing. Of course I said yes!

Then I ended up in Golden Gate Park. The morning was the "young, college" group, and I guess this must've been the "30-55" group. When the casting agency originally called me, they were flip flopping about which group to cast me in, but now I got to do both! By the afternoon, I was chatting it up with everyone, so they knew me by name.

When we were shooting, the crew would say, "Let's have the guy in blue swing first." And then they'd look for me, "Jenn, are you here?" It ended up being to my advantage to NOT hit in the morning after all because now I'm in TWO commercials instead of one... and I'm pretty sure my swing won't end up on the cutting room floor.

Then, toward the end of the shoot, the assistant director approached me to invite me to the crew's wrap party. Lee and I joined them at Swig that night, which is a great bar with a hip, laid back vibe.

In case you happen to catch the commercials, I'm wearing a camel-colored sweater with white stripes down the sleeves in the Cal one, and we're protestors. For the Golden Gate Park golf swing, I'm wearing a brown track jacket with light blue stripes down the sleeves, and we're just hitting balls into the open grass.

And now I want to get in front of the camera again! Everyone I've met at these things have agents and headshots and all this crazy professional stuff, but I don't have anything like that. It's just fun for me, but it's a little too fun maybe. Maybe I'll consider getting an agent too...