'Crash' TV show scouts for extras

ALBUQUERQUE (KRQE) - Saturday, nearly 2,000 people showed up for a casting call for extras in Albuquerque for the TV series "Crash."

With the unemployment numbers for New Mexico creeping up to 6.5 percent last month, plenty of people out of work are looking for work.

The Starz Channel show features Dennis Hopper and Eric Roberts.

The show is set in Los Angeles, but it is mostly shot in Bernalillo, and street scenes call for plenty of extras to fill the background.

“I think it's pretty cool that these guys are actually doing a lot more filming out here and creating jobs for New Mexicans,” extra hopeful Jeffrey Ramos said.

Crowds of aspiring extras showed up at the Albuquerque Hilton between 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Saturday.

All they were required to do was stand, smile and hold a card with their personal information on it.

The pay for an extra is $9 an hour and time and a half after eight hours.

The extra’s casting director Robert Baxter said they looked for all ages, backgrounds and ethnicities.

Baxter said they use anywhere from 100 to 500 people in any given scene depending on what they’re shooting.

About 90 percent of Crash’s crew is made up of New Mexicans, according to the New Mexico film office.

He said New Mexico is a great place to film the program with a thriving film and TV industry and a qualified workforce.

“In New Mexico they seem to be enthusiastic, they want to get involved in the movies and they seem to like it,” Baxter said.

“I want to do movies and hopefully it can lead to something bigger, and it's a great way to support my family, it's a lot of fun,” James Habersham said.

The show is set to film over the next 18 weeks.