WWTBAM Bored

Also there are video auditions. I guess they are taping in LA this season, maybe to accommodate Chris?

goongas wrote:Also there are video auditions. I guess they are taping in LA this season, maybe to accommodate Chris?

When I saw this news elsewhere I thought they were saying that they were making a road trip to Los Angeles, but I think your interpretation is more likely. If anyone decides to make the trip, let us know. It's probably a good excuse for a BB get-together. --Bob

Where is this information about an LA audition coming from?

The website only shows video auditions are now open (which is fairly new to the website).

No way are they leaving Connecticut, it would cost too much.

triviawayne wrote:Where is this information about an LA audition coming from?

The website only shows video auditions are now open (which is fairly new to the website).

No way are they leaving Connecticut, it would cost too much.

The line about Los Angeles can be found here. --Bob

Bob78164 wrote:

triviawayne wrote:Where is this information about an LA audition coming from?

The website only shows video auditions are now open (which is fairly new to the website).

No way are they leaving Connecticut, it would cost too much.

The line about Los Angeles can be found here. --Bob

Wow, totally missed that part as the rest of the area around that section has been unchanged for weeks.

Hope if I get that call this year I read the questions better than I read that

I guess its time to find out how long a video this tablet can record. They already have me on video from ROF days, though, & it seems were not impressed. But can't hurt to try.

I don't have a site I can give them a link to for them to check out a 30 sec video. Somehow I don't think even if I found a host site they'd love me in 30 secs when they don't love me in person *after* I've passed their test. They're just looking for new, untested *young* blood.

ghostjmf wrote:I don't have a site I can give them a link to for them to check out a 30 sec video. Somehow I don't think even if I found a host site they'd love me in 30 secs when they don't love me in person *after* I've passed their test. They're just looking for new, untested *young* blood.

You can't use YouTube?

They may have gotten a tax credit to tape in LA as well. I read that the current season of Veep was taped in LA instead of Maryland because they recently got a better tax credit from California (I think a new law was recently passed?)

I would have to look into setting up a youtube channel, I guess. For a 30 sec video taped on this inferior video/audio tablet.

I think we’re getting a little ahead of ourselves with this moving to LA thing, we need to look at the bigger picture.



We know from the Sony email hack, if Disney stops producing the show, they lose the rights. Therefore we also know Disney will keep producing the show, even at a loss so they can retain the rights with the hope to revive it in a big way some day. Right now, with all the summer game shows on ABC, it is certainly possible we will see a return to prime time Millionaire in 2017 or 2018. Disney also owns 8 stations around the country, and for all they care, Millionaire can air on just those stations at 2am; again, just so they can retain the rights and keep it from Sony.



Because this show really doesn’t make money (it may lose some money, it may make some money, but not much these days for Disney) they will keep the budget in check by keeping production costs as low as possible. Connecticut has very good tax breaks for TV production, which is why the show moved there in the first place. Keep in mind, they built an all new set just for this soundstage. To move the show to LA, even with new tax breaks, it would have to be overall cheaper to produce, something that is less likely in California than Stamford. Plus not all soundstages are the same, a lot of work (money) would have to go into moving what they have and fitting it in their new home, even if they don’t build anything new. Plus there would be the cost of storage for all the months of the year they are not using the soundstage. They would also need to go through hiring a ton of new people to work on the show as not everyone (in fact very few) would want to make the move to the west coast. About 90% of the crew only works on this show for the time of production, up to maybe three months per year, then moves on to other TV shows, not necessarily with the same production company. This would be an extremely cost-prohibitive move for a money-losing (maybe barely breaking even) production.



We also know they do want contestants from around the country, that is why the $1000 guarantee and the very likely $5000 for answering five “what color is the sky” type questions. Last season, they traveled around the country, beginning in April, to find more people from other areas of the country. So just because a contestant search is coming to LA, does not mean the show is moving there. Disney has plenty of staff in LA, it wouldn’t cost much to conduct a search there without having any (or very few) regular staffers travel for the search.



With production last year beginning in late June, and there is no reason to believe it won’t begin at the same time this year, they have much less time to do contestant searches than they did last year, but that doesn’t matter because they have so many in their files from last season they never called, and they can always do more in NYC, especially if they go grab people from Times Square to take the test because there are people there from all over the country.



Finally, this show does not need to move west for Chris Harrison. There is a very tight production schedule on Millionaire so they can tape all the shows as quickly as possible, which means less money to rent the soundstage, less money spent on staff, etc. The tight schedule also allows for Chris to film Bachelor in Paradise in Puerto Vallarta for the August 2nd premiere. He did this last year, he’ll do it again.



With all this in mind, my bets are fully on the show staying put in Stamford.

This is just conjecture on my part, but I don't think ABC cares about retaining the rights to Millionaire. I agree that they probably break even on this show, it is not the money maker a show like Jeopardy! is. From their last time they aired this in prime time where the prize budget seemed low to me based on the difficulty of the questions, I don't think they want to air this show in primetime anymore. They are airing 500 Questions, which costs them a lot less budgetwise I am guessing with similar ratings. I don't think building that set is all that expensive, I believe they tear it down every season anyway, it has to get rebuilt somewhere. I imagine these employees are seasonal workers, they have to get rehired anyway except for the executives, so there would not have to be moving of workers, especially for a 2-3 month shoot. The technical crew is union, so they are going to get union rates wherever the show is taped I believe. Why would they train producers in LA just to audition people, and have a different set of producers working with the contestants taping in Connecticut? And believe me, I want them to audition in NYC, I live two miles away from the NYC audition site.

Details about the L.A. auditions:

MillionaireTV.com wrote:There are two ways to audition in Los Angeles: attend an Open Audition (no reservation required) or reserve a spot at Sign-Up Auditions.

LOS ANGELES AUDITION LOCATION
Atlas Digital
3425 Cahuenga Blvd W.
Los Angeles, CA 90068
Free Valet parking is available next door between Atlas Digital and Mercado.

OPEN AUDITIONS

Open Auditions are May 16 – 19 from 5 pm to 7 pm. The last session starts at 7 pm.

Registration for these dates is not required, but you must bring a completed Audition Application, picture ID and proof of age and residency to your audition.

Please note that Audition space is limited. Admission to the audition session(s) is not guaranteed to everyone who arrives at the audition site.

SIGN-UP AUDITIONS

You can also sign up in advance to reserve an audition time from May 23 – June 23. Just download the Audition Application, then complete the Audition Request Form.

Millionaire will review your request and will send you an e-mail confirmation with the date, time and location of your audition. If your first and second choices are not available, we will place you in the next available open date. We update this list as new dates become available, so keep checking back.

jarnon wrote:Details about the L.A. auditions:

MillionaireTV.com wrote:There are two ways to audition in Los Angeles: attend an Open Audition (no reservation required) or reserve a spot at Sign-Up Auditions.

LOS ANGELES AUDITION LOCATION
Atlas Digital
3425 Cahuenga Blvd W.
Los Angeles, CA 90068
Free Valet parking is available next door between Atlas Digital and Mercado.

OPEN AUDITIONS

Open Auditions are May 16 – 19 from 5 pm to 7 pm. The last session starts at 7 pm.

Registration for these dates is not required, but you must bring a completed Audition Application, picture ID and proof of age and residency to your audition.

Please note that Audition space is limited. Admission to the audition session(s) is not guaranteed to everyone who arrives at the audition site.

SIGN-UP AUDITIONS

You can also sign up in advance to reserve an audition time from May 23 – June 23. Just download the Audition Application, then complete the Audition Request Form.

Millionaire will review your request and will send you an e-mail confirmation with the date, time and location of your audition. If your first and second choices are not available, we will place you in the next available open date. We update this list as new dates become available, so keep checking back.

Looks like I've turned into a "Where else." --Bob

Bob, now you just need to act on the side and you can be a What Else.

I submitted a video this time. I have enough miles to do an in person day trip, but there's a difference between a 100 minute flight (To LGA) and a 4.5 hour flight (To LAX).

<sigh>

I might have built up enough willpower to give it another shot in Connecticut, but I'm not going all the way to LA to get rejected again.

MarleysGh0st wrote:<sigh>

I might have built up enough willpower to give it another shot in Connecticut, but I'm not going all the way to LA to get rejected again.

So you're gonna do the video audition, right?

Uh, guys.... if you read the audition application it says they're still in Stamford. (Hooray for people near NYC!)

James (longtime lurker, had to create a new account because I forgot my old one!)

jamesonwheels wrote:Uh, guys.... if you read the audition application it says they're still in Stamford. (Hooray for people near NYC!)

James (longtime lurker, had to create a new account because I forgot my old one!)

You mean this one?

http://wwtbambored.com/memberlist.php?m ... file&u=610

lb13

A friend auditioned yesterday. It was across from Universal Studios in the Cahuenga Pass. He said he did ok but the telling part was that a couple of the young ladies running the auditions told him that they had moved to LA from NYC...read into that what you may.

ulysses5019 wrote:A friend auditioned yesterday. It was across from Universal Studios in the Cahuenga Pass. He said he did ok but the telling part was that a couple of the young ladies running the auditions told him that they had moved to LA from NYC...read into that what you may.

I'll bet that was in the same place as my Hollywood Squares audition many years ago.

MillionaireTV.com now tells how to audition for season 15 specialty weeks: whiz kids, military families, newlyweds, hometown heroes and pay it forward.

littlebeast13 wrote:

jamesonwheels wrote:Uh, guys.... if you read the audition application it says they're still in Stamford. (Hooray for people near NYC!)

James (longtime lurker, had to create a new account because I forgot my old one!)

You mean this one?

http://wwtbambored.com/memberlist.php?m ... file&u=610

lb13

Yep. The old password didn't work. Oh well! Nice catch, LittleBeast!

I guess the CT tax breaks weren't sweet enough! They probably didn't update the application if they did in fact move the show permanently to Los Angeles. If so, they probably have an all new staff, too, but there's plenty of TV jobs in Los Angeles. Interesting! Also noticed the theme weeks. I just hope they get time slot or station upgrades.

ulysses5019 wrote:A friend auditioned yesterday. It was across from Universal Studios in the Cahuenga Pass. He said he did ok but the telling part was that a couple of the young ladies running the auditions told him that they had moved to LA from NYC...read into that what you may.

That's what I love about these high school girls, man. I get older, they stay the same age.
https://twitter.com/MillionaireTV/statu ... 3925811201