Hey everyone.. I am the co-owner of Wicked Woods Haunted Forest in Virginia. We are going on our 6th year for 2012 and we want to try something new.. volunteers for a few nights before actual 'hiring'. Ever since we started we have believed to pay the actors. However I have been told a good way of testing new actors out is by having the first night or 2 to be a 'volunteer' only basis, this way you can weed out the weak..so to speak.
We have tried having meetings and training the weeks before, but there is always that couple of new people that come on board into the season "my friend wants to work here etc" ,and some people just never show back up, so you end up needing someone- you know how it can go during the season. Alot of the time we hire on someone out of desperation of needing to fill the position that night due to someone ditching the haunt because of prom,realizing haunting is actually work, and they'd rather skip out and go on a date...or whatever... etc -you know the deal. Even with paid positions we have trouble getting everyone to show up everynight, as we are pretty far out in the country, and it' s very frustrating.
I'd like to know what other haunts do for a kind of "initiaion" for new actors so you are not stuck with someone that you don't really want to be stuck with the entire season. It may sound harsh, but it's difficult with a trail attraction to see what all of your actors are doing at all times since our scenes are spread out pretty far, so you don't even hear about what that person is doing or not doing until you hear it from another actor 2 nights later. What are some good ways of going about this?
Thanks...
We have tried having meetings and training the weeks before, but there is always that couple of new people that come on board into the season "my friend wants to work here etc" ,and some people just never show back up, so you end up needing someone- you know how it can go during the season. Alot of the time we hire on someone out of desperation of needing to fill the position that night due to someone ditching the haunt because of prom,realizing haunting is actually work, and they'd rather skip out and go on a date...or whatever... etc -you know the deal. Even with paid positions we have trouble getting everyone to show up everynight, as we are pretty far out in the country, and it' s very frustrating.
I'd like to know what other haunts do for a kind of "initiaion" for new actors so you are not stuck with someone that you don't really want to be stuck with the entire season. It may sound harsh, but it's difficult with a trail attraction to see what all of your actors are doing at all times since our scenes are spread out pretty far, so you don't even hear about what that person is doing or not doing until you hear it from another actor 2 nights later. What are some good ways of going about this?
Thanks...
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