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WHO WANTS TO BE A MILLIONAIRE HOLDING ST. LOUIS AUDITIONS – We Are Movie Geeks

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WHO WANTS TO BE A MILLIONAIRE HOLDING ST. LOUIS AUDITIONS

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WHO WANTS TO BE A MILLIONAIRE HOLDING ST. LOUIS AUDITIONS

Now dear movie fans, you may be wondering what this has to do with the world of cinema (besides being central to the plot of SLUMDOG MILLIONAIRE). Well, every year the national syndicated show devotes a week (five half hour episodes) exclusively to movie trivia! That’s right, all movie questions! And they’ll be giving the try-out tests for those special shows along with the general knowledge test in St. Louis! Here’s the location and dates: Monday, October 11 from 7 to 11 AM they’ll be giving the tests at the Lumiere Theater in the beautiful Lumiere Casino on the landing in St. Louis.

Here’s a few pointers. Why should I be giving out audition tips, you ask. Well I, Jim Batts, was a contest  on Who Wants to be Millionaire’s Netflix Million Dollar Movie Week during the 2008-2009 season(I‘m the big, grinning doofus rockin‘ the Snooki-colored sweater in the photo above). And it was one incredible adventure! So I want to see another St. Lou movie geek grab some big bucks! First, if you haven’t seen the show since Regis was ruling prime time you need to check out the Monday thru Friday nationally syndicated  version airing here in STL on KPLR,CW11 at 11 AM. They run classic episodes at 11:30 AM and are currently rerunning last season (who knows, I might pop up again there soon). You want to watch  the earlier show, since they underwent a big format change with this season. When the show went into syndication with Meredith Vieira hosting they did away with the fastest finger. With the new shows the hot seat is history along with the $50,000 question. Ms. V and the contestant now stand at a lighted podium and both read the questions off a giant monitor. The first ten  questions take you to $25,000, but the dollar amounts and range of difficulty are randomly scrambled and hidden. The first question may not be the toughest and it might be worth several thousand bucks. You still have lifelines (including the popular ask-the-audience) , but there’s just three total. The two others are jump-the question in which you can skip over a question. Trouble is the dollar amount of that skipped question will not be available. The final four questions ($100,000 to the million) are back to the classic format. If you miss a question during the first ten you leave with a grand. If you fold, you’ll leave with half of the money you’ve accumulated. You should get the hang of the new format after watching a couple of shows.

Enough of that, you’re ready to go to that audition! I know that 7 AM is mighty early( and if you get on the show you‘ll have to be at the studio around that time), but give yourself time to shower , shave, and roll or spray on some deodorant (but take it easy with the cologne and perfume). We don’t want to knock out the staffers. Pick out some nice duds. You don’t have to wear a suit and a tie, but don’t wear anything with a lot of holes or too distressed. I guess business casual would be the way to go. You may have a great T-shirt with your favorite star or movie scene on the front, but you may as well leave it at home. When you get picked for the show, they’ll give you a big list of wardrobe no-nos (especially clothes with logos and images). I brought along my Bogart necktie to wear, but it got nixed by the legal department!

It’s time to take the audition test. Gotta’ make sure you knows your movies! I’m not sure what kind of test they’re giving now, but I can tell you about the one I took back in June 08. It was a 30 question multiple choice test that had to be completed in 10 minutes.  Like the old SAT tests, we had to fill in little circles on a card with a good ole’ number two pencil. It might be a good idea to bring along a mechanical pencil and an ink pen just in case. The questions I got ran the gamut from golden age classics to recent releases. Not sure what the grading curve was, but I’m pretty sure I got two questions wrong. Before I went to audition some friends suggested I try not to get every question right because they may be afraid of letting on someone who might win it all. I disagree. I believe the producers want contestants who really know their stuff and will go all the way. Big winners attract viewers, so do your very best.

After the test you’re told to come back later for an interview. Great! Passing the test is the first big hurtle. Kill some time by enjoying a nice lunch at the casino or one of the fine restaurants on the Landing. Maybe you could head over to Union Station and have a caricature drawn (shameless plug)! Now about that interview. You’ll probably be videotaped so the folks back in NYC can decide on who gets to play. Consider this like a job interview. Smile, be energetic (but don’t talk to fast) ,be positive, and try to forget that the camera’s there. Knowing your stuff is important, but they don’t want someone who’ll freeze up with Meredith between questions.

That’s about all the advice I can offer. Three weeks after I returned from the auditions(lucky you, I had to go to NYC to try out) I got a postcard saying that I was in the contestant pool. It was not a guarantee that I’d be on the show, but it said that I may get a phone call from them with a date to be at the studio. This prompted me to finally get a cell phone, because if you can’t pick the call live, you’ll only have 24 hours to get back to them. I was scared that my old answering machine would fail me. You’ll probably have to pick up the tab for travel to NYC and a room, but they should be able to recommend a good travel agent and hotel. Even though they can’t guarantee that you’d get to play that day (usually 5 shows are taped in one day)  it’s certainly worth taking a chance. I was certain that I wouldn’t get to play, but ended up being the last contestant at the end of the fifth show. What an experience! I’m a bit envious of you. Having played the game, I can’t return to the show( unless they do a “tournament of champions” special week. I can dream), so go down there and have fun. I hope you win more than me. And if you don’t pass the test or aren’t put in the contest pool, you can say that at least you gave it a try. For more details go to millionairetv.com or KPLR11.com. Best O’ luck!

And that’s my final answer!

Jim Batts was a contestant on the movie edition of TV's "Who Wants to be a Millionaire" in 2009 and has been a member of the St. Louis Film Critics organization since 2013.