Lights, camera...wait! Being a movie extra can earn you (a little) extra cash

If you're broke and need some extra cash, as The New York Times pointed out last weekend, becoming a movie or TV extra is one way to go.

I wholeheartedly recommend it.

Back in the summer or perhaps fall of 1990 when Little Man Tate (released in 1991) was filming, I took a job as an extra. My memory surrounding the details -- who did I contact to get on the movie, what was the pay and so on -- is kind of shot now. Part of me wants to say I was there for two or three days, but considering how much film time I ultimately nabbed, I honestly don't see how I could have been there for more than a day. In any case, for a college kid, it was a nice gig.