Do you ever wonder how someone becomes the face of a university? The process might be easier than it seems.
Northern Illinois University is holding a summer casting call for students who are interested in representing life as a Huskie in upcoming publications (photographs, videos, social media posts, etc.).
Incoming freshman Gavin Zbynski, of Waukegan, Ill., saw an opportunity with the auditions, “I’m on a Facebook group for NIU, it’s NIU’s 2021 graduating class,” he said. “I saw it pop up and I was, like, ‘That looks interesting to me, I’m going to go give it a shot,’ Because, why not? Because if you’ve got the chance, I’m going to take the chance.”
Zbynski, who plans to pursue a Bachelors of Fine Arts with an emphasis in acting, said the audition was painless because the whole process was genuine. “It was just a real conversation, just doing whatever I kind of felt like saying because it’s from me,” he said. “It’s not from a script; it’s my personality coming off – it’s one hundred percent me.”
The University is looking for students of all genders, races, and majors. NIU also likes a wide variety of clubs and organizations to be represented in these publications.
NIU spokesperson Joe King is encouraged with this summer’s auditions, even if the summer turnout is less than that of the school year.
“This is an open casting call, so it’s always kind of unpredictable how many students you’re going to get,” he said. “Summer is a little bit tougher; there’s not as many students around. But, the ones that are around, if they show up, are going to be motivated and they’re going to want to be here. It’s a good opportunity for us to at least reach out to that population and see if they show up.”
Applicants must plan to be in or near DeKalb over the summer to be able to respond promptly to requests to participate in photo/video shoots. NIU gear or comfortable clothes are preferred.
The next – and final – summer casting call will be held from 1 p.m. to 4 p.m. Wednesday, June 28, in Altgeld Hall at the NIU DeKalb campus.
For more information, follow this link.