I had a really awesome weekend filming the TV pilot “Route 1” up in Brunswick, ME. The director, Jack Schurman, and his crew, including his younger brother Luke, were really great and fun to work with. On the first day of filming we were all surprised to find one of the cast members was a no show; he never even called or emailed to say he wasn’t coming. The director was livid and because of it we could only shoot for a half a day. When I asked what type of actor they needed, they gave me a character description that made me instantly think of my acting buddy William DeCoff. So I showed them his webpage, and they were very interested in him playing the role. So that night I called him and he agreed to take the role; even with such a short notice. Next day we drove up to Maine together and he totally nailed it. I enjoyed his performance and it was a treat to get to work with him again. Also, I must say I am very impressed with my co-lead in the show. His name is Ryan Petti and he is doing a great job with his character, and I am having fun reacting to his characters crazy stunts. All and all this was a great weekend, and we will be filming again this weekend so I am looking forward to more fun.
“Route 1″ is about two down on thier luck loosers who attempt to become famous photojournalist by traveling route 1 in a beatup VW van.
‘Tis all for now.
There is new trailer for the movie Underground.
This is a film I acted in last summer. The film is like %75 done and the shooting of the final scenes will start this month. This movie is a martial arts action movie about a young man whose life becomes very challenging after a fire kills his parents. He has to take care of his siblings and in an attempt to get some money he enters himself into an illegal fight ring. I play the comic relief character of an inept cop who goes undercover as a gangsta rapper to take down the ring. After a few false starts and misunderstandings I end up joining forces with the young man in an attempt to take down the leader of the ring. I am in the trailer for only a second or two; see if you can spot me. This movie was very fun because it was the first time I had ever done a choreographed fight scene. The lead character kicks my ass the first time we meet.
‘Tis all for now.
Back in the beginning of this year I had posted some milestones that I hoped to achieve during the coming year. I am happy to report that another of these milestones, the second so far, has now been met. The milestone I am referring to was my desire to be offered a SAG card from the Screen Actors Guild during this year. You are not allowed to just join the guild out right, you must be asked first. In order to be asked you must meet the requirements. The requirements vary; I worked 3 days as a background extra on SAG shoots for SAG wages. That is the tricky part, because non-union background extras are rarely paid union wages. However, if you are in a sister union of SAG like AFTRA, of which I am a member, you do get paid the same union wage. So many people join AFTRA first because it has no requirements and it is kind an easy back door into SAG. It does however cost $1400 dollars to join AFTRA, so some people don’t take this route. Also it cost another $1400 to join SAG once you are invited. I just sent in all my info yesterday and should get my plastic SAG card in the mail soon. Being a member of SAG looks damn good on actors resume and lets people know that you are serious about your craft because it ain’t cheap to join.
The first milestone I met this year was getting cast in a principal (speaking) role in a movie with a budget over $100,000. You can read that post here.
‘Tis all for now.
The book of the month for June 2006 is Michael J. Fox’s autobiography called “Lucky Man.” This was an excellent book on many levels. First, it gives you an insight into a big time movie actor’s life. You find out that even big stars can have doubts about themselves, and their acting ability. One scene to that effect was when his agent calls him after seeing the final cut for “Back to the Future” at the studio. Before the agent can congratulate him on a job well done Michael starts apologizing and saying “I know it’s a flop I will do better next time”. Of course the movie was a hit and put Michael on the map for a long time. After reading that I felt empowered knowing that we are all just people, movie stars too, and we all have doubts and fears, and that you have to keep pushing forward toward your dream anyway. The other great thing about the book is that it is a story about a man coming to terms with a very devastating illness and coming out feeling blessed in the end. I highly recommend this book. I listened to the unabridged audio version and it was cool because Michael read the first few chapters. To learn more about Parkinson’s Disease and Michael J. Fox go here: http://www.michaeljfox.org/
‘Tis all for now.
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