Keeping It Reel: An Actor's Blog

My film, Ring Rust , premiered yesterday as part of The 2016 Richmond 48 Hour Film Project . In case you didn't know, The 48 Hour Film Project is a filmmaking competition which takes place over 2 days across the country and... THE WORLD! Too dramatic?  Sorry. I'm still running on a lot of adrenaline. Where was I? Oh. yeah. I was telling you about The 48 Hour Film Project.  The 48HFP is a filmmaking competition which takes place over the course of two days.  Basic math, really 24 hours in a day. 2 days. 24 plus 24 equals 48.  Hey! Don't judge me.  I have an art degree! That's not too shabby.  The 48HFP is about  filmmaking   and teamwork and adrenaline and a lot of coffee and snacks.  This is how it works.   Teams who have signed up to compete in The 48HFP are assigned a genre.  The genres for The 2016 48 Hour Film Project were: GROUP 1 Action/Adventure Co...

How would the movie Blazing Saddles be received today? Blazing Saddles.  It's raunchy and insanely funny. It's offensive and at times just plain stupid. It's considered a comedy masterpiece. I think Blazing Saddles is probably the best Mel Brooks there is and it sets the bar for other comedies to try and meet.  Released in 1974, Blazing Saddles was a comedy western that poked holes into the fabric of society and fingers at those living in that society. It was irreverent. It was racist. It was honest. It was social commentary in the guise of a hilarious send up of the classic American western. Sacrilege in itself to some, buy director Mel Brooks would not be satisfied with just parody of a beloved genre. His appetite wetted by the backdrop of such classics as High Noon, Brooks wanted more. And more he delivered.  Blazing Saddles is a no-holds barred, in your face comedy. Brooks had balls the size of wrecking balls to make the movie and...

GARRY MARSHALL (November 13, 1934 – July 19, 2016) You know the name.  You know his work.  Most probably when you remember fondly the times he made you laugh you will smile. The Odd Couple ? The Dick Van Dyke Show ?   Happy Days ? Mork and Mindy ? Pull back the layers of my comic development and among the many, you will see a layer of warp threads and weft threads that resonate with a distinctive NY accent. This is the Garry Marshall Layer. Timing and rhythm and words . These were his tools.  His gift? Other than a profound understanding of all the above? I believe it was his understanding that if you have talented, funny people then let them do what they do best. Guide them but let the magic happen.  Comedy is hard and those that understand the genre and can make it work, not just once but for years and years, well, then, you are a talking about a master craftsman.  Marshall started the careers of many stars who are still work...

Rejection is just part of the game . You can't have a football game without tackles and golf wouldn't be golf unless someone ended up in a sand trap. It comes down to control, or the lack there of, of control. As an actor, the only thing I have control over is how prepared I am to audition. All I can do is study my sides ( lines my character says) and try to figure out who the character is and how and why he says in the scene I am given. I should look nice and have good breath. I should arrive a few minutes before my scheduled time and be respectful of others who are there to audition. Those are the things in my control. Those are the only things in my control. If I get a callback and there are notes for that callback, then I take those notes to heart and do my best to tweak my audition to better match what those in control want me to do. I can't control if I match what the casting director or director has imagined the character to look, sound or act lik...

So there's a new Ghostbusters movie coming out on July 15, 2016.  The new movie stars Melissa McCarthy , Kristen Wiig , Kate McKinnon and Leslie Jones . Yes. You didn't read that wrong. Those are all girl names. Gasp. Except, I guess, for Leslie . Leslie , much like Jody ( so I know from where I speak) is one of those girl and boy names. The Leslie in the cast of the new Ghostbusters movie is a woman. They're all women. Double gasp! More about that in a minute though. And before you think this is going to be another one of those blog or Facebook posts trashing the movie before it even opens, I want to tell you you're wrong. I DON'T HAVE A PROBLEM WITH THE IDEA OF A REBOOT OF GHOSTBUSTERS.  I'll let that sink in for a second or two.  1...2... Okay. Everybody good?  Hopefully you didn't get any brain matter on the wall behind you. Reboots are just standard, operating business for Hollywood these days. Doesn...