Welcome. I hope you had a great holiday. I have been running all over the place. I went to Austin, TX for the premiere of my short, ‘Intervention’ which played at the Alamo Drafthouse, dowtown and also at the Aztec IMAX theater in San Antonio. We had quite the turnout. There was well over a hundred people at each screening. It was well received and now the short is being submitted to festivals. Please see the picture above for the 3 leads of the film. It is based in Texas, but I am a NY businessman.

In addition, I came back from Texas and auditioned for a national Coors Light commercial as the mail clerk at Endeavor Studios. There were also auditions for the Strawberry One Act festival at Film Faction with Seth Michael May. I auditioned for the role of the snobby middle management secretary abuser. That was a fun role. Well, then I headed out of town for a holiday relaxing for a cruise on the Bahamas. Unfortunately, I received callbacks for both these roles, and I was away. It is always a balance between personal and professional life and it seems whenever I am out of the state, that is when the callbacks are scheduled. Well, I am back for good for 2008, so we should be all set.

Currently, I am still reading ‘Dr. Snow’ by Carol Saline and in the process of adapting it into a screenplay. It is an extremely detailed book with lots of information, so extracting the correct the scenes and characters is a very tedious process, but is being completed step by step. I have been in contact with Carol off and on and we are communicating as I complete the script.

I also completed a commercial for Clearasil with Amy. We had to make out for almost 8 hours long to complete this one. You’ll see why when you view the spot from Panopticon Productions based out of New York. They have done several productions ranging from Music Videos to Short Films, www.panopticonnyc.com

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WzTOmdzh_iY]

I will get back to you shortly. Hope you have a great new year!

Just recently, I attended the ‘Tin Man’ premiere party for the Sci Fi’s latest show. It stars Alan Cumming, Rich Dreyfuss and several other quality actors. The costumes are very elaborate and its an adaptation of ‘The Wizard of Oz’, with a Star Warsesque twist. The ‘Tin’ is actually the badge of the cop who runs the town. It is now airing on Sci Fi to great reviews, take a look. I have always loved ‘The Wiz’, if you’re feeling adventurous watch the original and after the third lion roar in the beginning, play Pink Floyd’s ‘Dark Side of the Moon’. It’s basically a strange soundtrack for the film. You’ll be amazed! 

So I have just completed by hosting reel from ‘Behind the Scenes’ at the New York Television Festival. I did it a year or so ago and have hosted many live events, these are the only quality clips I have and take a look. Tom Bergeron and Stevie Van Zandt are both there, as well as sexy mamas and successful filmmakers.

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tzKMdVYwM9Y]

In addition, I just saw a wondeful movie, ‘Billy the Kid’ which was directed by Jennifer Venditti. I discovered her from ‘The Filmmaker’ mag and contacted her, I have since been in touch. The movie was very compelling and endearing about a loner’s story to find love. It’s a documentary and is very voyeuristic in nature, you will cry and remember your first kiss, etc. It’s playing at the IFC. I ran into an old colleague, Jen Schram-Maxwell from House Production Casting, where I used to work while watching it. Fellow House Production Casting directors, Mary Egan and Brooke Thomas are working on getting their pilot, “Split the Difference” picked up again. NBC optioned it and dropped it. I have a meeting with Joe Narciso next week, who also penned ‘Split’ with Mary.

I have also been writing myself. My close buddy, Kelley Reed’s father, Charles or Chuck, was a special agent. He was lost in the line of duty, god bless his soul. Well Chuck lead the biggest cocaine drug bust in Philadelphia history. The story was written by Mark Bowden, writer of ‘BlackHawk Dawn’ in his book, “Dr. Dealer”. I contacted Mark and he directed me to his agent. In addition, Carol Saline also penned the same story with a different twist, she actually coordinated with the FBI as the trials were being held.

Long story short, I am looking to maybe use that as inspiration to write a screenplay from. Things are going good with outlining and research right now.

I have also been cast as the lead actor in a play by one of my theater companies, Prometheus Fire, in a new dramatic concert reading to be held January 26th and 27th. It will prove to be a meaty and challenging role. More to come.

I have been auditioning for commercials, as well as host for ‘Saturday Night Solution’ with Liz Lewis. In addition, yesterday I met with Caroline Sinclair to audition for ‘Where is Joel Baum’ a new short film by writer/director Pearl Gluck. I also had a callback for a Verizon FIOS commercial with Kevin Garnett with Beth Melsky Casting.

Garth from ‘The Estate’ I just finished working on a play written by Drama Desk Award winner, Ray Aranha, called “The Estate”. My role was one of a racist Maryland farmer that torments the main character, Benjamin Banneker, a black genius befriended by Thomas Jefferson. I was basically the murderer in more ways than one. It was a wonderful cast and received some great reviews. We were performing mainly in CT. Here is a write up: http://www.connpost.com/columnists/ci_7484693 

In addition, I am no longer working on a project ‘Five to Six’. We couldn’t agree on some things, but I still think they are a wonderful production and the director, Rain Evans is an artistic genius. I did briefly make the cut on their first episode, walking down the stairs and partying around the pool table. Take a look: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uVRfNAufAkY

In addition, my film Intervention, produced by Double Think Productions is being screened in Texas. I will be flying down to Austin for the premiere at the new Alamo Drafthouse on Dec 15th and another screening in San Antonio on Sunday, the 16th. Arthur Yoria, who also did the film’s soundtrack, will be performing on Sunday. Take a look at the trailer at http://www.doublethinkproductions.tv/projects.html

My other feature film is being edited, ‘2 Star State of Mind’ and should be done by January 1st. It is looking nice and should definitely be distributed upon completion. More to come later.

My Lionsgate film release, ‘Rise of the Dead’ is being reviewed and can now be rented anywhere in the US. Here’s a positive review from Fangoria: http://www.fangoria.com/ghastly_review.php?id=5573 . Here’s a negative movie and positive cast review from Cult film fans: http://cultdb.blogspot.com/2007/11/rise-of-dead-2007.html .

Going forward, I have been writing extensively and creating a feature based on my aunt’s ex-boyfriend, Jimmy McMann, a retired NYPD officer and will be penning that continously until I can complete it. I have also been doing podcast recordings for the Philadelphia Eagles, as unsuccessful as they have been. www.eaglespodcasts.com