Beard Envy advances!

Beard Envy has been voted into the Semifinals!  Performance dates and times will be announced tomorrow, probably, once all the conflicts have been submitted and the schedule made up.  Our conflicts would seem to dictate that we'll have one performance on each of Saturday and Sunday...but no promises yet.

Thanks to everyone who came out and saw the show!

Shows and bookings! Big things...

Got three big things to talk about right now.

• BEARD ENVY - I will be co-starring in a one act play that I co-wrote with my friend, Walker Hare.  Yes, it is entitled BEARD ENVY.  That is taking place in the Network One Act Festival, March 17-31.  The audience vote will help determine who advances to the semi's and then the finals. In the first round, we've got two performances: Sunday, March 21st and Monday, March 22nd, both showtimes at 8:30 PM. Details and tickets:

The Barrow Group Theatre

312 W. 36th St., New York, NY

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TICKETS

• Call Me Classy has been rebranded as Call Me Classy & Friends!  Now there will be more sketches with more people!  New songs, new material, and new funny.  Come check it out!  One night this round...

MAP  -  TICKETS

• And last but not least, I just booked a commercial for Google UK Translations!  Filming is scheduled for Monday or Tuesday and I have a fitting today.  Apparently I'm going to get paint dumped on me or something?  They asked at the audition if I was allergic to any kinds of paint...hmm.  Fun fun!  And it's SAG -- so I'll be a union member before you know it!

Look what I got for Christmas...

An IMDB credit! http://www.imdb.com/name/nm3731335/

Happy Holidays everyone. I hope all is well in your lives and here's to a wonderful 2010!

Saturnalia teaser is up...and it is AWESOME!

Holy cow am I excited about this.

I don't have any idea when the actual film is going to be done, but it's already getting some press from the underground/independent film site twitchfilm.net.  Film festivals, anyone?  Fingers are crossed!

Print/Commercial Agent!

Today I signed on to freelance with Barry Kolker, who is the owner of the Carson-Kolker Organization!  It's an important step and I'm really excited!

Periodic update time!

Here's a rundown of what I've been up to (I like hyperlinks):

• On Halloween, I shot a music video for a French band that sings songs in English. It was a lot of fun and I'm looking forward to seeing footage soon. Song is called "Pay" and you can hear it here on their facebook page (scroll down on the left).
  
  
• Like I've mentioned, I played bass in the backing band for Call Me Classy - tons of fun. What I haven't said before is that the lead guitarist/singer/songwriter is Tom Ashton. You may recognize him from spots like these:
  
  
  
  
  
  The drummer, RJ, is in the show, too, and he is a fuckin' riot. So funny. A couple videos I shot/edited/appear in are also interspersed throughout. Things went so well that we're having another show on Dec. 15th at the Triad Theatre. Details and tickets are here.

• Through Scott Powers Studios, I attended a "Friday Lunch Bunch" with agent Barry Kolker and got a phone call today about coming in for a meeting! So that's pretty cool. I'm doing another Lunch Bunch with Ingrid French on Friday.
  
  
• I'm signed up to take a four-week on-camera class with James Calleri of Calleri Casting through The Network. That starts Monday and I'm stoked to finally be taking it - I submitted several times in the past, but either didn't get accepted or had to bail for various reasons.
  
  
• Got new headshots printed! I'm committing to the beard look in hopes of really differentiating myself from the masses. Here are the two:
  
  
  
  
  

  Big thanks to my brother Noah for taking such good shots. He's amazing. He's also getting published - his college admission essay is getting printed in the next edition of this book. He's certainly one to watch.
  
  
• I've been using my photography work as a means of networking for acting. Through my gig as the photographer for the Hudson Union Society, I've been able to meet and connect with Joe Pantoliano, James Gandolfini, Oliver Stone, Matthew Modine, Jeremy Irons, David Lynch, Tony Gilroy, Harold Ramis, Peter Sarsgaard, and many more. You can see photos here. Events are open to anyone and some are free once you're a member. They're always very interesting. Not just entertainment people, either - authors, TV personalities, politicians, military brass, and musicians, as well. Check out videos online for free here.

Playing bass? Again? Videos? What is going on here?

Even though I'm not a bass player, I'm somehow playing bass again. And live this time, to boot.

My hilarious friend and collaborator, Claysey Everett (http://www.clayseyeverett.com) is putting up a one-woman show and she's got a backing band. Another good friend and collaborator, Tom Ashton (http://www.tomashton.com) is playing guitar and singing while new friend RJ Rabin is dominating the drums. Together, we will be The Ash-holes. It's gonna be awesome.

In addition to my stumbling through the songs, there will be four video shorts interspersed throughout the show which Claysey and I shot and edited co-starring Karl Hammerle (http://resumes.actorsaccess.com/KarlHammerle) and Joe Naples (http://www.theactorsprojectnyc.com/joenaples.html). Those are shaping up really, really well. And rumor has it I might even be doing some character work during the show, too. So it's going to be a busy couple of evenings!

Here are the details:

Tuesday, Oct. 20th and Monday, Oct. 29th

9:45 PM, doors open at 9:30

Triad Theatre

158 W. 72nd St.

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Reservations: 212-252-2076

$15 Cover + 2 drink minimum

CASH ONLY

SAG Waivers = 3

Got my third SAG Waiver today! That means I'm eligible to join the Screen Actors Guild when I want to (and want to shell out the $2,335 it costs to join nowadays). It's an exciting development and I'm looking forward to the next steps!

Imagine Me Summer Films

This summer I was cast in two projects with the ImagineMe Film Conservatory -- my third round with this award-winning company which works with middle and high school students to develop their own films. It's always a lot of fun working with the kids!

One of the projects was a piece called Saranoia. I play Jared, the fiancée. Here's the film, in two parts:

The other project was entitled When Life Gives You Lemons. In this one, I'm Avery Mann. Here's the film, in two parts, as well:

Part II coming...

Summer update

This has been a busy summer! I've been doing a bunch of film stuff -- took a couple classes and put three projects "in the can," as they say, even though two of them used tape and one was on memory cards. (But that's good, too. It's still work, even if the old phrases don't apply anymore.) One of those was an independent feature entitled Saturnalia, and will be my first imdb.com credit once it gets posted up there. So that's exciting! Here's a clip from the film where you see me for the first time:

This coming Monday, Aug. 31st, I'll be performing a new monologue I wrote called "Kids say the darnedest things..." in The Actor's Project NYC's Monlogue Challenge -- you can still get tickets if you want to come and vote! I've competed in three of these over the past couple years and made the finals in two of them. Hopefully this new piece will get me to the top of the podium. And if not, at least I'll have a strong piece of material that sells me and my type better than the last few that I wrote. So that's good.

As the summer winds down, I'm gonna continue pursuing film projects and training and networking and submitting. I'd like to start working with a manager or agent in the coming months and really making a push into the film and television worlds. Theatre and commercials would be great, too, of course.

Lots of film...

In the past couple months I've starred in two student films which are currently in post-production; I should have footage of those soon and will post them when I can.

Also, I just booked a role in a new feature by Gustavo Mercado, who is a professor at Hunter College and won a Showtime Latino Filmmaker award a couple years ago. My first scene films around Memorial Day and I wrap in June. Big thanks to Tom Ashton for thinking of me for the part and hooking me up with the production team! I'm very excited about this!

Update - Awards, challenges, and a sitcom

Thank you to everyone who came to The Actor's Project Showcases in June. Because of the outstanding support, I won the Box Office Award -- over $1,000 in prizes! I've already been taking advantage of my new lifetime membership and entry-fee waivers.

In October, I will be taking part in the next round of showcases; the dates are yet to be finalized, but I will let you know when they are.

My friends Jen Kwok and Eric Fortin -- collectively, The Tijuana Yacht Club -- have been writing a sitcom entitled Undiscovered New York: Uncovered, and I will have a recurring role. We've met several times and we are set to start shooting in the next few weeks. Should be awesome!

Finally, the next Monologue Challenge will be taking place next Thurs, August 21st. Just like one in January, industry judges will pick the finalists and the audience will pick the winner. I was a finalist last time, but there was nothing to be done about competing against the old woman talking about her suitor's "pee-pee."

Maybe this time there won't be a Michael Phelps-like juggernaut, everyone else fighting for second.

Here are the details:

• Thursday, August 21st, 7:00 PM
• 353 Studios, 353 W. 48th St., 2nd Floor
• MAP
• Admission: $15 (2 for 1 if you buy today, 8/15)
• Tickets available HERE or by calling 212-560-0991.

Discount Tickets!

I've got 6 tickets for the June 24th and 25th Showcases that will be selling for 20% off. That means you can see me make my musical debut for only $20. That's right. Musical. Who would want to miss that? I will also be playing the host in both showcases and several other characters, as well.

EMAIL ME ASAP as they will be sold on a first-come, first-served basis.

As an added bonus, the more people that come, the better chance I have of repeating as the Box Office Award winner from The Actor's Project NYC. This time around, the prize is LIFETIME membership! That will save me well over $1,000. So please carve out a couple hours and come to one of the showcases! I'd really appreciate it.

Heck, come to both. :o)

BackStage Article! A Year in the Life of Twenty-Five Strangers Living in a City by Lake’ (Back Stage East, 01 May 2008, Page 3)

We got some really sweet press in the latest edition of Back Stage East. Check out the article. If you want, you can download a copy of it here.

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‘ A Year in the Life of TwentyFive Strangers Living in a City by Lake’

Back Stage East
01 May 2008

If you’ve got a pile of admiration you haven’t place for, consider placing it in the lap of director Shaun Colledge. He’s helming AYear in the Life of Twenty- Five Strangers Living in a City by the Lake, a play by Matthew Fotis that traces series of...read more...

Tech Tags: Back Stage East newspaper News

Pre-show Press

Here's an article about my upcoming show, A Year in the Life of Twenty-five Strangers Living in a City by the Lake: http://BroadwayWorld.com/viewcolumn.cfm?colid=26920.