Making Movies, Playing Golf

It's all about the big meeting in Vegas for my film this week. This is the new teaser movie poster from Garrett Cury.

We were able to carve out a 26-hour vacation this weekend to San Diego. We spent the day in Old Town and the kids played their first real round of golf at the par 3 chip and put there. Aidan got his first real par on the back nine - about ten years ahead of my pace. Eli chipped in for par on the 16th. Looks like they inherited their golf skills from both grandpa's and not dad.

My friend Todd took me golfing last week. It was my first time in two years. It was pretty ugly, but I may give it another go soon.

I'm either manic or actually excited...

There is no better feeling than seeing an idea become a reality - especially when the idea is bigger than any one person. I was able to experience that in the early days of Canyon Ridge and again at Apex in Las Vegas. For the first time since those days I sense it happening again with "Hitting the Nuts." That is the part of producing that I actually like more than acting...seeing a common creative vision emerge from a group of people. When the vision is your own idea it is especially humbling and exciting.

The great thing about the project is that it has brought people back into my life - people I trained with at Second City in Las Vegas five years ago, people from Tony n Tina's, childhood friends, college friends, current OC and LA contacts and strangers in Hollywood who are quickly becoming friends.

This week two other groups joined our team. Through a chance meeting with a poker friend the general manager of the House of Blues Las Vegas heard about the project. I was able to meet with him and he was very encouraging and accomodating. They have offered the very elite Foundation Room atop the Mandalay Bay to use for our Las Vegas meeting for potential investors on March 4. The same day several members of The Second City show at The Flamingo Hilton offered to perform improv at the same meeting to show our guests a little of what the project will feel like. Our new producing partners are making original videos that showcase the project...it's all coming together. If that meeting goes as we hope we can move on into actual production of the film very soon.

I know full well that there will be more frustrating days ahead with this project, but it had occured to me this lazy Saturday morning that these are exciting days. I've always wanted a life of adventure and creativity and for the moment that is what I have.

Thanks to all of you who have supported us and helped us along the way.

The Actor's Life

I worked yesterday on a prime-time soap. It's called American Heiress and will air starting in March on MyNetworkTV - a Fox affiliate cable station in most every market. I has a co-starring role as the assistant to the main character in the first episode. It was good to work...however:

As always happens to me, I missed a call-back because I was working. It was a big national commercial and they were only calling back a few guys. I'd rather be working on a TV show than auditioning for a commercial, but it does illustrate how insanely complicated life as an actor can be. My last big commercial callback was the same story - I missed it because I was filming a TV show. A good commercial can generate much needed income for people like me, so it just gets frustrating. If I'm lucky I'll pull in $2,000 after residuals for my soap work. The commercial could have been 20 times that...ah, well. It's never been about the money - until the rent is due anyway :)

I've booked a mortgage infomercial that shoots Friday...a typical talking head bit about refinancing.

Having my own film to produce is a wonderful distraction from the hustle of auditioning and double booking. It is good to know that no matter what I am involved in a project that I really believe it, etc.

Oh, and by the way...I woke up yesterday with a monster pimple on my face - the kind of tumor that I haven't seen since high school. So despite the best effort of the American Heiress makeup department you and millions of others will get to see it in early March on national TV. My life rocks.

Updates Galore

I'm happy to announce that the film I am producing (Hitting the Nuts) has officially partnered with That's Hollywood Productions, a company based at Warner Brothers Studios in Burbank. Our affiliation with them is opening up tremendous doors in every area. We will be doing investor meetings at Warner Brothers and in Las Vegas (probably at The Palms) in about four weeks with them. They have produced two other films recently at the same budget level, both of which went on to DVD distribution and profitability. I am officially very excited now. I'll be working some at their offices in Hollywood...

Additionally, we have added professional poker player and author Charlie Shoten to the project as Executive Producer. I really like Charlie personally and have enjoyed getting to know him. He is the author of a poker/self-help book entitled No Limit Life.

Add Pilot Season to all of this and I'm a pretty busy guy. I've had a steady stream of auditions, though not many pilots. The folks at NBC (someone there anyway) have taken a fondness to me. I've had several improv-based pilot auditions there. (Look for a lot of game show/improv hybrids this year on network TV if my auditions are any indication.) It's an interesting time to be an improviser for sure. This week I had several commercial auditions and booked an infomercial. Next Tuesday I film a supporting role on the soap opera "The Heiress" which will play nationally on MyNetworktv. It's channel 13 in LA. Check their website for your affiliate and I'll let you know what day you can see me. I also booked a part in an indie film that has had production pushed back - which means there's a good chance it won't actually ever happen.

Lots of fun little things are happening...would be nice to book a commercial or something to pay a few bills, but I can't really afford to complain. You'll know more when I do...thanks for reading.