Wrapped - The Offer

Got the opportunity to work with an old friend from class in a lil number somewhere between Ozark and Breaking Bad. Not a bad way to spend a night.

Wrapped - Five Star Weekend in Nantucket

It’s been a little over a week since we returned to LA and settled in after a long shoot in Nantucket.

Nantucket is a darling town full of quaintness and cobblestones, and has some spectacular beaches and good food. Apparently it’s a place for drinking and spending money, but most of my time was spent alternatively watching the kids and enforcing the law in this alternate reality.

It was just a delight to hang w/ the cast and crew on this little island - it all felt like camp (at least I imagine because I’ve never been). We all got our own room assignments, and because the island is so small you’re running into your coworkers on your day off, exchanging tips about where to get the best ice cream (some say Juice Bar, my kids say Jack and Charlie’s).

One of my favorite new things was precision driving an F150 around. When the AD tells me “you were 6 inches off the mark”, I instantly understand how precision the driving is. With the stunt coordinator Shauna whispering directions over an in-truck walkie, and with a pro tip from our truck driving teamster Jared (who has ripped off some impressive precision driving stunts), I was able to pull it off most of the time.

It was so much fun, and now that shooting is all finished, all we can do is wait for it all to cut together and be as enjoyable as the vision and people.

Wrapped - National Commercial

Just finished a long day yesterday for my first commercial shoot!

Was for a well known phone company that rhymes with Horizon, and was a baptism by fire into the quantum world of mini-scenes that comprise a 30 second commercial.

There were puppeteers, giant blue screens, a celebrity, passing studio tours full of people who sometimes waved, racks and racks of wardrobe with little changing pods, and endless hours shooting the shit with the small group in my spot.

We formed our own little squad, and it felt very much like an orientation for school or camp given that it was the first one for two of us. One of the people in my group was a former famous Viner (RIP Vine may you come back soon) who gave us the scoop on how that all went down. Another had done two movies as the lead when she was very young. Another, like me, had 2 kids that required childcare coordination as the day went a bit long.

The audition process was equally mercurial - in one audition I was a viking, and in the next I was some kind of businessman.

My son once told me “you just do nonsense” regarding my job, and yesterday it couldn’t have felt more true.

Wrapped - Five Star Weekend in LA

This is a celebration of Los Angeles and its relevance as a hub of entertainment.

Listen - TV and film are going global in the name of cutting costs and bottom lines and all that. But look - you get what you pay for.

The talent is where it always has been. I’m not talking about actors or directors (primarily). I’m talking about crew. It is a professional army of talent who create an environment so fluid that creatives can step in and do their best work. And all the facilitators - the drivers, the caterers, the assistants - they makes the transitions easy, enjoyable, and smooth. Their families are here, supporting them as they endure 6 day weeks for 10-14 hours a day. And they, in turn, support the creative team, who are enduring similar hours and expected to recreate a simulacrum of reality in emotionally charged circumstances. The most efficient system is here because it has attracted the best of the best.

Now let’s talk about the creative team.

This show is stacked with talent in the cast, directors, and cinematographers.

Look at the current cast and creative lineup for The Five Star Weekend and you’ll see what I mean. It’s easy to say yes when the production is in your backyard.

I can’t say enough praise for the talent on this show. I’m ecstatic that this team of stars (cast, creatives, and crew, I’ve also heard the executives are coming along too) get to do it some more on Nantucket. The majority of my episodes are there, so I’m grateful that I’ve only just started.

I really can’t wait to share this work, because it seems like everyone is making it the best that it can be.

Wrapped - Countdown

Here’s my parallel universe clone as imagined by AI in a show I just wrapped with some of the most delightful people to be around.

I got to dip my toe in this thriller as a biker goon and play make-em-ups with people I’ve long admired on TV and film. Everyone in the green room were people I had seen before who gave me the feeling that ‘oh I remember them in a lot of different things, all of them great performances’.

One of the days was a big group scene, so it turned out to be a long day - but was made so much easier by being surrounded by positive attitudes. You forget how much fun it is to work hard and get to that sweet sweet ‘martini shot’ of the day. Makes you respect how hard being a regular on a set is, whether it be cast or crew, because they’re doing this day after day - pumping out the hits.

My son asked me how my job playing a ‘tough guy’ was at my acting work. Very fun, little dude, very fun.

Wrapped - Reel Scenes

With a stagnation in new shows (from negotiations with the IATSE, and a more conservative approach to production) comes another break I’ve decided to make what can.

Fortunately, life with kids is an embarrassment of riches as far as things to do, and moments to behold. I’ve very much enjoyed spending time with the two little ones.

But still, duty calls from time to time - this time in the form of other actors needing scene partners for their reels. Just wrapped two shoots, one with Relentless Filmworks, and the other with I Look Like Myself, two great reel production companies in LA that will shoot and edit scenes that belong in a variety of genres and mediums.

Check em out if you’re in the market for such a thing. I might even be your scene partner if you’re looking for a farmer, or a high fashion thug skimming his boss, or a lovelorn widower.

Wrapped - Harmony

Since I didn’t take any pictures on this set, here’s one the director took of the DP.

Maybe it tells the bittersweet story of the end of a finely crafted piece of collaborative art.

For me this was an opportunity to represent part of what it means to be a parent. It gave me a glimpse into the future of how devastating it will be to send my children off into the world, and a reminder to enjoy the time with them now - when they are still so small that one uses my body as a training mountain to climb, or when the other follows his curiosity to ask me - ‘did you make any friends at your acting work?’

I believe I did. I’m eager to watch what becomes of it all.

Wrapped - New Reel Scene

Thought I’d refresh my current work by shooting something with a friend during these doldrums.

Here are a couple pics of it. They say write what you know, so I wrote a little scene about the time I took my landlord to court. My agent gets some lawyer jargon to send out to all the lawyer jargony shows, and it fulfills my desire to tell stories about deserved justice. I contacted the team at Relentless Filmworks to direct, capture, and edit it, because their work is so stellar.

For my scene partner I contacted the very talented Blake Boyd, someone who embodies ‘action bias’ as I sometimes do.

Action bias is what may save us from this strike.

Wrapped - NCIS

Finished shooting the season finale on this long running cornerstone of procedural drama. Very honored to have taken part. Much of the crew on this show has been together since JAG, and that translates…one of the crew members described it as having the spirit of an indie film crew on a network show, and I think that’s pretty apt.

Had the absolute pleasure to work opposite Wilmer Valderrama, Themo Melikidze, and Chris Petrovski, the dp Billy Webb, and director Diana Valentine. All the rest of the crew (Avery/Wyatt/Nick/Elion/Aaron/Carrie/Rich/Karen/Jose/Kurt/errybody) were incredibly welcoming, professional, and all the other things you hope for.

Oh man, also was really stoked to have worked with stunt coordinator Diamond Farnsworth, and my first stunt double - Nick Eppers! I realize how much I miss the choreography of combat. It was also magic to see someone else turned into a clone of myself.

Very excited to see how it all turns out.

Wrapped - The Company You Keep

Finished up a shoot on a show led by this very talented, humble, and hard working dude.

Have been a fan of Milo’s since Heroes, and am grateful to have worked with him. It’s clear he’s using his extensive experience to helm an extremely efficient set. When every single person seems content, that’s a signal that leadership is on the right track.

Very excited to see what comes of this show, and for my appearance as an enigmatic gatekeeper.

Wrapped - Law and Order

Still reeling from an early morning shoot on Law and Order.

I got the opportunity to work with Jeffrey Donovan, Mehcad Brooks, and Carl Weathers using the writing of Peter Blauner to tell a lil crime story.

Each set up only took 2 takes, maybe 3, so it seemed to just whip by. Probably went so smoothly because the director and leads on that show are very supportive of the artists coming in, so I’m very grateful for the experience.

Wrapped - Reel w/Relentless Filmworks

In the beforetimes, I met with a reel production company and was about to shoot this thing here. Exactly one year later we made it happen.

The goal was/is to get an accurate representation of where my work is now in different genres of TV/film. I’m very excited to see how it turned out.

If anything, it was a very fun exercise in realizing a vision.

Wrapped - Water Bear VR VO

Studio goals - three separate recording rooms, an abundance of microphones, music stands, and a bomb mixing room. After building my own tiny box for recording, I'm only more impressed with the mastery required to put together something like this.

Octopus is coming back at you in this immersive animated series, which is soon to hit virtual reality screens errywhere. Stoked to have been with this project from the beginning and see it evolve. The other cast is insanely talented. Their names rhyme with Bate Kerlant, Lamanda Mund, and Hob Ruebel. As always the writing is a boatload of fun. It's all being produced by a savvy group of guys, who are jumping head first into the ocean of possibility that is VR.

Wrapped - VR VO

Lookit! Last month/year I voiced a cartoon octopus for a virtual reality scene. If you haven't tried VR yet, bug your friend who has one to give it a whirl. It's pretty crazy how entertaining it is. I can't wait to share this one once it's up.

Happy New Year!

Wrapped - Again

A while back my amazing fiance Bekah wrote three short films for me for Valentine's Day. They were based on ideas for characters I had, a few of which I had written monologues for. Bekah worked her writerly magic and crafted them all into gut punching narratives.

As luck would have it, one of her very talented friends, Alexis, wanted to transition from stage directing to film, and so asked Bekah for any shorts that she might have that she could direct. 'Again' was one of these three shorts, and Alexis chose it to be her first film directing experience.

Fortunately, Alexis is married to another great talent, Rick, who is a DP fresh off of a NEXT Audience Award win at Sundance 2016. As if that weren't enough, we were joined by a smattering of talents, including producers Stephanie Marin and Tyler Evans, AD Tim Astor, and crew Dan Adlerstein, TJ Yoshizaki, Sevell Bensen, Katie Moest, Ryan O'Hara, and Dan Siegelstein.

But wait, there's more! A stellar actor by the name of Aubrey Dollar joined in to play my better half.

And then there's me. It's been a hot moment since I worked on a film, so there was a little adjustment to make. But what struck me many times was 'what a solid team this is, and how fun it is being on a team'. One particular moment was towards the end of the shoot - I was off screen waiting for a queue from the director to feed Aubrey lines for her closeup. By this point the crew had gelled quite a bit, so the set up came together like clockwork. So there we were, hanging on the moment, myself waiting for a slight, wizardly wave of the hand of the director Alexis. Why she didn't drop her raised finger to point at me for the queue delighted me to no end. Instead, her finger melted into an embellished swish, which cast a silent spell that said, as she did throughout the shoot, "whenever you're ready." I am. For people to see this.

Wrapped - RocketJump & FPLA Staged Reading

I'm thrilled to have just wrapped yesterday on a really fun project with RocketJump. I've been a fan of Freddie Wong's for a few years now, so it was like stepping into a really fun dream.

For info on the project, HERE is their creative director Danny Vink.

Check out their videos for some delightful action, special fx, and comedy.

Here is a clip of theirs with Key & Peele that's received OVER 11 MILLION VIEWS!!!

The cast and crew were all amazing to work with, and so talented.

Big thanks to Adrianne and Christopher for bringing me in to read for it! And to Freddie for building his online wizard empire.

On Tuesday night this week was the FPLA staged reading of Sharon Yablon's play Hello Stranger.

The audience seemed to enjoy it, and it was really fun for me to do a play again. You get to ride a story the whole way through, instead of in the typically shorter bursts of other mediums.

This is me lurking behind Heather Boothby. If you want to wander into a backyard in Fontana on El Dia De Los Muertos, this play is for you.

Big thanks to Fresh Produce'd for having me!

Wrapped - Hart of Dixie

I just had the pleasure of returning to Hart of Dixie as Big Tom.

Once again Bluebell was an absolute delight, in no small part due to the efforts of the cast and crew.

In one day I felt like a part of the community there, and from what I understand that's pretty rare.

My contributions - buffoonery, awkward flirting, & repartee.

I hope you're looking forward to the episode...I'll post the air date once it nears.

Wrapped - ESPN commercial shoot

I recently had the pleasure of working with delightful actress Caroline Macey (Grey's Anatomy, Party Down, Medium), cinematographer Charles Papert (Key & Peele), and director Behn Fannin (Bitchy Resting Face, music videos galore) on a commercial shoot. 

I got to play a Jason-like serial killer, swapping gruesome deaths for silliness. Everyone involved was a delight, and I can't wait to see if ESPN has the good sense to pick it up.

Wrapped - Hart of Dixie

I recently had the absolute pleasure to work on Hart of Dixie.

Fun set...talented people...loved it. 

I'll post the air date once it nears. 

You can check out Hart Of Dixie on The CW Mondays 8/7 central.

The show looks like a dream. 

Working on it was one. 

Wrapped - Black Dahlia Ballet short film

Last week I finished a quick shoot for the Black Dahlia Ballet short film wherein I play the detective.  The film will be about 5 minutes long, and is intended to garner interest for a feature film.  It was shot on the RED camera, and from what I can tell is going to look amazing.  It has a really talented team - Daniel Lynn as the DP, Avi Quijada as the line producer, and Stephen Espinosa and Mary Ablaza as the director/choreographers.  The lovely and talented Adrianne Richards plays Moira, an actress who is playing Elizabeth Short (known as the Black Dahlia) in a ballet about the murder.  Here are some shots from the day of the shoot.