Quarantine 2020-Mask Free Blog!

2020 has been rough!!!!!

Pandemic got you down?  Are you bored, isolated, irritated, depressed, out of work, tired of working from home, frustrated or bored?  Well unless you are one of those that has still gone to work every day despite everything that's happened, I imagine you've been feeling all of those emotions.  I know I have.  When I moved to Arizona in August of 2012 I was single for the first time since college and living on my own in a new city where I didn't know a single person.  It was a dark and depressing time of my life after having been married for so long.  My days then consisted of getting up to run, going to work, come home, sit in the dark.  Repeat. Even though I was going out of the house every day, it felt very isolating.  This current situation and the quarantine has taken me right back to that time of my life.  However, now I have tons of friends here in Arizona and overall my life is very happy and blessed. So to be "isolated" this time, hasn't been nearly what it was for me before.  I'm sure everyone is getting used to their own situations.  I know for me, I've had far more interactions with my neighbors and even learned that Olympic gold medalist gymnast Olga Korbut is a neighbor.  That's in addition to my former next door neighbor, Olympic gymnast John Crosby, who passed away about 2 years ago. Somehow I live in a retired Olympic gymnast neighborhood.  Can I put in a request for Aly Raisman to move here next???  At any rate, maybe this shutdown does indeed have you bored, unsure, crazed, anxious or just plain lazy; for now just take a few minutes and read through this and maybe I can provide you with a smile or a laugh.  But either way, you will at least kill 10 minutes or so and that has to be worth something!  Masks not required.

With most filming shutdown, I've had a lot of free time, like most everyone else.  So I've binged watch a few shows and I'm not ashamed to say that I have now finally watched all of Breaking Bad and even Better Call Saul.  I am way late to the party, I understand that.  But when BB was on originally, I just never could get excited to watch a show about a guy that was making Meth, for whatever his reason.  I'm sure I'm not saying anything most of you don't already know, but what a fantastic show!  The writing was phenomenal and has continued with BCS. Although I had a hard time with the first season of that show, but once it picked up, it was as great as BB.  I once worked with an actress that was on BB, I didn't think much of it at the time.  I clearly was off on that one.  For the record though, she wasn't all that pleasant to work with. I highly recommend both shows, like most of America already has, but if you have yet to watch either, it's not too late to join the party. Now let's all go to Los Pollos Hermanos!!!!

I certainly view motorhomes much differently now,  including the Bounder I've seen in Tempe a few times.  Hmmmmm.

Before the pandemic and since I last blogged, I'd done dozens of projects including ACV which is now available on the website, I'm in the hazmat suit.  Too many to list and too many that aren't that exciting or great.  Being an actor, I'm not ashamed of anything I've done; however, not all of them need to be promoted.  Unlike many of my fellow actors, I don't post non-stop about every single thing I've done.  I'm not much of a social media person.  But for those interested here are some brief highlights:

The Deadbeats:  A sold out premiere and a fun movie to be a part of.  Go to Amazon and watch!

The Deadbeats:  A feature film available on Amazon Prime.  A fun film where I play a dad that may get into an altercation with a clown.  The actor that played that clown, Richard Anderson, is fantastic and the best I've ever worked with.  It's worth watching just for his performance. It premiered in Phoenix last fall and my parents got to go and that was pretty cool for me.

With Janel Scott and Director Justin Rose at the premiere. Great night!

Red Velvet Evening:  A featurette that I star in with Janel Scott.  She gives a stellar performance and it was great fun making this.  It premiered in Phoenix in January and was a big hit with the audience that night.  It was then accepted to a number of Film Festivals, however due to the pandemic, most of those have been cancelled.  Which is a big bummer, because this is a cool film and hopefully people will get the chance to see it.  Director Justin Rose is finishing his script for his next project, a feature film called "The Rabbit".  I'll play the rabbit and I'm very excited to dive into that one.

I'm now officially a writer and producer as well as a two-bit actor!
Hopefully coming to a Festival near you, someday.....

Acceptance:  This was a short film that I wrote and starred in and then was able to get produced and made.  It was quite an experience being on the other end as well as acting.  I am beyond thankful for all of the other actors who were part of this.  Everyone I asked, immediately said yes, even though they all had very small roles and all are lead actor types.  It played to a full crowd in Phoenix last fall and was then sent to Film Festivals as well and of course many were canceled.  But I'm hopeful to still get it out there when things pick back up.

A man whose life spirals out of control.  Seems autobiographical, hmmmm.😉

Steve:  Another short film that I starred in last fall.  It turned out great and a cool poster too, if I can be less than humble.  It was set to premiere in Phoenix in March and well, we all know what happened.  And to sound like a broken record, it too was set for many a festival with he same results for now.  However,  I was actually filming a follow up called "Grey Road" in March and we got shut down during the middle of filming.  I am hoping it can get picked back up.  If nothing else, I hope "Steve" can get some more play somewhere.  

Miami Vice meets Scarface and I'm Tony Montana.  It's been fun.

Loaded Monday:  This feature film is a lot like a Miami Vice episode on steroids and I get to play the villain, which so far has been fun.  We were filming this in March as well and then everything got shutdown.  We are getting ready to pick back up and finish filming soon.  I have some intense scenes left as I play a nasty drug lord, quick with the bullets.  The Director has said that the scenes we already filmed turned out really well and hopefully we will finish strong too.  This film should end up on Prime when complete.

Filming in Tucson, so definite horror.  But at least it wasn't Portland.

Sweet Dreams:  My first horror film, although not a blood and guts type.  I play a terrible father, not surprisingly, that tortures his daughter.  I only have a small part and I'm done filming but they still have a few scenes left and it will be wrapped.  I was able to get my friend Jim Perry a role in this as well, so it was fun working with him.  We filmed in Tucson, so for at least one day, I was able to bring some real acting to our step-sibling sister city.  Tucson is not exactly a hotbed of talent or much else, except high crime.  But it was a fun shoot and I look forward to seeing it finished.  I don't normally do horror or zombie type films because they are usually lame and it doesn't really require acting, just being a "clown" or "possessed".  That doesn't do much for me.  But I was happy to get back to work and to play a layered character.  Could I sound more Hollywood douche????  

Scenes from Seven Devils and The Diner.  Both coming to a theater near you  when the pandemic is over.  Hopefully.  Two of my best performances yet.

Seven Devils/The Diner/Joker:  Seven Devils is easily the best film I've done.  It's a twilight zone-esque thriller and I have a very cool role.  It was just finally completed after being filmed in Seattle, LA and Phoenix.  A long post-production but very much worth it. You can see the first, temporary, trailer right here!  The Director liked me so much he wrote this music video scenario with me in mind. The Diner, temporary title, is similar in that it's had a long post-production time. But it's also a similar type of thriller film and I have a fantastic role in it as well.  I've seen the rough cut and it's excellent.  Both of these films got me my SAG-AFTRA card, but I still choose to be non-union for now.  However, I'm very thankful for both opportunities and both are as good as any films out there.  I also had the chance to do a full reenactment of a scene from the Joker for a studio/promotion project.  We reenacted this scene with Diana Baker-Collins playing the therapist. We rehearsed quite a bit and I'm excited to see how it turned out, Diana was excellent.  The pictures are cool at least and beyond that, it's such a complex and difficult role that it was a great challenge to try and be Arthur Fleck.

Joker shoot.  Very challenging but more than worth it.

I did a number of other films and commercials, including one in Tucson-yay!!!  A few I was in the middle of, or had wrapped filming, before the shutdowns. It's been a busy year. I also had the chance to do a few interviews. Both are about an hour each and you can watch them here:

Chai Chats  Thank you Apichai!

Mosaic Entertainment Group Thank you Jermaine!

The audience was certainly.....intrigued by my act. But I will be back on stage!

But enough about movies, late last fall I had the chance to do something I had always wanted to do at least once and that was Stand Up Comedy.  I was lucky enough to meet Jim Perry, The Cop Comic, who is based out of Phoenix but has played many a stage all over the country.  He hosts some charity shows at American Legions across the Valley and I asked him if he'd ever be willing to let me do a few minutes at one of his charity events.  They are free to public, so I figured if I stink, nobody can really complain.  He happily agreed and next thing I knew I was booked so I started practicing and getting an act together.  I had invited a number of my friends and told them to drink a lot of beer and have zero expectations. They obliged and I was very appreciative of those that came out to support me that night.  I was pretty nervous, but at the same time, as an actor I perform all the time and memorizing my routine was not difficult just hoping for a decent crowd reaction and to not embarrass myself in front of my friends.  But Jim called me up on stage and my opening joke hit, the second one killed and then it was smooth sailing.  My act was dark and probably disturbing to most, but the crowd enjoyed it. I like to think of it as more cerebral humor.  At any rate it was fun and there may be footage out there that I'd be willing to share, for a price.  You've been warned.

We came across this weird redneck, voodoo doll on one of our walks.  Am I cursed now for touching it? 

But beyond all of my entertainment life, the pandemic has definitely changed life for everyone, in about every single way.  So you have to do different things to stay busy.  My friend Jack and I have gotten to walking 3 days a week, I run the other 4, all over Scottsdale.  If you didn't realize, Scottsdale is huge, literally 30 miles long by about 6 miles wide.  We've walked hundreds of miles so far, even during July which became the hottest recorded month ever in Phoenix history, and we have covered many a road.  During each walk we always take a picture of anything unusual we see and that's been fun. You may drive all over your own neighborhood and town every day, but I guarantee you miss so much unless you walk it.  Amazing all the little things we've come across and it's been great exercise, great socializing-while still being safe, and interesting.  Jack's lived in Scottsdale 30 years and even he's been surprised at all we've come across. Finding your own way through this is what it's all about.  We don't have to stay inside completely.

The new USS Arizona exhibit in Scottsdale with Jack and 3G.  If not for the pandemic, I may never have come across it.  Its almost a complete replica to the one in Pearl Harbor including an actual piece of the ship.

Now I know what you must be thinking, what a bunch of self-serving, egotistical blather.  Could I possibly talk about myself anymore?  Well, first, it is my blog, so there's that.  However, you are correct.  For those that are friends with me on Facebook, my only social media, you know I post very, very little about anything.  Occasionally  I'll dump some stuff on my blog because people ask what I'm up to.  I really don't talk about my acting with anyone as it does seem rather narcissistic and if you didn't realize it, much of what I said, is with a sarcastic tone, I don't take myself that seriously.  But I figured everyone is home these days and probably have run out of stuff to watch and do, so maybe this blog and the links within, can at least give you a diversion.  At any rate I've been fortunate to have a lot of work this year already, including filming a few things during the quarantine right or wrong, hold your judgment, no one is asking your opinion here, just mine, my blog, remember?  But hang in there, the world hasn't ended, it won't end and everything will get back to normal, hopefully, before too long.  Maybe even right after November 3??  Now let's all make sure we do everything we can to ensure the football season can happen.  Let's not let the corona virus win that battle!!

Even during a Pandemic you can always stay Fired Up!!!