news
Filming on Shriek of the Krackoon has begun this past week. I have a couple of scenes that will be shot now, all indoors. Then in April, when the weather is warmer, we will be shooting the outdoors scenes. This should be a really fun movie!! The first one, Krackoon, was a real hit!!
During October and November I was really busy, I did two more commercials. The first was for "Perfect Punch" it allows you to make holes in belts and watch bands and other leather items that have become too big or too small! The second was for a series of puzzle books that are designed to keep your mind sharp!! Great for us old folks!!!
I also worked on a show for Animal Planet called "Monsters Inside Me", a true story of a man who came down with the bubonic plague! I play John Tull the afflicted man. Was not hard work spent most of my time in a hospital bed!!! Before that, I finished a three day shoot for a show called "World's Most Astonishing News" for Nippon TV. It is the story of a mother's fight to have her son's leg, which was shorter than the other leg at birth, restored to normalcy. The mother goes to great lengths to visit many doctors and hospitals to see if anything can be done for the boy. I play her father, the grandfather of the boy, and try to be supportive of her. At one point I try to tell her that she has to give up the fight and have the leg amputated, but she persists. In the end she finds a doctor who can operate on the leg and help the boy lead a normal life. It is a true story and takes place in England, so I get to drive an English style car, with the steering wheel and pedals on the right side!! That was different and took a little getting used to!
This period also saw me working on a medical training video for various drug companies in New Jersey. I was teamed with my good friend Harri Molese as husband and wife and we were being shown how to use an injection kit for Hepatitis-C. Then I worked on another medical industrial for the pharmacuetical company Genetech. In this one I was a heart patient and the first scene had a doctor listening to my heart. Then we had me with my "three year-old granddaughter" playfully doing the same on a couch and on a park bench. it was fun working with the little girl. She was actually quite good, listened to what she was told to do.
I did two days for a role on a new Discovery ID Show called "The 7 Deadly Sins" the episode I am in is "Greed." My daughter and her girlfriend, recently out of jail, plot to kill me and my wife for the insurance money!! My killing is kind of bloody, shotgun to the face! Got to drive an old 66' Ambassador station wagon!!!
I recently did a couple of commercials. The first was a testimonial for a book, "What Your Family Should Know". It keeps a record of everything that your family should know about in case of emergency. On the second, I worked with a woman in a commercial for an ottoman that could convert to a storage bin and a serving tray!!! It was a fun shoot!
There was a screening of the feature film "Anatomy of The Lonely" at the Anthology Film Archives, back on June 1st. It was great fun to meet the rest of the cast and crew again! The film was recently sent to some distributors to check for possible interest, I hope it gets some traction!!!
I just finished a short film called "The Memory Box." It is a story about a special time between a grandfather and his grand daughter, and how the he convinces her to start a collection of things that will help remind her of good times. It is a nice story.
The last reading I did with F. A. C. T. was really great. it was well received. I read the part of a man who is in a hospice with cancer, but still is the same cantankerous old man, with a love of life as he was before.
I shot a commercial for Side Sofa Table!. I had to be my clumsy self and knock over a snack table as the negative, then for the positive, I brought "my wife" a bowl of chips and we ate them together! This should be airing around mid-March.
The editorial photo shoot I did for Time Magazine is in year-end(Jan 3rd) edition. It was a recreation of the Boston Tea Party for a story they are doing about the current Tea Party. Unfortunately you may not recognize me because they photoshoped the heads of various Tea Party and Republican people on us. I am the third person from the left, Scott Brown. It was a great shoot, they built an elaborate set of a old sailing ship and we were all dressed in revolutionary times costumes.
I also worked on a photo shoot for Combvident, a COPD drug. It was great, I am dressed as a rancher and supposed to be out in the open air. It was shot in a studio on 26th Street, though. I saw some of the shots and I really do look good in a ten gallon hat and boots and such. I can't wait to see the tear sheets from this!
The run for the stage production of "Make-A-Match-Today.Com" at the Joria Mainstage Theater, 260 West 36th Street, New York Has been completed. It was presented Nov. 11th, thru Nov 14th. It is a comedy about an online Match-Making Service, and the things that can go wrong when the computers are down. It was a lot of fun to do. The cast was great and direction was perfect. This was a unique experiment. There were five scenes, written by five differnt authors, and directed by five different directors. A bit of a challenge to do but it worked extremely well. People who saw it commented that you would never know it wasn't a single author or director.
We just shot a new commercial for a product called "Never Night" It is a device that will keep your light on if the power goes out. As usual, I was in bed, AGAIN!!! It was fun!
My commercials for the Kodak and Vivatar cameras are being seen all over. I heard from people in Florida and the Carolinas as well as the New York area. It was recently on the Ellen Degeneres Show. I also shot a commercial for a water fountain type product. You attach it to your water faucet and don't have to bend over to drink the water!!! Watch for it!
The month of June was busy, I did another "Snuggie" commercial for showing this fall, a commercial for a "Presidential Gold Coin" series from The Danbury Mint, and a short video that is a take-off of a scene from the movie "Independence Day" for CollegeHumor.com. I play the General and at the end make a BIG Boo-Boo. Shooting on the feature film, Van Houten Ave, continued. I also worked on another video for CollegeHumor in the beginning of July. This was a spoof on the World Cup Soccer players faking fouls and injuries, I play a doctor!
The shooting for "The StoryTeller", a short film by Nicolas Cuellar, has been completed. In this film, I play a older man who, along with his wife, appear to be taken by a young girl. It was a very interesting shoot, with a great crew and cast. I cannot wait to see the finished product. If funding can be found, a full length feature will be made from it.
The play I was in, called "Death by Fellatio", Completed it successful run at the end of May. It is a comedy, performed as part of The Six Pack + One, a showcase of seven one act plays at JORIA MAINSTAGE Theater 260 West 36th Street - 3rd Floor . It was produced by F. A. C. T., a new theater group in midtown Manhatten. Thanks to All who came out to support it!!
The Cast and Crew screening for "Anatomy of The Lonely" was held on Friday March 26th and, as I expected, it was AWESOME! The film is really, really, good; great photography, wonderful editing, great sound! It is nice to see the result of our work on the big screen. Also, it was a lot of fun to get back together with the crew and the rest of the cast, and find out what everybody is up to. All of them worked very hard on this film and it really shows. Much thanks to David Winkfield, Writer and Director for creating a really great film, and especially for writing a really good character for me. It was a lot of fun to be Rocky. Also thanks go to Christian Lesperance, Dir. of Photography and Producer. He did a great job with the shooting and keeping us on track. The casting was great, everybody did their character really well. Now it is on to the festival circuit! I will keep this updated with the festivals it is accepted in.
This past week I also did a commercial for "Auto-Brite" motion sensitve lights. During the shoot, I got to do my best Chevy Chase impersonation, falling down the stairs. There are a couple of other scenes, me and my "wife" (Linda Sue) walking around the outside of our "house", putting out the garbage, and such. Look for it to be shown soon!
"The Yakuza and The Mermaid", a film in which I had a small part has been released! It was written and directed by Chris Benker. Chris was the DP on one of my earlier films, Satan's Whip, and asked me to work on this one with him. It was a quick shoot for me, but I enjoyed it very much. Chris is great to work with. Bob Field, one of the stars from Satan's Whip is also in this film. It was good to work with Bob again.
Last week, just before all the snow, I did a web video for Cottonelle Toilet Tissue that is related to their current campaign about the "Over-Under" poll. It should be posted soon, right after the results of the poll are posted.
Just before going away for the week, I did a testimonial commercial for "The Perfect Fit" button. Then, upon returning, I did a web how-to feature. Looks like work is picking up!!
The Premiere Screening of "Those People", a dramatic comedy directed by Bonnie Dennis, was held on Jan 2nd at the Anthology Film Theater on Second Ave. in Manhatten. In this film I play a Psychologist at a homeless shelter, and I have to say I think I was quite funny. It was very well attended, the cast and crew, guests and members of the public. I enjoyed it very much, the film was very good, it is always great to see yourself on the big screen and remember what went into the performance. It was great to reunite with everybody there. We also saw a couple of short films by Miki Holiday, who is one of the producers of "Those People", which were very good.
Shooting on a new feature film called "Van Houten Ave" has been on a hiatus for the Holidays. We will be startng again in the next few weeks, and I am very anxious to get back to it. "Van Houten Ave" was written and is directed by Joe Faria, of "Union" fame. The cast also includes Ryan O'Connor (my grandson). It shoud be a lot of fun and good hard work. So far, I have enjoyed working with the rest of the cast, and working with Joe again is great! There is one particular scene in which he really helped me stretch myself!!!
I finished my "Commercial On-Camera" class at Weist-Barron in Manhatten. It was taught by Jerry Coyle, Tod Engle and Bat Johnson. These guys are good, they gave us lots of insight to the business and some great training. I have seen improvement on how I handle the camera. Also, the Teleprompter Class was good. I feel more confident and able to handle the teleprompter now.
I had to go and do some ADR for "Anatomy of The Lonely" and got a chance to see most of the footage from it. Wow! it is looking GREAT! The scenes are good and the editting is awesome. This is going to be a great film! According to David Winkfield, the director, the first cut of of the complete production should be ready before the end of the month. I am really looking forward to seeing it.
Principal shooting on the feature film "Anatomy of The Lonely" has been completed. It now moves into the editting stage. It is five separate stories about 5 differnet people who experience different types of lonelyness, and in the end piece they all come together. I play "Rocky" a celebrity hunter, who collects autographs and pictures of the stars. "Davey" is making a documentary about me. View the preliminary trailer on the Reel page here.
I shot a new commercial for a product called "Pedi-Pistol". This is a pedicure tool that extends your reach, and has many different attachments so that you can do your own pedicures at home. This was shot in a home in Nyack with a beautiful view of the Hudson and the Tappan Zee Bridge. Easy to get to for me!
I also worked on a segment for The Discovery Channel's Science Chronicles!! It has to do with a pill that can cure all aliments. I am first shown walking with an oxygen tank and mask and a cane, then later as a healthy athletic man, cured of his illness!! Should be fun to watch. I'll let you know when it airs!!
We just shot a new "Snuggie" commercial for this coming autumn!! There are several different scenes!! One in a movie theatre, another on a porch reading the newspaper (I'm good at that!). We also have a scene with me and the woman opposite me playing cards, and another of me alone in an office working on the computer. All with a "Snuggie" on. So make sure you look for it!
Filming on the indy feature film I will be in is to start mid August. It is called "Anatomy of the Lonely", and is a series of five seperate short stories about lonely people. Then they all converge in the sixth story. I will be playing the role of "Rocky", a loveable celebrity chaser from Brooklyn! Davey is going to make a documentary about me.
I worked on Sesame Street! It was a real blast, lots of fun!! It is in a segment called "Word On The Street" I worked with The Muppet Character "Murray Monster". He asked me the meaning of various different words and then we discussed them. Things such as me giving examples of the words, or his questioning if I have ever seen the item! I had a lot of fun interacting with Murray! They also shot two scenes of me doing actions describing the words, such as closely inspecting the lens of a camera, for the word "inspect", and sitting on a park bench eating potato chips to describe the word "crunch". It was a good crew. And it was shot in a great neighborhood in Brooklyn! Can't wait until I see this on TV!
I also shot a commercial for "Space Blocks" last week, so maybe things are starting to pick up!
My "Snuggie" Commercial has won The 2008 Green Sheet Award for The Best Short Form Production!!! And The HandiSwitch Commercial won the Green Sheet Award as The Most Innovative Hardware Short Form Production!!
"Boob" has been named the winner of The Best Horror Short Award at The 2009 New York International Independent Film and Video Festival, (NYIIFVF). This film fest, founded in 1993, is one of the largest independent film fests in the world, and attracts submissions from many different countries. It is quite an honor to be among the winners at such a high profile event!!
Boob" was shown on April 7th as part of the GenArt Film Fest at the Visual Arts Theater, in New York. It was again well received, a sold out crowd!!! Lots of laughs! Afterwards was a great party at BLVD in SoHo! Next up is April 24th at the Independent Film Fest of Boston (IFFBoston).
"Boob", the short horror/comedy film in which I played a surgeon, premiered as an Official Selection of the 2009 South By Southwest (SXSW 09) Film Fest. It is also an Official Selection for The 2009 IFFBoston, The GenArt 2009 Film Fest (here in New York), The 2009 Newport Beach Film Festival, and NYIIFVF 2009! Great work by the director, producer and cast!
I just finished shooting a new commercial for a motion detector product. It should start airing soon.
Last week I worked on a medical training video. I was an injured patient getting prepared for an exam, getting instructions on how to use crutches, and a cane. Also walking on stairs.
The week before that, I did a shoot called "Dark Knight" for CollegeHumor.com. It is a take-off of the recent movie but done in the style of the TV show from the sixties. I play Police Chief O'Hara. It should prove to be very funny. I'll get the link up as soon as it is completed in post production.
Check out my picture that was used on the Daily Show on March 11th as part of Lewis Black's routine. Go to the link page and click on "The Daily Show". Also, I am in several pictures on the NY Jets website. Go to the links page, click on The NY Jets web site, then just scroll down to the Coaches Club and the East/West Club.
My "Snuggie" commercial is still running strong. This thing has taken off!! It was featured on Oprah!, The Today Show, Good Morning America and Jay Leno.
In February, I worked on a commercial for a kids training video. I was a very proud grandfather giving testimonials. Looking forward to seeing it.





