Project Orange

I just worked yesterday and today on a short film for Nixart Films. Bryce Bolick is the producer, and Nick Ritter is the director. I'm doing the same role for two films, this one is Project Orange, the bigger one is "The Notes" which should be filming sometime next month. I play a math professor from the south, so I have a minor role in "the Notes", but Project Orange is all about the professor having a bad day just trying to get to work. He also worries about texting a girl he's interested in, and she hasn't texted back for a whole day. Today I went to a sound-proof closet on BYU campus (at the dean's office of Eyring Science Center) to record the professor's internal monologue. I really love filming just for how much you can try and experiment. Everything in film has to be subtle and internal, but I did my best to think about what I am saying without showing how i really feel. The director is brilliant in how he seeks to provide direction in evocative imagery, as opposed to really telling the actors what to do. I find that it works, mostly for helping bring the emotion into mind and allowing the actor to connect with it in a less obvious, less showy manner. I must say, I am grateful for the wonderful direction he gave, and I only hope my performance evokes sympathy for the poor professor's girl crush and bad luck day. I'll post again, when I can find projects or productions to post about.

Timp Lodge

So, I know everyone has been wondering where I've been and what I've been up to, so here goes. I was at Timp Lodge for the BYU Writers Conference Wednesday, Thursday, and today as a volunteer actor to read the best plays and screenplays written by BYU students. I enjoyed the experience, and for one of the first times in months, I'm proud to be a Mormon artist.
For those who don't know, there are not many great Mormon written or directed film or stage projects. The original Battlestar Galatica, Napolean Dynamite, and possibley the new TV show on BYU TV, Granite Flats, are some of the exceptions to this rule, but the vast majority of films and even books within the Mormon sub-culture are not well-written, overly self-reflexive (I'm making fun of Mormon culture by showing Utah Mormon culture), or just so obsessed with staying within the Puritanical church standards that they cannot really refer to or show anything worth watching or talking about. And the high level of self-reflexiveness about Utah Mormon culture requires that you are or have been well acquainted with Utah Mormons or none of the film makes sense or makes you laugh. The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints makes very good, spiritually uplifting films, but outside of Church projects, most Mormon producers make culture-specific and sappy films. (Can you tell I'm venting?) If you want a taste of how it looks from the outside, try watching Mobsters and Mormons once, or from the inside, watch Sons of Provo and try not gagging once.
But I take back all I have said bad about Mormon artists in general, because of what I participated in during BYU Writers Conference.
I read out loud parts of a screenplay that sounds like an instant cult classic, short plays that moved me to tears and spiritual enlightenment, and a pilot for a TV show I would want to watch over and over again, all written by BYU students in the Theater and Media Arts Department. Each one I wanted to leap for joy and hug and kiss the writer responsible. I see the future of Mormon artists and the view is spectacular. I will be first in line to see these dreams come alive and be fulfilled on stage and on screen. I'd forgotten how much I love acting until I read these and felt the life and real emotions of these written characters flow through my soul and voice for all in attendance to hear. I hope to see them produced and their writers continue to blossom.
But enough about my great week and venting about Mormon films in general. Where do you see the theater and film industries arriving in 5 to 20 years? I continue to see the great innovations of everyone on Youtube leading to more and more independent film makers in business collaborating with the real companies, and theater making a comeback on the national level, what with the great acclaim of new musicals and revival of classic plays with contemporary application. So let's help good art happen!