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Rex Sikes | Interview | Culture Alternative

Thu, 2 Feb 2012 17:05:28 -0600

Recently, I was interviewed by Bill Barnes for a cool new online magazine “Culture Alternative”. This is the full text of the edited interview. I decided to republish the unedited version simply because I went to the trouble to provide the answers. The interviewer asked about my past, about Rex Sikes’ Movie Beat, about the role of Sheriff Stone Williams in the soon to be released horror feature The Spade County Massacre. The link to the magazine article follows this text and Culture ALternative has many other fine articles and interviews INCLUDING other interviews with cast and director of The Spade County Massacre. Enjoy!

CA: Tell us a little bit about your back ground, What initially drew you to acting?

R: My parents for whatever reason placed me in dancing and acrobatics at 3 years old. My first acting class was at 4 or 5. I remember watching TV with my mother or father at four years old - dinosaurs movies, The Marx Brothers, Houdini with Tony Curtis and knowing that was what I wanted to do. I had a pretty conventional life otherwise but I did dance and acrobatic recitals until I was about 12, I performed in plays too and from about the time I was eight had a one man (actually one child show) doing mind reading (another interest and fascination of mine continued to this day. As a performer I appeared on Television and loved the process.

At thirteen I met some boys two were making 8 and Super 8 mm movies and I joined in. We made goofy animated shorts, serious science fiction & live action adventures both war stories and comedies. I worked in front of and behind the camera. Since my early fascination with old movies I grew up wanting to learn everything about the movies from the earliest times on. I loved Vaudeville, Houdini and live performance - and of course Houdini had a movie career for a while in silent films. I loved Chaplain, Keaton, Arbuckle and the rest. SO I kind of think it is in my blood since my most of my earliest recollections are of films. I watched all the old comedy features, from the silent films on, serials, comedies, dramas, B movies, shorts, you name it – anything Hollywood made I consumed. Old Hollywood – the studio glamour days was my time - if I could have been born anytime else it would have been at the beginning of the film industry. What brilliant pioneers! People to day would benefit greatly to go back and study all the greats and how the business evolved.

I got to make movies with filmmakers in my teens and I continued to work non-union until I got my SAG card around the time I was 18 or 19. From 18 on in Hollywood I attended workshops whenever I was not working in film. So I studied with various teachers numerous times during the week. At one point I had a different acting class on Monday night, Tuesday afternoon, Wednesday night, Friday all afternoon, and Friday evening until 11pm learning a different script for each. I studied at the Lee Strasberg Institute, with Eric Morris, at the Van Mar Academy, with Lilyan Chauvin (who I also later got to apprentice with and co-teach, then actually to teach some of the children's classes and adult classes. I was a substitute for her teaching acting and directing classes at USC. During this time I studied with a whole host of others prominent coaches who I spent different amounts of time with. Incredible coaches like Stella Adler, Uta Hagen, and the like. My philosophy was when not working professionally I should be working on my craft continuously. I attended so many I don’t even remember all of them.

CA: Tell us more about Rex Sikes?

R: It was an incredible time being surrounded by so many great acting coaches and talented performers. I look on Lilyan as the biggest influence on me at that time and we remained friends and in touch until her death a few years ago.

As a SAG actor we got to participate in the AFI SAG conservatory program, which at that time was, in the Doheny mansion (an incredible place overlooking Los Angeles) and make films with the students and hang out at and attend AFI functions. That was another place and opportunity to meet famous filmmakers in front of and behind the camera.

Living in L A was marvelous because that is where everything and everyone was at one time. It was the hub and for nominal cost, or for free there were so many wonderful film activities to take part in. Some things cost considerable money as well.

As a younger person in acting all I wanted to do was act but I found myself behind the camera a lot but I was not fulfilled back there. I wanted to be out front too much so I didn't appreciate that time behind the camera nor the opportunities as much as I should have.

Living in Hollywood when you see a movie at a theater you sit through the entire credits because you know people working the pictures you are watching. There are times you go to a movie and when it is over the audience applauds just as if it were a stage play. It is a different place – Hollywood. It is a creative industry movie making factory town where much of its populations is in or is connected to movies and television – everyone knows someone big – and it is reflected in everything form watching the credits to bumping into major stars at the dry cleaners.

I also studied and took classes at Sherwood Oaks Experimental College and that was a wonderful experience. Classes were taught by Hollywood professionals and populated by stars and the rest of us too. I studied production, budgeting, and producing and directing classes there. At Strasberg's Joe Bernard ran a Monday night event, which preceded much in structure and in spirit, the James Lipton show “Inside the Actor's Studio”. I got to meet, hang out and listen and learn from stars and working professionals in so many different venues, from Joe's to Lilyan's, at Sherwood Oaks and AFI, and each and everyday at breakfast or lunch.

I breakfasted with working actors and crew at Schwab’s, Nate N Al's, Dukes, Jerry's, Arts, Silver Spoon, and Farmer’s Market, Dupar’s all industry hangouts. Most of my friends were and are all professional filmmakers and actors. For a while I dated mostly actresses, which is not the smartest thing to do for a variety of reasons. The same holds true for the women dating male actors or me. As actors, too frequently we are self-absorbed and obsessed with having great career success – and in such a hurry for it to happen that being in relationships with another like-minded person makes it difficult to focus on the relationship. The relationship truly suffers.

As a result I began to pursue mediation, personal development, hypnosis, anything that would help me evolve as a person. I got very involved in getting different training and schools as a therapist and practitioner of meditation and healing and psychological and psychic arts. Around the time I was 25 I felt a deep need to go beyond being an actor and learn how to be a better person to find peace and calm even enlightenment. So while continuing to pursue a Hollywood career I also pursued training in psychotherapy, Neuro Linguistic Programming meditation, yoga, gurus, and others practices. I sought out people Like Tim Leary, Ram Dass, and Rajneesh.

At one time the area from La Cinega west to the ocean, from Mulholland to Olympic was considered the golden triangle - housing more "enlightened practices and disciplines” - a literal smorgasborgh or cornocopia of spiritual practices, than anywhere else in the world. I recall sitting at Tim Leary’s at his house in the canyon. I studied with Thelma Moss who became big in the paranormal world. So I added many different and new elements to my life at the time.

In my life I never do anything half way so I threw myself into this as much as I had acting or anything else and emerged becoming a top public provider, and speaker and mentor in the personal and professional development arena and for spiritual practices as well. For decades I conducted workshops around the country and various parts of the world. I wanted to blend my approaches with acting and the film business but never did this as much as I had hoped to. I still plan to and much of how I direct or work includes much of what I have learned, practiced and taught through the years.

Today I have multiple websites one for personal and professional development, one for my one man mindreading show - after dinner entertainment or pro speaker site, and my Rex Sikes’ Movie Beat -movie site (which is devoted to helping others in the film business). I have not, and should have, my own personal acting or movie site – sometime soon I guess.

I produce, I direct, I act, I do a little writing of screenplays but not enough to qualify as a screenwriter- I consult for writers, actors, directors, producers and on film projects. I have trained movie company staff in personal and professional development strategies. Currently, I am writing a book (and have been for years) on what is important in the film business. What you need to know to produce, direct or act from my experience.

It is a long story but I ended up in the mid-west as a result of a car accident that kept me laid up recovering for nearly a year. The bottom line is that I married in the Midwest, had kids, got divorced and remain in the Midwest to be near and to raise my children. While I miss L A every single day and have for years now I am incredibly blessed with wonderful, delightful children. SO remaining in the Midwest for that reason is an obvious choice - I enjoy being a dad and want to be a present dad in the lives of my kids.

CA: How did you get picked for the role of Sheriff Stone Williams?

Whenever and wherever I am able to work I do. Much of it is producing and acting, and directing in the Midwest. I have starred or co-starred in a number of feature films, and appeared in many other features and shorts. I have worked behind the scenes as crew on other's projects, 1st Ad, UPM, Line Producer and other positions, dolly grip, gaffer, even pulling cables. I like working and helping movies see the light of day so whenever my schedule permits and I am able to I enjoy acting in or working behind the scenes in films. I have produced a TV pilot and a few films, a directed a few projects including another TV pilot.

A couple features people are interested in are “Girls Gone Dead” I was co-producer and line producer for this comedy horror homage to 80's slasher flicks in Florida. We had an impressive cast of actors and crew. I enjoyed the people I got to work with so very much. The film is making news and will be released this summer.

The other feature people are really eager about is "The Spade County Massacre" conceived of and directed by Dean Chapman. I got involved in a very round about way. I have been host or MC of a few horror conventions and film festivals. I was hosting one in 2007 and Dean and some cast and crew had a table and were promoting the film. What I saw looked good and the people I met all impressed me. Actually, I was disappointed I had not been asked to be in the feature but never voiced this since we did not know each other nor did we know about each other until our first meeting.

Dean held a convention a year or so later and asked me to host that convention and I did. Perhaps, another year went by before. Dean asked me if I would play the father of Stone Williams. He wanted to add me in and would re-write the script to accommodate my coming on board. We discussed this at a restaurant I said sure and we started off by shooting some stills establishing me as the older Williams. As I recall we never shot any footage but at some point he asked me to replace the actor portraying Stone. I said I would as long as there were no hard feelings – getting the green light from the actor - there were no hard feelings I was told we preceded. Much of the reason for the change of actors revolved around scheduling issues with the other actor.

At any rate at some point I came on board. We spent various amounts of time writing and rewriting particular scenes, adding scenes and shooting from the original script. I enjoyed collaborating with Dean he is an intelligent, thoughtful, thrifty, creative filmmaker and this was his first feature. For these reasons I was happy to come on board. Because of difficulties getting the film finished I said I would also like to help get it completed, not only by acting but by producing as well. So this is how it all happened as I recall.

It took us a couple more years to get it finished. This started out and pretty much completed as a no-budget feature. Given that, when you see it - I think you will be impressed by what you see.
What can viewers expect when watching TSCM?

While it is obviously a low-budget horror feature (no budget remember) it does look bigger. Many of the effects, the prosthetics etc. give it a different feel.

NOW KEEP IN MIND - this film is not for everyone! That is for certain. It is gruesome, bloody, contains nudity, and has a story. It is not a simple no-brainer slasher film - you need to pay attention and follow it.

From start to finish it is a Dean Chapman feature. Obviously, no movie is ever made with out massive input and collaboration – but what we really tried to do was support Dean in bringing his vision, his movie to the screen. Frankly, everyone I worked with was dedicated beyond belief and hard working. It was fun making this movie for the most part, and there were hard grueling work days and nights, times when we re- shot and re-shot and then went back and re-shot but it was all worth it. The cast and crew is stellar – all great people. Dean was incredibly tenacious in getting the project completed. I am impressed with his abilities.

Going back to when he first approached me with the notion of being in the movie we met at a restaurant. He told me the story of Spade and about the character I might be playing. He knew the backstory of the town and the characters in so much intimate detail it was mind blowing. It had been quite awhile since a filmmaker who knew his story inside and out had approached me. I’ve met with some directors who say, “Read the script let me know if you have any questions.” Dean was totally hands on.

I was blow away by his storytelling as he he laid it out. I saw some of the early footage that was shot and some of what he wished to reshoot and agreed. It was his knowledge of his story and characters and his drive to make this movie – to tell this story.

I mentioned already that it is horror, suspense, with an intriguing story line you actually have to follow, blood, booze, boobs, and gore. The Spade County Massacre has a little something for everyone in this regard. Hopefully, you will find the humor in it too. After all it is the heartwarming story of a young lad and his dog...

CA: Who is Sheriff Stone Williams?

Stone Williams is sheriff of a backward community known as Spade County. He is from a long line of lawmen and became famous in Spade for ending the rule of the Cult Of Atollo. But he is having problems - not everyone is happy with him and as it nears election there are those calling for his removal. Additionally, he has cleared a suspect of any involvement with the murder of some teenagers, but much of the town doesn’t believe he is correct on this. They still believe Doug Porter is a killer and have treated Porter as an outcast. The townspeople have lost faith in Williams and all this has taken its toll on him. So when you meet the Sheriff he is struggling to hold together his office and his reputation. He is a complex man and a simpleton rolled into the same person.

AC: What and who is the order of Attollo?

The Cult Of Atollo is a nasty cult of dullards who believe in torture, murder and resurrecting the dead. They have held Spade County in their grasp for many years - until Williams managed to gain the upper hand a few years back but now rumors abound that the cult is revived and continuing their gruesome activities.

CA: What does the future hold for Rex Sikes?

I will continue to raise my children, make more features and act in more movies here in the Midwest. I want to work more back out West in L A and elsewhere too like New Orleans, Vancouver, Colorado, etc.- so I am letting people know that currently we can discuss their projects taking place anywhere. I like to explore my options and expand and opportunities. I like to add value to a production and contribute to making the project work. I have a number of features in development in various stages, I am talking with other producers and raising funds for some other projects and am about to direct a short, and hopefully at least one more feature this year.

The movie "Horrid" which I co-star in is out on DVD- it came out in 2011, "The Spade County Massacre" & "Girls Gone Dead" release this year. There are a few others I am in that are still in post.

Movie making is an exciting (though laborious and frequently un-glamorous process) and I am happy, blessed and lucky to be part of it. I want to escalate the output in front of and behind camera this year and coming years. In the past I have produced commercials from inception to screen, video letters for corporations, training videos and consulted behind the scenes for film companies and for actors and speakers. I coach actors and speakers and sometime in the next year or so my book will come out.

CA: Tell us more about Rex Sikes Movie Beat?

Rex Sikes' Movie Beat my Internet radio show and website is something I am very proud of. It is my way of giving back because the purpose of RSMB is to help others in advancing their careers and getting their projects completed and to market. During my show I discuss filmmaking with professional filmmakers who share their insights and experience with the listener so that the listener can learn what to do and what not to do to be successful. This applies whether the listener is an actor, director, writer, producer, 1st AD, grip, sound person or any position behind the camera. I discuss the different positions or jobs with people who hold those positions so listeners can understand responsibilities of that position on a film crew. My show is a nuts and bolts show called both a "Master Class in filmmaking" and a "PHD track in filmmaking".

My guests, most of whom are friends, represent some of the finest in the business and they provide the listener with secrets, tips, advice, suggestions and strategies to assist them with their goals. Besides those mentioned I have casting directors, agents, script supervisors, publicists, marketers, distribution specialists, attorneys and so many more who are working in the business everyday willing to share with my listeners. Here is an element that I think is very important. My guest’s success is attainable and replicable so that means you too can attain it. My show is practical - the people who discuss filmmaking are in those trenches everyday, successful and professional and they are telling my listeners “here is the way you can do it too”.

I have incredible guests, and more wonderful guests are coming up and I will continue to do the show, as long as I am able. I also have a youtube channel Rex Sikes Movie Beat with a number of brief interviews and more will be uploaded soon.

What Rex Sikes’ Movie Beat is – is a resource. It is a library of experience that filmmakers can utilize to learn more about the business of film. I have been lucky working on larger fully union shoots in film and television and on low-budget projects to run and gun shoots. My experiences span the industry and I have tried to build a bridge for others to become more has been around for 100 or more years, thinks and breathes. The professional industry you encounter in L A or satellite areas like New Orleans, Michigan, New York, Vancouver is a vastly different industry than the consumer notion of filmmaking.
 We have entered a time when anyone and everyone can afford to buy equipment, computers and software and make, edit, score and release a movie. We are probably, more than ever, in the days of the filmmaker auteur – now more so than ever – because truly, now one person alone can almost make an entire movie by oneself. This is not necessarily always a good thing. On the one hand it is great that the doors are opened to anyone to make a film but frankly not everyone should. We see a lot of crap from Hollywood and we see a lot of crap from independents today.

There actually is a formula for being successful. Do what others have done in the way they do it – while remaining unique and you can succeed much faster than any other way. There are exceptions people like to cite such as Blair Witch and Paranormal Activity but remember these ARE the EXCEPTIONS not the rule. Most movies like those fail and are never heard of but occasionally one breaks through.

We are in an era – where time will tell what is to happen with movie making. Most people still want story and performance over technical proficiency. Still when you go to the theaters most of those movies all have similar qualities, a look to them and that look does not vary wildly. There is a look to movies that make it to the screens and the low budget look is not it. SO if you want to get your movie on the screen it has to look, sound and feel like a movie you would go to the theater to see. IF your movie doesn’t have this – then it is most likely it won’t have a theatrical release. AND it costs money to create that look. So…

My Movie Beat listeners worldwide are A – list filmmakers and stars to new filmmakers just picking up the cameras, and fans of film. Hence it is valuable for any one with at any level of experience.

The bottom line is that all movies are hard to make. Make your movies the best you can and take time to learn from the best, do what they do, don’t reinvent the wheel but benefit from others who have gone before you. Study the pros; learn from the pros past and present.

Then make the best movie you are able to with the money you have and then on keep making movies if you love it. My guests can help you make your movies faster, less expensively, and more smoothly so pay attention.

You can listen from the website or get the podcasts from itunes. I suggest everyone subscribe to the podcasts so you never miss a show. I have a Facebook page Rex Sikes’ Movie Beat Friends people can “Like” to be updated and they can follow me at @RexSikesMovieBT on twitter.

SO there you have some of it. I hope people enjoy the gruesome horror feature “The Spade County Massacre” and I hope filmmakers everywhere make good films and elevate our art and business.

Culture Alternative Website & Article With Rex Sikes

Joe Dante | Director

Wed, 1 Feb 2012 15:34:51 -0600

Joe Dante is a graduate of the Philadelphia College of Art. After a stint as a film reviewer, he began his filmmaking apprenticeship in 1974 as trailer editor for Roger Corman's New World Pictures. He made his directorial debut in 1976 with Hollywood Boulevard (co-directed with Allan Arkush), a thinly disguised spoof of New World exploitation pictures, shot in ten days for $60,000.

In 1977 Dante made his solo debut as a film director with Piranha, which went on to become one of the company's biggest hits and was distributed throughout the rest of the world by United Artists. During his tenure at New World, Dante edited Ron Howard's directorial debut Grand Theft Auto and co-wrote the original story for Rock n Roll High School.

UPCOMING LIVE: Tuesday Feb 7, 2012 11aE 10aC 8aP TO LISTEN CLICK THE BOLDED LINK Below:

Rex Sikes’ Movie Beat chats with director Joe Dante

For Avco-Embassy Dante next directed the highly praised werewolf thriller The Howling (1981), followed by the It’s a Good Life segment of the episodic Twilight Zone: The Movie (1983).

Having worked with Steven Spielberg on Twilight Zone, Dante was chosen to helm one of the first Amblin Productions for Warner Bros. Gremlins (1984) became a runaway hit and grossed more than $200 million worldwide.

Dante followed up with Explorers for Paramount, a sci-fi fantasy about three kids who build their own spaceship, and then Innerspace (1987) for Guber/Peters, Amblin and Warner Bros., an action comedy in which miniaturized test pilot Dennis Quaid is injected into the body of supermarket clerk Martin Short.

Tom Hanks starred in Dante's next film for Imagine/Universal, The ‘Burbs (1989), which was followed by Gremlins 2: The New Batch for Warner Bros. in 1990. Matinee featuring John Goodman as a huckster showman premiering his new horror film during the Cuban Missile Crisis, was a production of Dante and partner Mike Finnell's Renfield Productions for Universal in 1993.

Dreamworks/Universal's Small Soldiers was released in 1998, followed in 2003 by Warner Bros. Looney Tunes: Back in Action featuring one of Dante's favorite actors, Bugs Bunny.

Along the way Dante contributed several comedy segments to the multi-part Amazon Women on the Moon (1987) spoof produced by John Landis, and directed various episodes of the tv series Amazing Stories, Twilight Zone, Police Squad!, Night Visions and Picture Windows. He also directed the network pilots for Caleb Carr's The Osiris Chronicles (1995) and the NBC series Eerie, Indiana, on which he was creative consultant throughout its run.

Dante’s Homecoming, an episode of Showtime’s Masters of Horror series, debuted in December 2005 to rave reviews from critics and audiences alike and was named to numerous “Top 10” critics’ lists. The Sitges and Brussels International Film Festivals both honored Homecoming with Special Jury Recognition Awards, and the New Yorker called it the best political film of 2005. Additional television work includes The Screwfly Solution, also an episode of Masters of Horror, the Halloween 2007 episode of CSI: New York and the Halloween 2011 episode of Hawaii 5-0.

Dante’s 3D thriller, The Hole, for Bold Films premiered at the 2009 Venice Film Festival where it garnered the first-ever award for Best 3D Feature and had its North American premiere at the 2009 Toronto International Film Festival. In 2011, his legendary mash-up film, The Movie Orgy, opened the Museum of Modern Art’s Festival of Preservation in New York, and he was honored with retrospectives and career achievement awards at the 2010 Cine-Excess Film Festival in London, and the 2011 Mar del Plata and Amiens Film Festivals.

Dante is currently producing the critically-acclaimed new media series, Trailers from Hell. He also directed an interactive new media series, Splatter starring Corey Feldman and Tony Todd for Netflix.

Dante received Cable Ace nominations for his direction of Showtime's Runaway Daughters (1994) and HBO's The Second Civil War (1997).

Trailers From Hell Official Website

Trailers From Hell FaceBook Page

Joe Dante Facebook Page

Follow Trailers From Hell on Twitter

David Winning | Director | Andromeda | StarGate Atlantis

Wed, 18 Jan 2012 20:11:04 -0600

14 Features, 22 Series, Over 100 TV credits. David is mainly known for his work on Gene Roddenberry’s Andromeda, MGM’s Stargate: Atlantis, ABC’s Dinotopia and the HBO thriller Exception to The Rule, starring Kim Cattrall, Sean Young and Eric McCormack.

A proven and prolific director of fourteen feature films and many television series in virtually all genres, with over 100 screen credits – he was a dreamer kid from the Canadian prairies, making films at the age of ten with a Super 8 camera in hometown Calgary, Canada. At age 18, he got a grant to make his first sixteen-millimeter drama Sequence, and expanded the plotline into his first feature film Storm, produced on a shoestring in the summer of 1983 and filmed in the forests and hills of Alberta.

TO LISTEN CLICK Bolded Link Below:

Rex Sikes’ Movie Beat chats with director David Winning

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Rex Sikes’ Movie Beat chats with director David Winning PT 2

At 27, he landed directing gigs on the Canadian-produced Friday the 13th: The Series for Paramount Pictures; for this television debut he received three Canadian Emmy Award nominations. His second feature followed in 1992 with Killer Image, a plot-twisting photographic mystery-thriller starring Michael Ironside and veteran character actor M. Emmet Walsh.

Throughout the 1990’s and the 2000’s he directed more movies and episodes of over twenty series from kid’s shows to westerns to science-fiction. M. Night Shyamalan has cited Winning’s episode of Nickelodeon’s Are You Afraid of the Dark: The Tale of the Dream Girl, as the inspiration for The Sixth Sense.

His episodic work has received international awards including twenty-four first places at the Houston Film Festival, a Gold Hugo and two Silver Hugos in Chicago, and Four national Gemini nominations for Best Director/Dramatic Series. He has received over 60 international awards. In 2002 he received a National award from the Director’s Guild for outstanding achievement in television drama.

In 1997, he directed the hit sequel TURBO: A POWER RANGERS MOVIE for 20th Century Fox – and it was the 4th highest selling video in August that summer. He directs in many countries: Scotland, Hungary, Canada and is soon to be working in India and Thailand.

He has directed many international stars including: Daniel Baldwin, Patrick Duffy, Peter Strauss, William Devane, Peta Wilson, Markie Post, Lance Henriksen, Frederic Forrest, Jason Connery, Carl Weathers, Margot Kidder, Michael Sarrazin, Bruce Boxleitner, Lesley Ann Warren, Martin Mull and of course, THE POWER RANGERS and many more. Most recently, in one year—Winning directed Kevin Sorbo, Robert Englund and Bruce Dern in a Trilogy of monster movies for the US SYFY Channel and Hallmark Entertainment - RHI Films New York – as well as episodes of the Vampire series Blood Ties for Lifetime TV.

He directed episodes of the cool new series TODD AND THE BOOK OF PURE EVIL, a rock ‘n roll, comedy-horror series for SPACE CHANNEL -- and also supervised and directed the far north adventure series YUKONIC! which debuted in 2011 in New York’s Times Square. Also currently directing an episode of the supernatural crime drama LOST GIRL for Showcase and the SYFY Channel – and a Rob Lowe Christmas movie for HALLMARK, shooting in New Orleans in 2012.

Official David Winning Website

Curt Apduhan | Cinematographer | Amargosa | Most Valuable Players

Fri, 13 Jan 2012 02:55:56 -0600

Curt Apduhan is an Emmy award winning cinematographer with over 20 years in the film and commercial production industry. He has lensed several critically acclaimed feature documentaries including the Sundance Film Festival selection “Go Tigers!” (IFC) for director Kenneth A. Carlson, Todd Robinson’s “Amargosa” (Sundance Channel) which earned Apduhan a National Emmy for Cinematography, and the Docuweeks hit “Most Valuable Players” (OWN) shot for Matthew Kallis.

TO LISTEN CLICK The Boded Link Below

Rex Sikes’ Movie Beat chats with cinematographer Curt Apduhan

Along with his documentary work, Apduhan has shot & directed over 100 commercials and corporate branding films for national advertisers such as Anthem/Blue Cross, Toyota, Lexus, Mitsubishi Motors, M&I Bank, and the John Deere Company.

Apduhan’s latest narrative effort is the short film “Reboot” directed by Joe Kawasaki. This cyber-punk thriller is a Kickstarter funded project and represents the cinematographer’s first foray into the world of independent fiction film.

Curt is a self-taught director of photography, learning his way around a set by working as a PA, grip, electrician, camera operator, and gaffer. Apduhan credits his interest in becoming a cinematographer to past ASC President Daryn Okada, a childhood family friend. “Daryn was brave enough to follow his passion at a young age even though the odds were against him. His dedication to the craft and his encouragement for me to make my own mark in this industry is something I will always be grateful for.” cites Apduhan.

Apduhan will be making his directorial debut in fiction film with his short “Anniversary”. Production is scheduled for the spring of 2012 with primary funding coming from the crowdsourcing community of Kickstarter.

Prior to his career as a feature documentary cinematographer, Apduhan made his living as a commercial producer and production company owner. In his past life Apduhan earned a Bachelor Of Arts degree in Business Marketing from California State University Fullerton and subsequently worked for General Foods, Honeywell, and US Sprint.

Curt Apduhan Official Website

Small Pond Films Official Website

Jeff Greenstein | Director | Friends | Will And Grace | Desperate Housewives | Parenthood

Fri, 13 Jan 2012 02:36:04 -0600

Jeff Greenstein got his first job on the HBO series Dream On, and he stayed with that show for five seasons, garnering several industry awards including a CableACE. He then signed on for the first year of NBC's Friends, earning two Emmy nominations, including one for co-writing the show's first Thanksgiving episode. That same year, he co-created Fox's late, lamented Partners, starring Jon Cryer and Tate Donovan, which won plenty of critical plaudits but, alas, no second season.

UPCOMING LIVE: Tuesday February 7 11aE 10aC 8aP TO LISTEN CLICK The Boded Link Below

Rex Sikes’ Movie Beat chats with director Jeff Greenstein

After that, he joined the staff of NBC's Will & Grace early in its inaugural year. He spent six years as a head writer and the fifth and sixth seasons as showrunner, picking up an Emmy for Best Comedy Series, six nominations, and a writing nomination (the only one in the show's history) for the one-hour flashback episode "Lows in the Mid-Eighties."

After leaving Will & Grace, he joined the staff of ABC's Desperate Housewives, where he remained for three seasons and was part of the team credited with the show's creative resurgence. Then, after a year spent launching NBC's acclaimed series Parenthood, he returned to Housewives as not only a writer and executive producer but also director, helming the Season 7 Halloween show and two more episodes in Season 8.

More recently, Jeff directed and executive produced the 11-episode web series Husbands, co-created by Jane Espenson, which garnered a rave review in The New Yorker and was voted TVLine's Best Web Series of 2011. He's currently developing a pilot for ABC based on the partnership of Mary Sue Milliken and Susan Feniger, the celebrated chefs behind City Restaurant, Ciudad and Border Grill. The show is set on Melrose Avenue in 1985, so imagine the haircuts.

He grew up in Atlanta, Georgia and attended Tufts University in Boston, where he started out as a computer science major, careened through the art history department, and ended up with a degree in film and dance. This proved the ideal prelude to a glorious career in television comedy.

Jeff is married with one son; his wife, Lisa Ritter, is co-owner and pastry chef at Big Sugar Bakeshop in Studio City.

Husbands: The Series Official Website

Sci-Fi Talk Official Blog : Jeff Greenstein - Husbands