Rex Sikes' Movie Beat

Jeffrey Winner, Actor began his career as an actor over forty years ago. Prior to that, he trained for two years with the faculty and staff of the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art headed by England's noted director, John Fernald. He spent his early years working in New York, as well as with various regional theatres throughout the country. He toured for a year with the original National Company of "Godspell" in the early 70's which ended it's run at The Greek Theatre in Los Angeles. He has called Los Angeles home ever since, but continues to work in New York and elsewhere. Mr. Winner has been in many films and television productions opposite the likes of Donald Sutherland, Brandon Fraser, Fran Drescher, Jack Klugman, and Eric Roberts among others. His film credits include "Forrest Gump" opposite Tom Hanks and Robin Wright, and the cult favorite  "Massacre at Central High" with Rex Sikes. He has had recurring roles in the soaps "Port Charles" and "General Hospital". Stay tuned to Rex Sikes Movie Beat for other g

Willie Garson, actor, stars as Mozzie in the hit USA Network series, White Collar. The talented Garson is rarely at a loss for work, appearing in over 250 TV episodes of a wide variety of programming, and over 70 feature films. His unorthodox bald and bespectacled look won over fans on "Sex and the City," where he played Carrie's gay best friend, Stanford Blatch. He is also well known as Henry Coffield on "NYPD Blue" and recently re-teamed with HBO and David Milch on "John From Cincinnati".  Born and raised in New Jersey, he started training at The Actors Institute in New York when he was only 13, before majoring in theater and psychology at Wesleyan University in Middletown, CT. After graduation, Garson found his love for acting outweighed his psychology studies and landed guest roles on "Cheers," "Family Ties," "thirtysomething" and "L.A. Law." He has stayed busy playing several recurring characters in a wide array of TV projects, such as "Just Shoot Me," "Spin City," "Ally McBeal," "The Practice," "Stargat

Peter Marshall Pt 16 The Director's Series - The nuts & bolts of directing film and television with Peter Marshall. Peter has had a 35-year career and has worked as a PA, dolly grip, electrician, assistant cameraman, commercial production manager, first assistant director, TV series creative consultant, television producer and director. He has worked on industrial films, documentaries; television commercials, music videos; Emmy Award nominated TV series and features. Peter has directed over 30 TV episodes and written, directed or produced over 50 hours of documentary educational programs. His works have won, or been nominated for 14 International awards. He's worked for directors such as Zack Snyder, John Woo, Ed Wick, Phillip Noyce, John Balham, Roger Adam, Anne Wheeler, Bobby Roth & Kim Manners. He has worked with actors including Michelle Pfeiffer, Kevin Spacey, Morgan Freeman, John Travolta, Mel Gibson, Kathy Bates, Adam Sandler and Peter O'Toole. Other credits inclurde scores of television series

Joe Dante, director began as trailer editor for Roger Corman's New World Pictures making directorial debut in 1976 with Hollywood Boulevard co-directed with Allan Arkush. Piranha marked his solo directorial debut 1977 and went on to become one of the company's biggest hits. He edited Ron Howard's directorial debut Grand Theft Auto and co-wrote the original story for Rock n Roll High School. He next directed The Howling, followed by the It’s a Good Life segment of the Twilight Zone: The Movie. Spielberg chose Joe to direct Gremlins which became a runaway hit and grossed more than $200 million worldwide. The sci-fi fantasy Explorers followed and then Innerspace staring Dennis Quaid and Martin Short. Tom Hanks starred in his next film for Imagine/Universal, The ‘Burbs , followed by Gremlins 2:The New Batch. Joe and partner Mike Finnell's company Renfield's Productions produced Matinee featuring John Goodman for Universal then came Dreamworks/Universal's Small Soldiers followed by Looney Tunes: Back in Action. Am

Jeff Greenstein, Director.  His first job was on the HBO series Dream On, and he stayed with that show for five seasons, garnering several industry awards including a CableACE.  Then he signed on for the first year of NBC's Friends, earning two Emmy nominations, one for co-writing the show's first Thanksgiving episode. He co-created Fox's late, lamented Partners, starring Jon Cryer and Tate Donovan, which won critical plaudits 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 ABC's Desperate Housewives and 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 Pare

Cassidy McMillan, PT 2  directed wrote and produced the documentary film on bullying and bullycide “Rats & Bullies”, which is currently garnering awards in the festival circuit. She holds a degree in Communications/Broadcast Journalism and has worked as an investigator for global corporate and entertainment companies where she conducted hundreds of criminal investigations, and arrested subjects for various types of crimes. When she learned of the North American precedent setting bullycide case on the “Oprah Winfrey Show” of a 14 year old girl who took her life by hanging herself with a dog’s leash due to bullying, she was compelled to tell the story in a documentary and feature film in order to prevent more teens from taking their life. Cassidy acquired the life rights to the story and set out to make the projects happen. “Rats & Bullies” was filmed in Canada; Washington D.C.; and California. The film completed post-production in 2011, and is being met with critical acclaim. Additionally, she wrote th

Betty Jo Tucker, editor/lead film critic for ReelTalk Movie Reviews, a website with over 3500 film reviews and more than 500 featured articles. She also writes movie commentary for the Colorado Senior Beacon and is the author of three film-related books: “Confessions of a Movie Addict,” “Susan Sarandon: A True Maverick,” and “The Reel Deal: Writing about Movies”as well as co-author of “It Had To Be Us,an award-winning romantic memoir. Her radio show, “Movie Addict Headquarters,” can be heard via the Internet on BlogTalkRadio.  All art forms converge in the movies, and that’s why I like writing and talking about them so much. Says Betty. Frankly, I've never been able to conquer my addiction to movies. Although I enjoy films mostly because of their escapist entertainment qualities, I love to be enchanted by cinematic artistry, enlightened by a great story, and inspired by memorable performances. When everything works in a film, something magical happens to me, but even if a movie falls short, I can’t wait to sh

Melissa Skoff (PT 2) Casting director  has well over one hundred feature film and TV credits to her name. She launched her casting career at Warner Bros. after working in production with Clint Eastwood and John Boorman, she segued into casting at the studio level.  When she left Warner Brothers to launch her own independent company, Melissa worked on an array of feature films including “The Emerald Forest,” “Soul Man,” and “Back To School” with Rodney Dangerfield and  numerous high profile TV series including “The Dukes of Hazzard,”  and “JAG”. She became the Sr. Executive in Charge of Talent for Fox Broadcasting’s “Fox Night at the Movies.” cast ing a number of successful movies for TV including the acclaimed drama, “Doing Time on Maple Drive.”  the film helped launch Jim Carrey's feature film stardom and was his first dramatic role.  She lent a helping hand in the early successes of George Clooney, Vince Vaughn, Jennifer Aniston, Ben Stiller, Robert Downey, Jr., Lauren Graham, David Spade, Julia Louis-Dreyf

Cassidy McMillan Actress and director,  directed wrote and produced the documentary film on bullying and bullycide “Rats & Bullies”, which is currently garnering awards coast to coast in the film festival circuit. Cassidy’s acting work includes leading roles for the theater plays, musicals, and work in Film, TV for inde films, Showtime; AMC, Discovery, and has worked with directors James Cameron and Tom Shadyac.  Voiceover work includes audio games for Milton Bradley/Parker Brothers, radio commercials, and recently recorded four national commercials for the U.S. Coast Guard. In addition to acting work, Cassidy holds a degree in Communications/Broadcast Journalism, has worked as an investigator for global corporate and entertainment companies where she conducted hundreds of criminal investigations, and arrested subjects for various types of crimes. When she learned of the North American precedent setting bullycide case on the “Oprah Winfrey Show” of a 14 year old girl who took her life by hanging herself w

Paul Weber, CSA, PT2 is one of Hollywood’s most respected Casting Directors. As longtime Executive Head of Television Casting and Feature Film Consultant for MGM Studios, Weber effectively moved between both mediums with ease. For series television, Weber cast the wildly popular STARGATE franchise. SPARTACUS: GODS OF THE ARENA, SHE SPIES, POLTERGEIST, DEAD LIKE ME, and THE OUTER LIMITS. For the big screen, Weber has advised on numerous MGM features including the blockbuster JAMES BOND franchise, FAME, ZOOKEEPER with Kevin James, HOT TUB TIME MACHINE, RED DAWN with Chris Hemsworth, Joss Whedon’s CABIN IN THE WOODS 3D, and THE MACHINE starring Vin Diesel. Home entertainment credits include LEGALLY BLONDES with Ashley Tisdale. Weber is now a fully independent casting director and producer. Busier than ever, his current feature projects include BEULAH starring Dakota Fanning and Ryan Phillipe, THE UNEXPECTED with Paul Giamatti, and THE STUPIDEST ANGEL based on the bestselling novel by Christopher Moore. TV series

Curt Apduhan, 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. 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. His latest narrative effort is the short film “Reboot” directed by Joe Kawasaki. 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. He credits his interest in becoming a cinematographer to past ASC President Daryn Okada, a childhood family friend. “Daryn was brave enough to fol

David Winning, director ,14 features, 22 series, over 100 TV credits 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. At 27, he landed directing gigs on the Canadian-produced Friday the 13th: The Series for Paramount Pictures he received three Canadian Emmy Award nominations. 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 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.He has directed many international stars including: Daniel Baldwin, Pat

Dori Zuckerman, casting director for 25+ years casts the critically acclaimed FX series “Wilfred” starring Elijah Wood, Jason Gann, Fiona Gubelmann, and Dorian Brown. Dori worked at William Morris Agency for a few years, then became a publicist in the mid 80s clients at the time included George Clooney, Sarah Jessica Parker, Kelly Preston, Bill Paxton, Alfonso Ribiero, and Andrew Dice Clay. Other TV credits include  “Babylon 5” pilot, “The New WKRP in Cincinnati” series, “Sabrina, the Teenage Witch”, and “They Came from Outer Space”  Halle Berry did one of her 1stguest star jobs. “That’s My Bush!” on Comedy Central with Tim Bottoms as the President.She cast a pilot for VHI with Gene Simmons of KISS fame as producer, and put “Last Comic Standing” winner John Heffron in his first series. SHe has cast MTV’s “American Mall” which starred Nina Dobrev (Vampire Diaries, DeGrassi) in her first American Production as well as Rob Mayes (upcoming Family Channel series “Jane by Design”), Autumn Reeser (Smokin Aces 2, Ent

Peter Marshall Pt 15 The Director's Series - The nuts & bolts of directing film and television with Peter Marshall. Peter has had a 35-year career and has worked as a PA, dolly grip, electrician, assistant cameraman, commercial production manager, first assistant director, TV series creative consultant, television producer and director. He has worked on industrial films, documentaries; television commercials, music videos; Emmy Award nominated TV series and features. Peter has directed over 30 TV episodes and written, directed or produced over 50 hours of documentary educational programs. His works have won, or been nominated for 14 International awards. He's worked for directors such as Zack Snyder, John Woo, Ed Wick, Phillip Noyce, John Balham, Roger Adam, Anne Wheeler, Bobby Roth & Kim Manners. He has worked with actors including Michelle Pfeiffer, Kevin Spacey, Morgan Freeman, John Travolta, Mel Gibson, Kathy Bates, Adam Sandler and Peter O'Toole. Other credits inclurde scores of television series

Jared Pelletier, director, (PT 2) is an internationally recognized film director from Toronto, who first gained exposure at 18 with a shortlisted film at the Festival de Cannes. He has gone on to win numerous festival awards for more than five different films. His WWII epic "In the Hearts of Men" 2011 , swept all major production awards including Best Director, Best Picture, and Best Editing at the Arizona Film and Media Expo. In February of 2011 Jared made his new project public, a short that would change the possibilities of visual effects in independent films, the movie is called "Halo: Faith". With over 14,000 Facebook fans gained before a single frame of the film released, the project is regarded a massive success. A teaser trailer released in November, 2011 to mixed but mostly positive feedback from fans; Feedback from the industry, however, has been massively positive. Pelletier was given the opportunity to direct commercials for notable organizations such as FIFA, and received major feature film offer

Colin Ferguson PT3 , actor/director/producer, starred as Marshal Jack Carter in SyFy's "Eureka."  The New York Daily News raved, “Ferguson's approach is fluid and funny enough to make it all work.' Ferguson enjoyed working on the series because of the hybrid of drama mixed with quirky comedic elements. Colin's film credits include "Because I Said So", "Rowing Through," and "The Opposite of Sex" among others. He was a regular on the NBC series "Coupling" and "Then Came You." He has guest starred on  "Line of Fire", "Malcolm in the Middle", "Crossing Jordan", "Becker” and "Titus. Colin TV movie credits  "Mom at 16", "We Were the Mulvaneys", "Confessions of a Sociopathic Social Climber", "Ladies Night", "More Tales of the City", "Playing House" and "Christmas in Paradise". Colin was a producer on Eureka and has directed the "fan favorite" episodes "Your Face or Mine" and "The Story of O2". He has been tapped by SyFy to bring a more human and character- based element to their intense visual-effects style. It is t

Curtis A. Smith, 1st AD Pt 4  landed an internship on the feature film Marriage Material, directed by Jody Poldolsky. The film starred Leslie Ann Warren, James Rebhorn, Alanna Ubach & Michael Silver. Curtis was offered a paid Set Production Assistant position on Out of Sight, directed by Stephen Soderberg, starring George Clooney, Jennifer Lopez & Ving Rhames. Then came Cherry, starring Shalom Harlow & Jake Webber.  In 2000, Curtis worked on Girlfight, the Sundance winner produced by Jonathan Sayles and starring Michelle Rodiguez. He went on to work on Pootie Tang directed by Louis CK and featuring Chris Rock, XX/XY which starred Mark Ruffalo and Robot Stories by award-winning director Greg Pak. The Orphan King with Chris Evans and Bill Pullman. The Tripper, which was actor David Arquette’s directing debut, which also starred Thomas Jane, Paul Ruebens and Lukas Haas. Curtis also teamed up recording artist Fred Durst for his award-winning film The Education of Charlie Banks. Philip Seymour Hoffman

Casting director Melissa Skoff has well over one hundred feature film and TV credits to her name. She launched her casting career at Warner Bros. after working in production with Clint Eastwood and John Boorman, she segued into casting at the studio level.  When she left Warner Brothers to launch her own independent company, Melissa worked on an array of feature films including “The Emerald Forest,” “Soul Man,” and “Back To School” with Rodney Dangerfield and  numerous high profile TV series including “The Dukes of Hazzard,”  and “JAG”. She became the Sr. Executive in Charge of Talent for Fox Broadcasting’s “Fox Night at the Movies.” cast ing a number of successful movies for TV including the acclaimed drama, “Doing Time on Maple Drive.”  the film helped launch Jim Carrey's feature film stardom and was his first dramatic role.  She lent a helping hand in the early successes of George Clooney, Vince Vaughn, Jennifer Aniston, Ben Stiller, Robert Downey, Jr., Lauren Graham, David Spade, Julia Louis-Dreyfus, Cath

Anthony Meindl, writer, producer, director, actor's  first feature screenplay, THE WONDER GIRLS, won Grand Prize Winning Feature Screenplay in the Slamdance Film Festival Screenplay Competition 2007. The film is slated for production in January, 2012 in Berlin.?? Anthony's acting class recently was voted best scene study and cold read studio in Los Angeles by Backstage magazine. Meindl’s other filmmaking credits include producing and directing a number of short films. He wrote and directed the award-winning 35-mm short film, READY? OK! which was a Finalist in the Planet Out Short Film Awards in conjunction with the Sundance and Miami Gay & Lesbian Film Festivals. The film was sold to MTV's LOGO Network as part of their "Click List: Best in Short Film Series" and is now on DVD as part of the series FIRST OUT 3. Meindl wrote/directed/produced a TV pilot with actors at his acting studio. It was nominated as "BEST PILOT" at the 2010 Banff World Television Festival. ?The idea has since been expanded into a fea

Peter Marshall Pt 14 The Director's Series - The nuts & bolts of directing film and television with Peter Marshall. Peter has had a 35-year career and has worked as a PA, dolly grip, electrician, assistant cameraman, commercial production manager, first assistant director, TV series creative consultant, television producer and director. He has worked on industrial films, documentaries; television commercials, music videos; Emmy Award nominated TV series and features. Peter has directed over 30 TV episodes and written, directed or produced over 50 hours of documentary educational programs. His works have won, or been nominated for 14 International awards. He's worked for directors such as Zack Snyder, John Woo, Ed Wick, Phillip Noyce, John Balham, Roger Adam, Anne Wheeler, Bobby Roth & Kim Manners. He has worked with actors including Michelle Pfeiffer, Kevin Spacey, Morgan Freeman, John Travolta, Mel Gibson, Kathy Bates, Adam Sandler and Peter O'Toole. Other credits inclurde scores of television series