Rex Sikes' Movie Beat

Curtis A. Smith, 1st AD Pt3  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 f

Robert Smitline writer director, is a graduate of Hofstra University in 2001, Robert majored in Film Studies and Production, and minored in Creative Writing. In 2001, he won the “First Runner-Up” and “Editing Award” for his film, Get the Hell Out of Heaven. In 2002, the film eventually went on to premiere at the Back East Picture Showin Hoboken and was also screened at the “Long Island International Film Expo” film festival. Robert also wrote a one-act play called “Trust Us”, for which he won the coveted“ Harold and Marilyn Cohen Award." After graduating, Robert spent time working as a production assistant on various productions in New York City, such as Girlfight 2000, Never Again 2001, Robot Stories 2001, and Knots 2002. He has also worked on various commercials with Ridley Scott’s Associates, RSA NY. Robert then devoted his attention to writing and directing his own independent 23-minute short film, Escape from the Night. It premiered at the Cape May Film Festival in 2003 and was also screened at the Long

Peter Marshall Pt 13 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

Kyle Olson is an award winning filmmaker  working in Hollywood in Television Production.  He is currently working on “America’s Next Top Model”, in production and also assists with the casting process. He has worn different hats while working on shows like “Glee” as an audience extras coordinator, “The Voice” as an audience warm up guy, and “Last Call with Carson Daly” as a member of their talent team.  In 2011 completed filming the pilot episode of a new web series he wrote and directed, called “Mouth to Mouth”.  Occasionally he's called in to work pyrotechnics at Universal Studios for special events.  Olson, was raised in Milwaukee, went to school at Columbia College Hollywood after graduating High School from South Milwaukee High. Each summer, Olson returns to Milwaukee to offer an annual “Summer Entertainment Camp”.  In 2011, the camp celebrated its third year and continues to grow in popularity. A feature length documentary has just been released to show what happens on screen and behind the scenes durin

Peter Marshall Pt 12 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

Alexia Anastasio, Director/Producer, is an artist, actress and filmmaker who has starred, co-directed and co-produced many independent film productions. Alexia draws, paints, enjoys doing collage work and photography. As an actress she was recently featured in feature film Supernaturalz, HBO's Bored to Death, VH1 “If you like...” commercial and Vetiver "Everyday" music video.  Alexia started experimenting in film about 12 years ago while she was attending SUNY Purchase. She made many short films some experimental narratives and documentaries, started her own art, music and film festival, CAMP Festival. She has worked for many directors, festivals, distribution companies and even an independent cinema. After working behind the scenes on many independent shorts and features, she edited a feature documentary, Vampira: The Movie, associate produced, The Wild World of Ted V. Mikels, produced and starred in mockumentary, 7 Deadly Sins: Inside the Ecomm Cult and helped promote and sell the movies at horror and comic

Peter Marshall Pt 11 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

Brent Roske, Emmy nominated director d received a Commemorative Emmy for producing.  For 9 years Roske was a Creative Director at NBC Universal, creating and directing hundreds of campaigns for brands such as Coke, uni-ball, and the Olympics to name a few and TV specials including Hard Rock Café presents, Al Roker’s Together For Care and Eco-Hollywood.  Other projects include Lonestar Trixie with Richard Dreyfuss, Playground Girls which screened at MOCA during the national tour of Basquiat, African Chelsea co-starring Sally Kirkland, the trailer for the best-seller ‘Cold Hit’ starring author Stephen J. Cannell, Last Day Foundation with Ken Davitian and Jon Lovitz and a documentary short for UNESCO and Lucasfilm starring producer Frank Marshall.  Roske has won 42 Telly Awards, 2 Reggies and an Environmental Media Marketing Award. Sally Kirkland trained under Lee Strasberg in the 1960s. Movies and TV she appeared in: The Sting, The Kansas City Massacre, Breakheart Pass, Private Benjamin.Fatal Games, Paint It Bl

Andrea Shreeman Gregor Collins co-wrote and are currently packaging the feature film It's a Good Day to Die. Andrea began acting at age 15 in summer stock theater. She was a founding member of No Time, a sketch troupe still performing on the campus of George Washington University (now under the name Recess). She made over 75 appearances as various characters with The Standard Deviants, an educational comedy team still airing on PBS. Andrea has written and performed 7 one-person shows including Bambi’s Box which received glowing media notice and a win at 15 Minutes of Fem. She appeared on the second run of Comedy Central’s Make Me Laugh alongside comedians Scott Larose and Rick Overton. In 2008 she served as Director of Fundraising on the Sundance Award-Winning Documentary, Fuel. She holds an MFA in Acting from USC, has studied extensively with acting coach Larry Moss and is a Writers Boot Camp graduate.   Gregor Collins began his entertainment career as a producer for reality TV. He left reality to pursue t

Jane Espenson, writer producer PT 2. Her early work was primarily in comedy and included stints at Dinosaurs and Ellen.  She later moved to the hour-long format where she wrote episodes for shows including Star Trek: Deep Space Nine, Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Angel, Firefly, The O.C., Gilmore Girls, The Inside, Dollhouse, Battlestar Galactica, Caprica, A Game of Thrones, Torchwood: Miracle Day, and co-created Syfy's Warehouse 13.  Science fiction and fantasy are well represented among these titles, cementing her reputation as a genre writer. She also co-wrote and executive-produced the Emmy-nominated Battlestar webisodes, The Face of the Enemy, and has written comic books, short stories and edited books of essays.  She is currently proud be Consulting Producer on ABC's upcoming Once Upon a Time, and has executive produced (along with co-writer Brad Bell and director Jeff Greenstein) her own web series called Husbands, a marriage equality comedy.Stay tuned to Rex Sikes Movie Beat for other great archived inter

Christopher Hadley's (stunt perfromer)  The first Stunt Coordinator Chris worked with is John DePasquale, who got him a job as a  precision driver on "Fair Game".  Chris had a great time simulating traffic and watching stunt performers like Grady Bishop, Bob Brown, Chick Bernhardt, Jeff Cadiente, Jim Churchman, John Zimmerman,Chuck and Steven Picerni and stunt legends Glen Wilder and Debbie Evans. At this point he knew that this was his passion and that he was going to pursue stunts as a career.  He then did a couple films at Full Sail and UCF which led into a situation where he got to choreographed a fight scene. Christopher assisted DePasquale on a German Film with Marine and Stunt Coordinating. Chris met Grady Bishop and ended up going through the Extreme Stunt and Precision Driving clinic, where he was awarded best overall driver by the other drivers and started to get put to work more and more through Grady and other Stunt Coordinators and Professionals including Dave Kramer and Chief Craig Clarke. Chris

Kristen Shaw PT 4 Acting & Audition Coach & actor has appeared in over 2 dozen Film and Television projects, as well as having more than 25 National Commercials to her credit. Kristen was recently seen as "Nora", the First Gentleman's Chief-of-Staff, in ABC's hit Commander-in-Chief, with Geena Davis and Donald Sutherland. She was called a "modern day Lady MacBeth" by the New York Times, for her portrayal of "Fiona", William Petersen's tough-talking wife in the Oscar nominated film, The Contender. She received an Emmy campaign by the producers of the critically-acclaimed ABC series, Line of Fire, for her role as "Janet Malloy", wife to the mob boss, played by David Paymer. Look for her in Resurrecting the Champ with Samuel L. Jackson, The Last Castle, with Robert Redford, Nothing But the Truth, with Kate Beckinsale, and many others. Since arriving in Atlanta in April of 2009, Kristen has appeared in the Kevin Spacey film Father of Invention, as well as filming a strong supporting role in the Sony pictu

Rick Vaicius is director and founder of Flyway Film Festival, Wisconsin's bluff premier destination for independent film as noted by Emmy award-winning blogger Scott W. Smith “ … a festival that should be on your radar” . Founded in 2008 it evolved from the monthly film programming and semi-annual filmmaker events Vaicius proposed and curated at the Lake Pepin Art & Design Center in Pepin. Vaicius has created a standout, intimate and high-quality annual festival. Over the past four years, Flyway has brought over 80 filmmakers into the local community. In addition to screening remarkable films, it has become a unique venue for filmmakers to network and discuss projects and the "state of the industry" in the film world. Vaicius has already persuaded some top film industry talent to appear including Brian Newman (former CEO of Robert DeNiro's Tribeca Film Festival), director Kelley Baker (former Hollywood sound designer known as the “Angry Filmmaker"); director/author John Reiss (Bomb It, “Think Outside the

Peter Marshall Pt 10 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

Mark Frost, producer, writer, director began his career in 1975, by co-writing two episodes of The Six Million Dollar Man. He returned to home town Minneapolis to write stage plays for the Guthrie Theatre. Between 1982 and 1985, he co-wrote a number of Hill Street Blues episodes, and directed one. He  began collaborating with David Lynch in 1986. In 1987, Frost was a screenwriter for The Believers. He created and was the executive producer of American Chronicles in 1990. In 1989, Lynch and Frost produced the pilot episode of Twin Peaks. The Twin Peaks series first aired on ABC in 1990 with Frost as co-creator and co-executive producer (with David Lynch). He wrote 10 episodes, directing and playing an uncredited part as a TV Newscaster in the first episode of the second season. His brother Scott Frost wrote the "spinoff" book The Autobiography of F.B.I. Special Agent Dale Cooper: My Life, My Tapes and his father Warren had a recurring role on the show. With David Lynch, Frost co-created and co-executively prod

Lenny Bitondo, producer, was born and raised in Toronto, Ontario. His last film “2:22” went on to win Best Feature Film at The Malibu International Film Festival 2009, as well as being chosen to close the 2009 St. Louis Film Festival. He also produced the Lion’s Gate release “Played”. Starring Mick Rossi, Vinnie Jones, Val Kilmer, Gabriel Byrne, Anthony LaPaglia, Bruno Kirby and Sile Bermingham.  Drawing you in with a delightfully dark premise, the film A Kiss and a Promise is co-written and directed by Phillip Guzman and stars Mick Rossi, Natasha Gregson Wagner (High Fidelity), Patrick Bergin (Patriot Games) and Sean Power (Lead Balloon). “We wanted to make a film that was based on actual true stories, one that was difficult in subject matter, because our main character was going to be a deeply troubled individual. The end result was a film that would deeply affect and change us all,” Guzman says.Rave reviews were received after screening at the 2011 Cinequest Film Festival and 2011 Dallas International Film

Jane Espenson, writer producer. Her early work was primarily in comedy and included stints at Dinosaurs and Ellen.  She later moved to the hour-long format where she wrote episodes for shows including Star Trek: Deep Space Nine, Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Angel, Firefly, The O.C., Gilmore Girls, The Inside, Dollhouse, Battlestar Galactica, Caprica, A Game of Thrones, Torchwood: Miracle Day, and co-created Syfy's Warehouse 13.  Science fiction and fantasy are well represented among these titles, cementing her reputation as a genre writer. She also co-wrote and executive-produced the Emmy-nominated Battlestar webisodes, The Face of the Enemy, and has written comic books, short stories and edited books of essays.  She is currently proud be Consulting Producer on ABC's upcoming Once Upon a Time, and has executive produced (along with co-writer Brad Bell and director Jeff Greenstein) her own web series called Husbands, a marriage equality comedy.Stay tuned to Rex Sikes Movie Beat for other great archived interviews

Nadine Jolson, PR, and actor Joshua Fredric Smith, discuss branding yourself for success and working with PR and marketing to create a buzz about you and your project. This is critical information for filmmakers. Jolson Creative is a group of professionals with over twenty years of extensive experience in successful publicity campaigns and image marketing for Independent Films. This talented team of publicists, writers, and designers who specialize in PR campaign development, creation of marketing and press materials, high profile media placements, red carpet events and social networking. Nadine's clients have run the gamut from major companies to emerging businesses in the corporate, fashion and entertainment industries. Her vision was to bring a new creative spin to the world of marketing and public relations. From beginning to end, Jolson Creative provides each client with unparalleled service and creativity to get their independent film the great buzz that it deserves. touch.Stay tuned to Rex Sikes Movie

Rod Lurie wrote and directed the widely praised Academy Award and Golden Globe Award nominated political thriller “The Contender,” starring Joan Allen, Jeff Bridges, Gary Oldman and Christian Slater. The film was also honored by the Broadcast Film Critics with the first-ever Alan J. Pakula Award.  His latest film, “Straw Dogs,” is a remake of the 1971 classic, starring James Marsden, Kate Bosworth, and Alexander Skarsgard, and was released in September, 2011. Lurie’s other most recent projects include “Nothing But the Truth,” starring Kate Beckinsale, Alan Alda, and Matt Dillon, “Resurrecting the Champ,” which starred Samuel L. Jackson and Josh Hartnett, the ABC drama “Commander in Chief,” a show centered on the first female President of the United States starring Geena Davis and Donald Sutherland which he created and executive produced, the military prison thriller “The Last Castle,“ which starred Robert Redford, James Gandolfini, Mark Ruffalo and co-star Brian Goodman, who was part of the cast of “Line of F

Stanley Livingston, actor, can  boast of a career of fifty-five years  - including a phenomenal twelve-year run as "CHIP DOUGLAS" on one of television's most popular series My Three Sons. The series is television's second longest running situation comedy and has been continuously broadcast for 50 years!  The show made its debut in 1960 and was produced for 12 years completing nearly 400 episodes.  Livingston’s career blossomed in the area of theatrical motion pictures as well.  Stanley appeared in ten feature films including RALLY 'ROUND THE FLAG, BOYS, with Paul Newman and Joanne Woodward; THE BONNIE PARKER STORY, with Dorothy Provine; PLEASE DON'T EAT THE DASIES, with Doris Day and David Niven; X-15, with Charles Bronson and  Mary Tyler Moore; HOW THE WEST WAS WON (the last Cinerama movie ever made), with Debbie Reynolds and George Peppard; PRIVATE PARTS (the Paul Bartel cult classic); HOTWIRE, with James Keach and the Roger Corman produced, ATTACK OF THE 60 FOOT CENTERFOLD. He also appeared in many Televis