COWBOY MOVIE MAGIC
PRIOR RODEO QUEEN AND HIGH SCHOOL FOOTBALL COACH TEAM UP TO PUT NEW SPIN ON WESTERN FILMS BY KRYSTA PAFFRATH
What happens when a football coach turned actor teams up with a former rodeo queen turned actress/producer? Magic. That’s what happens. But before I dive into what’s so magical about this duo, let me set the scene. Carl Bailey, also known as “Coach” by most of his peers, is a Texas native and has an extensive professional resume. Beyond his resume, he has a deep-rooted passion for sports, specifically football; not only did he play growing up, but he also coached his hometown football team for 20 years. In his years of coaching, he grew in his faith and realized that his purpose was to serve others. Thus he created a website for high school football coaches to discuss coaching and network with each other in a positive forum. That was around 1999, which was also when he garnered his infamous nickname, “Old Coach”. The funny thing about the Old Coach’s website was that it was anonymous, so no one knew that Carl was the one behind the new platform for high school football coaches. In an effort to drive more traffic and attention to the website, Carl started broadcasting football at the Allen Eagles football games. The coach’s voice became synonymous with the team and the broadcasting provided an opportunity for the community to be a part of the games even if they couldn’t attend. Fast forward several years, Carl was talking to a friend of his who mentioned that a buddy of his who kind of looked like Carl had just been booked as an actor on a cop show. That
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piqued Carl’s interest. He figured out who to get into contact with and on a whim emailed a picture of himself to the casting crew. The next thing he knew, he was booked as an extra for the NBC show, Chase. In a quote from the “Allen Image Magazine”, Coach says, “I applied my coaching philosophy to acting. It takes practice to get better in anything you do.” Then the rest is history. In his acting career, he has been featured in nearly 100 film projects including independent films, short films, student films, and even several major motion pictures. One thing remains the same, even throughout all of his roles, he remained the “Old Coach” and is now directing his own films, but more on that to come. Let’s talk about Tonja. Tonja René is an actor turned producer/director and talent manager with a passion for television and film. She has many television and film credits in supporting and leading roles. Her background as a performer goes back to her early childhood. She did modeling
