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MAGAZINE
JUNE / JULY 2018
STAFF Publishers:
CONTRIBUTORS Christopher Campbell
Tia Powell (Group Publisher) Gary Powell
Christopher Campbell is a writer specializing in nonfiction film and television. He is the creator of the documentary review website Nonfics and an editor for Film School Rejects and Movies.com. He has also contributed to Indiewire, MTV News, Paste, New York magazine and Documentary Magazine. He has a Master’s degree in Cinema Studies from NYU and now resides in Georgia with his wife and children. www. nonfics.com
Editor-in-Chief: Gary Powell
Managing Editor: Neal Howard
Sales:
Michael R. Eilers Martha Ronske Kris Thimmesch
Andrew Duncan
Contributors:
Kelvin Lee
Voices: Facing Life and Death on Set, p.36
Andrew Duncan, known in the motion picture industry as “Drewprops,” has been writing about the craft of filmmaking from the inside out since the mid-1990s. His confusing and often embarrassing stories from behind the scenes provide a unique insight into the craft of filmmaking from the perspective of the shooting crew, artists and designers who bring your favorite films to life on the big screen.
Christopher Campbell Andrew Duncan Richard Gedney Laura Miller Eric Oliver
Creative Director:
Cover Story: Mouths of the South, p.24
Nate Frost
Production and Design:
Cover Artist Born 1989 in Ohio, Nate Frost began painting as soon as he could hold a paint brush. One of his main inspirations to create artwork came from his Grandfather who was an industrial designer in New Jersey. Frost is known for his macabre undertones within his lifelike portraits of animals and humans. He is a Savannah College of Art and Design alumnus who currently resides in Atlanta, GA. www.natefrost.com
Kelvin Lee Michael R. Eilers Ted Fabella (Oz Logo Design)
Cover Image: Nate Frost
Richard Gedney
Field Notes from the 2018 Atlanta Film Festival, p. 52
Richard Gedney is an Atlanta-based freelance videographer and specialevents correspondent. He is best known for producing on-camera interviews for MovieGeeksUnited.net, and currently produces interviews for HeartFireFilm.com.
film. tv. entertainment.
Laura Miller
Feature Story: Music to Georgia’s Ears, p.32 Laura Miller is a freelance writer from Atlanta who has been scribbling away in her home office since 2012. From small community newspapers to national publications, Laura enjoys writing features, reviews, profiles, or good old-fashioned opinion pieces. Find her online at OmniaWriting. com.
www.ozmagazine.com www.facebook.com/ozmagazine www.twitter.com/ozpublishing www.instagram.com/ozmagazine (404) 633-1779 Oz Magazine is published bi-monthly by Oz Publishing, Inc. 2566 Shallowford Road Suite 104, #302 Atlanta, GA 30345 Copyright © 2018 Oz Publishing Incorporated, all rights reserved. Reproductions in whole or in part without express written permission of the publisher is strictly prohibited. This magazine is printed on recyclable paper.
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Oz Magazine - film. tv. entertainment.
Eric Oliver
Field Notes: Photographer, pg. 52 Eric Oliver began working in motion pictures and television shortly after graduating from Stanford University. He continues to work in film and TV as a DGA assistant director, as well as a filmmaker, photographer and designer for clients both within the film industry and without. He currently lives in Atlanta.
JUNE / JULY 2018
CONTENTS
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A compilation of recent news and hot projects, from and about industry leaders.
38 The End of the World as We Know It:
Ozcetera
Talent
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24
42 The Shot List: Q & A with Gary Weeks
Cover Story
Mouths of the South According the cast of FX’s Archer, voiceover work just might be the laziest, most lucrative dream job in all of entertainment.
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More Venues. Better Parking. Bellwether Cinema: Field Notes from the 2018 Atlanta Film Festival
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Let Me Give You My Card
Voices
52 Oz Scene
Feature Story
Facing Life and Death on Set
50 Caution to the Wind: Sarah Blackman
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Music to Georgia’s Ears The Georgia Music Investment Act is helping to extend t he state’s mythical music legacy by incentivizing a rtists and post-production houses to stay put.
A Chat with Westworld’s Leonardo Nam at the Season 2 Premiere
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June / July 2018
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OZCETERA An ACA-trained deer appears in Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri
Allison Janney & Little Man in I, Tonya
Animal Casting Atlanta Enjoys Stellar 2018 Awards Season
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he 2018 f ilm and T V awards season was a fantastic one for Animal Casting Atlanta (ACA), Georgia’s top provider of animal talent for the film industry. ACA experienced unparalleled success at both the industry’s major award ceremonies and at the box office, by providing and training animals for the critically acclaimed films Three Billboards Over
Ebbing, Missouri; I, Tonya; and the historically resonant, record-breaking Marvel blockbuster, Black Panther. ”While no awards for animals are given at the Oscars, we were surprised and excited to hear Allison Janney, the Oscar winner for Best Supporting Actress, thanked our talented bird, Little Man, for his performance in the movie I,
Tonya,” says ACA owner Greg Tresan. And with animals also appearing in the current Dwayne Johnson f ilm, Rampage; Marvel’s Avengers: Infinity War; and the second season of the Jason Bateman-led Netf lix drama, Ozark, 2019 could very well usurp the stellar run just witnessed by Carol and Greg Tresan’s now-famous facility in Ball Ground, Ga. Tom Hanks & Aaron Eckhart in Sully. Photo Credit: Warner Bros. Pictures
Warner Bros.’ Sully Accused of Defrauding Georgia Tax Incentive Program
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lthough Capt. Chesley “Sully” Sullenberger may have averted catastrophe by landing U.S. Airways Flight 1549 on the Hudson in January 2009, Sully, the film adaptation of his story—or, more specifically, the manner in which its expenditures were handled with regard to taking advantage of the Georgia Film Tax Credit—may have just landed its makers in hot water. According to an investigative repor t released by Variety last month, “Warner Bros. claimed a production tax credit in Georgia
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on more than $600,000 worth of airplane equipment that was never used in the state,” among other assorted items. The report further states that an anonymous informant came forward with the allegations, claiming that in order to take advantage of cost savings offered in Georgia, items were billed to the state’s film incentive program that were actually incurred in California. The informant also levied the accusation that the Sully production team even “went so far as to truck a small piece of airplane fuselage to
a studio in Atlanta. The cost of the item matched the cost of a mothballed Airbus A320 that was used in California.” As it turns out, the fuselage that was trucked into Atlanta was never used, yet it was still itemized as a Georgia expense. The whistleblower’s claims have been turned over to the Georgia attorney general’s office. Warner Bros., meanwhile, is denying them. Tax fraud in Georgia carries a penalty of up to five years in prison and a $500,000 fine.
June / July 2018
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OZCETERA Donald Glover, Photo Credit: Paul Archuleta/Getty Images; Deadpool, Photo Credit: 20th Century Fox
Byron Allen, Entertainment Studios founder & CEO
Atlanta-produced Deadpool Series Nixed by FX By Neal Howard
A Weather Channel Under New Ownership
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u b b i n g t h e We a t h e r C h a n n e l “a n American treasure” atop claims that he will seek to expand its reach, Entertainment Studios founder and owner Byron Allen recently acquired the net work ’s parent company, Weather Group, along with its sister streaming service, Local Now, for a reported $300 million. Weather Group was formerly owned by Bain Capital, ComcastNBCUniversal and the Blackstone Group, who purchased its predecessor, Weather Channel Cos., from Landmark Communications in 2008. The Weather Channel currently reaches more than 80 million homes across North America, thanks in large part to the world’s most recognizable meteorologist and human windsock, Jim Cantore, as well as popular anchors like Stephanie Abrams and Jennifer Carfagno. Allen’s career trajectory, meanwhile, has proven him to be quite the force of nature. His mother worked as a publicist at NBC’s Burbank studios when he was a child, and there he claims to have spent his days sneaking onto the set of Johnny Carson’s The Tonight Show to sit unannounced behind the host’s desk. By 14, he was performing his own standup comedy routines throughout the Los Angeles area. In 1993 he founded Enter tainment Studios, where he began hosting his own television show, Entertainers with Byron Allen.
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lthough initially spun as a severing of ties due to co-creator Donald Glover’s hectic schedule—a claim that Glover quickly denied—a public statement from FX Networks now admits that its recently scrapped Deadpool animated series came in the wake of creative differences between the two parties. Glover, along with his brother and series co-creator, Stephen Glover, had received a 10-episode, straight-to-series order from FX sister network, FXX, last May. The show was slated to premiere later this year. “Due to creative differences, FX, Donald Glover, Stephen Glover and Marvel Television have agreed to part ways on Marvel’s Deadpool animated series,” the network said. “FX will no longer be involved with the project. FX and Marvel have an ongoing relationship through our partnership on Legion, which will continue.” Legion’s second season premiered in April. Whether or not the animated Deadpool concept ever makes it to the small screen may now depend largely on a set of unknowns
both legal and economic. Fox owns the rights to the Deadpool character, yet the untitled series was to be produced by Marvel TV in association with ABC Signature Studios and FX Productions. Disney, which already owns ABC, also recently acquired Fox, so until the pending deal is complete, any animated incarnation of Deadpool would have to be done with a Fox production entity at the helm. There is certainly incentive to make the project a reality, however. The 2016, live-action Deadpool movie starring Ryan Reynolds made $783 million worldwide. Its sequel, Deadpool 2, premiered in May. Donald Glover, meanwhile, has plenty of irons in the fire. Atop the success of Atlanta’s second season on FX, his musical alter ego, Childish G ambino, earned f i ve G rammy nominations in 2018 for the LP Awaken, My Love! He also stars as the young Lando Calrissian in Solo: A Star Wars Story, and in 2019 will appear as Simba in the reboot of The Lion King. Radio host Dana Barrett with Crafty Apes’ Chris LeDoux and Moonshine’s Drew Sawyer
Crafty Apes and Moonshine Post-Production Join Forces
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rafty Apes and Moonshine Post-Production have formed an alliance to become the Georgia film industry’s go-to source for all things post-production. The alliance results in an end-to-end “pixel pipeline,” from acquisition to deli ver y, for G eorgia - based f ilm and television production projects. Crafty Apes is a full-service visual effects (VFX) company whose work can be seen in
such projects as La La Land, Hidden Figures, Stranger Things 2, Captain America: Civil War and more. Moonshine Post-Production is a fullservice post house with credits including the SXSW movie hit, Summer 03, starring Joey King, Paul Scheer, Andrea Savage and Jack Kilmer; as well as television and commercial projects for RedBull, AMC, Cadillac, FX, ESPN and more.
June / July 2018
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OZCETERA GEPRA’s Melissa Sanders and Mitch Leff
PR Coalition Serves Georgia Companies in Film, TV, Music and Digital Entertainment
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ore than 20 Georgia-based, senior-level public relations professionals have joined forces to create the Georgia Entertainment Public Relations Alliance (GEPRA). The group provides a myriad of public relations and marketing-support services for companies working in Georgia’s film, television, music, and digital-entertainment industries. GEPRA is already working with several industr y clients, including the Alpharetta Convention & Visitors Bureau, Crafty Apes, CineBistro, the DeKalb Enter tainment Commission, DreamHack (the world’s largest digital gaming festival), and Moonshine Post
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Production. Essentially, the group works with clients to help generate awareness about their entertainment-industry endeavors, and helps to open doors that are critical to making connections in the Georgia entertainment market. “From counties and cities marketing their locations to large studios and soundstages, to a wide variety of companies of every size involved in the entertainment supply chain, GEPRA can help get the word out and provide insight and counsel…” says Mitch Leff, GERPA founder and president of Leff & Associates Public Relations.
“GERPA members know the market and the entertainment industry,” adds GERPA member and Tadpole Communications owner, Melissa Sanders, “and this allows us to achieve results for clients in a targeted, cost-efficient way.” T h e A l l i a n ce’s m e m b e r s e a c h h ave decades of experience across all aspects of the film, TV, music and gaming industries. Their collective expertise includes working with film studios, talent agencies, content creators, television networks, theater, venues, musicians, gaming companies and more.
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OZCETERA Cary Elwes and Jake Busey
Loupe Launches on Amazon Fire and Android TV
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oupe, an app touted as a new way for people to view, experience and acquire art, recently announced its launch on Amazon Fire and Android TV. It is currently the numberone lifestyle app in over 40 countries on Apple TV and will now be available to more than 42 million new global users. Loupe of fers nearly 30 channels of streaming art for both personal entertainment and purchase. Curated playlists offer highresolution artwork brought to life on today’s high-def inition televisions and monitors. Viewers inspired to own any one or more of these works can order fine art prints and even select originals from the loupeart.com/shop. The app also exposes viewers to both upand-coming and established artists, running the gamut from photography to street art to fine art. “Loupe uniquely enables viewers to experience art in their homes prior to purchase,” says CEO Dot Bustelo. “In March, we launched the Loupe Platinum Channel with original art valued at $5,000 and higher.” The Amazon app is available on Fire TV, which had 36 million users in 2017 according to TechCrunch; and the Android TV app is available on Google Play for select smart TVs from Sony, Sharp, Phillips and more. Android TV is now averaging 1 million new users every two months, according to Variety.
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Elwes and Busey Sign on for Stranger Things Season 3 By Neal Howard
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hough Netflix has been rather tight-lipped with regard to plot details for Stranger Things Season 3, some recent casting notes have slipped through the cracks in recent weeks. Two things we now know for sure: Cary Elwes, best known for his leading role in the 1987 Rob Reiner-directed classic, The Princess Bride, will come to Hawkins, Ind. in the form of a slick and sleazy politician; and Jake Busey, son of infamous Hollywood head-case Gary Busey, will play a probing reporter for The Hawkins Post.
Via their “See What ’s Nex t ” event at Villa Miani in Rome, Italy last month, Netflix reps described Busey’s character as having “questionable morals” and an of f-putting sense of humor. They also revealed that the new season will take place in 1985, a full year after the conclusion of Season 2’s timeline. Also in the offing: multiple references to a highly anticipated new movie that is about to hit theaters, Back to the Future.
SCAD FASH Museum Hosts The Handmaid’s Tale
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ver 40 garments featured in Hulu’s hit, G o l d e n G l o b e - w i n n i n g s e r i e s , The Handmaid’s Tale, are now on display at The Savannah College of Art & Design’s SCAD FASH Museum of Fashion + Film through Aug. 12. The exhibit was produced in partnership
with the show ’s cos tume designer, Ane Crabtree, who received the 2018 award for excellence in contemporary television from the Costume Designers Guild, as well as being nominated for a 2017 Emmy.
OZCETERA
June / July 2018
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OZCETERA Tara Burtchaell
OWN and Food Network Alum, Tara Burtchaell, Joins Fizz City Films
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ara Burtchaell, formerly of the Oprah Winfrey Network (OWN), has joined the team at Fizz City Films. She is best known as an executive producer for broadcast television, web commercials, branded content, animation, and unscripted TV. Her credits include the 3D holiday movie, Elf on the Shelf: An Elf’s Story, OWN’s Dance Crash, and Dancin’ the Dream on UPtv. She also co-developed the popular Food Network series, Good Eats, and was instrumental in the marketing and sale of the show. Burtchaell first gained national recognition in Allen Salkin’s nonfiction book, From Scratch: Inside the Food Network, which chronicles the network’s rise to becoming a television powerhouse. Fizz City Films describes the veteran producer as a perfect fit for their roster, with her deeply rooted connection to commercial advertising and her co-founding of Pogo Pictures. Her advertising accolades include campaigns for U.S. Virgin Island Tourism, Kraft International, Coca-Cola, Bank of America, and Zurich Financial. She has worked with celebrity talent including Ryan Seacrest and LeBron James for Coca-Cola. Steven and the Crystal Gems, of Steven Universe
Cartoon Network & Dove Partner to End Body Shaming
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n a push to lift young people’s self-esteem and promote becoming comfortable in their own skin, the Emmy-nominated, Turnerproduced cartoon Steven Universe has partnered with Dove to help foster a culture free of body shaming. Based in Atlanta, Cartoon Network currently reigns as Turner’s number-one entertainment brand globally, and their two-year partnership with the Dove SelfEsteem Project will feature six animated short films in total. The first in the series debuted in April. According to Turner, the short films will be plugged with scientific body-image research conducted by the University of West of England’s Dr. Phillippa Diedrichs, a world-renowned expert on the subject. Dove’s parent company, Unilever PLC, has been funding projects aimed at boosting body confidence since 2004. Rebecca Sugar, Steven Universe’s creator, was the first woman to helm a series for Cartoon Network. 14
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OZCETERA
June / July 2018
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OZCETERA Cydnei Chyan
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Winner of ChooseATL Tracklanta Music Competition Performs at SXSW
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n March, the DeKalb Entertainment Commission (DEC) took R&B singer Cydnei Chyan, winner of the 2018 ChooseATL Tracklanta competition, to perform at the South by Southwest (SXSW) festival in Austin, Tex. As the winner of ChooseATL Tracklanta, Chyan received advance rehearsal time for the SXSW performance at Stage Audio Productions; performed at the ChooseATL House during SXSW; and will receive one recording session with Bill Zimmerman at Callanwolde’s new recording and mixing studio at the Rick Baker School of Music and Music Recording. Zimmerman currently works as an assistant to three-time Grammy-winning engineer, Phil Tan, and has contributed to recent projects for Fifth Harmony, Coldplay and Zara Larsson, among others. Chyan, 23, was selected through a stringent review process led by record executive, songwriter and record producer, Kawan “KP” Prather, and his team. Prather, who is currently head of music at Pharrell Williams’ record label, i am OTHER, will also provide an A&R evaluation of her SXSW performance. “When I heard her song, I forgot for a moment that I was reviewing for a contest,” Prather says of hearing Chyan’s voice for the first time. Prather was a member of the first-generation Dungeon Family rap group, Parental Advisory (better known as PA), before starting his executive career at L.A. Reid’s LaFace Records. He later started his own label, Ghet-O-Vision, before joining the team at Island Def Jam. Throughout his career, Prather has worked with the likes of TLC, OutKast, Usher, Goodie Mob, John Legend, Pink, Toni Braxton, YoungBloodZ, T.I., Khalil and more.
OZCETERA
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June / July 2018
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OZCETERA (Left to right) Rich Johnson of AT&T presents a $50,000 check to re:imagine/ATL’s Susanna Spiccia, Ceci Leon and Akeem Toure.
Re:imagine/ATL Receives $50,000 Contribution from AT&T
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outh nonprofit organization, re:imagine/ AT L , r e c e n t l y r e c e i v e d a $ 5 0 , 0 0 0 contribution from AT&T. In a bid to foster innovation in education, AT&T is supporting re:imagine/ATL’s mission to empower the next generation of storytellers, creating a pipeline from schools to companies in the film and digital media industries. As part of this contribution, AT&T will become the presenting contributor of the re:imagine/ATL program, Currents, and a launch suppor ter of the re:imagine/ATL Alliance announced in March. Currents is a free, monthly workshop in which high-school
students from across Atlanta learn a variety of industry skills relating to film and digital media directly from professionals in the field. Each workshop explores a different theme and skill set, offering students the opportunity to be exposed to many possible career paths while getting a jumpstar t on training in a way that is both relevant and accessible. Re:imagine/ATL Alliance supporters are committed to investing financially, as well as by offering, time, expertise and resources. Their respective investments will support Currents and other re:imagine/ATL programs that work to build a future workforce for the film digital
media industry, and one that truly represents the population of metro Atlanta. In addition to AT&T’s $50,000 contribution, Currents is in partnership with the Atlanta Film Society, a staple organization for filmmakers in Atlanta. Past themes of Currents have included animation, business skills for creatives, game design and content distribution. The most recent session of Currents was held in May at Moonshine Post-Production Studios. Students learned about careers in content creation from professionals, including AT&T employees.
L.A. Reid Signs Big Boi as First Major HitCo Artist
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Big Boi & L.A. Reid. Photo Credit: Paras Griffin/Getty Images
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ollowing the success of his last three solo albums, former Outkast member and Grammy-winning Atlanta music legend, Big Boi, recently re-signed with the man who helped make him a household name. L.A. Reid, whose newly instated HitCo label will host offices in Atlanta, New York and Los Angeles, originally signed Outkast to Arista Records in the early 1990s, when the duo was fresh out of high school. Big Boi and André 3000 went on to sell 25 million albums and earn six Grammy nominations, including a win for Album of the Year with 2004’s Speakerboxxx/ The Love Below. Sources say that Reid and HitCo managed to raise upwards of $100 million prior to the label’s launch. Following his stint as president and CEO at Arista, the music mogul also served as chairman and CEO at both Island Def Jam Music Group and Epic Records.
OZCETERA Photo Credit: Disney/Marvel
Avengers: Infinity War Spends $182 Million in Georgia
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he latest Marvel Studios behemoth to hit the big screen, Avengers: Infinity War, made quite the splash in Georgia’s economic bucket between January 2017 and April 2018. All told, the production spent approximately $182 million total, paying out around $65 million to more than 3,000 Georgia workers.
A s for ad di t ional ex p endi tures , t he Pinewood Studios-f ilmed blockbuster coughed up roughly $6.7 million for lumber and hardware; $7.2 million on transportation, truck and car rentals; $4.2 million on catering and other food items; approximately $4 million on rentals and purchases for production, supplies
and set decoration; $11.3 million on grip and electric rentals and purchases; and over $6.6 million on camera rentals and purchases. By deadline, Inf inity War had already pulled in $629.6 million domestically; $1.9 billion worldwide.
June / July 2018
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OZCETERA Rampage poster art
Rampage Injects Nearly $50 Million Into Georgia Economy
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he economic-impact numbers surrounding the Georgia-f ilmed, Dwayne Johnson action flick, Rampage, are finally in, and they’re definitely worth beating our chests over. While filming in metro Atlanta from October 2016 through September 2017, the project pumped approximately $48.9 million into the state, with
some 2,350 workers earning $22 million. According to the Georgia Department of Economic Development’s Film, Music and Digital Entertainment Office, the breakdown is as follows: over $3 million spent on hardware, equipment and lumber supplies; over $5 million on rentals and purchases for production,
supplies and set decoration; over $1.9 million on transportation, truck and car rentals; and $845,856 on catering and other food. At deadline, Rampage had raked in $413.7 million at the box office worldwide.
GSU’s Creative Media Industries Institute
Georgia State Accepting Applications for Digital Media and Production Entertainment Program
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eorgia State Univer sit y ’s A lonzo A . Crim C en ter for U rban Educ at ional Excellence is accepting applications for its new workforce development program that prepares local young people, ages 18-24, for careers in Atlanta’s booming film, media and entertainment industry. The Careers in New and Emerging and Media Areas (CINEMA) Projec t is a free, 22-week program that offers classes in game design; interactive media, animation, virtual reality, life-learning skills; intro to film production; a production boot camp; and more. It will take place in Georgia State’s newly created Creative Media Industry Institute.
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“The CINEMA project is an innovative solution to two pressing challenges facing Georgia today: the growing number of young people who are disconnected from work and education, and the need for a trained labor force,” says Brian Williams, Crim Center director. The project’s goal is for participants to gain the skills necessary to secure entrylevel positions that could lead to successful, long-term careers in corporate digital-media departments, production companies, networks and post-production houses. In turn, it hopes to strengthen the Georgia labor market.
The Crim Center is partnering with the Atlanta Film Society, Georgia State’s Center for Excellence in Teaching and Learning, and the university’s new Creative Media Industries Institute to design the hands-on, project-based learning classes for CINEMA, which is funded by JP Morgan Chase. The CINEMA Project is also creating an Industry and Education Advisory Council to provide four-week internships for participants as part of its workforce initiative. Young people who are disconnec ted from college, passionate about new media and production, and want to learn new skills are encouraged to attend CINEMA’s nex t information session.
OZCETERA Tiger 2 by Adam Crawford. Available for rent at AAR
Action Artwork Rental Finds New Trio of Owners
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ast month, Zombie Cat Productions co-owners, Molly and Victoria Coffee, teamed up with Second Hand Interesting Things owner, Nick Morgan, to acquire Action Artwork Rental (AAR) from Carey Hall and Joey Sisson. Established in 2013 by Hall, Sisson, and former partner Laurence Laufer, AAR specializes in renting sculptures, paintings and other works of art to Georgia film productions. Their many credits include pieces featured in the FX series Atlanta, Netflix’s Ozark, Fox’s Star, and the film Pitch Perfect 3. “The most appealing aspect of Action Artwork Rental,” says Morgan, “is getting to work with local artists, and giving Atlanta-area artists a platform to show off and capitalize on their art within the film community.” According to Hall and Sisson, the pair decided to sell the company after realizing they had no way to further grow it without purchasing or renting a large warehouse space. After shopping around for prospective buyers, they finally found the right match in Zombie Cat and Second Hand. “They have been invaluable to us as clients and friends,” Hall says. “Their support, plus their many years working in the film industry, makes them perfect for taking over AAR and making it even more successful in the future.” “Acquiring Action Artwork Rental was a no-brainer when it came to expanding our involvement in what’s happening in Atlanta,” says Molly Coffee. AR currently houses over 600 original art pieces from over 25 artists, many of them local. Zombie Cat Productions has been creating films, web series and TV shows, as well as making elite production and art design for film and TV projects, for over 10 years. Second Hand Interesting Things is a traveling curiosity shop and museum specializing in oddities, décor and art.
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he world is seeing Atlanta more and more onscreen lately, and we’re also hearing its voices. Georgia is home to an increasing number of voice talents, those who perform the characters we love in animation and video games, as well as the artists who speak to us through commercials and on mobile devices. Despite Atlanta housing the headquarters for Turner’s Cartoon Network and the Adult Swim brand, however, most of their major productions are based elsewhere. FX’s Archer is perhaps the most watched animated series being made in the area, and it’s a show that has been particularly good to two local voice actors. Amber Nash, who plays the part of Pam Poovey on the hit series, hails from Gwinnett County. She went to Georgia State University, majored in psychology, and initially became a social worker. But she was also doing improv theater at Dad’s Garage and fell in love with acting. Fortunately, Dad’s became the perfect launching ground for a new career. “From [Dad’s Garage], I met the guys
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Dad's Garage
from 70/30 Productions,” Nash says of her introduction to the eventual creators of Archer, who were, at the time, already gaining notice for Adult Swim’s Sealab 2021. “They were just five guys working out of a creepy house in East Atlanta. They knew us all at Dad’s because we were just a scrappy little company, too.” Lucky Yates, who voices the Archer character Doctor Krieger, also got his start through Dad’s. He moved to Atlanta in the early ’90s after college, got into radio voiceover at the now-defunct station 96
Rock, and later found local fame hosting a live talk show. From that, he landed acting work on the Atlanta-produced Food Network show, Good Eats. Yates met Archer creators Adam Reed and Matt Thompson while hosting a burlesque show at the Laughing Skull in 2006. “They came and saw me emcee and thought my voice was great,” Yates says. Not that the meeting was random fortune, exactly, as Yates had friends working at 70/30. “People tell me I have a cool voice. I don't know. To me, I sound like me.”
Both Nash and Yates first voiced characters for Reed and Thompson’s Adult Swim superhero series, Frisky Dingo. “They had me audition for a teenage girl voice, which I was completely wrong for,” Nash says of her first shot with the company. But the show changed course, and she was called back in to try out for Val, a part she landed as a regular for the show’s two-season run. “Honestly, the reason I worked for them so often was because they could just call me and I’d be there in 10 minutes, and it was just easy and fun,” Nash adds. “I played many characters because they just used whoever to play whatever. I played a prostitute who was just insane looking; she was such a mess. I definitely wouldn’t have been able to do that in real life.” With young companies, as with young talent, starting out is about who you know, and Nash wasn’t the only one who benefited from being so familiar and available. “They just had people come in who they were friends with,” she remembers. “Mr. Ford, a character on Frisky Dingo, was literally the guy who lived across the street from them who
would mow their grass.” After Frisky Dingo, Reed and Thompson went on to found Floyd County Productions, whereupon they decided to bring along Nash and Yates for their next project, Archer. “I didn’t even have to audition for it,” Nash admits. “I thought it was going to be another little thing. I didn’t know it was going to blow up into what it has become. I got so lucky working with those guys.” Of his late casting, Yates notes that Krieger didn’t talk for a few episodes. “The machine was already going when they contacted me,” he says. While Archer took a few seasons to hit it big, Yates’s character was also slow to gain popularity. “Krieger really started as this side character. Then, Adam just enjoyed writing him so much that he grew and grew over the years. I got into the opening credits in Season 5.” Even today, the part isn’t so big that it requires a lot of time. “I recorded yesterday, and it took me, I don't know, 15 minutes,” Yates says. “If I'm in the booth over half an hour, I'm there a long time. But that's me. Krieger isn't Archer.” Nash confesses, “I feel bad about how little work I have to do on the show, because the animators do so much work. It's very labor intensive. But the actors don't do a lot, and we get all the attention
and glory. It takes about eight months of the year to make the whole season and, for us, we go in once a month for like 30-45 minutes. I'm working, over the course of the year, not even an eight-hour day.” For some local voice talent, “going in” doesn’t even factor. September Day, who specializes in commercial voiceover and live announcing (she was the voice of MTV’s Video Music Awards in 2007), records in a home studio that’s, essentially, a walk-in closet. Not only is it conveniently located, but it allows for the utmost anonymity. “When I was pregnant, that was the best,” says Day, “because I'd go into the booth and I'd have yoga pants on and a fleece and my nine-month belly, and I'm doing something for a lingerie shop. They’d say, 'Okay, pretend you're a leather-clad dominatrix.’” A Georgia native as well, Day was a veterinary technician until a bite incident at work led her to make a change. She admits that she was naive about trying a profession she knew nothing about, but she’d been told that she had a good voice and decided to use it to her advantage. “There was no rulebook at the time,” she says. “Nobody was really teaching classes on voiceover.” Day found her groove by learning on her own, and soon discovered she had a penchant for mimicry. “For three solid
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years, everyone wanted you to sound like Tina Fey,” she says. “Then it was Kristen Wiig, then it was Jennifer Lawrence. Whatever hot new person has the cool movie out, that's who we’re asked to parrot.” Day now shares her studio, dubbed The Neighborhood, with husband Bob Carter, a veteran voice actor with A-list credits in animation and video games. Most famously, he appears as Balrog and Baraka in the Street Fighter and Mortal Kombat franchises, respectively. Carter, who also grew up in metro Atlanta, got his start in broadcasting at Georgia State’s Album 88, and then went to work professionally at the station 99x. After leaving 99x for another radio gig in Texas, he found his way into Funimation Studios and began doing voices for anime series such as Dragon Ball Z. “Because I have a deep voice, I would always get typecast as a villain or a monster,” Carter says. “When they needed an intimidating voice, they knew who to call.” Through his work with Funimation,
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he soon managed to find additional roles in video games. And with more and more experience under his belt, he later found himself competing successfully against L.A. talent. When Carter finally returned to Atlanta in 2009, he was well enough established to continue his career in the comfort of his home state, where tax breaks helped out as well. “Everybody realizes the movie industry is here, but they don’t realize those tax credits help more video games explode. And the video game industry is even more profitable than the movie industry.” Carter is affiliated with the Georgia Game Developers Association, through which he lobbies for the local video game industry. Thanks to new tax credits for post production, not only are game companies being wooed to Atlanta, but existing post studios such as Wabi Sabi Sound are now benefitting too. That’s where Carter performed a role for the new video game Destiny 2, made by
Washington-based Bungie Studios. “I didn’t have to fly to New York, I didn’t have to fly to Dallas, I didn’t have to fly to L.A. I recorded just off of Freedom Parkway.” Leveraging their collective experience and success into a venue that fosters up-and-coming talent, Carter and Day now teach workshops on all facets of the voice talent industry, from acting to business practices. “Our teaching style is not to keep people hanging out as students for six months to a year before they try auditioning,” Carter says. “Whenever we have real auditions, I will have my students go after those auditions. I don't promise that they book, but I promise that I’ll submit them. I have been very fortunate in having my students book.” Carter and Day stress their practice of teaching “personal responsibility” to their students. “You've got to realize it's a business,” Carter says. “It's not just theater. You're a business owner; you have to treat it like a business; you have to go after it.” “I don’t do the whole ‘follow your dream’ bullshit,” Days adds. “That’s irritating as hell when coaches post that kind of crap. Yeah, it’s great to be a voice talent, but don’t you want to know how to make money? Isn’t that our responsibility to teach people how to recoup the money they put into us?” “The most successful voice talent is not always the best voice talent,” Carter notes. “It's the one who has the most successful business practices and perseverance. We always say, ‘If Gilbert Gottfried can be a successful voice talent, then you can.’” Garrett Kiesel is a former student of Carter and Day’s who is now finding success in the industry. His first major client, AT&T, was signed thanks to Carter’s help during the audition process. “My time with Bob has been so amazing,” he says. “He gives great constructive criticism. He’s very particular when judging you, in a way that’s going to build you up, not discourage.” Kiesel grew up in Colorado. He was the sort of kid who was always imitating cartoon characters for a laugh. He came to Atlanta because it was gaining a reputation for being the L.A. of the East
Coast. As a talent not at all interested in onscreen work, he is able to do most jobs from a distance in his home studio. “I can record anytime, then send it off,” he says. One of the ways a new talent like Kiesel finds work is with Voice123, a payto-play casting website where clients post gigs and actors upload demos and share audition tapes. That’s how September Day booked the VMAs more than a decade ago. But most voice professionals also eventually hire agents in multiple cities, in addition to landing gigs via referral. “Most people work on referrals,” says Carter. “That's the best way to get business. I was recently referred to a company that just came into the Atlanta area. I booked it. The best part is that I was able to give them demos of my students who are now my colleagues. And when they heard those demos, they realized there are some very talented professionals here and they immediately gave them auditions. It wasn't just about me booking the job, it was about sharing.” Many companies that come to Georgia are not aware of all the talent here for vocal and onscreen roles. “There's so much happening in Atlanta [and it’s] blowing up, but you still have to have an agent who's not in Atlanta to book,” Nash says of the state’s casting conundrum. “It's still, unfortunately, the belief that there's no way good talent could be a local Atlanta person. They've got to be from L.A. or New York. Hopefully, one day that will change, but that's still the way it is right now. You've got to play the game.” Of course, you also have to do the work. “I am a firm believer in bettering myself and bettering my skills, and just being the absolute best I can be,” says Kiesel of his continued training, which now includes improv classes. “If you're wanting to become a voice actor, having those acting skills [is key]. It is acting; acting is part of the name. Acting classes are of the utmost importance.” “I have found that it helps in most areas of life,” Carter says of improv. Like Nash and Yates, he was involved with Dad’s Garage early on. He continued with troupes while living in Dallas, and now instructs on the art of improv in his workshops. “It’s important to say, ‘Yes, and…,’ to accept what someone gives you, and then contribute. It’s constructive, it’s
creative, and on top of that, it stimulates the mind and imagination. I recommend it for everything.” Despite their background in improv, though, neither Nash nor Yates has been tasked with much creative input on Archer. “The scripts are so well written there’s just not a need for it,” Nash acknowledges. However, she does believe the characters evolved as Reed became more familiar with the performers behind their voices. “All of the actors started to infect the characters. As Adam got to know us, he started writing things from our actual personalities into the characters. I like to think I kind of helped in the transformation of Pam into who she is today.” She realized just recently how much her character has changed from the start. “I went back and read the pilot episode about a year ago, and I was really surprised to find that when Pam is first introduced, it says, ‘Pam, the mousy director of HR’—which, nobody would ever describe Pam as ‘mousy’ today.” Sometimes the influence is even sneakier. “There is one thing Krieger does, this ‘Yup, yup, yup.’ That was a thing that I did and had no idea I was doing it,” Yates confesses. “It’s in the script as this ‘Yup, yup, yup,’ and when I’m in the booth, I ask
the guys, ‘Hey, what do you want me to do with this?’ And they said, ‘Do it like you do it. You do this thing when you agree with people.’ ‘I do?’ I had no clue.” For Samm Severin, another fresh talent native to Georgia, being a writer in addition to being an actor can lead to more satisfying projects. “When you're writing for a character, you're kind of carving out their voice. Then when you go to speak their voice, it already kind of exists in your head. When you're reading a character that someone else wrote, you have to get to that process independently.” Primarily a standup comedian, Severin was recently recruited for her first voice acting gig by Straight to Tell, an Atlanta-based creative studio. “They had heard my voice in some comedy video I did,” she explains. “I grew up thinking cartoons are the greatest thing ever, but I didn’t even think of that as an option until Straight to Tell reached out.” Now that she’s had a taste of the business, she hopes to do kids’ voices for cartoons. Her dream job: working on SpongeBob Squarepants. “That's the most fun, because kids do so much with their voices. They're not bound by the same social laws as adults, so they exercise a lot of freedom in their range and volume.” She loves acting onscreen as well,
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but there’s something special about “living someone’s story with your sound,” she says. Plus, you can probably do it longer. “It’s cool that you can act in voice work, because you can get old—and that’s great. No one sees what you look like, so that pressure’s not there.” “Voiceover is the best gig going,” Yates agrees. “You don't have to learn any lines. You don't have to look any sort of way, just as long as your throat works.” For Severin, another plus to voice work is just witnessing how it’s all done. “Mostly what I’ve liked is getting to meet those types of people who do that sort of work, making cartoon worlds.” She’s not sure what’s in store for her, exactly, but she’s optimistic. “Just seeing people doing it, knowing people are getting a lot of work in this field, is helpful.” But she’s also concerned about the scene becoming too competitive. Perhaps Kiesel could put her mind at ease. He says, “I haven't met a whole lot of people as of yet, but I know the voiceover industry is very supportive. Everyone has got everyone's back.” “Voiceover is a global business, so there's an opportunity for you no matter where you are,” Carter says. “We have tons of commercial companies that are here. Now that the movie and video game industries are really prospering, there's an opportunity for everyone. It's very important to have an abundance mentality, rather than a scarcity mentality. Together, everyone achieves more.” Meanwhile, revolutionary creators that appeared on the scene early, like Reed and Thompson, aren’t planning on leaving. Instead, they’re growing. “When Archer hit, they had the big question: Do we pick up and move to L.A., or should we stay here?” Yates says. “But I’ve got to tell you, that tax break is everything. FX gets a big tax break, so they pay a bunch of local artists. Atlanta has a really great street art-scene. Half of those guys work at Floyd County drawing Archer.” “Every time I go to Floyd County, it's bigger and there are more people working there,” Nash confirms. “That's not going anywhere. The infrastructure is here for that. They're cooking on a lot of projects, too, trying to figure out what their next big thing is. So, hopefully there'll be a lot more opportunity in the future for
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Samm Severin doing standup in Atlanta. Photo by Mindy Tucker
animation in Atlanta.” There was a time when Nash planned on leaving the area for a bigger market, she admits. “But I just always kept working here. I was like, ‘Well, if I don't have to leave to get work, let me just ride it out.’ Luckily for me, more opportunities started happening.” “It doesn’t really matter,” Day says of the importance of staying nearby. “The market is global. We are so blessed to have an industry where it doesn't matter where the hell we are. As long as you've got an internet connection, you can work.” When the time comes for Archer to end, Nash says she’ll stick around, creating content of her own and for Dad’s Garage, if nothing else. She maintains that she isn’t just a voice actor. “I want to do more on-camera work. That's been my focus in recent years, because I've been lucky enough to have this really good job that pays my bills with Archer. So, I can spend time developing the other side of my career.” Yates has a similar outlook on the future of his career, which he says could include more cartoons or, perhaps, another of his passions: puppetry. “I am pretty picky about what I want to do,” he says, “only because I'm not struggling. I struggled for so long and was so terrified for so long. And I'm probably the lowestpaid man on television, but for me it's great. I'm just taking this time to let my art flow and work with things I've never
really worked with before… I landed on a hit show in my mid 40s. I'm very glad it hit when it did.” Atlanta’s younger voice talent would be well advised to take that statement to heart as they embark on their own career paths. “This kind of thing doesn't happen overnight,” Kiesel acknowledges. “When you go for an audition, you're not going to be told whether you're right or not, you just have to wait and see. Patience has been a little rough for me. I kind of have to think about it in the grand scheme of things, and keep pushing and keep persevering and work as hard as I possibly can to achieve my dream.” Severin also recognizes there’s still plenty of time ahead for her, but confesses she may only have another five to seven years of standup left in her. “I'd like to have some good writing habits built that I can go to when I'm ready to back away. I'm open to whatever at this point. I'm young enough that it wouldn't make sense for me not to be.” According to Carter, “whatever” might end up being a lot. “I'm working to bring more business to Atlanta,” he says. “That's my personal goal. If we can bring those huge projects here, then that's more opportunity not just for our students, but for the extremely talented actors and professionals here. I know a lot of talented people. If I can put money in their pockets, that's even better.”
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”
...they will favor Georgia due to the savings, the same reason Hollywood is here now producing more than 320 movies and TV shows a year.”
F
orget Nashville: Georgia is poised to become the new epicenter of the music business, and the Georgia Music Investment Act is helping it to get there. For decades, Georgia has been a hotbed of musical talent. From Outkast’s humble beginnings in an East Point basement to John Mayer’s open-mic success at Eddie’s Attic; from R.E.M.’s college parties in Athens to the legendary stylings of Macon’s own Little Richard, Georgia has produced some of the most notable figures in modern music history. So, given that Georgia-bred musical talent has contributed billions of dollars to the economy over the years, why not take advantage of the music industry in the same way the movie industry was welcomed? After all, Georgia musical talent has contributed billions of dollars to the economy over the years. A tax incentive to take full advantage of the music market, as well as to inspire growth, only makes sense. Recording, scoring, post production, live productions—it all qualifies. Georgia Music Partners (GMP) spearheaded this bill from start to finish, and the trajectory was determined and
purposeful from the beginning. Tammy Hurt, then president of GMP, began the long process in 2010 and the bill passed at 11:58 p.m. on the last day of the session in early 2017. From economic impact studies to white papers, GMP thoroughly vetted every possible issue. “We’re intimately familiar with competition,” Hurt explains. They researched other states' music tax incentives, successful and not, and created an idea that couldn’t help but succeed. In short, the Georgia Music Investment Act focuses on two areas: general music production and music touring in its preproduction stages. Not only is the savings potential for companies millions deep, but it also gives Georgia an advantage that other states don’t have. “It provides Georgia with a competitive edge,” says Shachar Oren, current president of GMP. “When a company or artist researches options nationally or globally for where they want to record or rehearse for a tour, we hope they will favor Georgia due to the savings; the same reason Hollywood is here now producing more than 320 movies and TV shows a year.” Touring productions will receive a 15 to 25 percent tax credit if they
Shachar Oren
spend more than $500,000 in Georgia. Specifically, tours need to audition. They need to rehearse. And with that comes job opportunities for crew, staff, talent, techs and more. There is an additional 15 to 25 percent tax credit for all projects that record in Georgia and spend a minimum of $100,000, as well as a credit for scored projects that spend a minimum of $250,000. Marvel and Disney have already taken advantage of this, creating hundreds of jobs for projects such as The Hunger Games, Captain America, and Stranger Things. Nobody knows musical talent better than Jan Smith. A Grammy-nominated producer and vocal instructor, she has carved her niche in Atlanta music by working with artists such as Usher, Sugarland, Justin Bieber and Collective Soul. Bill Signing She’s confident that the tax incentive will not only up the music ante in Georgia, but will also keep the industry here for the duration of a project. “Music is already being recorded and produced in Atlanta, but now with the alignment of music with film and video being shot in Georgia, we are able to keep that workflow and commerce in our fair state, versus having all the finishing work done in L.A. or elsewhere."
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Smith has the advantage of seeing the music world from all angles. She’s worked with multiplatinum artists, as well as small indie bands. Being an independent artist is hard work, and the majority of their time is consumed by touring because that’s how the bills are paid. With new work popping up in Georgia, an artist’s chances of supplementing his or her income, or changing his or her career trajectory, altogether increases. Jan Smith, producer “Obviously, the tax incentive is important for those projects where videos have a large enough budget to qualify, but more importantly for the sake of the independent artists—getting placement in those films and television shows that are shot here is huge.” Brandon Bush, former member of Train and current musician and producer, agrees with Smith. He says that the incentive will be highlighting a world that was already established in Georgia and encouraging new talent to stay awhile. “By pointing out both post production and showing larger music involvement, it’s another way to show all the people coming Clark Cofer, to Georgia to work that they can stay.” Light Iron Currently, Bush works with his director of business brother Kristian, of Sugarland, producing development records at their Decatur studio. Their operation has already expanded because of the tax incentive; they can pitch to larger
Brandon Bush, producer and former Train keyboardist
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We’re going through a bit of a renaissance in Atlanta. We’ve become more of an entertainment hub."
companies and major record labels, as well as to keep recording projects under their own banner. Bush doesn’t see that changing. “We’re going through a bit of a renaissance in Atlanta,” he says. “We’ve become more of an entertainment hub. The future of music is in technology; we have a real potential to be a premier place to go.” The aim is to not only bring national and international companies to the state, but also to foster local talent. With 48 post-secondary music programs thriving in Georgia, talent is emerging faster than ever before. And with the security provided by this tax incentive, the talent can stick around instead of flying the coop to Nashville or New York. “We build the ecosystem, we bring the talent,” says Hurt. “We have talent, and the money follows the talent.” And with that talent and money comes jobs. “We believe that this incentive would create over 10,000 jobs. All sorts—producers, and engineers, and accountants, and tour managers, and social-media managers and musicians… For every one person onstage, there’s 30 people behind them on their team.” Most of us tend to forget about those who operate behind the scenes. The world of music post production has grown tremendously in recent years, with music needed for video games, television and movies being arranged, produced, and finished here in Georgia. And those who generate business creating that kind of music stand to benefit tenfold. Drew Sawyer, partner and post producer at Moonshine Post Production, has embraced the tax incentive and is already making plans to grow his company. “Our intention is that we’ve already taken on and trained more people. We’re bringing in more talent from every place, not just Georgia folks. It helps me secure and keep those jobs through thick and thin, and lets us take on more opportunities, take more risks, and invest in projects we wouldn’t otherwise be able to do.” Located in the Old Fourth Ward, Moonshine employs artists, supervisors and technicians to provide world-class post-production services for commercial stories, broadcast episodics and movies.
A “story distillery,” as Sawyer and company like to say, Moonshine prides itself on producing the best for the best, and telling “damn fine stories” in the process. Sawyer thinks the incentive will help brick-and-mortar businesses by allowing them to hire more talent and, as a result, expand the range of services they offer. And that talent should be permanent, as workers will be motivated to move to Georgia and stay in Georgia. The key, it appears, is sustainability. In the past, entertainment meant temporary. No one bought homes, because they could be called to Nashville or Vancouver in three months for a year-long project. Talent follows the money, and up until 10 years ago, that wasn’t Georgia’s identity. Sawyer can track how Moonshine has exploded since the incentive was passed. The company has hired new talent and created more jobs, and where they once completed a few films a year, they now complete a few films a month. Their competition is faring well, too, and he’s just fine with that. “It’s not just about me,” Sawyer says with surprising magnanimity. “If more companies headquarter, then more talent comes with it. And if we have a richer marketplace, it will elevate the market. In a lot of weird ways, this helps me and my competitors and bigger shops. But that excites me… That sways the creative opinion to focus on the Atlanta market. And if that’s what it takes, bring it on.” Clark Cofer, director of business development at the Atlanta branch of Light Iron, takes it a step further. “Our goal is to be completely self-sustained and make people realize they can do it all here,” he says.
Although its home base is Hollywood, Light Iron, a Panavision company, has a healthy Atlanta presence. Located on a quiet stretch of Buford Highway, Cofer and his colleagues spend their days completing post production work for television, indie films, and larger box office blockbusters. Cofer makes it a point to communicate to the local community how tax incentives can benefit them, as well. While at a neighborhood antique store, for instance, he once met a woman who had recently supplied a local production with candles for a restaurant scene. She never intended to be a prop supplier, but thanks to Cofer’s urging, she has now worked on three Atlanta-based projects and has a thriving business. Cofer maintains that this is one of the best parts about the incentive: the potential for community betterment. “It’s better for Georgians,” he says. “We’ve reached out to the community to make sure they understand the incentive and how to embrace location work in their neighborhoods.” It’s a well-known fact that Georgia is a hotbed of musical talent, much of it grassroots. This is their chance to turn that ability into a career without leaving the state. “We have the work force, state support, quality of life, and now the infrastructure,” Cofer says. And with more companies and musicians choosing Georgia as their base of operations, the sky is now the limit. Chris LeDoux, founder and VFX supervisor at Crafty Apes, agrees. “The tax break gives a lot more financial incentive to
build a foundation,” he says. LeDoux should know. Launched in Culver City in 2011, Crafty Apes has quickly established itself as one of the top visualeffects companies in the Southeast. Known for their extensive work with Tyler Perry, Crafty Apes arrived in Atlanta a relatively small outfit, built a new branch of business from the ground up, and is now thriving. The consensus of those in the music industry, with regard to both recording and post production, is that Georgia is poised to become the L.A. of the South. “This [incentive] will close the gap within two years,” says Sawyer, who is convinced that it will place Georgia on par with New York and the West Coast. “For the first time, a Hollywood, or a network, or studio, or an indie project doesn’t have to leave the state to have a full, total post workflow. The work is being done here; that’s all because of this incentive.” Coy Bowles, founding member of the Zac Brown Band, perhaps sums it up best. “Georgia has such an amazing presence and history in the music industry across so many genres. The tax incentive is important to assure that Georgia stays relevant and thrives like it has in years past. The success of the movie industry in Georgia over the last few years is a perfect example of how incentives can help. Georgia music deserves it.”
Tammy Hurt
Chris LeDoux, Crafty Apes founder and VFX supervisor
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VOICES
FACING LIFE & DEATH ON THE SET By Andrew “Drewprops” Duncan
I
t was a typical late June afternoon in Riverchase, a bustling community in the Birmingham, Ala. suburb of Hoover. With temperatures climbing steadily toward the nineties, traces of future storm clouds began to dot the far horizon. A group of trucks were parked just outside the Rooms To Go store on Chapel Lane and a steady stream of people had been ferrying equipment in and out of the building all morning long, the telltale indication of an active commercial shoot. A number of the shooting crew from Atlanta had arrived in town the previous night and the key grip, Roger Sherer, was animatedly telling his friends about a local restaurant he’d found that featured great food and live music. A musician himself, Roger wanted to get a group together and return to the restaurant again after the day’s shoot. “We’re going to go there tonight!” he promised. The day’s work was about half done as the crew returned to set following lunch, and gaffer Stan Fyfe was in mid-conversation with his director of photography about the next lighting setup when they were surprised by the sound of a loud “thud” nearby. Turning toward the noise, they realized that someone had fallen down. Sets are often walking hazards due to cables and other equipment, and Stan assumed that the person had simply tripped and fallen into a lighting stand. But as he stepped over to see if he could lend assistance, he was shocked to discover that the fallen crewperson was
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none other than his friend, Roger. Stan’s mind was scrambling to make sense of the situation when someone exclaimed, “Roger’s not breathing!” Sudden cardiac arrest remains one of the leading causes of death in the United States, according to the American Heart Association. There were more than 350,000 out-of-hospital cardiac arrests in the United States last year, and nearly 90 percent of those cases proved fatal. The number of people diagnosed with heart failure is increasing, and is projected to rise 46 percent by 2030. The result will be more than 8 million people with heart failure, according to the American Heart Association’s 2017 Heart Disease and Stroke Statistics Update. “Acting quickly is the key to saving a life,” explains Ed Hotchkiss, assistant director of IATSE Local 479’s education program. “Those first few minutes are crucial.”
Chain of Survival Staring down at Roger’s still form, Stan announced, “I’m certified in CPR.” As an afterthought, he blurted, “Is anyone else here certified?” Receiving no replies, Stan dropped down and began performing chest compressions as he had been taught in Local 479’s Heartsaver CPR-AED course, calling out his compressions as he went. “One and two and three and four and five and…” Production assistants began fanning out around the store on a frantic search for an automated defibrillator.
“For each minute that passes between collapse and defibrillation, your chance of survival drops by about 10 percent,” explains Kevin Amick, Local 479’s director of education, on his annual inspection of the automated external defibrillator (AED) units installed around Local 479’s headquarters. “AEDs actually talk you through the defibrillation process,” he says, activating a unit with the press of a button. Within seconds, an electronic voice begins speaking loudly and clearly, instructing anyone within earshot to attach pads to the victim’s chest before plugging the wiring harness into the machine. With a severe look, Kevin points at the talking box. “These things save lives.” The only problem is, AEDs are still not widely available in places where people congregate. And most people don’t know how important the devices are, much less how they work—another reason why it’s so important for people to get trained in performing CPR and operating an AED. Not surprisingly, the search for an AED at the Rooms To Go had been unsuccessful. Instead of giving up, however, the production assistants expanded their search to the Field & Stream store across the big parking lot from Rooms To Go. That search was equally unsuccessful. There just wasn’t an AED to be found. Now the situation relied on Stan’s endurance and the hope for a fast response by emergency personnel.
Back on set, time had slowed to a crawl as Stan continued performing CPR on Roger’s lifeless form, alternating between thumping out 30 chest compressions and breathing two puffs of air into Roger’s lungs. A cell phone appeared mid-air in front of Stan, courtesy of Cindy Crawford’s stand-in, who had dialed 911 and switched to speaker mode. She held the phone near enough that the operator could communicate directly with Stan, offering him encouragement and suggestions on technique as he continued his routine. “…26 and 27 and 28 and 29 and 30…” Stop. Pinch Roger’s nose shut. Breathe into his mouth. Watch to see that Roger’s chest rises. Repeat. Return to compressions. “1 and 2 and 3 and 4 and 5 and…” “You know that Stan wasn’t our first graduate to be faced with using his CPR training, right?” inquires set medic and class instructor, Ben Prine, during a recent CPR/AED class. “One of the stagehands from Local 927 was at the airport three days after getting her certification when a passenger dropped nearby. Talk about a pop quiz.” Over the course of the five-hour class, Ben shared stories from his years working as an EMT, giving insight and context to the course material provided by the American Heart Association, courtesy of the IATSE Training Trust. He moved between students, adjusting the rhythm and depth of their compressions and helping them to understand the mechanics of clearing a person’s airway.
With repeated drills, trainees begin to internalize the protocol for the “chain of survival,” refining their techniques and settling into the mechanics of saving the lives of their training dummies. As a trained paramedic with decades of experience, Ben is frank with his students about the slim odds of saving someone’s life. He wants to prepare them for the inevitable storm of emotions they may experience when their Sherer and Fyfe flash a collective efforts are unsuccessful. thumbs up, forever bonded But, he is careful to remind by their harrowing ordeal his students that there are wins. It only took six minutes for the emergency response team to arrive on the set, but it felt like an eternity from the time that Stan had first heard the sirens until the paramedics arrived on the scene. The highly trained team of first responders represented the next link in the chain of survival that Stan had learned about in CPR class, and the protocol that they followed allowed them to move Roger to a better-equipped facility, which is the next link in the chain. By the time Stan arrived at the immediate-care facility, he wasn’t sure where to find Roger, nor what to expect when he did. He needn’t have worried, though. Hoover Fire Department Emergency Medical Services officer, Rusty Lowe, spotted Stan as soon as he walked in, stepped closer and said, “You’re the one who did CPR, right? Hold on a second, the doctor wants to talk to you.” A crushing wave of dread hit Stan as a doctor came over to introduce himself. But what he said was electrifying. “Stan, the only reason that Roger is alive is because of you.”
A New Lease on Life A month after falling lifeless before his crewmates, Roger Sherer is home again with a new lease on life and an appreciation for how sweet this second chapter will be. His family and friends endured an intense period of uncertainty during the weeks following his cardiac
arrest, and even now he will face months of rehab and a myriad of adjustments as he adapts to his new “normal.” But everyone who knows and loves Roger is overjoyed that they will have more time to spend with him. Stan Fyfe has, unsurprisingly, found himself with a new lease on life as well. Saving a life can do that to a person. As Stan describes the chain of events that unfolded that day in Hoover, it’s clear that he appreciates all the little things that had to go just right in order to save his friend’s life, including the early administration of CPR; the skilled training and equipment of the responding paramedics; the quick connection to the 911 operator; the teamwork his shooting crew demonstrated in directing the emergency workers to Roger’s side; the emergency stabilization by the medical staff at the immediate-care facility; the long-term recovery strategies employed at the hospital. Stan especially appreciated the concern demonstrated by Rusty Lowe, who checked in on him several times in the days following Roger’s rescue, all too aware of how overwhelming the aftermath can be for rescuers. At the end of July, Stan Fyfe began studying to become a CPR trainer himself, recognizing that he has an important story to share with the world. In doing so, Stan could save even more lives. He now challenges all of his friends and colleagues in the business, as well as the entire membership of his union, IATSE Local 479, to sign up for the Heartsaver CPR/AED course. “CPR training isn’t just for medics,” Stan says. “We should all know how to perform it. I want everybody I know to be able to save a life.” Stan has also become a big proponent of a more widespread adoption of AEDs, which, as he came to learn firsthand, are still a rarity in most workplaces. Set medics are not even required to have external defibrillators as part of their medical kits, though some do. While there is no way to know if an AED would have been able to help Roger that afternoon on the set of the commercial, Stan looks forward to a day in the near future when the devices are considered standard safety equipment.
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INTERVIEW
TALENT Thandie Newton & Leonardo Nam, Season 1
THE END OF THE WORLD AS WE KNOW IT: A Chat with Westworld’s Leonardo Nam at the Season 2 Premiere By Neal Howard
A
t the Atlanta premiere of Westworld Season 2 in late April, the tenor inside the Fernbank Museum of Natural History, with its towering dinosaur exhibits and inborn affinity for all things primitive, feels about as far removed from the HBO drama’s A.I.spawned dystopia as one can imagine. In the reflection of a glass-encased exhibit featuring two bald eagles, a pulsating flock of sci-fi lovers can be seen cramming toward the check-in table.
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Anticipation rings at fever pitch. It has been nearly 18 months since the closing credits of Westworld’s inaugural season, and where fans left off, a newly sentient Dolores Abernathy was inciting a mob of fellow android “hosts” to murder every human within range of a Remington. The crowd attending the night’s premiere, in turn, readies for blood above the clink of cocktail glasses and murmured predictions. Meanwhile, in an upper-floor conference room catered for kings yet populated only by two local journalists and HBO publicity manager, Mellony Torres, Australia-born actor Leonardo Nam blows through the door with more passion and pizzazz than Steven Irwin hogtying a croc after three grande espressos. On Westworld, Nam plays Felix Lutz, a technician in the livestock management division of the Westworld park. For the night’s premiere, however, he is playing the role of cast ambassador and consummate showman. He sports a perfectly tailored,
olive-green tuxedo with no tie: a superb conversation starter. OZ: That’s quite the olive tux. LN: Thank you, I really appreciate that. I was going to wear it to the (L.A.) premiere, but I decided to go with a Singaporean-British designer. I love it that I get to rub shoulders with these artists. And especially on Westworld, it feels like stepping into an art studio. Because you get to see and work with everyone at the top of their game, from the writers to the directors, to the set designers, to the costumers, to everyone. OZ: As an actor, that’s such an accent mark. Because when you walk onto a set with that high of a budget, it’s really easy to assume that world, right? LN: It really is a gift, because you read the scripts and—how do I say this—it’s not TV, it’s HBO. (Laughs) Do you know what I mean? They go for an elevated, artful, creative kind of grouping of shows, and it elevates our community as a whole to be
HEY, HOLD UP WORLD: A.I. IS COMING.” able to have entertainment like that. That also gets trickled down to not only Jonah (Jonathan Nolan) and Lisa (Joy), the creators of the show, but also down to every department, every camera operator, every PA. It really is a wonderful opportunity when you rub shoulders with these people, and it’s all for the common core. So, no matter how hard of a day you’ve had— there were some crazy days on Westworld, crazy days—at the end of the day, you think, “Ah, but we made this.” OZ: What qualifies as a crazy day on the set of Westworld? LN: As an actor, or as anyone who creates and produces content as ambitious as this, you do overnights. That’s just a basic, common—you’re going to do overnights. Those can be harder days. But then you add to it the pressure that everyone puts on themselves, because they want it to be such an elevated product. So, you see masters at work. And when God shows up, in ways such as when there were fires in California; then, there were winds; you’ve got these huge sets that were being built; and then you see these masterful artists under pressure…
It’s a stressful environment to be in at that time, but at the end of the day, you go, “But we made this.” OZ: You guys are really at the vanguard of discussing the scarier implications of A.I. via a cable-TV format. LN: How can you not be interested in how A.I. is affecting you when you’re living in this world, when you’re a conscious person in this world? The creators of this show are phenomenal at what they do and being able to see what is being reflected out in this world, and they’re amplifying that. Westworld is really showing us the possibilities of A.I… saying, “Hey, hold up world: A.I. is coming.” It’s going to have to be on our terms how we want it to be. It doesn’t have to be now, but it’s definitely coming. And it’s actually quite—I mean, they are tapping into something that is real … You’ve got these warnings with these big heavies like Elon Musk that really made people kind of stand up and listen. After the Boston Marathon [bombing], there was a fake tweet that went out about the White House, saying there was an explosion and that Obama had been killed. Then, the stock market plummeted $139 billion; then, it corrected
itself. But my point is that the reason why it plummeted is because—one of the reasons—is that there is A.I. out there already, right now, that’s systemic. It is working the stock markets. They sift through and pull out different words— or what have you—to associate with a certain brand or company and stuff like that, and because of that, it kicked off this whole wave. It happened, and we saw it happen. And it also self-corrected. But I wonder what would happen…if we give A.I. too much unsupervised power. OZ: The confluence of globalism and A.I. is scary, for sure. LN: What happens if this were the Department of Defense and they had an algorithm like that? Like, what?! I think this is a great opportunity [that Westworld is] giving us, a moment of great entertainment, so let’s watch the show. But let’s leave it as entertainment, because we’re going to see how dark things can get. It’s scary, but it’s real, and I’m really glad that I’m part of a show that is offering something for conversation, for thought, for thoughtfulness to the world. (Continued on page. 40)
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TALENT
I THINK IT’S GREAT TO BE PART OF A SHOW THAT IS MINDFUL, AND CONSCIOUS, AND AT THE FOREFRONT OF EXPLAINING THINGS SUCH AS REPRESENTATION ONSCREEN.”
Leonardo Nam (second from left) as Felix Lutz, along with Westworld co-stars Ingrid Bolso Berdal, Rodrigo Santoro, and Thandie Newton
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OZ: Speaking of sweeping change, if one had to boil down the premise of Westworld, he or she might say that it’s about an adult theme park where wealthy people can act on their most primal, debased desires without recourse. What parallels do you see between that and pre-#MeToo America? It’s pretty striking, the similarities. LN: Westworld reflects the world that we are in, and you’re going to see that in Season 2, too. There are parallels that happen, and this is something that comes from the creators—what they write, the subjects they write about, the themes. It’s so interesting to see how the world has started to open up those doors that were originally closed for so many years … There is the reality of a cultural shift that is happening and that we are privy to, and I think it’s great to be part of a show that is mindful, and conscious, and at the forefront of explaining things such as representation onscreen. Also, the show is about the inception, or the beginnings, of a new species, which is A.I. The first season was about consciousness—one of the many themes— but if we are realizing that we are not the only conscious being here, then what does that say about humanity as a whole? I think that also resonates with the social change that is happening in this world. Westworld resonates with people
because of its humanity. OZ: Were you a big sci-fi guy before landing the role of Lutz? Did you watch the original Westworld movie from 1973 prior to filming Season 1? LN: I was a big fan of sci-fi before. 2001: A Space Odyssey is my absolute dream, dream, dream movie. In regard to actually preparing for this role, of course, I had watched the original, which is scary as [expletive], man. Especially when I was young, I was like, “What is going on?!” OZ: And that was even prior to the VFX technology needed to really execute it, too. LN: Yeah, and it was still amazing. But for me, for my character, in preparing for this, one of the big keys was that I listened to opera. Again, because of technology and algorithms—Spotify and Pandora— (Laughs) I now have access to it. I didn’t know much about opera at all…but, in researching for this role, that was a key element that played into me creating this character. OZ: It’s like a masterclass, this Westworld gig. LN: It is, man, it is … I get shivers thinking about coming on set certain days.
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Photo by Bjorn
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TALENT
Rampage actor and certified Georgia boy,
By Neal Howard
GARY WEEKS, waxes poetic on Dwayne Johnson's unmatched charisma, how not to fanboy while working with Clint Eastwood, and the joys of filming in his home state OZ: You’re hosting a birthday party tomorrow for one of your young sons. How does fatherhood mesh with one of the most unpredictable professions on the planet? GW: In our business, in this crazy thing, it is awesome to come home and really realize what’s important. I’m so worried about the dialogue of a given script, then I get home and it’s so small in comparison. I’m not demeaning what we do; I’m just saying that there’s so much effort you put
into a project for so long, then you get to do something with your kids, and it’s just so pure and simple and fun. How does being a father translate to the set? What can you take from fatherhood and apply in front of the camera? One thing is there’s a whole different comfort level. My wife and I were living in L.A. and about to have our first child, and a friend of mine, an actor named
Cullen Douglas, said, “Dude, you’re gonna become twice the actor you are once you become a father, because you won’t have time to worry about the small things and obsess.” All of us are insane or we wouldn’t be in this business; we all have a screw loose. Fatherhood has kind of helped me focus on what’s important with my job and make sure that it’s done to the best of my ability, yet I can’t sit there and think about it 24 hours a day.
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TALENT A lot of the Georgia-born actors with whom I’ve spoken over the years say they were super excited by the Atlanta film boom, because it gave them an excuse to come back and raise their families here. There’s just something special about the metropolitan South that makes people want to raise kids here.
Gary Weeks in The Assault (2014)
It’s true. With our first son, just the logistics of trying to do everything while living in L.A. [was tough] … My mom used to send me clippings—not emails, but physical newspaper clippings—all the time in the mail like, “This is shooting
"What's happening in Georgia is a gift." here! This is shooting there!” And I was like, “I’ve got it, Mom, but I have to be in L.A. This is the only place I can work.” Then I came back to Atlanta and was just like, “Oh, this is better for my family, so let’s see what happens.” I think I came literally right at the perfect time, because the boom had already begun, and I just kind of came into this unbelievable thing that we have now that I cannot be more thankful for. What’s happening in Georgia is a gift. How exactly does a kid from smalltown Morris, Ga. get into acting? Well, it’s funny, because I started out as a writer. If I had to put writing and acting side by side, it would depend on the week which one I like more. I love acting and I have this great kinship with it, but I started out as a writer. I wrote stories, I wrote scripts, we shot stuff on VHS— just to do it. There was no aim, it was just something we did for fun. I ended up going to college to try and be a sports reporter in… Umm… (Struggles to find the correct term) In broadcast journalism? Yep, broadcast journalism. That shows you how far I went: I couldn’t even remember the name of the school. (Laughs)
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Then a friend of mine asked—he was doing a student film—and he asked if I would go in and do it. I did it not thinking about it, and for some reason, that time it kind of clicked. I started taking some classes and I immediately knew. I was like, “I have no other skills. This is the only one that I feel like I actually have some sort of raw ability.” It just felt right. Not to get too deep into the weeds on this, but what about it felt right? What was it that “clicked” that day? The one thing I love and hate about acting at the same time is the emotional release that comes from it. You’ve been bred to bottle all these things up, especially me as a kid who was overweight with flat feet, glasses and braces. I had this built-in insecurity, and the way that I got away from that was joking around. Like, that's just what I do; I still do that. So, once I found a safe place where I could do that, and all the things I had bottled up I could actually use and utilize and feel? I get chills just thinking about that feeling; it’s just insane. That’s the draw.
Were you able to access those emotions right out of the gate, or did you have to take classes to elicit them? A little bit of both. I feel like the classes I took definitely helped me hone, but once I felt like it was OK to let all that stuff out, it just kind of became part of it. It was always there, but… So having an acting coach just helps you zero in on tapping into specific emotions? Right. And how to utilize it for a certain thing. I noticed that you often play a cop, an attorney, a military guy—i.e. some kind of authoritative figure. Is that because they’re casting for type, or are you drawn to those roles? It’s a little bit of both, but I definitely think it’s cast for type. One thing, again, that I’ve learned over the years is that, if they have a type for you, you can either fight it or be part of it. When I was in Los Angeles as a young actor, I booked a couple of things as mostly cops and detectives, and I went to my small agency and said, “Look, I don’t want to do that anymore. I’m an actor”— you know, all caps, ACTOR—“and I don’t
want to play any more cops,” and all this other stuff. She was like, “Are you sure?” I said, “Yeah, I don’t want to do it.” And I didn’t have the resume to be talking like this. Not yet. So I left, and I didn’t book for another year. I came back and said, “I’ll play a detective, I’ll play a cop, I’ll play whatever they want.” It was one of those things where I realized, OK, you can play outside it, but if you have something like that, it’s actually a great thing—you know, if they see you a certain way and you can play that role. Remarkably, none of the roles that I’ve ever played like that have been the same. They’re very similar in feel, but what’s going on behind it, what’s going on after it, is all different. So that kind of nuance between playing similar characters across different projects, in the end, all contributes to the actor’s collective bank of knowledge? Exactly. You learn with each one just like you would with any role, but it’s nice to have a niche, because I think it goes
"...if they have a type for you, you can either fight it or be part of it."
against the acting mind to say, “I don’t want to be pigeonholed into one thing.” If you actually have that and you’re doing it as a career, it’s a great thing to have in your pocket. And plus, you can always make a living. Totally. That’s actually a convenient segue into my next question: As an actor who has gotten steady work—you’ve had recurring roles on shows like Days of Our Lives and Burn Notice, of course, but the bulk of your resume has been appearances—would you be satisfied to continue along this tract, or are you always aspiring to be a lead? No, I’m 100 percent aspiring to be a lead. (Laughs) I appreciate every role, every chance—the movie I’m shooting now is an absolute gift—but the goal is always to get a lead. And basically, it’s because I don’t want to audition. I’m so lazy, I don’t want to audition anymore. I want a character that I can kind of sink into and play for a while. I’ve had movies where I’ve gotten to do that, but with TV, I’ve had like two or three episodes of a show. I’ll have a small arc, it’s great, then it’s gone. It’d be nice to have a consistent thing. Because for a long time, just like every actor at the start, I did literally every job that you can imagine except waiting tables. I worked retail, I worked
hotel night shifts, I did everything you can possibly do just to keep it going. Because when you’re booking one or two guest stars or co-stars a year, and you’re living in Los Angeles, you can’t afford to live. I think one of the greatest moments of my life was when I realized I didn’t have to have another job; I could actually make a living doing this. When did you hit that mark? In 2005. I got insurance and everything was constant. I’m no $40 million Denzel, but I make a living, and I’m extremely grateful to be able to do that. It also helps when you have a good support system, and I have a great support system around me. I honestly can’t imagine how any artist makes it today without family and friends to help prop them up during those rough times; without people who know that it’s your only viable skill and that you’re not really going to be able to deviate from it, even if you wanted to. The people in your life who say, “If things fall apart, we’ve got you until the next opportunity.” That’s 100 percent right. My father died of cancer when I was 16, and we didn’t know he had it. We just thought he’d been angry for the past six months, then we found out he had tumors in his brain. He ended up passing away when I was going into my senior year. Me and my dad were really close, so you talk about being able to utilize things for acting? That’s a big one. But, as far as my mom goes, she was so extremely supportive of me, my brother and my sister, who’ve all had very different paths. If my kids come to me and say, “I want to be an actor,” I’ll be like, “Oh god, please do anything else. Please do anything else.” But, at the same time, if that’s what they really want to do— because that’s the way my family has been across the board: “We think you’re insane, but do it.” Who was your first really influential acting coach here in Atlanta? Mike Pniewski. I took some classes with him, we did a scene from an iconic movie, and I felt like I was amazing—like, in my mind, I prepared it great. And he broke me
Gary Weeks as Detective Boyd in Devious Maids (2015)
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TALENT down—broke it down—so much that my mind completely popped wide open. It’s all about details. You can’t just gloss over a role and really play it. Before, I was thinking of it as the big picture … I will always give Mike major props for that. I don’t want to tell him to his face. He’s already amazing and I don’t want to make him feel even more amazing, but he was instrumental. I actually think that right after his class, I moved to L.A. Tell us about your first onscreen appearance in Major League: Back to the Minors (1998). What can you recall about that experience? It was really funny. I was a background actor, but I thought I was a supporting actor. I’d only had an agent for about a month and I didn’t have any idea what I was doing. I was completely oblivious, and the biggest thing was that I had to get time off from Sears to go to South Carolina and shoot this thing. But when I got there, I had a talk with a couple of the actors and they were really nice. And Scott Bakula…was telling us that it doesn’t matter what you don’t know; everybody starts from someplace. So that kind of gave me a little more of that push to move to L.A. I’ve been very lucky meeting people that have been very positive at crucial times. I was in the room waiting for something—maybe coming in for wardrobe—and it just so happened that they were trying to make a decision between two actors. It came down to the size of their heads, and they literally took out a tape measure. [Laughs] The actors weren’t there, it was on screen. But they were literally measuring. One guy’s head made him look older, so it was a choice. What kind of differences do you note between the L.A. scene and the Atlanta scene, in terms of that willingness to mentor, or to be a gracious star? Oh, 100 percent difference. I feel like here…everybody’s kind of on the same team. They congratulate everybody, they lament with everybody. As opposed to L.A., where there were so many people
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who—I know they’re hungry, but it was past hungry. Cutthroat? Cutthroat, yes. You’d walk into a room and people would try to ice you. Which, as Southerners, we don’t really understand. I don’t understand that, no … People couldn’t understand why I talked to everybody. I was so nice, and people were like, “You need to stop.” (Laughs) I live in a building packed with industry people, and I think Atlanta begins to soften them over time. They begin to realize, you know, this isn’t L.A.; I don’t have to be dog-eat-dog. It’s kind of fun being nice and engaging with people. And I think it’s genuine. For me, the word would be genuine. We’re all actors, we’re all weird, we all have our own neuroses, but the majority of people I come into contact with here are truly supportive of everybody else. I don’t want to make it sound like L.A. was terrible. I had a great time in L.A. A lot of the people I met there will be my friends for life, and they’re amazing people who influenced me, but it was hit
or miss. Especially when it came to pilot seasons and I had been there for a while, and I would see the same guys in the same rooms. There were four or five guys like me who were playing the same game, then these other guys were playing their own game. Do you think it keeps you looser as an actor, the calm that comes with not wasting energy on that kind of pettiness? I would think that a more competitive mindset might tighten you up. Yep, I think it’s a huge mistake if you focus on that. I think we have enough to worry about on our own. Just do what you do, get it down—whatever it is that you’re going to do in the room—and that’s your focus. The other stuff is just going to hurt you. I’ll admit that my first couple of pilot seasons in L.A., when I was actually going in regularly, I’d be sitting next to all series regulars and movie stars and I’d be thinking, “There’s no way I’m getting this.” And if you do that, you’re just automatically starting off with a no. In other words, there’s no reason to compound an already difficult task? You’re either the guy or you’re not.
"You're either the guy or you're not. "
Speaking of the handful of nice guys in Hollywood, you recently worked with Dwayne Johnson on Rampage. Is “The Rock” as charming and friendly as reported? He will be the president one day. He literally might be the most charismatic person I’ve ever met in my life. I’m only on that set for three days, and he comes in and beelines straight through the crowd to me and says, “Hey Gary, I’m so glad you’re here. We’re going to have a great time. If you need anything, you let me know.” And I’m like, “What is going on?!” But it’s 100-percent real. I think that’s just who he is. He really surprised me with Ballers (now streaming on HBOgo.com). That was a huge evolution for him. He really nails both the dramatic and comedic notes on that series. I’ll be honest, I didn’t think he was versatile prior to that role, but Ballers really changed my mind.
Then you see Rampage and he’s a star in every way. You’re still in theaters with another film as well, 15:17 to Paris. What did you take away from working with Clint Eastwood? I worked with him on Sully, too. He was my Dad’s favorite, which is one of the many reasons I’ve loved him for so many years. But on Sully we also had Tom Hanks, and he’s one of the three reasons I became an actor. I remember specifically that one day Clint comes up, and Tom’s there, and we’re kind of talking about the scene a little bit, but I don’t hear any words. All I’m thinking is, “This is Tom Hanks and Clint Eastwood. This is another world.” And Clint is just this really sweet man. He knows what he wants; we’re not doing 100 takes. Then when we did 15:17…
you would’ve thought I worked there for a year. He has such a family feel that it’s just great. I’ve heard it said that when Robert Redford, for instance, directs an actor, the actor knows they’ve done a good job when he doesn’t say anything to them at all. He’s never going to congratulate or puff you up, he just moves on to the next scene. What is Eastwood’s approach to engaging with his actors? It’s very similar, in a way. He just lets us do our thing. Any specifics that he gives you are about the shot. Very rarely is he going to talk about the style of acting. You do it and he trusts you. When they go through the casting process, I think he casts with that in mind: “This is the guy because of X, Y and Z.”
Gary Weeks and cast of Zombie Apocalypse
No, he’s legit. I’ll admit, when you first think about a wrestler, which is acting— no offense to wrestling, but there’s an element of acting there… No, it’s entirely acting. Don’t be ashamed to say it. (Laughs) But you see that and you say, “How’s he going to come in and do film?” Then you see The Game Plan, which I believe is one of his first films, and you see sparks. He’s actually really good.
David Morrisse, the Governor, and Gary Weeks as Corporal Brady in The Walking Dead Season 3
Gary Weeks as a pilot in Fate of the Furious
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TALENT
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TALENT
Sarah Blackman
CAUTION TO THE WIND Breaking type is often a tall order in this business, but sometimes a little nerve can yield major dividends. Just ask Brockmire Season 2 breakout, Sarah Blackman By Neal Howard
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fter receiving her coffee at a suburban Atlanta café, Sarah Blackman casually saunters toward a quiet table in the back-left corner of the shop, removes a small sleeve of Stevia from her handbag, and gently stirs it into her mug. Her blonde curls are blithely swirled into a mussy bun, indifferent to rogue tendrils. She carries herself with the blasé energy of an approachable, forever girlnext-door beauty. Her outfit is an apropos homage to all of the above: ripped jeans and a faded, black, Mr. T t-shirt that reads, “Shut up, fool!” “I would love to think that people don’t perceive me as naughty or super sassy,” says Blackman, a Roswell native who moved back to Atlanta in ’09 after seven years in L.A., “but that’s what 50
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people get off me.” She has come this afternoon to promote her featured role in an upcoming episode of IFC’s Brockmire, but in discussing the angle she took that really helped her audition tape stick the landing, the 30-something Southern firebrand has found herself harkening back to a Sam Christensen-led actors workshop she once attended on embracing how others perceive you. “It was fascinating, because you sit down in front of people you’ve never met, and you don’t say a word, and people just start writing down adjectives that they see in you. At the end of the first day, I get the list, and I see that I got 18 ‘naughty,’ 14 ‘mischievous,’ 15 ‘Barbie.’ People said ‘pageant queen,’ and I never was a pageant queen; ‘sorority girl,’ that’s never been me. So, I had to come to terms with that.” As it turns out, however, several years after swallowing that once-bitter pill, Blackman’s coming to terms with her “naughty” misnomer would be precisely what her performance as Brockmire’s “Nicole” would call for—i.e., a harddrinking, cocaine-tooting, chlamydiatransmitting trainwreck of a barfly who shares a night of hedonist abandon with Hank Azaria’s title character, oncedisgraced former Major League Baseball announcer, Jim Brockmire. “If this many
people you’ve never spoken to or met get that [vibe] from you,” she says, again relating the Christensen seminar, “then you better find a way to embrace that side of yourself and use it to your advantage as an actor. If you can be Mother Teresa, you can commit murder also—in a character sense.” It’s an interesting juxtaposition, Blackman’s Brockmire role. On the one hand, it’s an eccentric, over-the-top embrace of the bad-girl-masqueradingas-Barbie presumptions made by her fellow workshoppers. On the other, it’s a rare, stark, delicious departure from the innocuous, tall-blonde type for which Blackman is too often cast. “It’s such a different character than anything I’m usually called in for, it was great,” she
says. “It was super fun to even have an audition where I played against type, and I kind of threw caution to the wind. I was just like, ‘[Expletive] it, I’m gonna have fun on this one.’” Subsequently, throughout her audition tape, Blackman smacked gum, applied Chapstick mid-sentence, wore gaudy sunglasses, you name it. It was a full-on face-mushing of her demure Georgia-peach type, in order to make way for a dime-store tramp of the most detestable strain. “They hired me straight off the tape,” she says. “Having seen me as this sweaty-looking, nasty, greasy-haired, mess of a girl who can play against type, the same casting directors have been already been calling me in for grittier, less glamorous stuff.” A bold move roundly rewarded, it seems. Blackman first forayed into the business as a model in the late ’90s, and shortly thereafter, at the behest of her agent, began going on commercial auditions. There wasn’t nearly enough work in Atlanta around the turn of the millennium, so she packed her bags for L.A. in 2002, where she studied at Playhouse West under Robert Carnegie and James Franco. In 2005, she landed the part of Julie Gillette opposite Zac Efron in The Derby Stallion, and was cast for a small role in Franco’s 2007 film, Good Time Max. In the years since, she has appeared in several TV series, including BET’s The Quad, USA’s Necessary Roughness, Single Ladies and Bless Yer Heart. You can catch Blackman mixing it up with Hank Azaria in the Brockmire Season 2 episode, “Caught in a Rundown,” airing in June on IFC.
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OZ SCENE Low Budget Filmmaking Tips & Tricks' audience listens attentively
Daveed Diggs, writer/director of Blindspotting. Photo by Eric Oliver/ HeartFireFilm Make Films Like a Girl producer/ production manager Carmen Jones
More Venues. Better Parking. Bellwether Cinema:
FIELD NOTES FROM THE 2018 ATLANTA FILM FESTIVAL By Richard Gedney & Neal Howard
Maynard Jackson III
Jason Reitman Masterclass, Plaza Theatre
Make Films Like a Girl director/ actor Katie Orr
Make Films Like a Girl, Uzma Kang, Women in Media
Lamp Light director Mason Rey Maynard director Sam Pollard
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Amber Nash Masterclass
OZ SCENE
Kiersey Clemons, star of Hearts Beat Loud
Make Films Like a Girl founder Lynne Hansen
Low Budget Filmmaking Tips & Tricks panel (from left) Gabrielle Pickle, Linda Burns, Anissa Matlock, Jay Holloway, Molly Coffee
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his year’s 42nd Annual Atlanta Film Festival (ATLFF), with its newly added venues, yielded a stress-free, logistically sound, successful affair. The introduction of the Hilan Theater into the mix was a brilliant move, among many, and thanks to the multistory garage access along N. Highland Ave., parking was a breeze. As in years past, the iconic Plaza Theatre served as the central hub for ATLFF 2018. Noteworthy films shown at the venue included Maynard, a documentary centered on Atlanta’s first black mayor, Maynard Jackson, Jr.; Man Made, a fellow doc about Trans FitCon, the world’s only all-transgender bodybuilding competition; Tully, the new Charlize Theron starrer from director Jason Reitman and screenwriter Diablo Cody; and Hearts Beat Loud, the tale of a Brooklyn dad-daughter duo (Nick Offerman, Kiersey Clemons) who become unlikely songwriting collaborators over the summer before she leaves home for college. Just down the road, inside last year’s debut venue, DHPC Blackbox, a lively dais featuring producers from Sesame Street regaled the crowd at the “P is for Pitch Panel.” As the session’s title alludes, pitches from festivalgoers were heard, considered, then reevaluated with thoughtful notes. If the producers liked what they heard, the person pitching might even be invited to produce an episode segment for the longest-running children’s show in television history. Director/writer Angela Barnes Gomes’ pitch was particularly memorable that
afternoon, courtesy of an inspired audience singalong. A few minutes’ walk north of the Plaza, at the Hilan Theater, a newly renovated space made its ATLFF debut, quickly becoming the second-most frequented location of the 2018 run. Its minimalist yet cozy charm played perfect host to both screenings and Creative Conference panels. One Hilan festival highlight arrived in the form of director Nathan Fitch’s documentary, Island Soldier, about Micronesian recruits who fight for the U.S Military. The film follows two island families and their respective stories, illustrating in gut-wrenching detail the extent to which the Micronesian people at large have made the ultimate sacrifice in service to our country. “Make Films Like a Girl,” “Low Budget Filmmaking Tips and Tricks,” and several more Creative Conference events were also held there. Heading two minutes south on N. Highland, the Highland Inn and Ballroom’s bottom-floor pub found new life as the Filmmaker Lounge. Happy hours and parties sponsored by a variety of local industry groups, as well as a handful of impromptu panels and short film showings, made a for a consistently festive vibe. Dad’s Garage, roughly 8-10 minutes’ drive from the Plaza, also hosted select films and Creative Conference panels throughout the nine-day soiree. Two screenings of particular note were director Michael Flores’ Mi Tesoro (My Treasure), and Cabeza Madre (Mother’s Head) by Edourard Salier. Over the
course of the festival, Flores was widely recognized for his indomitable likeability. He travels the world writing films on location and casting them with local talent, as he did with Mi Tesoro, which he penned and shot in El Salvador. Also among the highlights from Dad’s Garage: the Amber Nash Masterclass. (For more on Nash and her work on FX’s Archer, see “Mouths of the South” pg. 22). Last but not least, the Woodruff Arts Center’s Rich Auditorium (a.k.a. “the Rich”) rounded out the lineup with a select group of films, including the greatly anticipated doc from director Morgan Neville, Won’t You Be My Neighbor? It tells the emotionally gripping story of Mister Rogers’ Neighborhood TV host, Fred Rogers, and truly drives home the message that one man can make a vast difference. There literally wasn’t a dry eye in the house. 2018 Atlanta Film Festival prize winners: • Narrative Feature Jury Award – Restos de Viento, Wind Traces • Narrative Feature Special Jury Prize – Disappearance • Narrative Short Jury Award – For Nonna Anna • Documentary Feature Jury Award – Man Made • Documentary Feature Special Jury Award – Nos Llaman Guerreras (They Call Us Warriors) • Documentary Short Jury Award – Zion • Animated Short Jury Award – Fundamental • WonderFilm Award (presented by WonderRoot) – Walls of Hope • Georgia Film Award – Still • Filmmaker-to-Watch Award – Connor Simpson, Kudzu • Innovator Award – Daveed Diggs, Blindspotting • Rebel Award – Jason Reitman, Tully • Phoenix Award – Kiersey Clemons, Hearts Beat Loud
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YOUNG & WINNING SUMMIT
RAMAE SHOWCASE SEPTEMBER 1, 2018
10:00AM | 135 RIVERSIDE PKWY, AUSTELL, GA 30168
Empowering our Youth. Idennfying their S.T.E.A.M. Potennal. Igniing their Growth.
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The EpiCenter Located at 135 Riverside Pkwy. Austell, GA 30168
The Ramaé Showcase in partnership with The Young and Winning Summit purpose is to provide an excellent opportunity for diverse and talented emerging S.T.E.A.M. superstars to showcase themselves, their talents and their creativity. Our goal is to promote and highlight their S.T.E.A.M. entrepreneurial spirit within the creative arts in all of its artistic styles such as:
LIVE PERFORMANCES BY RECORDING ARTISTS DURING THE ROCK-THE-RUNWAY FASHION DESIGNER SHOWCASE
Designing Arts:
fashion, architecture, mechanical and web
Performing Arts:
among them music, dance, theatre
Visual Arts:
drawing, painting, photography, videography.
Literature Arts:
poetry, writing, scripting and drama
Other Arrssc Expressions: hair, make-up, beauty and nails
At the conclusion of the Ramaé Showcase, a panel of VIP Celebrity guests will select the “Best in Show” for the fashion designer that has presented the best fashion designs. Recording industry personnel will decide the “Best Performance” by an artist. Winners will be presented with an award and a cash prize.
Contact Us For More Information Phone: (678) 653-6036 Email: info@summitshowcase.info Website: https://summitshowcase.info/ Tickets:
www.eventbrite.com
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LET ME GIVE YOU MY CARD
Risk Management of Atlanta Security & Investigations
RMA has been providing security for the Television and Film industry since 1997. 24/7 monitoring and protection of the location, equipment, and cast/crew. Our guards are trained to handle crowds on location and react to any suspicious activity.
info@rmagainc.com www.rmagainc.com
CONYERS
EATON
Ben Couch 671 10th Street NW Atlanta, GA 30318
ben.couch@sherwin.com
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Luxury Performance at Every Price Point
PrOfEsSiOnAl PrOp-DeSiGn & FaBrIcAtIoN
Jim Suss, REALTOR® 678-357-7683 770-422-6005
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LET ME GIVE YOU MY CARD
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