OTHER STUFF
Other interesting factoids you probably never knew....
ACTING
In 1988, I was very interested in becoming an actor. Three years earlier, I started university at the College of Mount St. Vincent in New York City majoring in Communications with a concentration in video and television studio production with the idea that I would eventually work behind the camera as a producer or director. But I had a fascination with becoming one of the people in front of the camera. So in the summer between my 3rd and 4th years, I visited with a talent agent in New York City. She looked at me and said,
"Hmmm. Your eyes are too close together, your forehead is too wide, you're too short, and you don't have a chin."
At that point, I figured that someone who looks and sounds like me just does not become an actor. So I was resigned that I would just concentrate on becoming a producer or director of TV shows. (As we all know, that didn't work out either...) While I was at university, I did act in a couple of drama club theatre productions and I took a couple of acting classes, but at that point, that was the extent of my acting ambitions....
Fast forward to 2017. A chance meeting one summer day with a producer of independent films in the Lincoln Park neighbourhood of Chicago while walking my dog, Halifax, led to me being cast as an extra in a short film called "I Am Not Broken." The movie tells the story of Victor, a young man who has had intimacy problems ever since he was a child, and how his inability to become close to people affected his life as an adult. I played an elementary school faculty member in a scene shot in a school auditorium in Chicago. I thought, "Okay... I can at least say I was in a movie." In 2018, this same producer kept me in mind for a feature-length movie he was working on called "As With Knives and Skin," which was about a teenage girl who goes missing and the effect her absence had of her family, friends, and the small town they all lived in. I was part of a search party trying to find the missing girl. Both of these experiences just woke up the part of me that always wanted to try this acting thing....
Then, in December 2018, I joined Backstage.com, a job posting site for actors, Since then, I've been cast in 5 film projects: I've been an extra in a Northwestern University student short film called "Jokers" - about three stand-up comedians trying to break into the Chicago comedy scene - and a music video by Chicago singer/songwriter Ben Marshall. I was also cast in three other indie short films with speaking roles: in a DePaul University short called "Calling A Bluff" - in which a young man and his soon-to-be brother-in-law have a heart-to-heart talk about marriage (I played the soon-to-be brother in law); "Home" - about a single mother trying to get over the accidental death of her son (I play a real-estate agent); and "Ducks" - about a boy with Asperger's Syndrome who learns how to navigate life at a new school (I play the school principal).
I even auditioned for a part in a sitcom this spring! Still waiting to hear back from that one... (could you imagine????)
These were fun and eye-opening experiences. Acting - like songwriting - is hard work. But when you catch a creative wave (so to speak), it's a fantastic feeling...
So for now, I go back to music and keep my eye out for new parts to try out for... Who knows? Maybe one day something will hit on one side - or both... Then I can be a musician/songwriter/actor... Just like - oh, I don't know - Justin Timerlake? (could you imagine?????)
"Hmmm. Your eyes are too close together, your forehead is too wide, you're too short, and you don't have a chin."
At that point, I figured that someone who looks and sounds like me just does not become an actor. So I was resigned that I would just concentrate on becoming a producer or director of TV shows. (As we all know, that didn't work out either...) While I was at university, I did act in a couple of drama club theatre productions and I took a couple of acting classes, but at that point, that was the extent of my acting ambitions....
Fast forward to 2017. A chance meeting one summer day with a producer of independent films in the Lincoln Park neighbourhood of Chicago while walking my dog, Halifax, led to me being cast as an extra in a short film called "I Am Not Broken." The movie tells the story of Victor, a young man who has had intimacy problems ever since he was a child, and how his inability to become close to people affected his life as an adult. I played an elementary school faculty member in a scene shot in a school auditorium in Chicago. I thought, "Okay... I can at least say I was in a movie." In 2018, this same producer kept me in mind for a feature-length movie he was working on called "As With Knives and Skin," which was about a teenage girl who goes missing and the effect her absence had of her family, friends, and the small town they all lived in. I was part of a search party trying to find the missing girl. Both of these experiences just woke up the part of me that always wanted to try this acting thing....
Then, in December 2018, I joined Backstage.com, a job posting site for actors, Since then, I've been cast in 5 film projects: I've been an extra in a Northwestern University student short film called "Jokers" - about three stand-up comedians trying to break into the Chicago comedy scene - and a music video by Chicago singer/songwriter Ben Marshall. I was also cast in three other indie short films with speaking roles: in a DePaul University short called "Calling A Bluff" - in which a young man and his soon-to-be brother-in-law have a heart-to-heart talk about marriage (I played the soon-to-be brother in law); "Home" - about a single mother trying to get over the accidental death of her son (I play a real-estate agent); and "Ducks" - about a boy with Asperger's Syndrome who learns how to navigate life at a new school (I play the school principal).
I even auditioned for a part in a sitcom this spring! Still waiting to hear back from that one... (could you imagine????)
These were fun and eye-opening experiences. Acting - like songwriting - is hard work. But when you catch a creative wave (so to speak), it's a fantastic feeling...
So for now, I go back to music and keep my eye out for new parts to try out for... Who knows? Maybe one day something will hit on one side - or both... Then I can be a musician/songwriter/actor... Just like - oh, I don't know - Justin Timerlake? (could you imagine?????)
Screen Shots from the movie, "Home" (2019)
Behind-the-scenes Shots from the film shoot for the movie, "Ducks" (2019)
MODELING
In 2002, I had a very short-lived modeling career.
In the spring of that year, I was working for the now-shuttered Chicago Institute of Neurosurgery and Neuroresearch (a neurosciences medical clinic and research facility) as the administrative and research assistant to a world-renown neurosurgeon. One day, I was asked to help organize a photo shoot for a new print advertising campaign for the organization. On the morning of the shoot, the production crew and models took over one of the patient waiting rooms and began to set up. However, one of the models they hired never showed up. After an hour of waiting for the wayward model, I took a chance and asked the art director, "What about me?"... He looked me up and down and said, "Yeah, sure... Why not?" That shadowy figure in the upper right corner in the background? That's me!
This ad appeared in all of the major newspapers in the Chicagoland area (spreading into northwest Indiana and southern Wisconsin), as well as bus and subway ads and in some local magazines in Chicago. I naively thought for a moment that this would be the start of something... Turned out, no, it wasn't. But still, I had a moment where I experienced life from the other side of the modeling lens...
In the spring of that year, I was working for the now-shuttered Chicago Institute of Neurosurgery and Neuroresearch (a neurosciences medical clinic and research facility) as the administrative and research assistant to a world-renown neurosurgeon. One day, I was asked to help organize a photo shoot for a new print advertising campaign for the organization. On the morning of the shoot, the production crew and models took over one of the patient waiting rooms and began to set up. However, one of the models they hired never showed up. After an hour of waiting for the wayward model, I took a chance and asked the art director, "What about me?"... He looked me up and down and said, "Yeah, sure... Why not?" That shadowy figure in the upper right corner in the background? That's me!
This ad appeared in all of the major newspapers in the Chicagoland area (spreading into northwest Indiana and southern Wisconsin), as well as bus and subway ads and in some local magazines in Chicago. I naively thought for a moment that this would be the start of something... Turned out, no, it wasn't. But still, I had a moment where I experienced life from the other side of the modeling lens...
JOURNALIST
In 2000 and 2001, I did a little freelance work as a journalist. More specifically, as a human interest story writer. Actually, more to the point, as a canine interest story writer.
"Chipawgo" was a bi-monthly pet-centric newspaper published in the Chicagoland area. It featured articles on everything you could possibly think of related to pets (it was inclusive of all pets, but the bulk of the articles were about dogs and cats). This happened thru a chance meeting with one of the editors of this newspaper while standing in line waiting for a table at one of my favourite restaurants at the time. I overheard this guy ahead of me talking to his friend about his dog. Then his friend started talking about her dog. I chimed in about my dog (at the time, a German Shepherd mix named Avonlea) and we all started talking about the joys of our four-legged companions. The guy mentioned that he was an editor for "Chipawgo" and that he was always looking for ideas for articles. I immediately put forth two ideas: an article about songs about dogs and an article about dogs on album cover art. The editor said he liked the idea and asked me to go ahead and write one of the articles and submit it. If he liked it, he'll publish it and give me the go-ahead to write the second one.
I got the two articles published, It didn't pay much AT ALL. But sadly, the paper folded before I could offer up other ideas. The two articles below are my contributions to the world of pet journalism...
"Chipawgo" was a bi-monthly pet-centric newspaper published in the Chicagoland area. It featured articles on everything you could possibly think of related to pets (it was inclusive of all pets, but the bulk of the articles were about dogs and cats). This happened thru a chance meeting with one of the editors of this newspaper while standing in line waiting for a table at one of my favourite restaurants at the time. I overheard this guy ahead of me talking to his friend about his dog. Then his friend started talking about her dog. I chimed in about my dog (at the time, a German Shepherd mix named Avonlea) and we all started talking about the joys of our four-legged companions. The guy mentioned that he was an editor for "Chipawgo" and that he was always looking for ideas for articles. I immediately put forth two ideas: an article about songs about dogs and an article about dogs on album cover art. The editor said he liked the idea and asked me to go ahead and write one of the articles and submit it. If he liked it, he'll publish it and give me the go-ahead to write the second one.
I got the two articles published, It didn't pay much AT ALL. But sadly, the paper folded before I could offer up other ideas. The two articles below are my contributions to the world of pet journalism...