OK…there are some jobs to report, but for the most part – it’s the quietest – for the longest period of time – for as long as I can remember.  First it was the writer’s strike…and now it’s the possible actor’s strike. Ugh.  Still, I am blessed with good health and a wonderful family, so that’s all the complaining I’m going to do.

The Great Adventures of Walter Flunn is still alive and well.  As I mentioned in a previous blog entry, a major cable channel bought a pilot – so we are going into production sometime in July for a delivery in August. Very exciting indeed.  

Here’s a pic from a recent mini-shoot we had.  And yes, that is a camera mounted on my head – to film my reactions.  Talk about a pain in the neck!

A month or so ago, I shot a series of spots for OnGuard.gov.  OnGuard.gov is a company that provides practical tips from the federal government and the technology industry to help you be on guard against Internet fraud, secure your computer, and protect your personal information.  I played the guy ‘phishing’ for people’s information.  The time I spent on the prep for the shoot took longer than actual shoot itself.  There was suit shopping, an initial fitting for the ‘phish fin’ that was to stick out of the back of my suit, the final fitting for the fin, and then there was altering the suit to accommodate a huge fin sticking out of the back.  Here are a couple of pics of me at the special effects shop – Flix FX.  They do great work there and are a fun group of people.  

The pic above is me, at the special effects shop, with a couple of large nuts and some well hung bananas.  Insert your own gay porn title here.

Below is the initial fitting for the fish fin.

You can check out the final spots at OnGuard.gov. I think they turned out pretty good.  I’m told they’re going to appear on TV in the next couple of months.

In early May, thanks to a fabulous comedy writer/actor Steve Hibbert, I had the opportunity to work with Mike Myers on the MTV Movie Award promos.  What a blast!  We shot on the back-lot of Warner Bros. in Burbank.  I love working on a back-lot.  It feels like old Hollywood to me.  Mike Myers played an angel (like the angels in the movie WINGS OF DESIRE) who along with doing some good, was also a little mischievous.  Well, a lot mischievous.  He was dressed from ankle to neck in a body suit that made him look ‘cut’.  Over the body suit, he had on a small swimsuit (or were they underpants?) – and sandals with white ankle socks.  To finish the look off, he wore enormous angel wings. 

Lindsay Lohan and Seth Green were also on the shoot.  I didn’t really have a lot to do with Lindsay Lohan, but she came on with her mini entourage – and did her bit.  She seemed nice enough.  To be honest, I didn’t even recognize her.  When I realized who it was, I remember thinking “Is that the same girl from FREAKY FRIDAY?  From HERBIE FULLY LOADED??”  Oh, well.   Seth Green was very funny and very nice.  He played a guy who is innocently walking down the street talking on his cell phone.  Mike Myers, ‘invisible’ as the angel, walks up to him and kicks him in the groin.  Seth Green drops to his knees in pain – and has no idea what has just happened.  Both Mike and Seth were very funny doing this bit, and so professional – slick.  Thankfully they were not recording sound because there was a lot of laughter from people watching this filming.  Hilarious.

I was just ‘on avail’ for a series of Pepto-Bismol spots.  ’On avail’ means that you’ve passed the initial audition – you’ve done the callback (where you meet the director/producer/client) – and they like to enough to have you ‘hold’ the shoot dates and to confirm your availability.  Apparently it was down to three guys.  Hours ago I found out that I was released from ‘avail’.  That means they chose someone else for the role.  Rats!  Oh, well – as my brother-in-law says – that is the nature of our business.  And that it it…

For those of you who read BACKSTAGE WEST – they printed my ‘letter to the editor’ on page 6 of the recent June 12-18, 2008 issue.  If you get a chance, check it out.  I’m sure you can find it online, too.

Till next time…

• Well, first things first, THE GREAT ADVENTURES OF WALTER FLUNN is being pitched to networks right now (that is, unless you are reading this in the middle of the night.)  It’s a very exciting time.  We have no idea if the show is going to be picked up – but the talk is very good so we’re keeping our fingers crossed.  We went up to iFly at the Universal City Walk a few weeks ago to shoot some additional footage for the teaser.  What a blast!  The iFly folks call it ‘indoor skydiving’.  It is as close as I have ever been to free-falling (but it’s all in a vertical wind tunnel).  Here are a couple of shots of our experience there.  Yikes!  That second shot is more than a little scary.  There really should be a wind joke in here somewhere, but I’m going to leave that up to the reader.  Check out iFly at www.iFlyHollywood.com for yourself.  It really is a lot of fun.   If you ever get a chance to go up to Universal City Walk – you should check it out.  I highly recommend it!
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• I’ve also worked on a few industrials lately.  One in which I was a guy recently back from his high-school reunion – with a bad sunburn.  The second one was for a company that protects you against people ‘phishing’ for your information on the internet.  The production company was Aperture Films and talk about a great group of people.  Very professional and just super to work with.  They had a fish ‘fin’ constructed at a wonderful special effects company in North Hollywood.  It fit on me with a kind of harness.  With that fin, we went shopping for a new suit and shirt that in the end had to be tailored to compensate for the enormous fin sticking out of my back.  The final look was very funny in that you couldn’t tell I had a fish fin sticking out of my back when they were filming from the front – but turn into profile and  - WOW – instant clown fish.  The production company and client own all images of me with my ‘fish look’, so I agreed not to show any here – but the whole thing worked like a charm.  When the spots get released on the internet, I’ll put a link on this website.
• I talked with my aunt tonight on the phone.  She is so funny to talk with.  I love her.  She told me that since I always tend to do comedic roles, maybe it’s time to try doing some more dramatic fare.  She went on to say that since she enjoys LAW AND ORDER and the C.S.I. shows…I should really try to get on those.  I told her I’d put in a call to my agent in the a.m. and get right on that.  She also said she’d love to go to the Academy Awards – so while I’m chatting with my agent I’ll be sure to mention that, too.  Funny.