The Leather Vixens, a film directed by David Gugliemo back in 2008, screening at various festivals in Manhattan and Los Angeles — wins ActorBean.com’s category for Best Badass Film in “Indie Films We’ve Recently Discovered”.

The Leather Vixens, a film reminiscent of iconic bad-girl movie Faster Pussycat! Kill Kill! stars a smoldering skin tight legging, crimson-lipstick wearing Ashley Avis, a former swimsuit model, who plays the leader “Trina” in the black-leather-jacket wearing all girl gang — Luisina Quarleri as Annette, the unassuming girl-next-door sexpot and love interest of the lovable-asshole “boyfriend” – actor / musician Zachariah Bourne (who ironically grew up down the street in the same Florida town as Avis), and Holly Mitchell, who plays Betty — Trina’s entirely naive, entirely loyal Number Two.

Unfortunately there aren’t any clips of Vixens available online — but you can contact Target Pictures / David Gugliemo for more information or to purchase a DVD of the film.

From the set of The Leather Vixens:  Avis, Mitchell, and Quarleri round up a ManThing.

– Amber Hill

We ran into him the other day while oggling the star he was training — and, well, his abs (he requested us to keep the young woman he was working with confidential, so we’re grudgingly acquiescing), and unlike many of the celebrity trainers with HeavyMan bicep sized egos… Wade was the nicest guy ever. And we rarely talk about fitness on here. So!

If you want to work off some of the beer you drank after your last bombed audition… (just kidding), or you just need to get in amazing shape, we’re giving a shout out to rockin’ fitness trainer Wade Foote of BodyDesignByWade.

He can be personally reach by email here, and trains primarily in Los Angeles.

It’s kind of weird… cute, but weird… looking at the photos of the innocent, baby-faced little Potter kids right after casting. Oh, the innocence in their pre-Hogwarts and Hollywood eyes!

There were endless speculations (and many cynical ones on our end) on whether or not Ron, Harry, and Hermione would grow into attractive young adults. We didn’t think so. And thankfully (or less so, for our favorite happily disgruntled writer) we have no negative jokes to mutter today.

The Potter kids are pretty.

Check ‘em out on Life’s photogallery — click here.

High end furnitue-hunting celebrities and the “hip crowd” alike are flocking to a certain “speakeasy” style penthouse loft in Marina del Rey, California.  

Just like a prohibition style bar — you have to know the address, the code, the right person to talk to to get in — and if you’re one of the lucky few to be privy to this info, you get to meet the coolest interior designer couple ever, and purchase unbelievable furniture at less than MSRP.

The Los Angeles based Loft4027 started when a young, [rather startlingly]  attractive couple from Manhattan — who asked to remain nameless in this article for privacy — wanted to sell off a few custom furniture pieces and midcentury home staging couches.  

They advertised on Los Angeles Craigslist, and within mere  months… the rest was history.  People from all over the state of California flocked to this “high end penthouse furniture loft”, and those who didn’t live in California begged to have selections shipped.

“Soon after we started lightly advertising on, you know, Craiglist, we were being asked to ship things to ‘The Exec Who Just Got Relocated to Rural Iowa’, because he couldn’t find anything modern or ‘hip’ where he was living,” the female counterpart to this duo — a willowy former magazine-editor / fashion model — mentioned, gracefully gesturing her coffee cup around.  ”Before we knew it, he was asking us to design him a couch.”

While the couple won’t unseal the secrets of who’s recently been up here — we can say, after doing some rumor-hunting research — that a certain Grey’s Anatomy star, a major movie VP, and other TV A-listers have begun frequenting Loft4027 — privately entering the key-coded garage of the live/work building — to browse around with coffee, champagne, or wine — and have access to stunning white leather Italian beds and the Armani Collection alike.  

The best part about the concept is:  whether you’re a furniture-loving regular Joe or a Paramount executive — are you paying the retail on a $10,000 clawfoot modern bed?  Oh no.  You get to buy countless selections of gorgeous furniture, couches, beds, tables, lighting, rugs — at the an “interior design” rate… which varies, but can sometimes be up to a 70% reduction of what this caliber of furniture would retail for in Beverly Hills store.

To find the loft, you have to email loft4027@gmail.com (proffering Pinot helps get you an appointment), and tell them what you’re looking for.  Thankfully for the public, the couple just started a blog where hopeful visitors can see some of the selections, staging pieces being sold off, overstock — and more.  

www.loft4027online.com

Apparently Francis Ford Coppola has been struck with a sudden case of obeisant groundhog.  The Oscar winning director has been shacked up in a theoretical movie hole for the past few weeks — filming a secret horror movie that nobody in Hollywood new about!

The crafty seasoned director has rounded up a few stars (including Val Kilmer), a camera crew, some mums-the-word craft service folks… and has been shooting a R.L. Stein-esque project on his private Napa property for several weeks now.  

We’re impressed that Coppola has been able to keep things quiet until now, as well as the fact that the blockbuster-toting director has been doing some well thought out, interesting indie film as of late.  

Little is still known about the horror film, to be called Twixt Now and Sunrise, except for that it centers around a writer to writes… well, horror. but updates will be posted shortly.

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Colby Day in Association with Burton T. Frey Jr. presents

Ghost of Dracula

Directed by Daniel Johnsen
Written by Kenneth Molloy, based on characters created by Bram Stoker

Assistant Director: Zealan Salemi

Composer: Sydney Matthews

Lighting Designer: T. Rick Hayashi

Costume Designer: Meagan Kensil

Fight Choreographer: Seth Bridges

Featuring
Michael Donaldson – Renfield
Eric J. Krueger - Van Helsing
Keilly McQuail – Mina Lucy
Alex Mills - Ghost of Dracula
Eric Williams – Jonathan Harker
JR Yussuf – Various Video Roles

Photo Credit – Jesse Dittmar
Design Credit – Colby Day

The bastard child of “Dracula” and “The Breakfast Club,” with a lot more blood, and music. There’s sex, rocket propelled grenades, and piss made of holy water. There’s also a ghost vampire, or vampire ghost. Interchangeable terms? I don’t know.

Fans of horror and teen comedies will see a raucous and laugh out loud pairing of the genres in Ghost of Dracula. With a unique young voice at its helm (age 21), the show makes even school yard death threats and hard drug addictions hilarious. It opens Friday the 13th for a reason!

The Ghost of Dracula lives, rising from the ashes of his demise like a phoenix. That is, if a phoenix were the most heinously evil force to ever set foot on God’s Earth, determined to take over the world one Transylvanian High School at a time. Nytheatre.com says the show “deserves an award for most appropriate use of multimedia and funniest incarnation of Dracula yet.” New York theater goers are screaming, “Yes please!” for Ghost of Dracula.

Dracula proves once again he is a comedic force to be reckoned with – NYtheatre.com

The New York International Fringe Festival

The Connelly Theatre  (Fringe Venue #2)
220 E. 4th Street. (Avenues A and B)
L train to 1st Avenue. F train to 2nd Avenue

August 2010 Show Schedule

Friday 13th 7:30 pm
Saturday 14th 5:15 pm
Wednesday 18th 10:45 pm
Tuesday 24th 8:30 pm
Sunday 29th 2 pm

Tickets online $15.00, $18.00 at The Connelly Box Office
All Dates http://www.fringenyc.org/basic_page.php?ltr=G#Ghosto

Cult followings on
Twitter
Facebook

Curator to be contacted for more information and all press/industry comp requests
Burton T. Frey Jr.
Associate Producer
Ghost of Dracula
burtonfreyjr@gmail.com

The gregarious 12 year old talks candidly to ActorBean about life, pursuit, and method:

What sparked your passion for acting?  The first thing you remember that kind of said — “that’s it, that’s what I want to do?”
I was seven and I was watching a Disney show, I don’t remember which one, and I was like “That seems like a lot of fun. That’s what I want to do.” So then I went to my Mom, and I said, “Mom I want to be an actor.”  And she said, “OK, if you’re going to stick with it.  Let’s give it a shot.”  And now I am out here, living my dream.

Are you in a regular school program?
Actually, I’m home schooled, and it is a lot of fun, even though I miss out on a lot of the perks of being in a regular school. It’s a sacrifice, but it is completely worth it.

How do your classmates feel about your career?
Most of my friends are actors, too. But when we hang out, we never talk about acting. It is just something we do.

How do you juggle being “a kid” and being an actor at the same time?
Well, you take each in moderation.  Maybe some days, you don’t have any auditions. Those are the days you take to just be a kid and play video games, hang out and have fun.  Whereas, other days you devote the day to acting, and I try to see if I can relax at the end of the day.  Some days I’m too excited to relax.  Other days, it’s like “Finally, it’s over.”  You take a deep breath and say, “What a successful day.” You feel like you got a lot accomplished on those days.

How many hours a week do you spend working on your career?
24, no 52, or something like that. I really don’t know, because it differs.  Some days I have one audition.  Other days I have five auditions. And classes and such, I have two, Margie Haber’s and Cynthia Bain’s. I mainly coach just for auditions, two or three times a week.

Have you ever studied a “Method”?
No. I find the backstory and figure out what my character is feeling. I learn about character relationships. I practice the scene many different ways, because it is important to go greater in depth with the character.

What’s the most amazing project you’ve ever worked on?
HOUSE.  I played an autistic boy named “Johnny”. I got to work with Hugh Laurie, Lisa Edelstien and Kal Penn.  They were really nice.

What’s the best advice you’ve been given as a young performer?
Keep living your dream. Any advice from a celebrity? Never, never, never, never give up. That was said by Winston Churchill.

If you weren’t an actor, what would you want to do?
Music. I play the guitar, mandolin, piano, cello and sing. I’m in a rock band, “Wye”.

What’s the “ultimate goal”?
To touch the hearts of my audience with my truthful performances.

What can we see you in next?
I will be appearing in Columbia Pictures’ BAD TEACHER in 2012 with Cameron Diaz and Justin Timberlake, and starring in the THE BOARDER in 2011, an independent film about a boy with Reactive Attachment Disorder.

Andy Scott Harris is represented by Luber Roklin Entertainment. We look forward to seeing the triple threat in Michael Johnson’s Save the Skeet, additional feature films in the 2011 season, and rocking out as the lead guitarist of his band, Wye.

http://www.andyscottharris.com

There’s quite a bit of “funny” out there in the world right now. Chris Rock, for one. The idea of Taylor Luther and Hillary Duff mating, for two. And Nivedita Kulkarni playing a starved-for-sexual-attention version of Pocohontas in her highly acclaimed UCB show, The Sex Lives of Disney Princesses.

We recently had a virtual over-coffee chat with Kulkarni, a young up-and-comer on the comedy scene, a prospective client for UTA, and the newest signed host for the April-premiering podcast Urban Desi Radio. The wide-eyed, Indian American beauty is not only a witty performance talent (having played everything from rappers, to goblins, to the aforementioned… er, “princesses”) but she’s also a writer, producer, and she’s up on stage ‘working it’ five nights a week.

We chose to speak to Kulkarni not just because of her unique fight to become the first truly well known Indian American comedian in the business (if you noticed, there aren’t many) — but because she’s a great example to all young actors out in Hollywood and Manhattan who run around yelling “I wanna make it”. Take it first hand from a woman who lives, breathes, and theoretically eats show-business — becoming a renowned actress isn’t easy — but Nivedita Kulkarni is getting pretty darn close.

___________________

When did you decide show business was your path, and what came first — the comedy or  ”serious” acting?

I’d always loved performing, but I didn’t really realize that I could pursue it as a career until I was out of college. Once I did, it felt like my whole life just clicked into place. I think most of us know what we’re meant to be doing with our lives…the hardest part is listening to that voice and letting your instincts take over.

To answer the second question – I actually did nothing but comedy for my first two years out of school. I never really thought of dramatic work, but I somehow was blessed/cursed with the ability to cry on command. My acting coach saw me cry so many times that he finally told me I was “built to do Chekhov.” Since then, I’ve been trying to write and explore dramatic roles for myself.

Who did you admire when growing up, and did that admiration lead to any kind of “I’m gonna be an actor!” inspiration?

I used to watch the Oscars every year, I rented practically every movie at Blockbuster, I watched the NBC comedy lineup every Thursday. Honestly, I always wondered why there was never anyone on TV who looked like me. I grew up thinking…why can’t Indians do this?

Lovers: Brad Pitt or Johnny Depp?

Johnny Depp scares me.

Leading Ladies: Angelina Jolie or Audrey Hepburn

Sure! Either one.

Pre-Audition “Performance” Nectar: Guinness or Starbucks

Nah, no alcohol for me. I’m still trying to kick the caffeine habit. I would say that the best audition prep, though, is to do a few improv scenes in the waiting area. Or take a nap.

Red Carpet Attire: Prada or Vera Wang

I should probably know the difference, but I don’t.

Mode of Transport:  Metro Card, Taxi, or Limo

Taxi! And subway rat.

Tell us a joke that doesn’t suck.

Hmmm…what does a broken vacuum cleaner do? Not suck. Write that one down, guys. Comedic genius hard at work here.

What (naturally great things) do you expect from your career in the next year?  We’re holding you to it!

I’ll be putting up 2 plays in New York that I’ve written for myself, so I’m hoping to take them to a few different festivals across the country. I’m launching a comedy web series soon, so stay tuned for that. Or I’ll just write a best-selling memoir. Piece of cake.

___________________

You can check out more on Nivedita — as well as her upcoming show schedule on her website — www.niveditakulkarni.com.

The not-a-household-name yet director, who was made almost famous by his fantastic directing in Twilight (we can’t blame the acting of Stewart or Luther on him, now), has decided to step away in favor of a small, minimally funded film about a Mexican landscaper.

His WME agent David Lubliner is probably having a heart-attack, but we laud Weitz for his valiant decision.

Maybe it was Kristen Stewart’s perpetual untrained awkwardness. Maybe it was the fact that Taylor Luther couldn’t keep his shirt on, or refused to stand straight because the “hip-cock” makes his abs look better.

Whatever the reason, Weitz is helming his project and makes no apologies:

“It’s about an undocumented immigrant who gets the chance to buy a truck and equipment to raise his family out of poverty, and how things go right and wrong from there,” Weitz told a news source. “It is an Italian neo-realist movie with a contemporary feel. I wanted to return to making films with no green screen required, not that there’s anything wrong with those.”

Go Weitz. We applaud you.

Summit Entertainment is rumored to already be scouting around for a new Twilight director (a bigger name, this time) — as they should. Perhaps they could just let the young vampire-stars direct it themselves? Then perhaps New Moon will go directly to the back of Blockbuster’s sale section where it belongs.

Or maybe the film can just CAST ACTORS WHO CAN ACT. But with the teeny-boppers being head over heels for baby-oiled midsections these days and not really listening to the dialogue — Twilight: New Moon will inevitably be a blockbuster like the rest of them.

Good luck with your immigrants, Chris Weitz. Go forth and show America what a real film is made of.

Not quite.  Following recent television trends, younger and younger actors are being labeled The Next Big Thing, much like our pick for editorial review –the ethereal-eyed Bridget Megan Clark. The determined 14-year-old (yes, we did just say fourteen) has played scenes opposite not just one… but three Academy Award winners, and now she’s poised to star in one of the hot new pilots of the season.

Represented by Frontier Booking International, Clark has been working — as in, paycheck — since the age of nine. Her parents, recognizing her talent and innate “it” factor (that extra something that comes into important play when a “good actor” is pitted against the rigorous standards of network casting) enrolled her into a special performing arts school in New York City.

She’s continued on her wave of young success, including being nominated as Best Supporting Actress for her short film Marino’s in the LA Reel Film Festival.

On acting:
“I am looking for roles that I can really work on and discover things about the character… stretch what I can do as an actor… since I’m young, my dad says I have the luxury of being able to do that.”

Right you are, Bridget. Stretch away — and keep adding Oscar winners to your reel. If you keep going at this pace, you’ll be holding a little gold statue of your own one day.

Bridget is presently filming an RC Cola commercial in Israel, and will headline as “Little Red” in the Off Broadway production of Into the Woods, which goes up in April.

To see more on Bridget, including her reel and booking information, visit http://www.massify.com/profiles/bridgetmeganclark