Rex Sikes' Movie Beat

Kristen Shaw PT 3 Acting & Audition Coach & actor has appeared in over 2 dozen Film and Television projects, as well as having more than 25 National Commercials to her credit. Kristen was recently seen as "Nora", the First Gentleman's Chief-of-Staff, in ABC's hit Commander-in-Chief, with Geena Davis and Donald Sutherland. She was called a "modern day Lady MacBeth" by the New York Times, for her portrayal of "Fiona", William Petersen's tough-talking wife in the Oscar nominated film, The Contender. She received an Emmy campaign by the producers of the critically-acclaimed ABC series, Line of Fire, for her role as "Janet Malloy", wife to the mob boss, played by David Paymer. Look for her in Resurrecting the Champ with Samuel L. Jackson, The Last Castle, with Robert Redford, Nothing But the Truth, with Kate Beckinsale, and many others. Since arriving in Atlanta in April of 2009, Kristen has appeared in the Kevin Spacey film Father of Invention, as well as filming a strong supporting role in the Sony picture Straw Dogs, with Kate Boswoth and James Marsden.  Kristen has been teaching classes and providing personal coaching and audition technique for over 10 years. She has helped many actors go on to Film, Television and Starring Roles on Broadway. Her on-going Audition Technique Class and Actor’s Career Development Group has helped many actors reach their goals, at all levels – from getting SAG cards, to getting Oscar nominations. She is passionately committed to helping Actors achieve their goals, in all areas of life. Stay tuned to Rex Sikes Movie Beat for other great archived interviews, cast and crew listings, events, festivals, premieres, and more at http://www.rexsikes.com

Sam Witwer, PT 3 actor, has worked as a regular on the series Battlestar Galactica and Smallville. Among his numerous television appearances are Bones, Dexter, Csi, Jag, NCIS, Cold Case, Angel, Dark Angel, ER and many more. He’s has appeared in movies as well, recently in No God No Master directed by friend of Rex Sikes’ Movie Beat Terry Green and The Return of Joe Rich directed by friend of RSMB Sam Auster. Samuel Witwer, was raised in Glenview, a suburb of Chicago, Illinois and attended Glenbrook South High School where he was active in theater and drama. He dropped out of Juliard in New York and moved to California to pursue acting as a profession. He appeared in several TV series and eventually landed the role of Lieutenant Alex "Crashdown" Quartararo on Battlestar Galactica. For three episodes Sam played Neil Perry, the “supposed” Ice Truck Killer, of Showtime's Dexter in 2006 and Officer Casella in two episodes of CSI. He went on to play Doomsday, the new rival of Superman in the 8th Season Smallville's 8th after Michael Rosenbaum, who played Lex Luthor, left the show. He starred with David Strathairn in No God No Master and with Armand Assante and Talia Shire in The Return of Joe Rich. Stay tuned to Rex Sikes Movie Beat for other great archived interviews, cast and crew listings, events, festivals, premieres, and more at http://www.rexsikes.com

Michael Sonntag PT 3 is a casting director, film producer, teacher, and actor. Born and raised in St. Louis, MO, Michael began his career producing local evening news for NBC, after graduating from the University of Notre Dame.

He has worked both in front of and behind the camera, in a wide range of positions - most recently casting the feature film, Nephilim, as well as a number of commercials for clients such as Walt Disney Studios, TV Land, and DeclareYourself.com, with his business partner, John Coppola. 

Michael has also worked as the casting director and line producer on the television series, Bourbon Street, for Rampart Entertainment.

His other producing credits include Co-Producer on award-winning director Vince DiPersio’s acclaimed feature documentary, Truth In Terms Of Beauty, and Associate Producer & UPM on Semper Fi: One Marine’s Journey, for Showtime. 

His next project, the romantic comedy, Detour, is slated for production in 2009.  Prior to producing, Michael held the title of Director of Development for Shakrah Films, after working for many years as an actor in Hollywood. One of the founding partners of Studio C Artists, Michael currently teaches acting classes to both kids and adults, and offers private coaching.

Stay tuned to Rex Sikes Movie Beat for other great archived interviews, cast and crew listings, events, festivals, premieres, and more at http://www.rexsikes.com

Curtis A. Smith, 1st AD. PT 2 grew up Oak Park, Michigan enrolled in Specs Howard's School of Broadcasting Arts. After graduation 1997, he landed an internship on the feature film Marriage Material, directed by Jody Poldolsky. The film starred Leslie Ann Warren, James Rebhorn, Alanna Ubach & Michael Silver. Curtis was offered a paid Set Production Assistant position on Out of Sight, directed by Stephen Soderberg, starring George Clooney, Jennifer Lopez & Ving Rhames. He then worked on Cherry, starring Shalom Harlow & Jake Webber. As 1st Assistant Director, Curtis is responsible for overseeing the majority of the preproduction & production phases of a film. While scheduling the entire photography of the film, Curtis works very closely with directors, assuring their creative vision is adhered to. He also works with producers to insure a film has what it needs to be a quality project, as well as finish on budget and on time. Curtis has worked very close with experienced professionals of the independent film world. In 2000, Curtis worked on Girlfight, the Sundance winner produced by Jonathan Sayles and starring Michelle Rodiguez. He went on to work on Pootie Tang directed by Louis CK and featuring Chris Rock, XX/XY which starred Mark Ruffalo and Robot Stories by award-winning director Greg Pak. The Orphan King with Chris Evans and Bill Pullman. The Tripper, which was actor David Arquette’s directing debut, which also starred Thomas Jane, Paul Ruebens and Lukas Haas. Curtis also teamed up recording artist Fred Durst for his award-winning film The Education of Charlie Banks. Philip Seymour Hoffman for his film directorial debut, Jack Goes Boating. Starring Himself. Dustin Lance Black for his directorial debut as well What’s Wrong With Virginia. Starring Jennifer Connelly and Ed Harris. Stay tuned to Rex Sikes Movie Beat for other great archived interviews, cast and crew listings, events, festivals, premieres, and more at http://www.rexsikes.com

Sarah Nean Bruce PT 2 of Bel Age Pix. A twenty year veteran in the entertainment biz, Recent projects: Additional Unit Producer of “The Delphi Effect” (aka “Kiss Me Deadly”) for Regent Entertainment; Co-Executive Producer of film festival award-winning noir sci-fi feature “Yesterday Was A Lie” for Helicon Arts Cooperative; Co-Executive Producer of the Hallmark film “Where There’s A Will” (Love, Clyde)” directed by John Putch, starring Marion Ross, Frank Whaley, & Christine Elise for Larry Levinson Productions; Co-Executive Producer of the Hallmark Romantic Comedy “The Family Plan” starring Tori Spelling & Little Miss Sunshine’s “Olive” Abigail Breslin for Larry Levinson Productions released domestically and worldwide; Director of the thriller / horror feature film “Bram Stoker’s Way of The Vampire” released domestically through Blockbuster Entertainment and worldwide; Director / Producer of the dramatic ensemble piece “The Marriage Undone”; Producer of the hybridized Live-Action / CGI television pilot presentation “Labrats” for Director Bob Saget and Executive Producer Troy Miller; Co- Writer of the horror-thriller feature script “Witches of Beverly Hills” for Regent Entertainment; Producer of the feature film “Flash!” for Director Annabel Schofield and Starline Films West Releasing; Co-Producer of the Spanish-language taboo drama “Regreso A Casa”; Producer of “The Process of Creative Deception” for Velocity Pictures; and a Co-Producer for renowned docu-filmmaker Dr. Michael Tobias on the edgy documentary feature “Stone’s Edge” about and authorized by Oliver Stone. She also served as Supervising and Consulting Producer for the 1997, 1998, and 1999 “Lone Star Film and Television Awards.” As a consultant for New Regency Films: she worked on “Pretty Woman”; “The Power of One”; “That Night”; and “Under Siege.” Stay tuned to Rex Sikes Movie Beat for other great archived interviews, cast and crew listings, events, festivals, premieres, and more at http://www.rexsikes.com

John Paul Rice producer PT 2 - Mr. Rice attended Georgia State University in 1997 with a focus on Business. In 1999, while at college, Mr. Rice was given a rare opportunity to work on Jerry Bruckheimer's Remember the Titans. After working almost three months on the film, John returned to school and directed his studies toward learning the history of cinema. Mr. Rice gained hands-on production experience by working on a handful of micro-budget independent films between courses before moving to Los Angeles January 2001 to pursue a career in film production. By mid 2001, John landed a position at the Los Angeles division of the German distribution company Senator International (which later became Mandate Pictures) lead by industry veteran Joseph Drake (Juno, The Grudge, Harold and Kumar Go to White Castle, 30 Days of Night, American Psycho). Under Joe’s mentoring, John developed an interest and dedication to producing feature films. John left Mandate in the fall of 2005 to form No Restrictions Entertainment LLC with filmmaker Edgar Michael Bravo. In 2008, Mr. Rice produced his first feature One Hour Fantasy Girl with Edgar Michael Bravo directing, Levi Obery co-producing. In 2009, the team produced formed a new production entity, Bravo-Obery-Rice Productions, producing their second feature film now in post production, The Magic Stone, a supernatural/psychological thriller about an 18 year old homeless boy who was raised by a violent schizophrenic mother and believes he's been given a stone that allows him to enter and control the minds and bodies of people. The team will produce their third feature, a dark comedy, The Boy Who Couldn’t Say No, later in 2010. Stay tuned to Rex Sikes Movie Beat for other great archived interviews, cast and crew listings, events, festivals, premieres, and more at http://www.rexsikes.com