Rex Sikes' Movie Beat

John Mendoza acts in movies & TV, he writes, & performs comedy. He has produced television shows & he tours regularly with other funny man Howie Mandel. In Part 2 we will talk more with John about his career, the structure of comedy & making things funny. In his own words: "Recently, I was told I needed a bio. I never understood the reason for it but I sat down and started to reflect on the last 40 years. There have been so many great moments. There have been moments in the last few years of traveling with Howie Mandel that have been fun, not just on stage and in concert halls but also with him as a friend. I don’t remember which made me more excited the phone call form Jim McCally or the frightening moment on the last week of the Johnny Carson show when my hands had a mind of their own. I remember the time when NBC offered me my own TV show (The Second Half). This is what I have worked so hard for and it was a lot of fun until the day it got cancelled. That stung.I remember getting a SHOWTIME Special and combing the southern California area looking for a location. It was so cool! In 1986 I was lucky to land the 10th Anniversary Young Comedian Special on HBO. I was the only comic from NYC. I thought I had arrived. That same year I came to L.A. to do my first TONIGHT SHOW with Johnny Carson. I was so nervous I did the same laundry 5 times. One afternoon I received a phone call asking me if I wanted to be on the Dave Letterman show. That was one of my better wake up calls. To get an audition at the IMPROVE in NYC you had to get in line early Sunday morning and brave whatever weather the day brought you in hopes of getting a 5 minute spot that night. I have stood in the rain, the snow and a hot August day. I remember the manager telling me I passed. I walked home that night stunned .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

Danielle Eskinazi has been casting for twenty years. We will discuss what she looks for in an actor for a role in a film or TV versus in a commercial. When actors audition for what makes them stand out and how much preperation do they need for a part? What do directors look for? How important is a slate?Should they continually take classes does she accept postcards from actors? What do you look for in their 8x10'sand how important is the picture? How should they be in callbacks and more!

She started as a casting assistant for Reesa Bramon and Billy Hopkins (At Close Range), Vickie Thomas (Syd and Nancy), and Amanda Mackey (A League of Their Own).

She was later offered a film of her own called Night Train to Kathmandu, during which she discovered Milla Jovovich, who was 13 years old at the time. After that, she cast a film called Cool Blue, starring Woody Harrelson and giving Hank Azaria his first break.

When HKM Productions, a commercial production company, wanted a film casting director to cast their commercials, she was excited to have a change of pace. She cast commercials for the next fifteen years and never looked back.

She has cast commercials such as Master Card, Visa, Capital One, JCPenney, McDonald's, Burger King and so on. She currently has an office on Sunset Boulevard and still loves what she does.

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

Juliet Landau co-starred in Tim Burton’s ED WOOD as Loretta King and starred opposite Whoopi Goldberg in New Line Cinema’s THEODORE REX. She created the role of Drusilla on BUFFY THE VAMPIRE SLAYER, appearing on BUFFY and ANGEL over the course of six seasons. She just completed playing Russian villainess Nataliya Chernov in the adorable kid’s movie, MONSTER MUTT, created and produced by 4X Oscar-winning Greg Canom’s Drac Studios.

Gregor Collins graduated from Centreville High School in Clifton, Virginia as both a top-ranked basketball player and golfer, but he chose the smaller, whiter ball, and headed for Ohio Wesleyan University’s golf team. Later he went to Boca Raton, Florida, where he worked as a Production Assistant for a cable access show featuring Former Secretary of Defense Caspar Weinberger, called “World Business Review.” He applied to the exclusive Media Production Department at Florida State University. For the first time in his life, golf was not his obsession. His new love was entertainment. He graduated two years later with a Bachelor of Arts Degree in Media Production. He then moved 3,000 miles to Hollywood. He joined Blind Date briefly as a Production Assistant and then for the next four and a half years, worked as a freelance Reality TV Producer.

Sam Auster & Sam Witwer (the 2 SAMs) director & actor speak on the director & actor working together. Auster has written & directed 3 feature films. “THE RETURN OF JOE RICH”, (currently in post-production) is a pitch-black comedy about a young man seeking redemption by joining the Mafia starring Sam Witwer, Talia Shire & Armand Assante “THE RAPE OF EDEN”, is a futuristic action adventure, released on video by West Side Studios. His first feature, “SCREEN TEST”, a teen sex comedy, was theatrically released by CineTel & shipped a record number of units on home video through RCA/Columbia. Auster has won multiple Echo awards for his commercial work, He recently directed the national spots “Open Road” for ProtectMyID.com, “Haz-Mat” for Reynolds Aluminum, & the animated spot “Missing Something” for TurboTax. Auster has shot & directed numerous other commercials for companies such as AARP, Burger King, Skechers USA, LowerMyBills.com, & Carbite Golf. He directed “Stick Figure”, an animated spot for FreeCreditReport.com, which aired during the 2003 Super Bowl.