Next Actor Studio Talent News

News of the Next Actors in Movies, TV, Festivals, Contests and Stage
	GRANT SIGNS SEAN PENN MOVIE 10 year old Grant Goodman who just finished shooting the movie SUPER with Kevin Bacon, Liv Tyler and Ellen Page has now been cast in the upcoming 2011 film, This Must be the Place, starring Academy Award winners Frances McDormand and Sean Penn. This Must be the Place is filming all over the world, with Grant filming in New Mexico and Michigan. Paolo Sorrentino directs this much anticipated film about a retired rock star seeking revenge on his father's former Nazi persecutor. According to Grant's mom Helen, "We are very excited!!! During his scene with Sean Penn he sings the title song...."this must be the place" by the Talking Heads. It is almost surreal but he is taking it all in stride (so far!!!)" Congratulations to Grant on achieving this amazing feat and to his very supportive parents, Helen and Jason Goodman on believing in him. This Superkid is surely rocking it.
	PHOENIX CHRISTIAN FILM FESTIVAL Next Actor Studio and Boat Angel Outreach Center's feature film "Federal Case" will be screening at the Christian Film Festival in Phoenix, Arizona. Written by Brian Stewart, and directed by Trisha Ray, the film was made by a team of cast and crew comprised of Next Actors only. The festival will be held between August 23 - 27th at Phoenix, Arizona to promote the works of Christian filmmakers Shot in Richmond, Texas and starring Kelley Nesper, Dave Amyx, Lance Stodghill, Brandon Belknap, Joey Mahan, Mark Menn, Jordan Jaffe, Tom Combs, Aaren Wheeler and Catherine Riddel, Federal Case is currently available on DVD through amazon.com
Drector San Banarje with the legendary Robert Loggia and Vincent Curatola of Sopranos @ Hoboken. The festival honored Mr. Loggia with a Lifetime Achievement Award for his magnanimous performances in movies like Jagged Edge for which he won Academy nomination, Big, Scarface and several others.	WINNING STREAK CONTINUES San Banarje's Latest Feature BODHISATTVA garners nominations for Best Screenplay, best foreign language film and best feature film and won the award for Best Supporting Actress at the Hoboken Int'l Film Festival held recently in June 2010. The film had earlier won a Platinum Remi at the prestigious Worldfest International Film Festival in Houston in April 2010. Host Jackie Martling (former Howard Stern Show) kept the audience laughing at the Awards Ceremony
	GRANT GETS KEVIN BACON MOVIE 10-year old Grant Goodman recently worked in the movie *uper" directed by James Gunn (Slither*) starring Kevin Bacon, Liv Tyler, Ellen Page and Rainn Wilson. Grant plays Rainn Wilson (TV'sThe Office) as a kid in flashbacks to the 80s. According to Grant's mom Helen, he had some challenging scenes but he handled it all well and really enjoyed himself. The shoot was in Shreveport, La just before Christmas 2009. Picture Left : Grant and Rainn Wilson during shoot. Below : Grant getting ready for a take.
	BODHISATTVA IN MAJOR FESTIVAL This year Hoboken Film Festival has selected Next Actor Studio's feature thriller "Bodhisattva" directed by San Banarje and starring eminent international actor Soumitra Chatterjee (BAFTA nominated & NBR winner "The World Of Apu," Cannes Golden Palm nominated "The Goddess" and "Home and the World," Berlin Winner "The Lonely Wife" and Venice Winner "The Coward") who is the muse of Academy Winner Satyajit Ray. Pictured Left : Soumitra Chatterjee and San Banarje
Kevin and San at the Awards Banquet	NEXT ACTORS WIN AT WORLDFEST Next Actor Studio's Kevin West won the Grand Prize for his short film "Mother's Milk" at the 43rd Annual Worldfest Houston International Film Festival held from April 9 - 18th @ the AMC Studio 30. Kevin, a screenwriting student of Next Actor Studio had earlier won the Platinum Award for his screenplay "Surfside Hotel" at the same festival. Filmmaker/Cinematographer San Banarje's first foreign film "*Bodhisattva*" won the Platinum Award in the feature film category at the same festival. Bodhisattva is a thriller shot in Calcutta with legendary International Actor Soumitra Chatterjee who plays the title role in this mindbender.

	ACADEMIC AFFAIRS IN NY FESTIVAL Theta Catalon's debut short Academic Affairs has been officially selected for the 2009 Queens' International Film Festival to be held in New York. This is Theta's first project as a writer, director and producer. Written in February as a short for her screenwriting class and shot in May 2009 as a filmmaking student, Thada finished the first cut in June 2009. The film when screened at the Next Actor First Cut stunned the viewers as it was not only brilliantly put together but Theta took on the onus of directing, producing and starring in it and churned out an entertaining and professional first film.
	NEXT ACTORS RETURN FROM INDIA AFTER SUCCESSFUL SHOOT Next Actors Sean Will, Jasmine Darby, Iheny Nieto, Cristina Aldridge and Zak Tomik as part of the cast of the feature film Sugar Baby shot in India in May 2009 pose for the Times of India during break. To read the cast interview in the Times, please click here. Written by Brian Stewart and directed by Trisha Ray, the film stars legendary actor Soumitra Chatterjee (World of Apu) in a prominent role. Sugar Baby is the first feature film of Next Actor Studio where the students will travel to India as cast and crew to shoot this summer. Written by Brian Stewart and directed by Trisha Ray, the film is about three singers (played by Iheny Nieto, Jasmine Darby) who get noticed by an American record producing duo (played by Sean Will and Zak Tomic) while they witness a murder by the menacing Smasher. With music by Arrested Development, Rainbow Girls, New Edition, Sugar Baby was first optioned by producer John Heyman (Passage to India, D.A.R.Y.L) in 1989.

	SCREENWRITING STUDENT WINS BEST SCREENPLAY AWARD Kevin West, a first time Screenwriting Student has won the best Dramatic Original screenplay REMI award for his debut screenplay *Surfside Hotel* at Houston Worldfest International Film Festival. The award ceremony will take place on April 25, 2009. Besides the REMI, Kevin's "Surfside Hotel" has also been an official selection and a finalist at the 2009 Cinema City International Film Festival, the 2009 Beverly Hills Film Festival and 2009 Bare Bones Film Festival. Kevin is currently working on his second screenplay and has been roped in by a production executive in Hollywood to work on a TV segment.
	First Cut at the studio welcomes indie film lovers to get the first look at the latest project before it gets sent out to festivals or for acquisition. The filmmakers discuss the process which is followed by Q and A with the cast and crew.
	Feature Film A FEDERAL CASE is now available on DVDs through amazon.com. The film written by Brian Stewart and directed by Trisha Ray have already picked up some awards at film festivals as well as being shown in over five cable and satellite network. The film deals with teen pregnancy and was shot in Texas and Mexico with Next Actors.
Anna and her husband Crichton Campbell at the screening of "The Way I See It" at Next Actor Studio on Dec 6th.	Writer- Director and Voice Actor Anna Campbell of Next Actor finishes her next film "My Dragon" shot in Shanghai and edited in Canada. Anna is a blind person who makes visually beautiful films around the world. Her first film "The Way I See it" shot in Calgary, Canada on 16mm was well accepted in several festivals. "The Way I See it" is a narration by Juno, who is Anna's guide-dog. To view Anna's short film "The Way I See it", click here.


	KELLY CRABB ON CBS' AMAZING RACE Tune in to Season 13 of The Amazing Race this fall on CBS beginning September 28, 2008 8:00 pm et/7 central to catch Next Actor Kelly Crabb (pictured left) and her best friend Christy Cook form the hottest and coolest team from Texas as they gather at Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum for a race for $1,000,000 for a first-place finish.

	WO NEXT ACTOR FILMS HONORED AT BAYOU CITY INSPIRATIONAL FILM FESTIVAL IN HOUSTON The Feature film "A Federal Case" directed by Trisha Ray and short film "The Enemy Inside" directed by San Banarje received Honorable mention at the Bayou City Inspirational Film Festival in Houston in August. The film festival is dedicated to inspirational films from around the world that promote causes, spiritualism and humanity.

Next Actors in PSA Next Actors Gina Gheller, Ifeoma Onuigbo, Joseph Cintron and Mark Menn were cast in a PSA for Heart Disease BUCKLE UP YOUR HEART filmed by San Banarje, edited by Mark Johnson and shot in Houston. View the PSA here

	A FEDERAL CASE GETS ITS FIRST FEATHER The Feature film "A Federal Case" that was shot in Richmond and Brownsville, Texas and Mexico with only Next Actor cast won a remi award in the dramatic category of Worldfest Houston International Film Festival 2008. The film sends a strong message about teen pregnancy, drugs and alcohol abuse and abortion issues. Written by Brian Stewart and directed by Trisha Ray, the film was shot by San Banarje and starred only Next Actors - Kelley Nesper, Catherine Burdett, Lance Stodghill, Jordan Jaffe, Brandon Belknap, Dave Amyx, Tom Combs, Fabrizia Faustinella, Mark Menn, Aaren Wheeler, Jason Bell, Joseph Cintron to name but a few. Most actors faced the camera for the first time in this feature. We at Next Actor Studio are extremely proud of this feat and would like to congratulate our team of cast and crew who made this film a beautiful memory. For info, visit Lake Camp Productions and Worldfest Houston.

	A FEDERAL CASE WRAPS Action Thriller "A Federal Case" wraps in Mexico and Texas. The entire cast and crew was hired from Next Actor Studio. For more info, visit www.imdb.com

	Actor Ryan Donowho (OC, Imaginary Heroes) has a new role in Trisha Ray's feature film Bleep Love. Ryan is the music composer of the 89 minutes comedy about artists and their struggle. The film features Ryan's songs along with background scores that are highly eclectic with an ethnic fusion and hip hop tracks, thereby showing once again that this teen icon is not only one of the most prominent young actors but also a talented musician with a huge range of composition that fits any mood. Donowho is member of the band called PAGODA with actor Michael Pitt. Bleep Love also features Ryan's father Wayne in a supporting role as Donald Kaufhold.


	Editing Student Wayne Slaten won three awards at the recently held 48-hour film festival in Houston. Wayne produced the film THE ERASER which went on to win the best cinematography, graphic edit and musical score in this highly competitive film festival.

	Next Actor Studio short-to-feature film MONEY was shot in Paris, France after it was screened at the Cannes Film Festival Short Film Corner in May 2007. The short has now been turned into a feature and is currently being submitted to festivals all around the world.

	Screenwriting Student SIBYL AVERY JACKSON has just sold her screenplay *A Degree of Caution* to a major Hollywood Studio. The screenplay was adapted from Jackson's own book by the same name. "A Degree of Caution" won several literary awards and rave reviews and is available in every bookstore including Barnes and Noble, Border as well as through Amazon.com and other literary sources. A Degree of Caution anecdotes the adventures of special agent Monica Sinclair, who fights the corruption of a Houston based giant cellphone company which is using the cellular wavelength to cause terrorist activities worldwide. Production of this motion picture will start shortly. Sibyl has more than twenty years experience as a writer, editor, publicist for television and radio, as well as a researcher/writer/editor for corporate executives and a local politician.

	BEN WARNER, who played the lead role of Travis in the upcoming Trisha Ray comedy feature *Bleep Love, has grabbed the lead role of Pat Warden in the New York feature film "Follow Your Heart" to be shot in New York, Las Vegas, Los Angeles, Jamaica and Mumbai. "Follow your Heart" is going to be released worldwide end of 2007. Ben was cast by the director and producer without an audition after they saw him in the trailer of Bleep Love* online and realized he was the actor they wanted. Ben will be traveling with the film all over USA and abroad.

	Acting and Screenwriting Student KYM MOSLEY has won the best screenplay award for her full length feature film script "Let the Good Times Roll" at the SAIFF Filmand Screenplay Festival 2007. A native of New Orleans, Kym currently lives in New York and has written the script about a love story set in the time of Hurricane Katrina.
10-year old Erika Marks cleared the auditions of NBC's *America's Got Talents*. NBC will air the show this summer as America votes for winners. Erika had earlier won the Best New Talents contests in Los Angeles and then went on to be featured in the Mo'nique show.
	Striking Range, (earlier titled Bloodlines) distributed by Sony Pictures is now available nationwide. The film is directed by Dallas based Daniel Millican and stars Lou Diamond Phillips. San Banarje of Next Actor Studio is cast in a cameo role as a mafia leader in the film.

NEXT ACTOR STUDENT BAGS LEAD ROLE IN DRENA DE NIRO FILM Next Actor Student Shaubhik Kundagrami got cast as a lead in Drena De Niro's "Karma Confessions and Holi" alongside supermodel Naomi Campbell and Miss Universe Sushmita Sen. Shaubhik came in with no prior acting experience and started private classes with San and landed the lead.
"THE MISSION" IS NOW "THE ENEMY INSIDE" Next Actor Studio's Feature THE MISSION has been renamed as THE ENEMY INSIDE. The film stars J. D. Hawkins, Joey Malouf, Trisha Ray, Jerry Redmond, Jordan Graham, Samar Karna.

Sharon McNerney played the role of Bree's friend in the Mother's Day episode of "Desperate Housewives." Sharon moved to Los Angeles in 2005 after working in the Next Actor feature film "The Mission" where she played the ditsy wife of a porsche- man and got herself several gigs on MTV which were broadcast nationwide.
MUSEUM OF MODERN ARTS, NEW YORK chose Bong Connection as the closing night film of its festival in New York. The film was screened at the Museum of Modern Arts on Monday, April 30 @ 8 PM. Shauvik Kundagrami, a former student of Next Actor Studio approached founder-CEO of Next Actor Studio San Banarje to help make a low-budget Bengali film in Houston for its American version and thus the talented students of the Studio were brought in as cast and crew in order to make the film possible by working day and night at a very little pay. Without the cooperation of the Houston team, this film would not have been complete. To read reviews about this film on *Variety, click here*

*STARBUCKS COFFEE COMPANY ENDORSES BLEEP* LOVE - THE INDIE COMEDY FEATURE** STARBUCKS COFFEE COMPANY has endorsed the production of the comedy feature Bleep Love, which is being produced by Tidus Films and Next Actor Studio. Directed by Trisha Ray, the film stars several students of Next Actor Studio including Ben Warner, Mikhail Sebastian, Ifeoma & Joy Delafose of Next Actor Studio.
"THE MISSION" SCREENS IN HOUSTON Feature Film "The Mission" produced by Next Actor Studio screens at the City Hall on September 8th. The film casts several Next Actor Students who will make their screen debut with this feature.

JUAN VAZQUEZ DONATES TIME TO VOLUNTEER WITH HURRICANE VICTIMS We are proud to share with everyone that Juan Vazquez of Next Actor Studio is volunteering his time in Louisiana, helping the victims of Hurricane Kattrina and Rita. Juan has taken a vacation from his regular job to selflessly donate his entire time to do this for the last few weeks. After working in New Orleans for a while, Juan is currently in Lake Charles, LA, where he is working with the victims of Hurricane Rita.

ERICA MARKS WINS THE GRAND FINALE OF TALENT SHOW IN LOS ANGELES Erica Marks is a 9-year old singer who ventured into acting this summer when she participated in the Talent Contest called Best New Talent, that spends all of spring and summer traveling to major cities all over the US and Alaska auditioning for contestants for their show. They came to Houston last April and Erica auditioned and made it. Erica started preparing with her private tutor at Next Actor, Trish, right after she got selected to be on the national show. ERICA WON THE GRAND FINALE IN THE EVENT AMONG KIDS, TEENS AND ADULTS after making the finals in Comedic acting, Contemporary singing, and Broadway singing. Erica won the BEST OVERALL TALENT AWARD for winning the most categories and getting the highest rank score in every category including kids, teens and adults. The prizes Erica won are trophies, cash and a finder guitar. Erica's mom Sandy Marks quoted "Even more exciting than the prizes were the endless callbacks of many people wanting to represent her. People have been known to become very successful after attending this event, getting record deals, major movies etc. We are not ready to move to LA so we would like to have her represented in Houston. We thank you Next Actor/Trish for helping Erica prepare for this event. She has learned so much from you and we would love to continue being involved with Next Actor." REBECCA ON THE PHONE ENTERS FILM FESTIVAL IN SOUTH AFRICA/SWAZILAND Trisha Ray's Rebecca on the Phone was screened at the Golden Lion Film Festival on October 16th and after that played twice due to popular demand. The film stars Falin Proffitt, Julianne Christoffel and Amy Warren of Next Actor Studio and is written, directed and edited by Trisha Ray. The film is the first story of the feature A BLACK CHRISTMAS which deals with three people on a White Christmas. TREVOR PARSONS' WORK REVIEWED IN HOLLYWOOD'S BACKSTAGE - WEST Trevor Parsons garners a great review in Hollywood's Backstage West for his performance as Jesus Christ in the play "Jimmy Christ". According to the popular publication 'Backstage-West', "A wonderfully clever humor energizes Nicholas Monohan's play [Jimmy Christ] immediately picked up in two exceptional performances by Jonah Wanicur as the title character and Trevor Parsons as his future - challenged surfer-dude redeemer brother who's unsure if his personal oracle told him to "go east" or "go eat." Parsons, whose Jesus looks and sounds a bit like an early Nordic Keanu Reeves, is a master of the deadpan while tossing away Monohan's paraphrased biblical gems, wholly comfortable with lines such as, "Hey, I want to try out a new parable on you guys if that's cool with you," then following with, "There's no use cryin' over spilt milk," which he proudly admits he thought up in a trance. Trevor moved to L.A. in May 2005 and is currently making rounds as leads in both plays and films and getting noticed by several agents and casting directors. Trevor's recent screen performance includes the lead role in MTV's new pilot "Snitched"