HOLLYWOOD ACTOR PREP by Dana Kaminski

But Adam Shankman’s Parents Wouldn’t Let Him

He’s had an interesting path to where he is now.

Here’s an excerpt from the LA Times, about this dancer, who grew up in Brentwood, California to become a recognizable name for ‘Dancing With The Stars’, and a movie producer. Someone who is a self-proclaimed workaholic, and is part of the Producer-Duo of the Academy Awards show this year.

Long before Shankman received calls from movie stars, he dreamed of being one. Growing up in Brentwood, Shankman wanted to be a child actor — something his therapist mother and his father wouldn’t allow.

“My parents couldn’t get me to stop cartwheeling up and down the aisles of restaurants,” he recalled.

His affinity for dance landed him a spot at the prestigious Juilliard School without ever having had any formal training. He dropped out about a year and a half later. Back in L.A., he began getting small jobs as a backup dancer in music videos for artists such as Janet Jackson and Paula Abdul. He also got a gig as “Jack the Rubber Boy,” Rubbermaid’s dancing commercial spokesperson.

One job led to the next, and soon he was choreographing dance numbers in films. He created a short film involving dance that landed at Sundance and was soon offered his first directing job on “The Wedding Planner,” starring Jennifer Lopez.

Since then, Shankman has directed a number of movies, including “Bringing Down the House” and “Bedtime Stories.” Meanwhile, his production company has churned out popular films including “Step Up” and the upcoming Miley Cyrus film “The Last Song.”

Zac Efron, who worked with Shankman on “Hairspray” and “17 Again” and will be a presenter at this year’s Oscars, said he thinks the director is “able to connect with younger people because he’s maintained his own youthful energy.”

“I think people think of me for saccharine family movies,” Shankman acknowledged. “I’ve spent most of my career taking pretty schlocky ideas and turning them into something a little original. But I want to do something more adult than kids and animals.”

Shankman’s commercial sensibility has certainly been welcomed by the academy, which has long been trying to attract a younger viewership — Channing Tatum, who starred in “Step Up,” Cyrus, and a slew of dancers from “So You Think You Can Dance” will join Efron in appearances on the Oscar telecast.

Despite the frenetic pace of the last few months, Shankman has already been pondering his next career move.

“I think I do a lot of work so I don’t have to look at my life. I think that’s what my workaholism is about,” he said. “I’ve had the craziest year doing all these things I’d never seen myself doing, and a lot of people see me as diversifying, but I was just trying to fill up my time. And it’s not a sad thing. But my heart has now turned towards wanting to do things that make me happy.”

Source : LA Times, Amy Kaufman

If you haven’t been to my other site, called Oscar Prep, click on the name to go there now. There’s lots there, including a downloadable , printable Oscar Nominee list there, as well as an Oscar Bingo game with 9 game cards, to spice up the boring parts of the show…

Enjoy!

Dana

“I’m Not Leaving Until You Cast Me As Queen Victoria”

That is what Producer Graham King told me, that Emily Blunt said to him that day. That’s how she got the lead role in the movie. It’s that simple. It was well-before any work got started on the film, altogether.

The Departed, the Oscar winning film that Mr. King also produced, was still in post-production.  King was busy at work, on that. He said he wasn’t even “thinking about it yet.”  [The Young Victoria]

Emily Blunt came into his office, at the location where the The Departed production offices were, at the time. “I’m here to play Queen Victoria and I’m not leaving until you give me the job.”

“I Love To Work With People With A Passion Like That.”

Says Graham King. “It’s not about the money. It’s about feeling it.”

They never auditioned anyone else for the part. It was Emily Blunt’s, at her insistence,  in his office  that day. “She really knows what she wants to do, and she goes and gets it.”

Early Backstory Of This Particular Film Is…

King had met with Sarah Ferguson in her office. She was serious about becoming a film producer, and she had approximately 50 scripts on her desk which she attempted to pitch to Mr. King, hoping that they would do business together.  When she brought up The Young Victoria, it  wasn’t yet a script; it was just a two-page treatment. King liked it, bypassing all the completed scripts; for this idea of the early days of Queen Victoria’s reign, and the love between this Queen, and her husband.

Sarah Ferguson offered to use her British royal relationships to assist the production, as it would be a smaller film, without a large budget.  At first, King thought they would probably shoot the picture in Poland or Czechoslavakia. But because of the Royal Fergie (not the musical Fergie who sings about her-hump-her-hump, BTW) …they were, eventually, able to shoot inside seventeen castles and palaces all over England. She was also able to get access to all the Monarchy’s historical files.

Julian Fellowes Wrote The Script. He’s An Englishman, Too.

The not-yet-hired-screenwriter contacted Graham King; with an insistence, as well. He told King that he was “Born to write this movie. I know all about Queen Victoria.” Queen Victoria’s reign had been a strong personal interest, a longtime hobby, of the already successful English screenwriter. He came to the project with a head full of factual knowledge.

Hiring the director,  Jean-Marc Vallée, for The Young Victoria was similar. It would only be the director’s second  movie. Additionally, he was French-Canadian. King remembers thinking: “The monarchy will really love that.”

The  Young Victoria Is A Love Story

Casting an actor to play the role of Prince Albert, was somewhat more difficult. The producers defined specific traits that they regarded as necessary, in the actor who was auditioning for the part of the Prince. Imperative, was for the two lead actors have a very special chemistry together. Emily Blunt read with those who were auditioning. They tested “twenty to thirty actors“, before giving the role to Rupert Friend.

The casting director was Susie Figgis. Besides Emily Blunt and Rupert Friend,  some supporting actors in The Young Victoria are Paul Bettany, Miranda Richardson, Jim Broadbent, Thomas Kretschmann, Mark Strong…A full cast-and-crew list can be found at IMDB, with links to each actors’ resume.

Actor Emily Blunt As 'The Young Victoria'

::::::::::::::::::::::::Would  you kindly share on your Facebook, or on Twitter?

:::::::::::::::::::::::::::Thanks for paying this forward in support of actors.

On Twitter I Said I Would Be Posting Here On Hollywood Actor Prep:

…My exclusive little truthful tale of how an actress secured herself the lead in one of his movies.Graham King’s a ‘prolific producer’; he’s got four films in post-production, right now.

He’s Martin Scorcese’s producing partner.

Coincidentally, yesterday was also a big day for Graham King in the Industry trades…due to his brand new deal with Sony.  Here’s a bit of the press coverage, from The Hollywood Reporter:

Graham King departs WB for Sony

‘Departed’ producer signs three-year deal with studio

By Steven Zeitchik

Oct 20, 2009, 02:58 PM ET

Updated: Oct 20, 2009, 06:54 PM ET

Graham King is departing for Sony.

The longtime studio producer is leaving Warners for an output deal at the Culver City studio. The three-year pact will ensure that Sony will release at least two pics annually that are financed and produced by King and his GK Films banner.

Projects that King has been developing under his Warners deal, such as the Hunter Thompson adaptation “The Rum Diary” and Martin Scorsese’s period religious drama “Silence,” will remain in development there.

King, best known for Scorsese’s Oscar-winning blockbuster “The Departed,” has practiced a model in which he secures outside financing to supplement studio funds.

His casting story will be here tomorrow. Actors will be floored by this story…

Sorry. I just don’t have time to do the writing this evening, as I have to go to another, different,  and special  comedy event tonight.

I had other things that stole center stage today. Apologies,  if you came here to look for that.

(A little suspense is okay once in a while, don’t ya think?)

Best,

:~Dana

Please follow on Twitter, my Twitter name is __dana__.

If you know any actors, please share this site forward, to them. Thanks for that, very much.

Since my last post featured Natalie Portman,  I couldn’t resist posting these, which just came across my desk…They are on-the-set-of her-new-movie photos, in New York. The film is called…”Love, And Other Impossible Pursuits”.

 Here, she is being escorted to “lights, camera, action”…

Actress+Crowd-Keeper-Off-'Er

The next shot (below), is obviously an “interior”, on the film set.  You can see the crew person standing right in front of the camera that took this still photo.  That doesn’t mean the movie cameras are not rolling, however. …When it is a “tight shot” or a “close-up” the camera can be very close by.  Even if the film camera was straight-on, in front, of Natalie Portman, there is a good possibility that this crew member won’t be seen, through the lens of the movie camera.  

(Yes, there are always a lot of people standing around, and yes, very close to where you are acting.)

Possibly, this could be a conversation that is taking place during a break.  But I don’t think so.  Ms Portman looks too intent, and if it was a conversation between the director and lead actress; this crew member, probably, wouldn’t be standing in the middle of it. Besides, I think he or she is part of the camera crew, and she is standing nearby, doing her job.  (She has the tape on her belt, in addition to the walkie-talkie.) That’s to mark placement (actor’s “mark”) ; also to measure distance, from actor to camera.  

(Actors: Make sure to always “hit your mark”.  That means stand with your toes up against the little bit of tape on the floor.  Yes, walk to your mark without looking down.  Um-hm, do practice at home… Don’t feel foolish, either…you’ll feel like a supersized dummy, on the set, if you need to look down in the shot…It won’t EVER have anything to do with the scene, that is, looking down to see where your toes are.  You just can’t write in -stepped-in-dog-doo bit for every scene, just because you didn’t practice hitting your mark… And,  I am certain that you won’t want the alternative: your close-up to wind up on the editing floor, in other words, you barely seen in the movie because you were out of focus, entirely, because you couldn’t hit your mark.  Hitting your mark is part of being a professional actor…)

You can’t really tell how close the camera person is standing, but to me, it looks quite near. I think they are filming a close up on Natalie Portman,  a very tight close-up. Watch for it, when the movie is released…

::Actor + Producer::

Actors Scott Cohen,  and Charlie Tahan are also acting in this film; which was, originally, a novel by Ayelet Waldman. The script is by Don Roos.

It’s a contemporary story, about a couple who begins their (ahem!) “coupling” while the man is already in a couple-with-somebody-else, who isn’t the woman that Natalie Portman is playing…

::His size was a key hiring asset::

As for the back-buzz on this movie…Jennifer Lopez was originally going to play the lead, but she had to step out.  Natalie Portman took over the role, and as producer, as well.

I am not sure why she is on these steps. Usually these type of steps are used when a trailer is parked somewhere and the extra steps are needed to climb in, or to get up to a stage-like area that has been built, but without steps, usually on one side or another.

They don’t look like they could be used as an “apple box”.  Apple boxes come in different sizes, and are used when one actor is so tall or short, that he or she needs to stand on something to appear closer, in size, to the other actor in the scene.  This “steps” thing seems as if it may be a bit too narrow for that, from front to back.  

Shout out to these blogs:

The Screening Log   and  The Bad And The Ugly for these pix.

Best,

Dana

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