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The Biz Interview: James Clayton

Biz Books — Tue, 04 Jul 2017 17:42:30 +0000

The new supernaturally-charged action/horror film, Residue, plays at The Rio in Vancouver on Sunday, July 9th, featuring an engaging mix of emerging and established homegrown talent. At the forefront is star and co-producer, James Clayton, who has also been seen in recent TV efforts like The 100 and Timeless.

We asked James Clayton to take us inside the dangerous world of Residue and tell us more about his career.

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Can you start by telling us a little bit about you and Residue?

Residue is a supernatural action horror written and directed by Rusty Nixon and will be released on VOD and iTunes July 18 in North America. The film is produced by Blaine Anderson & myself through our company Motorcycle Boy Productions. It’s being distributed by IndustryWorks Studios and Xlrator Media.

I play a private investigator named Luke Harding who accidentally reads a demonic book that unleashes an evil force in his apartment. It boasts incredible ensemble cast which includes Leo Award nominated Taylor Hickson (Deadpool), Gemini Award nominated Matt Frewer (Timeless, Orphan Black), Alika Autran (Altered Carbon), Elysia Rotaru (Arrow), Costas Mandylor (Saw series), Blaine Anderson (Scary Movie 4), and William B. Davis (The X-Files).

What can audiences expect from the film?

Fun. I had the privilege to watch the film at the Academy Award-sponsored Sunscreen International Film Festival in St. Petersburg, Florida back in April of this year. The film is a thrill ride. The audience loved it and the biggest question we received afterwards was, “When is the sequel?” The film creates a very lush world and although it delivers a satisfying conclusion, it leaves the door open for an entire universe of discovery.

In terms of tone, it very much has elements of H.P Lovecraft, The X-Files, and a dash of Evil Dead.

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“Never stop. Be yourself. Enjoy the process.

Enjoy the people. Create your own work.”

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What kind of preparation did you do for this role?

For all my roles I do intensive preparation on the psychology and physicality of the character.

The previous film I did, Candiland with Gary Busey, I lost 55 lbs from my normal weight of 185 lbs. I’m just about 5’11 and I was 130 lbs during filming so it was a real challenge. We went into Residue next and I had to build myself up into a muscular but out of his prime detective. So I worked out quite a bit, ate a lot of burgers, and bulked up to 190 lbs. The physicality of a role really informs the psychology and I love the challenge. I also write an entire backstory for my character.

What was the most challenging part of making this movie and how did you handle it?

You know, there wasn’t anything exceptionally challenging about making Residue. Everything always came together, we had an amazing crew & cast, and post production was seamless. From pre-production to delivery it was only 12 months. It really flew by.

The Biz Interview: Brendan Taylor

Biz Books — Tue, 27 Jan 2015 22:50:13 +0000

Vancouver actor Brendan Taylor is getting a lot of attention these days for his role in “When Pigs Fly”, a commercial by the filmmaking duo of Graham Talbot and Nelson Talbot that has cracked the Top 10 of the Doritos Crash the Superbowl Contest with a chance at a cool one million dollar cash prize.

With the contest winding down and “When Pigs Fly” holding steady as a prime contender, we spoke with Brendan Taylor about how the commercial came to be, what goes into a successful commercial, and what else he has in the pipeline.

Tell us about the Doritos Crash the Super Bowl contest and your commercial, “When Pigs Fly”.

The contest is open to anyone who wants to make an ad for Doritos; they don’t have to be filmmakers necessarily, they just have to have a good idea. The winning ad is shown during the Super Bowl, the filmmaker gets a job at Universal in LA, and they win $1 million! Graham Talbot and Nelson Talbot happen to be great local filmmakers, they are SFU Film Alumni and aspire to work on bigger projects. They entered the contest last year and made it to the Top 25 semi-finals, which is already great. But this year they made it to the Top 10, out of almost 5,000 submissions. But I didn’t know it would get there when we shot it in October! It turned out amazing, and of course I’m biased, but I actually do think it’s the best one out of the 10 finalists!

In the ad, a young boy approaches his neighbour and casually asks for a Dorito chip. The grown-up says to him “When pigs fly!”, and the smart young boy takes it literally; he comes back the next day to surprise his neighbour, with a fly-by pig with a rocket on his back. The neighbour concedes and gives him the whole bag.

How can people get involved to support it?

Please go to Doritos.com and click ‘VOTE’ under our video “When Pigs Fly”! We are 1 of 2 Canadian teams this year, and would love all the support we can get to win this thing! It’s real easy, no sign-up, just visit the site and vote! You can vote every day until Wednesday, January 28th, once a day on your computer, phone, and tablet!

And find Vote4whenpigsfly on Facebook for all the latest news and extra behind-the-scenes stuff! We find out who won the contest DURING the Super Bowl on February 1st; they will air it live, so we will all find out at the same time!

How did the idea for this commercial come about?

Graham Talbot and Nelson Talbot just did a brainstorming session and built on what they learned last year, got an idea, and ran with it. Raw creativity based on experience! They knew kids and animals were popular in ads, so they worked from there. They have a good friend who does most of the post-production CGI effects. You can find a great little video on the visual effects on our Facebook page.

What can you tell us about your creative process in putting it together?

There were many factors, the Talbots will tell you: working on a budget, calling in favours and finding the location, and the actors: Keegan Turbitt, the perfect young genius boy, myself for the ‘simple’ farmer, and Bernard the Pig, who is a local pig actor! I got a call randomly from a mutual friend who was helping them find cast. I looked at the Talbot’s previous work and really liked it. I decided to jump on board, thinking at the very least of having something cool for a demo reel. The rest is history!

What do you enjoy about doing commercials vs. theatre, television, and film?

Commercials have been great for me not only for on set experience, but as an outlet for comedic acting. I love comedy, but there’s not a lot of comedy that shoots in Vancouver, just mainly dreary sci-fi stuff. But I do love TV and Film, more so in fact because I get to dig into a real story, and not just a fleeting gag or idea from a 30 second spot. And I love theatre: I was trained in theatre, and firmly believe it makes the actor great. Name any famous actor you enjoy, and chances are they grew up on the stage. Overall, I just love being immersed in storytelling. In a perfect world, I would balance my time shooting TV in LA, traveling abroad and shooting a film on a remote island somewhere for 6 months, then hunkering down in NYC for a few months to work on a Broadway play.

What would you say are the three most important things that every successful commercial needs?

Hmm, tough question. I’m not a marketing person, but from my own experience I would say: know your market, think outside the box, and…hire good actors? I find advertising fascinating, but I think it’s a lot of pressure to constantly come up with good ideas! Often times I’ve found myself improv-ing something in an audition and they end up using my idea because it was better than their own!

One of my favourite recent gigs I had was a singing voice-over gig for Old Spice ‘Dadsong’, once of the most unique and creative ad campaigns out there. The song was written by Bret McKenzie of ‘Flight of the Conchords’. So bizarre, yet very high production value and and you can’t help but laugh and sing along. Check it out on Youtube!

What other projects are you involved with these days?

I have a few projects coming out very soon. I was on an episode of the CW’s Arrow, which will be airing in a couple weeks, and I was on a new show called Olympus on the SyFy Network. I have a few commercials airing right now, and couple more on the way. I was also a lead in a feature film that shot last summer called Charlotte’s Song, which will be in festivals this Spring. It’s a supernatural period piece set in the 1930s Dust Bowl based on the fable of the Little Mermaid. I’m very excited for people to see it.

I’m also in the midst of co-producing an original play with some friends from my theatre company. We’re still in early stages, and it’s scary to dive into something original, but it’s exciting.

Who are some of your influences in film, television, and theatre?

I’ve found my tastes and interests have changed greatly over my life, in terms of who I like and who I think is good. But I definitely have some role models: In dramatic acting, I look up to Daniel Day Lewis, Joaquin Phoenix, Michael Fassbender, Michael Keaton. In the world of comedy, I love Ty Burrell, Patrick Warburton, and Larry David’s brilliant writing. I’m fascinated by Wes Anderson, Paul Thomas Anderson, and Quentin Tarantino’s Pulp Fiction era. In theatre, sometimes I’m in the mood for William Shakespeare or Tennessee Williams, but then I’ll play with David Mamet or Martin McDonagh.

What books have been influential to you in your career so far?

As I mentioned, I like a variety of theatre, so I love reading plays. Actual physical plays, not so much online. I’d love to have a huge collection of play books that I could chip away at. I find they’re very useful to have around too, if you’re an actor in training, which you should be. It’s so easy to be lazy as an actor, so at the very least you should be reading plays, thinking of monologues, reading up on playwrights or directors, reading or watching biographies… do something to further your craft if you’re not taking classes. Which you should be.

Where can we find out more about you and keep up with your projects?

You can check out my website at Brendan-Taylor.com. I try to keep the blog up to date with my latest gigs. You can find most of my commercials there too, and plenty of photos from past projects, including several plays with Blind Pig Theatre. And you can follow my Twitter @bdog_taylor and Instagram @dardaboy. In the coming weeks I will have a new demo as well as a voice demo up on my site, so stay tuned!

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The Biz Interview: James Bamford of Arrow

Biz Books — Mon, 11 Feb 2013 01:09:43 +0000

Vancouver’s James Bamford has an extensive history in stunt work, having worked as a stunt coordinator and performer on a wide range of film and television projects like Final Destination, Eragon, The X-Files and Stargate Atlantis to name a few.

James is currently the fight choreographer and coordinator on the CW series, Arrow, which has recently been renewed for its second season. He spoke with us about his life in stunt work.

What are the keys to a perfect stunt?

A great script. Prep time. Creativity. Talent. Toughness. A budget… and in some rare cases, a little luck.

Tell us about Arrow and your involvement in it.

Arrow is an adaptation of the DC Comics character, Green Arrow. In our version, he is quite a bit darker/grittier than the original comic, quite similar to The Dark Knight/Batman character. My involvement consists of membership on a complete team of the stunt department. I personally choreograph, and oversee all of the combat/fight action on the show, including training of the actor(s) and other utility stunt coordinator duties. We have a stunt coordinator, in addition to myself heading up our team, Mr. JJ Makaro.

What’s the worst injury you’ve ever had from doing a stunt?

The worst immediate injury consisted of tearing my lat muscle in half during a highfall (the landing). But I have accumulated damage to both my hips throughout the years requiring a double hip replacement surgery. I’m bionic from the waist down.

How do you mentally and physically prepare for a stunt?

Mentally, I go into a bit of a calmed zen state of meditation immediately before the camera rolls. Physically as a performer, I attempt to make it to some form of physical training as many times a week as possible. It’s important to keep sharp at all times when being a regular performer of stunts. Losing your edge is not an option.

What advice do you give to actors when you are training them for a stunt?

To be honest with me regarding ability, previous injuries incurred, and to listen when instructed to “stand down” during the performance of any given stunt on set, letting a double take their place.

How has recent film technology like CGI and 3D affected modern stunts?

It has enhanced what was already a beautiful creative process. One can’t replace the other, as a good coordinator knows. Working together with the VFX department only serves to ensure a seamless blend of live action and FX magic.

What made you want to get involved in the stunt side of the industry?

Early on, I was influenced by Bruce Lee and Muhammad Ali. There was really no other path for me.

What is a typical day like for you on set?

Does typical exist on set for a stuntman?

What’s the most surprising thing about stunt work?

The average person has no idea how much the stunt performer actually is subjected to on a regular basis. In conversations with extras, or other civilians they assume that everything is just “cool” and “fun” and therefore won’t hurt…. How wrong they are. This career is not for just anyone. There is a small section of the population who can handle it, and they are proud of the job for that reason.

What advice would you give to people who are interested in doing stunts for a living?

Many times I’ve just told them, “Don’t bother, unless you want to limp permanently by the time you are 35”. If they are still around 5 years later wanting the job, then they are worth giving a shot.

Are there any differences between doing stunts for film vs TV?

Time. We have far less time to prep and shoot on a TV series as compared to a feature film.

What stunts are you most proud of?

I don’t have the room here to go on, but there have been too many times in my career where I’ve walked away at the end of the day saying to myself, “Today I can die happy.”

At what point in the filming process do you need to replace an actor with a stunt performer?

When the risk to the actor’s safety becomes more than the stunt coordinator, insurance company, production, and in some cases the actor is comfortable with.

Are there any books that you would recommend about stunts?

The Stuntman by Yakima Canutt and The Fall Guy by Chuck Roberson.

What is the casting process like for stunt performers as far as physical resemblance to the actor vs the requirements for a specific stunt?

That is the stunt coordinator’s skill set to determine. There should be a balance of the correct physical look and skill set.

What upcoming projects do you have that we should be aware of?

I’m currently on the TV series, Arrow full-time and that is where I plan to stay for the near future or until season 10 comes around… if and when that does.

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