Filmmaker to hold auditions

May 15, 2006

Producer and director Robert Michael Conrad, who produces a variety of film projects in both Orange County and Los Angeles, is holding open auditions for actors in two independent films during the summer. Filming will be in June and July.

Auditions will be held on Friday, June 2, 10 a.m.–noon, in Room 260 in the Student Services Center. There will also be interviews for other stage and film crewmembers. All actors and crew who are chosen must enroll at the college. The auditions will include a cold reading from a script, and actors must submit a resume and picture (Polaroid shots are acceptable). Class enrollment information will be available during the day. Cost to register in the class is $26.

David Livingston, who has directed over 60 episodes in the various Star Trek series, will direct the film, “Last Laugh.” Another film, “Story by Amy Niles” will be directed by Tim Russ, who played “Tuvok” on Star Trek Voyager. Both films will be produced as independent films for exhibition at local film festivals.

Conrad has worked for Disney, Paramount Studios, and Time Warner. He is currently producing the long-running The Heartbreak Café, an episodic light drama that is filmed at the college using student actors and technicians in a class that closely models a true Hollywood televison production. The show runs about 30 minutes and airs in ten cable markets throughout Southern California. Conrad works in both single- and multi-camera formats. He has taught film studies at colleges and universities throughout Southern California, and is a member of the Directors Guild of America and the Screen Actors Guild.

The Heartbreak Café series revolves around a small fictional coffeehouse on Melrose Boulevard, not far from show business enterprises. The people who frequent the café are hoping to get a break in show business and usually discover that Hollywood is more fantasy than reality. Several Irvine Valley College students are cast members or production personnel for the show, and all are enrolled in the television production class through the Emeritus Institute.

Since it began, the series has been guest directed by several well-known actors, directors and producers including Walter Koenig who played “Chekov” on the original Star Trek series, and Anne Lockhart who played “Sheba” on Battlestar Galactica.

For more information, contact Conrad at (949) 633-1580.