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All children are artists. The problem is how to remain an artist once he grows up. Pablo Picasso
Things have been going very well for my ‘career’ and I’m happy to say that I have been very busy as of late. So busy, actually, that it would be tedious for me, and SUPER boring for you, to cover everything. Therefor I’ll just go over a few of my favorites.
You’re Awesome! Gold Star.Contrary to popular belief very few actors, that I know anyway, are in the business for the fame and the recognition. That said, it is nice when someone says, “Hey, you’re kinda good at this.” Which is why I’m proud to say that I’ve been nominated for the Inland Theatre Award for Excellence for two separate performances. One for Ali Hakim in Oklahoma!, and one for The Mikado in The Mikado. So yeah, yay me!
Business Stuff
New Headshots! New Demo Reel! Finally!
Mild ManneredAfter millions and millions of years filming this we’ve finally been able to put some episodes online! The response has been very positive and I can’t wait to see how the rest of the season comes together. Check out Episode One and Episode Two. Then go ‘like’ us on Facebook!
Handle with CareThis film will go down as one of the best acting experiences I’ve had to date. It was such a dream. My character was so much fun to play and the director (Elizabeth Spitsbergen) was good enough to let us ad lib and play a little. My co-star was my beautiful and talented wife, which is always a dream. And the film covered so many different emotions and scenarios that we really got to cover a huge range. From the joy of proposing after a carriage ride through Seaport Village, to the devastation of realizing that we were not able to have children, to the joy of retiring together in our old age. (My wife and I got to put our Make-Up skills to the test) It was a phenomenal process and I can’t wait to see the film.
Aftermath
Student films are always a scary thing to sign on for as an actor. (You never know what you’re going to get.) But ‘Aftermath’ was definitely a great experience. We shot in the most beautifully disgusting garage ever on the RED camera. My role in this, as the one roommate who was perfectly fine with NOT changing the world, was relatively small so I’m excited to see how the film comes together.
Flick and Burn
This is a project currently underway and so far the process has been great. Red Cup Cinema (the production company) is a passionate group of guys and they’ve got some great things lined up for this. Not only is it going to be a great film, I get to play a drummer. And that’s awesome.
Saint Valentine
I know this film is old news but it just keeps popping up. We’ve been accepted into another film festival! (Yay) So if you’re in the Riverside area stop by and see us.
As my life progress on and I take a step back to see where I’m at it is very easy to get discouraged at the fact that I’m not rich and famous yet. I mean, I’ve been here almost a year and a half, how long is it going to take!?Yes. That is a joke.
I feel very lucky to have the success that I have had so far and I definitely feel like the momentum is on my side. Here’s to the future and continuously growing as an artist.
Thanks for reading!-Travis
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Progress
Under the sublime law of progress, the present outgrows the past. The great heart of humanity is heaving with the hopes of a brighter day. All the higher instincts of our nature prophesy its approach; and the best intellects of the race are struggling to turn that prophecy into fulfillment. -HORACE MANN
Hey Travis, what have you been doing with your life?
I’ll tell you.
The Theatre!
For the first time since moving to L.A. I went back to my theatre roots for a little stage time… and it was a blast. I was cast back to back, at a great theatre called Performance Riverside, in two roles that I never would’ve imagined myself playing: The Persian peddler, Ali Hakim, in Oklahoma! and the Japanese emperor, The Mikado, in The Mikado. I guess I can officially call myself a character actor! Playing characters so unlike myself really amplifies all of the fun parts of acting and helps remind me why I love doing it. It really was a great experience working with some very talented actors under a very talented director.
Next!
I am super proud to say that I finally tried my hand at film directing. I wrote and directed a spec commercial for the ‘Doritos Crash the Superbowl Contest.’ It was a small project but the perfect thing for me to get my feet wet. I’m thrilled with the result and had a blast working behind the camera. See the commercial here: Commercial.
Life After
My next project is also behind the camera. I wrote a short film called ‘Life After’ and we’re about to start filming. I. Am. Pumped. I won’t go on to long about it here but read more about it on this page.
Progress
It’s hard to explain to my non-actor friends back home how I’m loving life in L.A. and feel really good about my career when I’ve already been here for a year now and I’m still not rich and famous. But it’s because I look back on this incredibly short year and I can see all of the progress that I’ve made and how the momentum is really picking up. I have no idea what the future holds for me and my career but I know that I’m getting closer to my goals, and I know that I’m happy. I wouldn’t trade this crazy life of being a poor, starving, actor in L.A. for anything else in the world.
Thanks for reading.
-Travis
IMDB - TWITTER - LACASTING - ACTORS ACCESS
You might also like to work with my incredibly talented wife: Whitney Morgan Cox
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“Creativity is living proof of a healthy culture.” -Unknown
Nope. Not dead. Just too busy/lazy to update my blog.
Mild Mannered
We’re well on our way with this awesome web-series, episodes one, two, and three are completely wrapped and I’m told that the first episode should be up any day now. The little bits that I’ve seen look great so I can’t wait for everyone to see the finished project. Check out the website to watch our behind the scenes videos to put you in the mood. (In the mood for what? I don’t know.) Mild Mannered the Show.com
Death Canyon
Filming Death Canyon was a total blast. Nothing like spending a few nights up in the mountains making movies. We shot a full feature film with a mostly improvised script in 24 hours. It was a totally unique acting experience. Not only will watching it be like watching a documentary, but filming it (and thus acting in it) was a lot like a documentary as well. The directors (Helvijs Vingners and Bethany Pelton) say that the first cut looks great and it should be hitting festivals soon. Check out the trailer here: Death Canyon Trailer.
86’ed
Next up for me is a very exciting film called 86’ed. Directed by Christian Purdie this feature length action movie will be the biggest film I’ll have worked on to date. If the set is half as exciting as the script it’s going to be an awesome 3 weeks of shooting. Gun fights, explosions, etc… plus I get to play a crack head so that’s bound to be awesome. Check out the films website here: 86’ed movie.
Life After
In other exciting news I’ve entered pre-production for my first short film ‘Life After.’ As an actor I’ve always wanted to be able to make my own movies (just in case no one else wanted to put me in theirs.) so I wrote a script and now I’m making a movie. I won’t go on too long about it here. But you can check it out here: Life After Movie.
Other Stuff
Saint Valentine was accepted into the AOF film festival so I went to that and had a great time. I’m still studying improv and hosting Wednesday nights at iO West. And I’m still meeting amazing people, and learning amazing things.
IMDB - LA Casting - Actors Access
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An artist’s career always begins tomorrow. ~James McNeill Whistler
I’m still here. Here’s what I’m doing.
Mild Mannered
I mentioned this great little web-series in a post when I was first cast a few months ago, but now we’re well under way with shooting this thing and all I can say is that I’m loving it. Actually that’s not all I can say… I can also say that the script is hilarious, the shoots are a blast, the cast is extremely talented, Nick Rieber and Mark Mushakian are ridiculous (in a good way) behind the camera, and I have very high hopes for the future of this series. Check out the website here, and be sure to watch all of the fun behind the scenes videos here. Trust me, this is gonna be a good one.
‘Twist’ Reunion
About a million years ago I lucked into a spot in a show called ‘Twist the Night Away’ that was being produced in Zion National Park in Utah. ‘Twist’ was the first professional show I ever did and I ended up doing the show for total of 12 months between the two years I was apart of it. I can definitely say that the confidence I gained while being a part of that 1950’s jukebox musical as an awkward teenager really secured my conviction to, you know, follow my dreams. Anyway, a few months ago my good friend and director, Rhett Thomas, called me up asking how I felt about a little Reunion Run of the show. Of course I was all for it. All the original cast mates came together for a completely sold out run of the same great show we did together almost seven years ago. It was all nostalgic and mushy and everything. Great times.
Coming Soon
I’m very happy to say that I’ve been cast in two feature films to be filmed this summer. The first is called ‘Death Canyon.’ A ‘found footage’ horror film that takes place in the desert mountains of Utah. The script will be mostly improvised and we’ve got a great team of actors and crew lined up. It’s a very ambitious project with all sorts of exciting twists and turns. The second film is called ‘Eighty Sixed’ which is best described as a action, heist, thriller, shoot em’ up, movie of awesome proportions. Complete with gun fights, bad guys, mobsters, and hot Irish girls (my wife is playing one of them.) It’s going to be very good.
“Acting is half shame, half glory. Shame at exhibiting yourself, glory when you can forget yourself.” - John Gielgud
Being an actor is kind of nuts… and kind of awesome. Everyday I learn something new, meet another incredibly talented person, and have ridiculous amounts of fun. It’s a good life.
IMDB - Actors Access - LA Casting - My Wife & Amazing Actress: Whitney Morgan Cox
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An artist cannot fail; it is a success to be one. ~Charles Horton Cooley
Life is good.
My First Screening
Remember ‘Straight Bashed’ from my last post? Well, it’s finished now and we had a screening party. As great as the party was (Really great job Will!) and as great as the film was… (It really turned out well, everyone had great things to say) the screening was one of the most awkward moments of my life! I don’t know what it was but watching myself surrounded by other people watching me made me extremely self-conscious. I heard a rumor that Johnny Depp never watches the movies he’s in; At the premier he shows up for the photos, and the press, and the hub bub, and then sneaks out the back before the show starts… I might have to adopt that philosophy.
Alienated
I have been shooting a really awesome short film written and directed by Gui Pinto called Alienated. As an actor, this movie pretty much crossed off all the boxes on the ‘cool stuff an actor gets to do’ list. *Shoot on the RED camera. *Play a character with extreme mannerisms. *Have not one, but two awesome fight scenes. (Featuring extreme slow motion awesomeness.) *Stand on a roof wearing a trench coat and sun glasses. *Have super awesome CGI effects. *SAVE THE WORLD And the list goes on and on. Needless to say it was an extreme blast to film. Gui is a true professional and will no doubt go far. The cast was stellar, the crew was superb, and I can’t wait to see the final product.
Between us Friends - Wrapped
The first week I arrived in L.A. I auditioned for a web-series called Between us Friends. For the past few months I’ve been working with some great people on an all but non-existent budget to make a six episode web-series and we wrapped it a few weeks ago. It was a really great first project for me. I learned a lot. And always had a ton of fun on set. I can’t wait for the season premier. We’ll see if Between us Friends is as fun to watch as it was to make.
Making Art
Will Brown, the writer of ‘Straight Bashed’ reminded the audience at the screening that it is important not to get caught up in ‘becoming famous’ and that the reason why most of us are here, doing what we do, is to ‘make art.’ And he’s absolutely right.
“We all know that Art is not truth. Art is a lie that makes us realize truth, at least the truth that is given us to understand. The artist must know the manner whereby to convince others of the truthfulness of his lies.”
-Pablo Picasso
Need a great actress? Cast my wife: Whitney Morgan Cox.
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Onward and Upward.
I suppose it’s about that time again to post another update. Here’s what has been going on:
Big Time Auditions!
This is probably not big news to most people who have been out here acting for a while, but I feel pretty cool about it. In the past few weeks I’ve had the opportunity (thanks to my awesome agent Gail Marx at Daily Talent) to attend some national commercial auditions for Snickers and Nokia. While I didn’t book either job it feels good to be in the mix.
Straight Bashed
I just got done filming a pretty interesting five minute short called ‘Straight Bashed.’ It’s a story about a gay man named Eric who, because of being judged for his sexuality, snaps when he sees a straight man hitting on a girl in West Hollywood. My character, Malik, stops Eric from beating up the straight guy and helps Eric to see that change and acceptance is on its way. The shoot was excellent, and everyone involved was super talented. Hopefully you’ll see ‘Straight Bashed’ in a film festival near you.
Spec Commercial Fun
A professor at the New York Film Academy in L.A. Recently cast me in a spec commercial for AT&T he was shooting for a contest in Barcelona. It was a great experience for me to make some good connections and to work with a great crew. This shoot was a blast and I can’t wait to see how it all comes together.
My First Music Video
On my bucket list has always been to have a shot of me running and screaming in slow motion while holding some sort of battle weapon. Well, thanks to the band Cut Copythat dream has become a reality. The fact that I was wearing 1970’s Basketball garb (John Stockton style short shorts and rec specs included) is besides the point. All I can say about this is that I can not wait to see this video. It is going to be the most random video ever. In the best possible way. Once again, a total blast to shoot. The album is released in February so keep an eye out for the ‘I Need You Now’ video.
Alientated
I just got word today that I have been cast in a LA Film School feature called Alienated and I’m very excited. I’ll be playing the lead in the film who is a homeless man, turned ‘save the world’ guy. I haven’t read the entire script yet but I’ll be able to tell you more as we move forward. Should be great!
Bring on 2011
2010 has been great to my wife and I. (Check out my wifes page here. She’s the best actress I’ve ever seen!) We made the move to L.A. Got jobs and a place to live and have started living the dream. Needless to say it has been stressful, expensive, terrifying, and all together wonderful. I look forward to our first full year in L.A. 2011, here we come.
Thanks for reading.
-Travis
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Travis vs The Real World
’ Hey! More sweet updates from my life!
Real Life
I am proud to say that my first major battle with “reality” since moving to California has come to an end. Finding an apartment. I did it. It was way messier than it should have been, and it, temporarily, kept me from really digging in and pursuing my acting career with all of the vigor and vim that I wanted too, but I really love the place that my wife and I have found. And now that it is out of the way I can start getting my foot a little farther into that proverbial door. Yay.
iO West
Those of you who know me know that, over the last year, improv comedy has smashed it’s way into my heart; becoming, not only a great asset for my acting, but something that I genuinely love doing. I am so excited to announce that I am now taking classes at the legendary iO West Theatre. It’s amazing there. I thought I was pretty well versed in the ways of improv, but even though I’ve only had three classes so far I have come leaps and bounds. There is no doubt that I will become a much better improvisor and actor during my time there. I also have an internship as the Wednesday house manager so if you’re ever looking for something cheap to do on a Wednesday night come party with me.
New Old News
I already mentioned the two web-series that I am in and they are still going strong. ‘Between us Friends’ released the pilot episode on their website and it is quickly approaching 2,000 views. We’ve since shot episodes two and three and are continuing with the remainder of the season. Everyone is really starting to mesh and I feel like we’re growing a lot as a cast. We had the first rehearsal as a cast for ‘Mild Mannered’ and were able to read some of the other episodes and they are hilarious. We start shooting next week and it is going to be epic. The cast is perfect. I can’t wait.
On Your Mark, Get Set, Go!
Even though I’ve already had great opportunities and worked on several great projects with such talented people. I really feel like finally securing an apartment really marks the beginning of my career in L.A. From here on out it’s going to be go, go, go, and I am so excited about the road I have ahead of me.
If you are casting director I thank you for taking the time to check out my site. Please, by all means, check out my photos and my resume and get in contact with me. I can’t wait to work with you!
Thanks,
-Travis
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Life is here to be lived; no one gets out alive.
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More Fun Stuff
Hey friends!
Lot’s of exciting stuff going on lately, here’s the latest update!
I am so excited about this film. It’s a great little script written by M.L. Crutchfield about a very unlucky guy who is having the worst Valentines Day ever. I’m excited about it for so many reasons. a. Whitney and I are cast opposite each other as the leads in the film. We always hoped that we would get chances like this, but honestly didn’t expect it to happen very often. b. I can already tell that it’s going to be great. The director Stephen Crutchfield really knows what he’s doing and based on the rehearsal we had the other day the cast and crew are top notch. c. We’re filming in San Diego… and I love San Diego. You should go to our facebook page to get updates and support this great film!
Between us Friends
This is another exciting opportunity for me as well. ‘Between us Friends’ is a new web series I am playing a College Theatre Major (weird huh…) in and we just shot the Pilot episode yesterday. It’s a great sitcom about a group of friends in college and it has all of the elements of the classic sitcoms you know and love. Expect great laughs and great story from this one. Written and Directed by Tony Williams and produced by YoungCelebrityNews.com we all have high hopes for this series. Website coming soon!
This is another instance where somehow Whitney and I got cast opposite each other as leads. This time in a web series that has one of the funniest and most witty scripts that I have ever read. We are scheduled to start filming next month and I don’t want to give away anything that is going to get me in trouble so you’ll just have to wait. But I really think this script is going places and I’m excited to be a part of it.
Representation
I have signed with an Agent! Yay! Gail Marx of Daily Talent Agency is the wonderful lady who will be in my corner helping me along my career. So far she has been very informative and helpful so I feel like she’s going to be a great asset for me.
Good Times
All in all Whit and I are having a blast. We’re learning from every audition and shoot. We’re starting to figure out how to get around this crazy city. And We’re meeting all sorts of great people.
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Latest Project - Death Canyon
Death Canyon
I just got done filming what was one of the most unique acting experiences of my career: a horror movie called ‘Death Canyon.’ It’s a feature length film. We filmed it, the whole thing, in less than 24 hours. And about 80 percent of the script was improvised. Here’s the story.
At about 11:00pm on Thursday night I got an e-mail from Bethany Pelton of ‘Fade-In Pictures’ asking if I would be able to film all day on Saturday. I said, ‘I don’t know, let me check…’ and then I checked. About 3:00pm on Friday I had my ducks in a row and agreed to be in Provo, UT to start filming at 6:30 Saturday morning. To be honest the whole day is kind of a blur, but we wrapped at 3:30 on Sunday morning. It was awesome.
The style of the film is very ‘Paranormal Activity’ meets ‘Blaire Witch Project’ (without the shaky, make you want to throw up, camera stuff.) We, the actors, did the filming ourselves and the thing is that it’s not supposed to be a “movie.” It’s a documentation of scary occurrences that these people caught on their cameras. I don’t want to give away too much of the story, but I think it will be very scary and exciting movie.
As an actor this was a very exciting (and a little scary) film to make.
a. The majority of the script was improvised. Which means when we pushed the record button we had only a vague idea of where we would be before the camera was turned off… Hopefully this technique made for some very natural and honest dialogue. It’s kind of essential to the story that we’re not ‘acting.’
b. It’s a horror movie which obviously means that some very very intense emotions: fear, anger, sadness etc… were required of each character. Screaming, Shaking, Crying, Fighting etc… Extremes are always exciting to play. Good times.
c. We played camera man and actor at the same time. Multi-tasking is fun!
d. Between the three cameras we had running all day I bet we have over fifteen hours of footage… Who knows what will make it to the final cut? (Have fun Beth and Heljivus!!) I’m excited to see it.
Anyway, it was a great experience and I can’t wait to see how it all turned out. My thanks to everyone involved and wicked kudos to everyone for their great work!
