Tag Archives: Elvis

Here’s an update on Ready Teddy from writer/director Jarod Costa:

The film is good…in fact it’s freaking amazing. The transfer session could not have gone better. Every shot looks perfect. We did not lose a single take due to focus, underexposure, or scratches on the film. I could not ask for a better looking film. It’s being transferred HD so it looks amazingly crisp. I wasn’t able to get the footage due to some equipment malfunctioning, but I’ll be able to pick up my drive on Monday and then start editing. So for now we have this weekend to celebrate our amazing achievment.

Sounds like it is going very well.  I can’t wait to see how everything turns out.

Ready Teddy has wrapped!

The bizarre and bloody short film in which I play a Goodfellas-esque Paul McCartney successfully completed principal photography over the weekend.  It took two 14-hour days to shoot the six page script but there were a lot of effects to cover in those six pages.  Without giving too much away, let’s just say there was more blood spilt in this flick than contained in all four Beatles combined — or perhaps almost as much as was in Elvis himself.

 I just received an e-mail from the screenwriter and director, Jarod Costa:

It’s a great feeling to stop for a moment, look to the right and Elvis is on his cell phone wandering a graveled Mansfield parking lot…turn to my left and see George Harrison and John Lennon bloodied and sharing a cigarette and look straight ahead and see Troy shirtless and spitting blood. Every one of you gave a spectacular performance and deserves massive amounts of kudos. I now know what cast and crew I want on all of my projects.

It’s a great feeling for an actor when a director is this enthusiastic about a shoot.

I’ve been promised stills from the set and, of course, a copy of the completed project which should be done before the year is out.  In the meantime, above is a shot taken with my phone.  Enjoy!

This weekend I will be playing the role of former Beatle Paul McCartney in a short film titled Ready Teddy.  This won’t be a portrayal of the public McCartney, the animal-rights activist, entrepreneur and philanthropist.  No.  This is the McCartney from the mind of Jarod Costa, a local filmmaker who loves deconstructing icons.  This McCartney is nasty.

The film will involve a short scene with McCartney (me), John Lennon (former KD Studios classmate Scott Barber), George and Ringo tormenting a kidnapped Elvis Presley.  What they want from him is ambiguous but it is clear that McCartney wants Elvis to acknowledge their superior pop status.  Of course, the King bows to no one, not even for a fried peanut-butter and banana sandwich — hence the conflict.

Costa has written a deliciously absurd and campy script.  This should prove to be a fun shoot.