Movies, Music and Television Production. All aspects. Period.
Music
Scissor Sisters, Dusty Springfield, The Pipettes, Roisin Murphy, VHS or Beta, Freezepop, Junior Senior, Amy Winehouse, Lily Allen, Dangerous Muse, The Bird & The Bee, Kirsty MacColl, Jobriath, Jane Aire & The Belvederes, The Waitresses, Annie Lennox & Eurythmics, Darlene Love, Aluminum Group, Reparata and the Delrons, Nouvelle Vague, Certainly Sir, Ronnie Spector and the Ronettes, Fountains of Wayne, Ivy, Brookville, The Mosquitos, Kylie Minogue, The Raveonettes, Alison Moyet, Yaz, Andy Bell and Erasure, The Revillos, The Go! Team, Frazier Chorus, Tegan & Sara, Chris Garneau, Etta James, Tracy Thorn & Everything But The Girl, Cass Elliot, Earl Jean and the Cookies, The Cliks, Feist, Air, Meryn Cadell, Suzanne Vega, Rufus and Martha Wainwright (AND all my musical MySpace friends)
Why do I love girl groups?
Exhibit A: Dusty Springfield sings I Only Wanna Be With You:
Exhibit B: Darlene Love and some replacement Blossoms mime to their shoulda-been-a-hit That's When The Tears Start:
Exhibit C: Reparata and The Delrons sing Captain Of Your Ship on German Television:
Specific films: My Beautiful Laundrette, Charlie Chaplin's City Lights, 9 to 5, Run Lola Run, Parting Glances, Memento. Also: Any John Waters films, Christopher Guest "Improv" Comedies (Best In Show), Mindless Goldie Hawn 70's Comedies (Seems Like Old Times), 80's slasher films (My Bloody Valentine!), The films of Doris Day, Harold Lloyd & Hal Roach Studios. OH! And Gay Porn.
Television
Dexter, The Daily Show, The Colbert Report, Logo Network's NewNowNext and The Click List. Also... All the better reality shows: Amazing Race, American Idol and Survivor. I don't know why. Guilty Pleasure: Intervention. Makes me feel better about myself. Another guilty pleasure: Dante's Cove. Guess why.
Books
Favorite authors (and recently read): Augusten Burroughs, Stephen McCauley, Dorothy Parker, Cookie Mueller, Armistead Maupin, Michael Thomas Ford, Michael Chabon, David Sedaris and David Rakoff. Christine Vachon's books should be required reading for anyone interested in filmmaking.
Heroes
Subway $5 footlong. Lots of veggies. Oil and vinegar. Baked Lays and a Diet Coke. ;-)
About me: Actor, Singer, Writer, Filmmaker, Public Access TV Host, Radio DJ... but seldom all at once.
Getting more specific - I started as an actor - went to Syracuse University for Musical Theatre, then studied acting at The American Academy of Dramatic Arts (That's AADA, NOT AAMDA.) I then did various musicals around the country - children's theatre tours, summer resort reviews, etc. Although I never really identified as a musical theatre baby, that's what I got paid to do, and I had a great time. My long-term goal was to get into film and television. Bit parts in several movies & TV shows followed (check the IMDB).
While working as a Burning Hills Singer in Medora North Dakota (population 95), I finally decided to take the reigns and creat my own vehicle when I got back to New York. The result was Bri-Guy's Media Surf, a Manhattan Neighborhood Network television program. As producer, host, editor and anything else that was needed, I went on the air in December of 1997. Tapping into my love of music (and extensive video collection), I created a show that has been called "collage television" - covering all kinds of music - from girl groups to punk - the more obscure the better. We also covered movies, vintage commercials, tastefully edited erotica... you know, your usual stuff. If you remember the old USA network show Night Flight, you get the picture. I basically hosted a half-hour of videos you can now watch on Youtube.
10 years and 250 shows later, Media Surf ended its run on December 14, 2007. Bittersweet ending.
In the meantime, my love of pop music and group harmonies led to the formation of The Wormwoods, a folk-pop trio, sort of like Peter, Paul & Mary caught in a time machine. We performed at a couple of shows in NY that were well received, but a lack of commitment led to various personnel changes until it finally went up on the blocks a few years ago. We recently reunited to sing the praises of ex-Wormwood Bonnie as she runs for president. http://www.voteforbonnie.com
Producing & editing Media Surf led me back to film school to learn how to do correctly what I had been doing instinctively. I've worked in various capacities on several short films in NY and have been focusing on screenwriting. I was also honored to compile & edit an hour-long video tribute to The Marvelettes which was screened at their induction into the Vocal Group Hall Of Fame.
I recently wrote, produced and starred in a short film called "Straighten Up." Here it is:
Onstage , I created the role of Dean in a show called "The Present" in NY & LA, and also had a great time doing a run of "Twisted Nunsense" on Fire Island in 2005.
I'm in this Junior Senior video. I start off the first chorus about 50 seconds into the song. Don't blink or you'll miss it:
Most recently I have completed filming roles in several short films that will (hopefully) be posted soon. In the spring of 2008, originated the role of the Judge in the new off-broadway rock musical Attorney For The Damned. It ran at the Kraine Theatre for three months. My weekly radio show, 60 Degrees wi/ Brian Ferrari launched in March, 2008 on www.EastVillageRadio.com. This is live every Monday morning, 6am - 8am and available streaming on the website any time, for free! The show's main focus? 60's chicks and girl groups, of course.
Who I'd like to meet: Dusty Springfield but she's dead.
CHRISTMAS Fiodor Dream Dog's album "i lose things" is virtually but truly OUT NOW ! You can find it HERE ! or HERE: fnac.com, virgin, i-tunes store, amazon, napster.... Alleluïa. NOËL L'album de Fiodor Dream Dog "i lose things" est disponible virtuellement mais pour de vrai MAINTENANT ! Dénichez-le ICI ! ou bien ICI: fnac.com, virgin, i-tunes store, amazon, napster.... Alleluïa.
Happy Birthday, Brian! Roger and I are trying to get in touch with you so we can get together when I'm not under "show pressure." I'm dying to re-connect and catch up...
Brian, glad you found me on here. It was a real special night...and you came out in the cold to see us. The please was all mine. Hope you will come to a show while I am on the east coast. Stay warm, be you, jake
Bri-Guy! I miss your show already. I want to thank you for introducing me to some excellent music and wish you much success on this new chapter in your life.
Hello, Brian! Here's to swingin' harmonies that warm the heart and move the feet! Hope your days are happy! It's good to be added by people like you. Thanks!
Online Now!
