Interview with Gord Vestwick, Leela Parks, and Sydney on Game Companion

Hey, this is Bill Corrales from the Sketches

Indiegogo campaign and you're listening to Talking

in Circles on the Geekcast Radio Network. Why

have you brought me here? I am Master Bob. I've

defeated all warrior challenges and defended

East Asia from the evil minions at the Tory Gate.

You have been sent to assist me so the world

will not be destroyed. You are now on the inside

of what I like to call the circle of trust. We

are all connected in a great circle of life.

You know something Bert? I think you and I are

going in circles. It feels like we're going in

circles. The circuit is now complete. When I

left you, I was but the learner. Now I am the

master. Because it's a circle. Yeah, we heard

about the circle. Yeah, that's what a million

would say. Hi, this is Greg. And this is Dan

and we are Talking in Circles brought to you

by the Kikas Radio Network. And today we are

again very blessed to have a number of special

guests with us today. They all have collectively

worked on a great little short film called Game

Companion, which we'll get into very shortly.

We're really blessed to have them on our podcast

today. I know we have a lot of people here. Do

you mind just kind of going down the line and

explaining who you are and what your role is

within Game Companion? You bet. My name is Gord

Vestwick, and I play the character of Bob, who

is kind of a, you'll probably call him the main

character of Game Companion. We'll get into what

I actually do in the film a little bit later.

Hi, my name is Leela Parks. I helped out with

costumes, a little bit of voice, and still photography

for the Game Companion. And I'm Sydney, and I

was acting as Janie. All right, very nice, very

nice. And for those that don't know, Game Companion,

it's a short 12 minute or so film where you have

two friends who are having a time playing some

video games and then it then comes to life. So

were you part of this entire creative process

as well or were you just, were you all just kind

of coming in as it was already created? Um, well,

myself, I came in at the audition process and

there had been some script development done by,

uh, the, uh, one of the co -directors, Brian

Moreland, who had come up with the concept and

then fleshed out the, uh, fleshed out the script.

Um, I was brought in basically at the casting

process and then we did some fight training and

choreography and then I went to film. So, uh,

yeah, it's about. you know, my involvement on

the initial stages of it. I'll beat you, Leela.

Well, I got contacted from Jeff Monson, who was

directing also, along with Brian, set up a meeting

to go over some ideas for costumes. So it was

kind of at the beginning of the creative process,

so it was really neat to see everything come

together, like right down from the casting, with

all the different actors and actresses that we

had come in, and especially like the costumes,

love cosplay, so it was neat to see and dress

everybody up. So are you yourself or did you

come in this as a cosplayer yourself? Are you

just someone who enjoys just the the element

of a costume design? I love costume design, but

I've been cosplaying for years. So I'm very nerdy

and this The appeal of this and concept of this

short film was like kind of right up my alley

So it's like yeah, I'm gonna jump on this Well,

what what kind of characters are you similar

to the film? Cuz I know the film of very feels

very much Influenced by anime and video games

or those type of characters you yourself are

interested in Um, most definitely. And I guess

sort of with Brian, that was sort of the vision

and direction that he had. Um, so I would kind

of just do rough character, like garment, um,

concepts, send those over to him, see what he'd

like, what he didn't like. And from there, we

just, you know, went shopping, found all the

pieces, um, tried to get everybody suited accordingly

from weapons, um, to footwear to wigs, contact

lenses. So it was a great process. It's like

playing adult dress up, basically. pretty much

Not the weird kind No, no weird zippers and a

lot of leather so this podcast is going exactly

where I like it to go In Sydney, what was your

how did you kind of get involved? Yeah, I just

I literally saw a thing for the audition times

And I saw like a little blurb about the concept

of the film and I was like, that's really cool

I want to audition for that and I did and that's

it way, you know straight into the point that's

so Are you yourself? Are you into the similar

kind of world the anime video games type of world

as well? Um, I've always really like I used to

really like anime and when I was in like grade

five and stuff, I really wanted to go to Japan

and do cosplay stuff. I never really did though,

because I really like like the look and the aesthetic

of everything. I just don't really actually get

into anything like that. So I wouldn't be able

to actually like be a cosplayer and like do that.

I wish I wish that I like was into video games

and stuff like that, though, because then I could

and it'd be awesome. But yeah. So you're supposed

to say you are into them You can make up honestly

I'm not that into anime so you can just start

making up names and like yeah, that's a great

character I like that character so make my extent

of anime is probably Dragon Ball Z and I don't

know much beyond that just make up some words

with like eco and Ori and other things like that

on the ends like Gordico and Satori and things

like this. There you go. Should I watch Dragon

Ball Z though? Because like I just it's like

a little word that keeps like coming up in my

life now. Like everyone I'll just randomly hear

about Dragon Ball Z. And I'm like, why? Like,

is it is it just like really good? I I'm not

probably the right person to ask that question.

I enjoyed it when I was in high school. I don't

know. It's kind of like Maybe the loony tunes

of anime. It's just one of the big staples people

go to is like it's you know, it's he's very popular

It's been around forever. So yeah, it's I'm sure

when people think of anime that's often the first

thing they think of Yeah, or sailor moon, of

course or sailor moon. Yeah again. I'm probably

anime fans are probably like yelling at me Well,

there's a you know cowboy beep -bop and something

samurai X or I'm sure we are not highly anime

or manga Aficionados here. Yeah. Well, you know,

you know what they need to do is they need to

go chill out Sit down and watch some more anime.

That's what they need to do stop yelling at us.

So For this have you? All when you came into

this process you mentioned like you've all come

in different angles and was have you had past

experience acting previously? Or within film

production before or was this kind of all your

first is introduction into the the short film?

Um, I've been acting since like I was born so

um, I I just love acting. I love everything about

acting. That's just my whole angle on like Making

movies and stuff. I'm mostly just an actor. I'm

not really a behind -the -scenes person. Yeah

I it doesn't make any sense to me. It's like

I'm acting is like my world and then it's like

I see the worlds of like camera and editing and

stuff and I'm just like, I don't get this. This

is my element. So yeah, I should like learn more

about that. But yeah, it's just pretty much acting

for me. So so what kind of got you into the entire

acting element? Was this something you just always

want to do since you were little? Yeah, it's

just like I've always done it. It's just what

I like doing more than anything else. It just

it fits me more than anything. And I just I love

it so much. interesting yeah now um i uh had

i had managed to kind of get into this because

uh brian had seen some of my previous work on

a a short film or a web series called uh sidekicks

the web series and yeah where i played a character

by the name of wiley weasel and he had seen me

and now Sidekicks the web series is not actually

technically a web series there are there were

a couple planned episodes but they had got kind

of the remaining episodes had got caught up in

kind of production limbo there for a little while

here so so episode one of Sidekicks the web series

the web pilot is a yeah the web pilot yeah and

yeah so he had seen my work on that and myself

I had also I've had some stage experience over

the years and kind of touched in other medias

doing a little bit of local radio and showed

up here and there yeah so my my foray into film

wasn't much of a jump from my previous endeavors

in life Okay and similar to sydney have you always

been into into the aspect of acting is it something

you've been kind of doing your entire life? Oh

i'm i'm a showboater in life um yeah it's it's

one of these things where you know you get a

choice you either get to be an accountant or

you know some kind of weirdo that just loves

to jump into the public spotlight and well accountancy

just didn't call for me Yeah, or you could try

to be a very funny accountant. Maybe as you know,

I mean, I'm sure there's a few out there Well,

I've got some good news for you and some bad

You're not gonna owe the government anything

the bad news is you're gonna have to go to jail

for five years because of that It's kind of like

indentured servitude, but you know you get a

room, you know Food and board is taken care of

that's all that good stuff. The company is always

colorful Yeah, very strict uniform policy, I'm

sure. So, with it, I know you've all been reading

up on Game Companion. You've had the opportunity

to go to a lot of different festivals. What's

that been like, being able to see that film with

a bunch of people? What's that experience? Well,

given right now, I think as of today, I think

we're at 112 showings all across the world. Oh,

jeez. We've been on every continent except for

Antarctica, and I've been told we're working

on that. There really is actually a film festival

in Antarctica. I don't care if it's 20 researchers

and a flock of penguins, damn it, every single

continent. Yeah, for the most part, my experience

has been kind of just seeing the reaction of

it. I'm afraid I don't have the time or the means

to go and fly around to all of the screenings

of it, especially because it's getting shown

in India, I think, in a short while. We've got

one coming up in there. Yeah, it's been a very

surreal process for me just because who to thunk

a little, you know, little 12 minute film and

get seen by so many people. So has a reception

over, you know, you said like six of the seven

continents. Do you find like the material that

you're going after is kind of universal and people

even in different cultures can relate to what

you guys have in your film? Absolutely, absolutely.

We've had a lot of feedback online and a lot

of reviews from a vast array of different types

of people. And I'd like to say that about 95

% of them have been very positive. We've had

a couple reviews from people with pickles up

their backsides, but short of that side, short

of them. Hey, I mean, I'm sure I mean to be fair

that is an uncomfortable way to live your life

So it's how you guys take your frustration out

of something Yeah, yeah, I mean honestly, you

know, there's far better things to do with your

life and do that Well, I speaking as someone

who who does do movie reviews I do try to be

fair when I when I do them myself So but I do

feel like there are times when you do see some

critics who are like I feel like they're just

trying to take this guy down It just doesn't

seem like they're even talking about the movie

anymore Well, you know, one thing, one thing

as a person on the other side of the other side

of the camera there, I've always very much welcomed,

you know, honest feedback. And whenever I get

whenever I get a negative review, I actually

I really do take it to heart because, you know,

quite often everybody wants to, you know, everyone

wants to lift you up and and, you know, give

you nothing but you know, positivity and praise.

But the reality is, is at the end of the day,

you don't actually learn anything if you don't

take in what the naysayers have said to understand

the different perspective from it. And, you know,

we got one review from one guy that was, I don't

know, I think he was a little a little angry

and all that. But he criticized the way that

I was portraying people actually controlling

the video game and, you know, like spastic. So

and yeah, and he pointed out and you know, I

watched it I looked at it and you know since

then I've actually filmed myself playing a real

video game for real and have now figured out

how to correctly portray playing a video game

on there and I mean I get it I'm a I'm a I'm

a computer guy by trade nothing just you know

boils my biscuit so hard is when I watch people,

you know scored you can curse okay oh good yeah

i see okay the thing is i got a really huge potty

mouth let loose because i know i do When you

break open that dam, it gets, it's a shit storm

coming down the hill. But anyway, yeah. So, uh,

you know, I'm, I'm, I'm actually, you know, I'm,

I'm an IT manager for in real life. And I spent,

you know, most of the late eighties and early

nineties doing, um, things that I can't really

talk about with computers. And I can tell you

right now, when you, when I watch people hacking

and breaking into things on the movie, I just,

it kills part of my soul. I'll tell you this

right now. Oh, I, I could understand. I, I know

friends, I myself. I'm not I'm not a hacker,

but I know you always see certain scenes where

they're showing hacking and people are like that's

not at all like it is thinking of like skyfall

had it in from like a scene in it too where it's

like that's not how you You know, you don't you

don't like physically move things around. Yeah.

No, my favorite was Hugh Jackman and Swordfish

yeah Well, the movie was good, but the hacking

was... Yeah, the movie was good, yeah. For Leah,

as someone who is a costume designer, do you

see yourself doing that, and when you watch a

movie, kind of looking at, maybe looking at the

costumes a little bit more, and paying attention

to that as you, you know, that's something that

you're interested in? Yeah, I certainly do. It's

really great to see, you know, other people's

work, and what went into the costume setting,

if it's like a period film, and you get to see

these beautiful gowns and garments, and then...

Like, sci -fi films are great because there's

always them trying to portray a different look.

I found recently watching, I guess, newer sci

-fi flicks and TV series. What is that one? I'm

trying to remember the name of it. Sharknado?

No, not Sharknado. Sharknado 2? Their big idea

to make them be aliens was to put tattoo colors

all over their face and arms to separate them

from the humans. So that I didn't really get,

but... They're trying to separate themselves,

make it different. So yeah, I absolutely love

seeing other people's creative costume work come

together. Interesting. So when you were coming

up with the costumes for these characters, how

much of the personality are you considering when

you're coming up with that? Or is it more so

just functionality of what they're going to look

like? It pretty much came down to the character's

personality. Of course we had to do fittings

for all the actors and additional characters

just to make sure the garments would fit. But

we did have a look in mind suited to our Haruka.

She was kind of our tough badass character, so

we wanted her in a darker look, some leather

cape, big sword, someone that would come on scene

and have a lot of presence. Whereas Kimiko is

kind of like that little cute like anime girl,

you know that You know, she would have fans both

girls and guys because she's like an adorable

character. Yeah See her story and where she's

going but it's always neat to have like that

older sibling that will just kind of come in

there and You know stand up and kick ass interesting

interesting. So that's that's very cool Yeah,

I could see because that is something that you

definitely see is the the same costume design,

especially I can't I apologize I forget the character's

name, but the the game Master that's allowing

you to choose all the characters like that costume

was rather elaborate. So I was curious His name

is game master. So, you know, oh, there you go.

See So that one was really fun to put together.

We did a lot of shopping online, like eBay, but

we also did a lot of thrifting, which is a great

resource for finding base pieces to add onto

or build onto to kind of give it that more elaborate

or in -depth look. I'm a big fan of pieces that

are a little bit battle -worn or have some wear

to them, because they also can tell a story of

where the character's been and where they're

going. Interesting, interesting. And Sydney,

so to kind of give you an opportunity to talk,

I feel like we've kind of been ignoring you a

little bit. But as you mentioned that, you know,

you've been acting for your entire for a very

long period of time. So yeah, your process of

kind of getting into a character like what do

you have a certain process of what that's like

in trying to get yourself accommodated with what

you're going to be portraying? Well, my process,

I know it's different for like every single person,

but what I do is. First I memorized the script

because you have to know all the words inside

and out without even thinking about them before

you can even think about like saying them. So

you have to get this lines down so that you don't

have to think about them. Then I kind of just

I almost just I don't really think about it.

I know some people they like plan it out. They're

like this is what my character does. This is

this is them like they have all these like background

details. for me, it's kind of just like, what's

their motivation? Who are they like at this moment?

Who are they in this scene? And then I just kind

of bring that truth out of myself. And I just

be who I think that Sydney would be if I was

that character, because I can't just be a completely

different person. I'm still me portraying a character.

So I kind of just think like, who who is Janie,

because I'm Janie in the thing, who is Janie

at this moment? Yeah, it's I don't really think

about it too much. It kind of just happens So

you don't so you don't go Shia LaBeouf and cut

your face open to get into the character Well,

I don't know if the character called for that

then I would maybe but I Are you not supposed

to do that what the pens I mean you could pull

your own tooth out if you really wanted to I

Know you guys are in Canada and but in United

States dentals really expensive so it you know

It's a good way to both prepare for an acting

role and you know save on some save on some dental

bills You know we we get lots of free medical

here, but we don't get free dental straight across

the board You know we actually feel your pain,

but you know Then we go to the hospital and get

free drugs. So, you know, it's just fine Yeah,

we get drugs too, but it's an entirely different

method. So, yeah I'm in baltimore. So if you've

ever seen the wire you kind of know what i'm

talking about. Yeah So so gordon, do you have

a similar process as well and kind of getting

into your character? I know it's like your character

does seem rather natural and it does seem like

it's you know I feel like it is It comes across

as someone that like you've seen every day like

an actual person. Is that kind of similar to

your own personality? I've I've actually had

a pretty Will say a broadly varied life and I've

got to Not only be exposed to but live a lot

of different lives. You might say and you know,

I've lived the video game gamer life I've lived

the responsible adult life and everything in

between so you know a lot of that performance

did actually just come from you know touching

in on personal experiences and yeah but for my

process what I what I actually like to do is

I like to go through the script and you know

I know I'm a little bit different from other

actors on this I like to make sure that the script

itself actually makes sense to the character.

I'm one of those pretentious actors that actually

thinks I can say the dialogue better than it's

written, which I know there's two camps on this.

One camp that everyone's going, yes, thank you.

And the other camp is saying some pretty bad

things to me about that. So that's the camp I

sit in. I like to really get into the head of

the character. And just for the time that the

it's on envelop myself in what that character

is feeling like like a really good example and

and what makes it so exhausting is the scene

that you see when Haruka has showed up and is

about to you know about to send me back there

and just you know just sorted Cecil into there

I'm sitting there you know huffing and puffing

and you know all that that was actually physically

exhausting because I was really actually I made

myself shake I made myself you know huff and

puff on there and you know It I like to try and

you know give as much as I possibly can Interesting

on that. So so when you're working because I

know like in game companion You're working with

your you're kind of almost like a blue screen

in that way where you're working with You know

things that are basically digitally enhanced.

Is that as an actor? Is that kind of tough to

just try to imagine what world you're actually

in when you're in that situation? Oh, yeah, it

really is pretty challenging. Now, we need to

make two distinctions here. There was actually

two days of filming. Day number one was strictly

green screen, of which was all the fight scenes

that you saw done. And so all the fight scenes

that you saw were actually live action. They

were done by actual people. And that wasn't very

hard at all, because what it was was choreographed

fight moves that they just filmed and then...

I got taken care of but on the actual day of

filming Yeah, there was there's only a couple

things that got added in post and thankfully

It got me off the hook from you know having to

react to a tennis ball hanging in the air So

you said the entire this entire process was just

done over two days, that's correct the What you

actually saw is all the in -game fight scenes.

So, you know, in front of the temple where you

saw that you actually had a significant amount

of the cast actually doing the live action fight

scenes on day one. OK. And so I if you see the

character of Massa, which is a guy in black with

a big hat and a staff, that was actually me doing

that. Interesting. Yeah. And Leon was playing.

Oh, I can't remember his name, the name of his

in -game character. You guys know? No. yeah big

afro and black samurai pants and a blue um yeah

yeah he actually stuck a sword through his foot

during building oh wow and lopped off the tip

of one of his toes geez that's dedication Oh,

yeah for real he finished the take and um, then

went to the hospital So so you were actually

using real real life swords in that in those.

Oh, yeah They were theatrical swords. So, you

know, they weren't sharp, but they were definitely

steel Oh, yeah, they say break a leg but cutting

a toe seems a little bit unnecessary So, you

know suffering for your art. Yes, exactly. Exactly.

So so Sydney Did you also get the opportunity

to dress up as a fighter or do you just did you

just play your role? I actually didn't I was

the only person who didn't play anyone else I

don't know if it was because I am I have such

an aversion like I guess combative arts you could

say I am not That's not my strongest suit and

um, I I feel like there were like costumes that

I tried on and like yeah We did like fittings

and stuff and I was just kind of like waiting.

I was like, okay like one time i'm gonna like

have to do a thing and then I just never had

to so it was actually fine because like I I I

just wanted to wear another cool costume though.

I was kind of sad about that because like the

the cosplay costumes were like the best part

So yeah, so so lily couldn't hook you up with

a nice costume to wear outside of you know, the

setting or anything Don't worry if we do a sequel

we're gonna get you to kick ass in it Nice nice.

I'm well, I mean, you know, I could definitely

see I will just see you guys explore the the

fighting world a little bit even further You

know, see us see what that see what that's like

so we mentioned earlier that you this has been

shown across the globe you've had an opportunity

to hear the feedback from a number of different

people or anything specifically you feel people

are really gravitating towards and what about

Game companion people are really enjoying Yeah,

yeah. Generally, okay, the reason why we have

so much appeal is because we've kind of done

uh done the appeal to both the the anime the

cosplay and the gamer world all at the same time

and you know a lot of uh non -nerds kind of paint

a wide brush and think that you know those are

three you know just one big old world the reality

is is you know it's uh very um separate set of

worlds and somehow we managed to combine them

so it has a lot of universal appeal and and let's

be honest everybody knows some you know middle

-aged losers still in his mom's basement say

everybody has has that but everybody's played

video games and everybody wants to level up and

everybody has some kind of weird thing that they'd

like to pop out of a video game yeah and um like

even just like my mom and people would say they

just hear about and be like Oh, my God, that's

such a cool concept. I've never heard of that

before. And it's like, oh, yeah, I guess, yeah,

people just think it's really like an interesting,

cool idea. And yeah, when I auditioned, when

I read it, I was like, wow, that's like I like

that a lot. Like it's it's offbeat and it's cool.

Interesting, interesting. I was kind of curious,

too. I don't know if you, as actors and the costume

designers, you'd be able to answer this, but

I'd be curious, even in general, as people who

are working with, you know, more independent

projects and now that you're seeing kind of a

rise in, like, digital media beyond that of just

the festival circuit, do you feel like that helps

something like Game Companion, knowing that you

can get more eyes on what you're doing so people

didn't have to go to, you know, a festival thing

to actually watch it at home and see what you're

doing, you know, and getting more people involved

in the entire, being able to watch the film?

Well, something to keep in mind right now is

we haven't actually released the film to the

general public yet. Okay. The reason why is very

simple is there's a lot of festivals across the

world that won't air things that are publicly

available in the festival. So basically, what

we're doing is we're going to wait until the

festival run is over before we release this to

the general public. So if people did want the

opportunity to see Game Companion, what would

be the best way to go about trying to get access

to a festival you'll be showing? What we're what

we can do for all your listeners is after the

podcast here. We'll send you send you some links

I can't remember which one is coming up soon,

but we should have there's a handful more of

which are Going to be happening. So what we'll

do is we'll send you some links and we can post

it That you can post with this interview. Oh,

yeah, definitely. We'll put that on the cast

radio So you'll be able to see all the different

places that you know, you're you're you'll be

able to get access to the movie So that'd be

that'd be fantastic You bet, you bet. So Sydney,

kind of getting back to your process as an actress,

I just had a curious question. Because as someone

that you didn't get the opportunity to play,

dress up, or anything like that, when you go

to a character, are there specific types of characters

that you see yourself kind of more interested

in than other characters, ones that you find

like, OK, this is the type of character that

I want to play? Um, actually like not at all

just because I've played like over my my many

years of experiences and as an actor I've played

like literally so many just different like every

role I've played has been so Exponentially different

that there's no I have literally no set just

this is who I play best I I literally I just

like playing all characters because all people

are just so interesting and different. So Yeah,

I don't know That's I mean, I could definitely

understand that I mean I know sometimes people

seem to there's certain elements of a character

that they always seem to find more fascinating

than others so but I could completely get if

you want to kind of run the gamut of different

type of people because I'm sure as an actor that's

a lot more Fascinating when you can put you know,

put yourself in different roles in different

situations Yeah, and just like because when I'm

like being a character It's like I'm seeing the

world from that character's perspective. So it's

just yeah interesting to get to Play. I think

the character most similar to Janie that I've

played before was probably when I was like 10

or 11, I was in Charlie and the Chocolate Factory

and I was Mike TV. And I think that Janie is

probably closest to that. But I like playing

all characters because all people are just interesting

in their own way. So we have a few people that,

you know, have expressed interest in getting

involved in the entertainment industry in one

way or another. As you know people like yourselves

that have had access to work in a film like can

you give them? Any advice any advice that you'd

give them to kind of what would you know? What

should they do to kind of get involved in something

like a game companion or kind of get themselves

out there? Um, I mean I just act I just try and

do as much acting as I can just because I love

doing it It's not like a end goal thing for me.

Like it would be I really want my like, true

dream is to have a career as an actor. But I

honestly at the end of the day, I do it just

because I love to act. So just act. Join improv

groups. If you're at school, join acting groups,

go to an acting class, just always be acting

and the way that I this was my first short film

or even just film that I've actually been in.

And I found out about it just I joined like we

have this thing that's like Nanaimo filmmakers

Facebook group and I had just joined that and

I just saw a little general posting for it. And

that's how I got in. So just watch out for stuff

like that and network with people in your community.

Interesting. So because you are you all located

around the same community. Is that kind of how

you all got involved with the game? We are, and

just to touch on the subject for people starting

out, it's super handy to have an actor's headshot.

Which in casting they're gonna want to see like

when they look at your photo They'll kind of

get a feel for what kind of character they can

picture you as Also putting together a resume

is really handy like if you've done drama in

high school Or if you've done like community

theater anything like that is your resume That's

gonna build up your experience depending on what

area of filming you're wanting to get into if

it's behind the scene stuff If it's upfront acting

or if it's in the editing Yeah, it's an open

field. So there's lots of opportunity to stem,

you know making sure you have the right materials

to start to give yourself the best chance to

get involved? Yeah, I could see that because

I feel like there's always an avenue here or

there, like a short film or improv brief like

you said. So I think that's really great advice

that I think people could really take the heart

for sure because I know it's a very competitive

field so getting any acting job I know it's probably

got to be difficult no matter how big or how

small the role. the the really important detail

on this and is is truly the getting getting out

there if you're if you're Just starting out or

you just have an interest in there the the real

the real crux of it is you have to say yes You

know a lot of times, you know, you might see

something out there. You think ah, you know I

don't really want to be in a in a drippy chick

flick man No, no be in a drippy chick flick or

be in a slap science thing go out and actually

be part of the community because that's you know

your reputation out in the community is what

you know makes it so that people want to work

with you so it truly is you know who you know

and it's not that hard to know people you just

have to go out and introduce yourself that's

it yeah I could I could go ahead I'm sorry be

the kind of actor that people want to work with

too like that's so important that like i know

people who they're like oh like i'm such a good

actor like blah blah blah but then they when

they actually work on something they're like

rude and they don't know their lines and they

are just very high maintenance and stuff and

it's like it's not professional so just like

like be professional show up and like do your

thing and be good at it and yeah people will

want to Work with you like with anything. I think

I can sum that up and to don't be a dick It's

really good life good life advice or really anything

really, you know, yeah Yeah, it really works

so well for you. If you just you know, take that

across the board. Yeah You know trying to be

treating other people like individuals are certainly

certainly a nice thing to do so, I mean I know

you mentioned that like taking a role that you

maybe on paper maybe didn't want to have you

had that opportunity to say This is a role that

I necessarily wouldn't go for, but because of

the situation, I think I'm gonna go for it and

see how it goes and what that result was like.

I've had some things in live theater where I

went out for one type of role and ended up getting

something that... Really, really, it wouldn't

be something that I would have initially thought.

You know, my very first stage acting experience

was in a play called The Boys Next Door, and

I ended up getting cast as a schizophrenic who

thought he was a golf instructor. As they all

do. At first I mean it was actually it's quite

a you know it sounds funny and it was it was

a dramatic comedy and I actually had the the

most tragic and saddest character of the entire

lot which you know initially wasn't something

that I thought that Would really have been my

cup of tea, but I really grew into it and it

really helped me expand so it really is one of

these things where Um, we, as individuals always,

we don't necessarily have the most accurate view

of who we are and how the world actually sees

us. So sometimes it's, you know, best to just

go throw yourself out there and see what sticks

to the wall. Yeah, I can definitely see that.

Cause, uh, I myself, I mean, Greg, Chuck and

I, we, we started doing this podcast about almost

a year ago, honestly. They were a little bit

hesitant and I kind of got into it because it's

not my forte I'm like you I in computers on normal,

you know nine to five jobs So doing anything

like this was out of my wheelhouse, but I can

imagine going on stage and actually taking a

part of a character That's nothing like you and

having people basically see you in that light

what that experience has to be It's kind of that's

got to be kind of a quite a rush to be a part

of that Yeah, it definitely it it definitely

gives you the chance and opportunity to experience

other other uh states of being so to speak yeah

do you do you have a preference of uh you know

live stage acting compared to that of like a

movie or film or tv or web web series i gotta

say that uh you know the the film and we'll call

it the videotaped approach to that i gotta say

is uh is a lot uh i enjoy a lot better uh than

stage acting uh stage acting is there you know

there it's similar but different you know it's

when you're on stage you know there's there's

no turning back there's no there's no hitting

you know yelling cut there's no flubbing your

lines you just have to plow through it and it's

a it's a different experience you you literally

just have to turn yourself into that character

for the you know three quarters of an hour an

hour it is and just There's no escaping it. There's

no getting out of it. There's no, you know, reconsidering

your character. All of your other cast mates

are really counting on you to do your job when

you're up on stage. Whereas film is more of an

intimate process. You go and, you know, you have

the film crew, you have your fellow actors, and

it becomes more... Well it much more intimate

really so yeah, you know you get to work and

craft and think about things and nuance it out

it I'd definitely say that I I prefer being filmed

rather than being a live audience Sydney are

you the same way or do you feel to feel differently

about the process? I've done theater like my

whole life and I love theater. It's awesome.

Like yeah, it's Very like, I mean, everyone you

get together X amount of days a week, you all

rehearse together. I like that whole rehearsing

together because I really I like rehearsing with

other people to see how all your energy flows

together. Whereas with filming, like you're only

really gonna see how your energy flows on that

day. But then it's almost like, like on film,

you all just come together and it all just, it

all just unfolds. in front of the camera there's

all the people doing their own little separate

things where it's like yeah with the theater

you've all been coming together for months and

you've all been planning this together and it's

all been gradually unfolding and now it's showtime

and it's all going to unfold in front of the

audience and hopefully it unfolds like it has

been like the way we wanted it to and it's it's

i like theater it's cool it's very exhausting

it's you put so much energy into every like show

and I mean, you put so much energy into every

moment that you do on screen. But yeah, like

Gord said, you can take breaks, you can stop

and you can say, talk to the director. Well,

how do you want it like this way? And they can

say, well, this and this. And it's I like the

subtleties of camera to like you can just like

give something away with just your eye moving

to the corner. Whereas on stage, you can't do

that. It has to be all very big and exaggerated.

Yeah. Interesting interesting with stage acting

with you that gradual process of you kind of

building that relationship with your with the

character and With the other new actors as well.

Do you feel like you get to know the story better?

Or do you feel with like with film since you

said you can be more subtle that you actually

Yeah, it's more so with film that you got the

opportunity to kind of bake in a smaller moment

a little bit more Yeah, um and with the whole

story it's like you guys all with theater all

come together and you kind of flesh out the story

as you're going and figure it out and then um

on camera the story just kind of happens the

way it does on camera because like the camera

has to pick up the way the story goes to and

it's the Relationship between your face and the

camera and stuff. It's not just people on a stage

So yeah, it's weird how the story gets flushed

out differently and it's yeah Interesting and

because I know I know it's with like, you know

with a stage, you know What's happening right

there and right then but with as a actor in a

film, you know editing and a direction can really

change what your performance is like So you're

really leaving a lot up to to the editor and

director to see what you know Your actual final

product will be exactly cry to the tennis ball

cry to the tennis ball Okay, very nice so so

Lila have you also had the opportunity to do

Do you costume work for stage and film, or have

you mostly worked with film? Well, I started

out with cosplay originally, and then from that

it branched into doing costume work at a kid's

theater. And then later I began doing styling

for like short films and other projects and,

you know, custom Halloween costumes and stuff

like that for people. But before that, I had

started out in voiceover a little bit because

I wanted to be an anime character. But yeah,

so the process, like thinking for theatre and

film, Peter, like... We've been saying it can

be a very grueling process, but also very rewarding

at the end when you get to share that, you know,

that final debut moment on stage. Um, filming

can also be quite long too, cause the hours can

go very long. Like you can have 14 to 16 hour

shoot days. Oh, hurry up and wait. Yeah. Yeah.

wanting to see like you know all sides of everything

like you know from voice to stage to film um

just kind of wanted to see it all but it's very

varied and very different so i guess it just

comes down to the preference of interest for

yeah i could i could see that and you mentioned

child working with a child theater what what

kind of production did you get to work on when

you were in that role Actually, I'm still assisting

with that. We've done various shows. A lot of

them are kind of Disney related for kids theater.

So we've done like Little Mermaid, 101 Dalmatians.

This season we're doing Aladdin and Adam's Family.

So I've got to work, like, you know, doing up

some props, costumes. I'll also be doing the

face painting for the characters. So that will

be a lot of fun. Oh, nice. With kids it's so

great because you can just, you know, they're

just so lit up and it's such a big, big, huge

moment for them to. you know, have that debut.

So we're really excited. We're actually having

our shows next weekend. Nice and Aladdin's like

my all -time favorite Disney animated film. So

that's that's that's rather incredible I can

imagine like those costumes have to be rather

elaborate considering like the you know The different

designs of everyone from the genie to Aladdin

to like the magic carpet. So that's got to be

quite the adventure Anything bright colorful

glitter sparkles anything that you know can catch

the eye of the audience. Um Stage so Very cool.

Very cool. And so you mentioned you were also

got some little bit of experience with a voice

actor Primarily because I was such a big I'm

still am anime nerd Like the goal to be one day

become an anime character and be like an action

figure, you know and poster and oh I played that

character Right now like I do a little bit of

unlike fan dubs online I don't know if you guys

are familiar with the site voice voice acting

Alliance calm. So what's that site like? It's

great and it has grown so much like I was using

the site like 10 years ago and now I come back

and visit it and there's over like 10 ,000 registered

members it just took right off but for anybody

that would be interested in you know maybe if

they're shy to do acting but might have an interesting

voice that could be an opportunity you know like

for a fan dub for instance say they're gonna

do a fan dub clip of Sailor Moon they'll throw

up a little audition blurb you can if you have

your mic set up at home recording program you

can Do a couple lines email them in and then

you just wait so it's a fun process too for anybody

that you know might want to start off a little

Yeah, so what are the what are some of the characters

that you did voice acting for in the past? Um,

I did a couple bit parts. Um, one of my favorite

roles. Um for bit part was on inayasha. I don't

know if you guys Are familiar with that one?

I can say yes if you Anyways, there was this

lecherous monk by the name of Miroku. He was

one of the characters. So he was kind of like

the good -looking guy of the bunch. And I got

to be a village maiden that said, that guy is

so handsome. And I was just smitten, because

I actually got to meet his voice actor, Kirby

Moro, at Anime Evolution one year, which took

place in Vancouver, Canada. So I was just, oh,

I was totally smitten fangirl. It was awesome.

Very cool. network we have a huge amount of voice

acting fans so you're amongst your amongst fans

because we've had the opportunity Within our

network to interview a lot of different people

from the voice acting world and it's something

something we respect because that is you know

Quite a talent to be able to you know Be able

to lend a voice to a character and really give

it life. So that's that's very cool Fabulous,

and I'm sure if they're they're following you

guys podcast. They probably might be familiar

with that website I think they also have a page

on Facebook for voice acting Alliance But it's

a great networking forum to connect with them

people with similar interests on Yeah, I know

a lot of people that are on our network also

partner We actually have people who work with

key cast radio that also partner with behind

the voice actors calm Which I know that you do

a lot of work with voice actors as well and end

up being like you mentioned and getting in that

world So that's that's very cool. I mean, I myself

am a whore But we do this little skit on here

called the unknown that Greg writes which is

kind of interesting But I have no acting talent

whatsoever, but they're pretty decent. So we

I respect anyone who can actually you know, talk

outside of their normal character, so. Definitely.

It's great to, yeah, use your voice to be able

to portray emotion and character, and I think

that plays an important part, too, in acting,

you know, for film or theater, you know? Yeah,

very, very true. So I know we're kind of closing

in here on an hour, so I was kind of curious

if you guys have anything currently in the works

that you would like to let people know about

and things that you feel like you have upcoming,

any projects you have upcoming that we can look

forward to. Well, it's funny that you asked.

Right now, there's a project of which is filmed

principal photography and is in post right now

called Mining Moon, of which Sydney is sitting

across the table from me here is a very large

roll in. And it's a it's a we'll call it a sci

fi. How would you like to describe it? It's like

sci -fi. Yeah, it's sci -fi with a heavy social

commentary slipped in there with some, you know,

slave trading, intrigue, things. Yeah, let's...

Star Wars? Are you you're saying you're in episode

7 is that what we're saying No, no if I episode

7 I wouldn't be living in a houseless dumpy Or

on a podcast this fall I'm sure we love all of

the press. Yes. Yeah. No, it's gonna be released.

It's directed by Brian, Brian Moreland, and is

going to be hopefully coming out in spring of

next year. Maybe, you know, like we'll say around

the February ish kind of time. And I'm sure that

we're going to get in contact with you and tell

you guys all about it. Interesting. Is that a

short film, too? Is that feature length? No,

it is. It is a short film, but it will be approximately

a half an hour long ish. Give or take. Yeah,

it's not a full feature length, but it's definitely

not a short film. I think the current runtime

is just a shave under 30 minutes. Interesting,

interesting. So you said, Cindy, you're also

in that as well? Yeah, I'm like an albino slave.

Interesting. It's really fun. But we can't give

away any of the plot. I'm sitting here just absolutely.

I've got fiberglass insulation in my underwear.

I mentioned so bad. And we really want to tell

you lots about it there's there's really great

makeup that's been done in it they it's the visuals

of it are looking very nice right now and Yeah,

it's it's definitely not a comedy. It's it's

not in the same I wouldn't put in the same category

as game companion, but definitely it's gonna

be worth checking out and Yeah, I hope everyone

enjoys it when it comes out Interesting is that?

You feel with Game Companion that was very much

influenced by video games, obviously, and anime.

Is it similar with this or is it a completely

different type of animal? It's definitely not

influenced by anime. This has been influenced

by characters in a video game that the Brian.

had played in his life so this was there's a

very specific game that he's told me now on like

three different times this has been influenced

by and unfortunately I just can't seem to remember

that right now it's a mario by any chance it

definitely wasn't doom I'll tell you that Very

cool. Really. Do you have anything at yourself

coming out or anything? We should we have can

look forward to coming out in the near future?

Just the mining moon I'm going to help with some

costume work on that as well as I played a role

of a news reporter So it's great to do news reporter

voice And we're just looking forward to the spring

release and she interviewed me in it by the way,

I'm a greasy politician You'll be able to pick

me up pretty easily. I'll tell you that So, you

know, was that were you influenced at all by

Robert Ford by any chance? No, no, no, no. That

I just entered a dangerous ground. I'm sorry.

Wrong kind of greasy. You see that? I played

the kind of character and. You know I have a

very small role in the in the film I mean I probably

have maybe you know like 45 seconds to a minute

worth of screen time and the whole thing which

makes me feel really bad because It's not that

I want to you know glorify myself, but the makeup

artist did such an amazing job with my hair and

my makeup Uh, you you've seen me in game companion.

I guarantee you if you if I didn't tell you you

might not pick up that it was me in uh in mining

moon So look for the guy interesting hair Well

now i'm running rather curious what that's what

that's gonna be like so that's that's very cool

So yeah, I would definitely look forward to seeing

that and you know learning more about that in

the near future Yeah, that'd be wonderful. And

of course we'll be happy to have you watch it

So if people we kind of mentioned That will be

putting all the different festival dates on game

companion on on the key cast radio What if they

wanted to learn more about it and find out more

information? There's any place they can go to

to find that out as well Yeah, we do have we

do have a very rudimentary website right now.

It's game companion film CA I believe I if you

actually just google game companion film you'll

you'll find us just look for the colorful people

on there You know, we've got we've got a very

basic web page and kind of a little a little

Facebook page for us people that were part of

it here. You just got to go check it out and

find us here. And do you do you know, individuals

have do you guys have your own Twitter or anything

that you would like to also pimp out while you

have the chance? I have a Twitter account, but

I think I've tweeted like three times in the

last six years. You could be like Greg. Greg

basically just retreats Funko stuff. You know,

I've got 140 characters as I said, I've got a

potty mouth and I guarantee you all I need is

140 characters to get myself sued It sounds like

a challenge it sounds like a challenge I accept

that challenge Yeah, Leland Cindy. Do you you

guys have any if you people wanted to find out

more about what you guys use their place? They

can also go to I mean, I don't have a Twitter

or anything. I have just like my own personal

Facebook. And then, yeah, I'm on Internet Movie

Database. It's just Sydney Howlett. H -O -W -L

-A -T -T. I wasn't sure if I should spell my

full name or not, but it's Sydney Howlett on

Internet Movie Database. They can find you on

the Internet. They're stuck. Actually, this is

our first little endeavor that we all got IMDB

credits on this, which is very exciting. Oh,

very cool. That's gotta be so did you do you

print out your IMDB page and frame it on your

wall? Cuz I would do that I want to add a picture

just you know, so people say oh, it's probably

the other Gord Bestwick. Yeah. Yeah It's expensive

to get your picture on IMDB. Really? Yeah. Yeah

Yeah, you hear that IMDB. Yeah, you hear that

make it cheaper I can't I didn't realize they

charge people for that. That's kind of crazy

If you actually want to go on as an actor and

you know update your information for that they

they make you you know fill out like a yearly

thing or you have to Basically be able to cross

-reference the fact that it's a picture of you

to a legitimized cross -reference blah blah blah

source It is such pain in the butt Wow, I didn't

know IMDB was that strict when it comes to some

of their images. I'm tempted just to stick up,

you know, like a stupid web page to cross reference

great pictures of me, you know, like on the beach

and me Photoshop running and that, you know,

instead of the albino that I am in life, you

know. We can throw photos up on GeekCast radio

and you could just cross -frenches with us, you

know. I'm not hearing a no. Sure, I mean, you

know, we'll do what we can of course. I just

found that fascinating that they charge you for

their photos That's because they don't get enough

like advertising and that's Twilight movie I

was just thinking maybe it's like so people can't

just put on any random picture Yeah, I could

see that being very dangerous Yeah, I could see

that definitely happening So it's kind of like

Wikipedia when people go in and change every

little detail and said, you know Someone's like

the worst person on earth or something like that.

So that's that's very true But yeah, I definitely

would like to thank you guys for joining us today.

And I will, like I mentioned on, I will be putting

all the information for the website on in your

movie on and key cash reader .com so you can

get that information, the dates and all that

great stuff. And then when it does become available,

we'll share the pimp that out as well. So I know

we have a lot of fans that are in anime invoice

act again, huge video game fan base that I'm

sure would find. Game companion very compelling

because it's a lot of them, you know Let's just

say a lot of the characters that are in that

film probably hit very close to home I just want

to say for the record. I'm not that creepy in

real life really seriously Good to know good

to know so we will put that on your IMD page.

Oh good good good Well things again, so uh So

Greg you want to send us out? Oh, I'm sorry Thanks

Anyways, yeah, thank you guys again for joining

us. We really appreciate it. And we'll definitely

have you guys on again sometime. So it was a

lot of fun talking to you. But that'll be it

for us for this week. We'll be back next week.

Same time, same channel, same podcast for you.

But for now. This has been Chalk. And this has

been Greg, or the Game Master. And this has been

Dan. And we've been talking in circles. We'll

see you next time. I think my version of Chuck

during the outro there does count as the Game

Master, though. That's a very Game Master voice,

I think. Yes, I am saying Game Master, not like

Game Master or something. Game Master is totally

acceptable if that's what you want to do with

your life.