Fifteen years ago, if you came to the Hollywood Salon, you were greeted by the smiling face of Ryan Bergmann. Ryan ran the Salons back then, and was making his way as an actor and budding director. Flash forward to 2018, and Ryan is directing a major show (his second in a row!) for the Center Theatre Group’s Kirk Douglas Theatre. Ryan is taking a quick break from tech rehearsals to join us at the July Salon to tell us all about the making of this world premiere musical – and his new fame as a Theatre Director!

Born in Lincoln and raised in Omaha, Ryan went to Millard North and majored in theatre and German at Truman State University, then studied at Ludwig Maximilian University in Munich. He discovered the Coast Connection soon after arriving in Hollywood 17 years ago, and boy was the NCC lucky to have him. Ryan hosted the Salons for several years, and was a key volunteer in the early 2000’s. Since then, he has been building a career in the theatre, as Assistant Director, Producer and now Director for one of LA’s major stages.

He specializes in new works and developing theatre arts that foster communication and acceptance of all communities. In 2015 Ryan and his partner in crime, Janet Roston proudly established Mixed eMotion Theatrix for theatre, dance and multimedia.

“Mutt House, The Musical” will open at the Kirk Douglas Theater later this month and run through early August. Ryan’s previous directorial work includes, “Die Mommie Die” (Kirk Douglas and Celebration Theatre), “Niagara Fall” (Theatre of NOTE), “Bronies the Musical” (LA Fringe, Best Musical Winner), “revolver” (Celebration Theatre), “The Real Housekeepers of Studio City” (LA Fringe, Best of Fringe Winner).  Ryan’s most recent producing work includes, “Anaïs, A Dance Opera” (Greenway Court Theater and international tour), “Tonya & Nancy: The Rock Opera” (King King), “The Next Fairy Tale” (Celebration Theatre), and “BASH’d: A Gay Rap Opera” (Celebration Theatre).

World premiere of MUTT HOUSE, THE MUSICAL  — Ryan McCartan (recent Fox remake of The Rocky Horror Picture Show, Disney Channel’s Liv and Maddie) heads the cast of a fun and furry musical tale for animal lovers of all ages. Featuring 20 original songs and a cast of 10, Mutt House is the story of quirky outsider Eddie Corbin. Bullied all his life, Eddie has finally found a place to call home — a neglected downtown animal shelter. When the city threatens to close the shelter, Eddie must do something he’s never done before: stand up for himself and fight for what’s right. With the help of six zany mutts, he faces his fears and makes an unexpected human connection in the process. This life-affirming musical, in the tradition of Annie, is filled with singing and dancing fun for the whole family. Kirk Douglas Theatre, 820 Washington Blvd, Culver City, CA 90232; $39-$59; (213) 628-2772 www.mutthousethemusical.com

SURPRISE ADDITIONAL THEATRE GUEST ALSO COMING TONIGHT…
Tim Mooney (UNL MFA 1985), is a touring one-man performer, specializing in classical plays (“Moliere than Thou,” “Lot o’ Shakespeare,” “Breakneck Hamlet”). He’s the author of the popular acting textbook, “Acting at the Speed of Life,” and is currently in LA with his brand new one-man show, “Man Cave; a One-Man Sci-Fi Climate Change Tragicomedy,” part of the Son of Semele Solo Creation Festival, July 12-15. 

Come see Ryan and Tim TONIGHT at the July 9^th Salon and help us celebrate their new shows. We’ll be making plans to take a group to see both shows – stay tuned for news about that. 

Calling all NCCers from earlier eras…especially the early 2000s. Come see what our old pal Ryan Bergmann has been up to in his career as a big time theatre director! In this 25th Anniversary year of the Nebraska Coast, we celebrate the successes of the people who make all Hollywood Nebraskans proud.

Fifteen years ago, if you came to the Hollywood Salon, you were greeted by the smiling face of Ryan Bergmann. Ryan ran the Salons back then, and was making his way as an actor and budding director. Flash forward to 2018, and Ryan is directing a major show (his second in a row!) for the Center Theatre Group’s Kirk Douglas Theatre. Ryan is taking a quick break from tech rehearsals to join us at the July Salon to tell us all about the making of this world premiere musical – and his new fame as a Theatre Director!

Born in Lincoln and raised in Omaha, Ryan went to Millard North and majored in theatre and German at Truman State University, then studied at Ludwig Maximilian University in Munich. He discovered the Coast Connection soon after arriving in Hollywood 17 years ago, and boy was the NCC lucky to have him. Ryan hosted the Salons for several years, and was a key volunteer in the early 2000’s. Since then, he has been building a career in the theatre, as Assistant Director, Producer and now Director for one of LA’s major stages.

He specializes in new works and developing theatre arts that foster communication and acceptance of all communities. In 2015 Ryan and his partner in crime, Janet Roston proudly established Mixed eMotion Theatrix for theatre, dance and multimedia.

“Mutt House, The Musical” will open at the Kirk Douglas Theater later this month and run through early August. Ryan’s previous directorial work includes, “Die Mommie Die” (Kirk Douglas and Celebration Theatre), “Niagara Fall” (Theatre of NOTE), “Bronies the Musical” (LA Fringe, Best Musical Winner), “revolver” (Celebration Theatre), “The Real Housekeepers of Studio City” (LA Fringe, Best of Fringe Winner).  Ryan’s most recent producing work includes, “Anaïs, A Dance Opera” (Greenway Court Theater and international tour), “Tonya & Nancy: The Rock Opera” (King King), “The Next Fairy Tale” (Celebration Theatre), and “BASH’d: A Gay Rap Opera” (Celebration Theatre).

World premiere of MUTT HOUSE, THE MUSICAL  — Ryan McCartan (recent Fox remake of The Rocky Horror Picture Show, Disney Channel’s Liv and Maddie) heads the cast of a fun and furry musical tale for animal lovers of all ages. Featuring 20 original songs and a cast of 10, Mutt House is the story of quirky outsider Eddie Corbin. Bullied all his life, Eddie has finally found a place to call home — a neglected downtown animal shelter. When the city threatens to close the shelter, Eddie must do something he’s never done before: stand up for himself and fight for what’s right. With the help of six zany mutts, he faces his fears and makes an unexpected human connection in the process. This life-affirming musical, in the tradition of Annie, is filled with singing and dancing fun for the whole family. Kirk Douglas Theatre, 820 Washington Blvd, Culver City, CA 90232; $39-$59; (213) 628-2772; www.mutthousethemusical.com

Come see Ryan at the July 9^th Salon and help us celebrate his new success. We’ll be making plans to take a big group to see his new show – stay tuned for news about that.

WANT TO WORK ON THE NCC SPEC COMMERCIAL?
The Nebraska Coast is 25 years old this year. And to celebrate, we’re planning to make a series of three commercials for the NCC by the NCC. To showcase all the talent in our group, we are calling on you! We’ll shoot this summer in one day at a location to be determined. Once the commercials are completed, we’ll promote them on social media both back home and throughout Hollywood–and hopefully it’ll be a catalyst for more collaborations in the future. The project is being directed by Jeremy Lerman and produced by Todd Nelson & Ehren Parks.

Please submit resumes (and reels, if appropriate) for:  Director of Photography, Production Designer, Editor, Casting Director, UPM/Line Producer

Please submit to nebraskacoast@gmail.com with your name and department in the subject line. If you’re not a department head yet, but would like to apprentice/shadow, please let us know in your subject line what position(s)/department(s) you would like to be considered for. We are not yet casting, but will let actors know when we are ready for headshots. Thank you!

Our Salon this month hosts an up-and-coming director who discovered the NCC years ago when he first arrived in Hollywood from Omaha. He returns to the Salon with a career in film and television well underway.

Charles Hood is one of the latest and greatest Omaha directors to make his mark in Hollywood. After graduating from USC’s film school in 2005, Charles wrote and directed his first feature film, FREEZER BURN.  The sci-fi comedy/drama screened at twelve festivals, winning awards including “Best Feature” at the Flint Film Festival, and was picked up for distribution by Vanguard Cinema.

Shortly thereafter, Charles shifted his focus to directing and co-writing two comedic shorts, Allison and First Kiss, the latter of which was awarded “Best Short Film” at the Omaha Film Festival and the Audience Award at the TriMedia Film Festival.

In 2015, Charles directed and co-wrote his second feature, NIGHT OWLS, which had its world premiere at SXSW. The film played over 15 festivals, winning “Best Feature” at Skyway Film Festival, Indy Film Fest, Destiny City Film Festival, and Napa Valley Film Festival, in addition to “Best of Fest” at Hill Country Film Festival. MGM (through their Orion Pictures label) and FilmBuff released the film theatrically in ten cities and on VOD in December of 2015.

For the last couple of years, Charles has been directing shows for Verizon’s streaming service Go90. He directed the pilot and an additional ten episodes of a half hour comedy/drama called Play By Play. Most recently, he directed the first five episodes of a mystery/thriller titled In The Vault and is about to direct more episodes for season two.

Come meet Charles at the June Salon on Monday and learn his secrets of breaking into the competitive world of directing. 

AN INVITE FROM DIRECTOR DAN MIRVISH…

I would be honored to see you at my theatrical opening of my new film BERNARD AND HUEY starting this Friday June 8th at the Laemmle Monica! This film would not have been possible without NCC — I literally met one of my biggest investors at an NCC Salon!  But also, many of you came on board as Kickstarter backers and helped in other ways. The film also stars Nebraska natives Chris Dukes and Samantha Buchanan along with Jim Rash (whom you may remember from when he shared an Oscar win with Alexander Payne for the screenplay to THE DESCENDANTS). Chris and Jim will be there on Friday!  And of course, I produced the film with my long-time Omaha-based producing partner Dana Altman, and a great many of our investors and backers are still back in Nebraska.

Bottom line: You can take the filmmaker out of Nebraska, but you can’t take the Nebraska out of the film!  After playing at over 25 festivals in five continents (including the Omaha Film Festival), I’m very happy that the film will be distributed in theaters coast-to-coast (and also on iTunes and other Video on Demand) starting this week!  Hope to see you all at the Laemmle Monica on Friday!

BERNARD AND HUEY is a timely story of two men behaving badly, and the smart women who rein them in. Roguish Huey and nebbish Bernard are unlikely college friends in late 1980’s New York. Decades later, a bedraggled Huey gets his mojo back with the women in Bernard’s life, while Bernard awkwardly falls in love with Huey’s 25-year-old cartoonist daughter, and it becomes clear how much growing up the two men still need to do.

AN INVITE FROM DIRECTOR KEVIN MCMAHON…

After 10 years the film that we all put so much work into is finally finished and will be screening for a full week in the state of the art Arena Cinelounge Theater. MILITARY HUSBAND stars many NCCers, including Tim Schukar, Holly Lewis, Suanne Hastings and many others. Help us celebrate the completion of this beautiful film and celebrate the fact that we will be qualified to submit the film to the Academy for Oscar consideration. The film will premiere on June 22 and run every day until June 28 at Hollywood’s Arena Cinelounge Theater at 6464 Sunset Blvd in Hollywood.

The film features the work of many Nebraskans both behind and in front of the camera and could not have been possible without the NCC. I’ll be at the Salon Monday to show everyone the trailer for the film, and we hope you can make it to see the entire film on the big screen in a couple weeks!

MILITARY HUSBAND is the story of a man who fails to cope when his former ROTC wife is reactivated and sent to the war in Iraq.  Seeing his plight, his neighbor and “military wife” invites him to the support group where the other wives stage an intervention designed to help him learn to cope for his wife’s sake.  After learning the tools he needs to get through the day tragedy strikes in Iraq and he is unsure if he will ever see the woman he loves again.