  Our next Salon guests have been making quite the name for themselves in edit bays around Hollywood, one after getting her start editing while still in Nebraska, the other in Santa Barbara. They are the first husband/wife editing duo we’ve ever hosted at a Salon! Come meet them and hear all about their careers on Monday, April 8th.Josie Azzam grew up in Lincoln, Nebraska and attended UNL’s Johnny Carson School of Theatre and Film. While at UNL, she worked on PBS-TV documentaries at NET Television. She moved to Los Angeles to attend USC’s School of Cinematic Arts, where she earned an MFA in Film Production with an emphasis in Editing in 2012.
She began her career as an assistant editor on ANNIE, GOOSEBUMPS, and HOW TO BE SINGLE. She also was Assistant Editor on Disney/Marvel’s BLACK PANTHER in 2017. As an editor, Josie has worked on a variety of projects including LEIMERT PARK, a web-series selected for Sundance 2018’s indie episodic program and SUMMER ’03, in competition at SXSW 2018. Evan Schrodek grew up in Santa Barbara, California and has been working as an Editor in Los Angeles since 2006. He received his MFA in film and television production from USC’s School of Cinematic Arts, where he concentrated in Editing. He met Josie at USC, and they married in 2017. Working primarily in feature films and dramatic scripted television, Evan’s credits include THE WALKING DEAD for AMC, FREQUENCY for the CW and AT ALL COSTS, a feature length high school basketball documentary. His first dramatic feature the Netflix Original film BURNING SANDS was selected for US Dramatic Competition at the 2017 Sundance Film Festival.
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 Be Prepared. There’s so much luck that goes into landing any acting gig. But our Salon guest Monday will help you be as prepared as you possibly can be, and maybe a little bit more.Crystal Carson has been one of the top acting coaches in LA for 25 years, and is the creator of “The Actor’s Mind” visualization method, “ReActing by Heart” emotional connection exercise and “Auditioning by Heart” audition technique for film and television. She grew up in Nebraska and majored in theatre at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln.Crystal’s many clients in television, film, and stage learn from her the secrets to become masterful actors who book jobs. She began as a sought after teacher at the Margie Haber Studios for 12 years. Crystal now conducts workshops in Los Angeles, London, Dublin, Atlanta, Orlando, Omaha, NYC, and Vietnam.
ACTORS…Don’t miss this opportunity to meet and work with a top level coach! Crystal will be working scenes with a few lucky actors in person at the Salon. DIRECTORS…Learn how to improve your game by watching Crystal’s actor communication. Do YOU work with actors? Crystal will share her incredible insight into an actor’s process. As an actor Crystal is best known for playing Julia Barrett for over five years on General Hospital. There she was voted “Best New Female” by Soap Opera Digest and put on their cover as one of “Television’s Most Beautiful Women”. In 2017 she received a “Best Ensemble” nomination for her lead role in the web-series 5150. Crystal is one of very few elite acting coaches who has devoted her primary career to perfecting the coaching of professional actors. She understands the need for vulnerability, truth and the “flaws that come with being human” to live in every character in order to reach audiences in a deep and sometimes magical way. Her outstanding reputation is testimony to her remarkable expertise and unique ability to inspire others to rise to their potential. Crystal’s coaching clients include some of the top actors working today: Jennifer Beals, David Boreanaz, Brian White, Rachel Nichols, Paula Abdul, Brenda Strong, Melissa Joan Hart, Catherine Bach, Ricardo Antonio Chavira, and she is recommended by Russell Crowe. Hope you can make it to the Salon Monday night March 11th– it’s going to be a valuable evening that just might jumpstart your career. Salons are a great way to network, catch up with old friends and new ones, and have a taste of home in Hollywood.
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 It’s a bold new world for media geeks: video games, streaming, podcasts, subscription programming, immersive alternate reality gaming, webseries, interactive content. It ain’t a boring three channel world anymore. And our next Salon guest is on the front lines of the future of media. Omaha native Ryan Copple has worked over ten years in digital media with positions ranging from creative development, physical production and business management. He has produced over 200 hours of online content in the geek and gaming arena, including hits like Wil Wheaton’s TableTop, the breakout success Dungeons & Dragons show Critical Role, Microsoft’s live action adaptation of the popular Halo franchise Halo: Forward Unto Dawn, Con Man and a myriad of other scripted and non-scripted projects that have resulted in several Emmy nominations and other awards. Ryan’s career began producing the hit digital series Riese: Kingdom Falling which was distributed worldwide on SyFy and NBC Universal. Following the series, Ryan developed an award-winning immersive alternate reality game to accompany the series, a prequel novel published by Simon & Schuster, and a tie-in iPhone game. After the success of this digital series, Ryan went on to write and produce titles for Anchor Bay, BBC America, E One, Muse Entertainment, Content Media and more. Ryan also oversaw content development and business strategy for Geek & Sundry. Born from YouTube‘s funding, Ryan produced some of the webs biggest geek properties, working with talent like Wil Wheaton, Bryan Singer, Joss Whedon and more. He also launched one of the most subscribed Twitch channels for Geek & Sundry, offering 30 hours of live geek & gaming programming a week, including the multi-platform hit Critical Role, a live D&D stream that has spawned a successful merchandise, apparel and subscription business. Ryan also helped launch an international celebration of tabletop gaming called “International TableTop Day.”
Currently Ryan is producing Escape the Night for YouTube Red, an immersive escape room style series. Additionally, he is premiering a sci-fi improv comedy podcast entitled Voyage to the Stars as well as penning a new series for IFC called Due Process. Don’t miss the Salon on Monday, February 11th — your chance to get a glimpse into the future of entertainment and gaming and interactive from one of the pioneering young creators. Salons are a great way to network, catch up with old friends and new ones, and have a taste of home in Hollywood.
Salons are always
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MONDAY will be the first Salon of 2019. And it’s the one where YOU get to show us what you got… Yep, it’s the return of SALONFEST: THE THREE MINUTE FILM FESTIVAL, our ever-popular NCC mini-film festival! This is where we will show three minutes of anything you want to showcase. Up on the Big Screen. Salons are a great way to network, catch up with old friends and new ones, and have a taste of home in Hollywood.There’s a ton of talented folks in the NCC, and many of you have created some amazing work in the past year. This is our chance to see what you’ve been up to. Cue up your latest short, or your reel, or anything you helped to create, and we’ll show three minutes of it at the January Salon. You’ll get a minute to tell us about it, before or after. (Got something longer? Barter with others to share your time…) For format, we can screen from DVDs, thumbdrives or internet streams. It will be an eclectic and fast-paced evening…no telling what surprises we will be seeing. Webisodes. New acting reels. Kickstarter promos. All kinds of latest masterpieces. Whatever you want to share with the group — this is your chance to show off. If you know what you’ll be sharing, give us a heads up on our Facebook page — then we can update everyone here what to expect in the next email blast. Or just show up Monday and surprise us. Come to share or come to see what your friends have been creating. It’s a great way to get to know all the talent in this group, and to participate by showing us what you got, in a safe and friendly environment. SALONFEST is always one of the most fun Salons of the year. See you Monday, January 14th, 2019!
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SALON DETAILS, DIRECTIONS and much more on our website: www.nebraskacoast.com
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TOMORROW NIGHT! Many special guests are coming, including NE Film Officer Laurie Richards, Johnny Carson Foundation executives, celebrities and some of your favorite Salon guests…all mingling with YOU. Santa will be available for fun holiday photos. Ciabatta Bar is cooking up delicious appetizers and holiday drinks. You’ll have a chance to win the biggest raffle prizes of the year. And each guest will leave with a very special limited
You are cordially invited to attend a very exciting December Salon: Screening of The Healing of Harman,
Holiday Reception at adjacent Ciabatta Bar,Photo Booth with Santa, Special Limited Edition Gift, Husker Raffle Prizes
Holiday reception. Photos with Santa. Schmoozing with all your Nebraska Coast friends. A very special FREE limited edition gift for all. You just might win a great Christmas raffle prize, too!
Tickets just $20, get yours by noon on Monday, December 10th.
Arena Cinelounge Nebraska Coast Connection presents The Hollywood Salon… |
edition FREE gift, only available at this party!
You’ll get to meet Megan Elliott, Founding Director of the Carson Center for Emerging Media Arts. This brand new program is the first of its kind anywhere in the country, and will be accepting the first students in the fall of 2019 at UNL. She will share all the news about this innovative center, funded by a generous grant from the Johnny Carson Foundation. Megan was previously the manager of leadership and community connections at the University of Technology Sydney Australia and former director and CEO of digital media think-tank X Media Lab.
We will be screening a 20 minute film The Healing of Harman, funded by the Carson Foundation, created in part by UNL students & faculty and in collaboration with Hollywood professionals. This film was submitted to the Academy of Motion Picture Arts & Sciences for Oscarconsideration in the Shorts category and YOU can be one of the first to see it on the big screen. The screening will be followed by a Q&A with filmmakers, cast, and crew, including Oscar-nominated Director Seth Pinsker, and Emmy-winning Executive Producer and Co-Writer Julie Uribe.
THE HEALING OF HARMAN is a short film about hope, faith and forgiveness. A Kurdish refugee (Stephen Hailo) who works in the heartland (Lincoln, Nebraska) as an interpreter, meets a mysterious man (Mourad Zaoui) that asks for help with life and death consequences. World-weary beyond his years, and recovering from a painful past, Harman Doski is a refugee from war-torn Iraq. Building a new life for himself in the midwest and trying to live the “American Dream,” he finds himself thrust into a confrontation that challenges his deepest moral roots and forces him to make choices that could change his life forever. 
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SAVE THE DATES…make plans to join us for the next two big Salons…see below for details!
Yep, the NBC-TV show THE BLACKLIST all started in the brain of Kearney, Nebraska native Jon Bokenkamp. It is well into its fifth season, and continues to bring in 5 to 6 million viewers each week for its thrills, chills and secrets.
What does it take to create and then run a major network show? What is the typical day of a showrunner? What are the pressures of keeping a show fresh in its fifth season? How does one commute to Hollywood from Nebraska? These are just a few of the questions you’ll be able to ask Jon at the November 12th Salon. It’s taken us five years to get this busy writer/producer back to a Salon — don’t miss it! ALSO…Coming Soon to the DECEMBER 10th Salon & HOLIDAY PARTY…
December’s Salon, as always, will also be our glamorous and AND…Brigitte’s Documentary is Coming Back to Los Angeles for you…
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It stars James Spader as Raymond “Red” Reddington, a high-profile criminal who voluntarily surrenders to the FBI after eluding capture for decades. He tells the FBI that he has a list of the most dangerous criminals in the world that he has compiled over the years and is willing to inform on them in exchange for immunity. However, he mysteriously insists on working exclusively with a rookie FBI agent Elizabeth Keen, played by Megan Boone.
Jon is the ultimate Nebraska Coaster, as his wife and kids live back in Kearney and he splits his time between Nebraska and Hollywood. In 2012, he realized a longtime dream when he reopened the shuttered World Theatre in Kearney as an art house and very successful alternative screening venue for Central Nebraska.
The NCC will welcome Megan Elliott, Director of the brand new JOHNNY CARSON CENTER FOR EMERGING MEDIA at UNL. She’ll be sharing news from the new program (due to begin admitting students in 2019), and also be presenting the latest Carson short film that was made in part by students and faculty at UNL and submitted for Oscar consideration. THE HEALING OF HARMON will screen for us, along with the writer, the director and many of the actors and crew.
At the October Salon, we met Brigitte Timmerman and saw excerpts of her film UmoNhoN Iye The Omaha Speaking about saving the language of the Omaha Native American tribes. Now you can see the whole film here in LA at the RED NATION FILM FESTIVAL on NOVEMBER 15th at 6pm. Hope to have many NCCers in attendance. Details
 The best in late night comedy has long been a home for Nebraskans like Johnny Carson and Dick Cavett and the many stand-up comedians who have graced their stages. Now a comedy writer currently living in Lincoln writes forJames Corden and the LATE LATE SHOW. Come meet him at the September 10th Salon!
According to Twitter co-founder Biz Stone, Tim Siedell (@badbanana) is single-handedly responsible for “inventing comedy on Twitter.” At our September Salon, Tim would like to apologize to all of you in person. Back in the early days of Twitter, Tim was a lifelong Nebraskan and UNL graduate in Journalism running Fusebox, a boutique advertising agency in Lincoln. Before that he was an ad guy for Swanson Russell, Ayres Advertising, and Bailey Lauermanagencies in Nebraska. Somehow, while being creative director and blogger and comic book author, he managed to amass a half a million Twitter followers. TIME Magazine calls him one of the funniest to follow on Twitter.  Today, he slings jokes and pitches bits to James Corden for the LATE LATE SHOW at CBS Television City in Hollywood. In fact, three of the shows Tim wrote on in 2018 are nominated for Emmy awards later in September – THE LATE LATE SHOW WITH JAMES CORDEN, 2018 CARPOOL KARAOKE PRIMETIME SPECIAL, and the 60TH ANNUAL GRAMMY AWARDS.  How does one go from writing commercials for Runza Restaurants to suddenly writing with “Weird Al” Yankovic?
How does a guy who has never lived anywhere except Lincoln suddenly find himself in New York City, writing for THE NIGHTLY SHOW WITH LARRY WILMORE? How does a comic book author get named “Top Comedian” on Twitter three years in a row, when he’s not even a comedian? Tim isn’t quite sure either, but he’s happy to talk it through with you in hopes of finding answers. It’s a pretty good guess that the Salon on Monday, September 10th is going to be hilarious. Come have some laughs with your NCC family and bring Tim all kinds of good vibes before the Emmys. Salons are a great way to network, catch up with old friends and new ones, and have a taste of home in Hollywood. |
July 9th Salon with Theatre Director Ryan Bergmann
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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.
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. “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).
Come see Ryan at the July 9th 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? 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! |
Salon with Actor & Artist Christopher Darga
 Safe to say, you have never met a talent quite like Chris Darga. Actor, Fine Artist, Sculptor Extraordinaire. He’ll be making a return to the Salon after more than 20 years, and boy does he have some stories for us.
Christopher Darga is a face you have seen countless times over the last 20 years. On television in HERE & NOW, SHAMELESS, THE MIDDLE, MODERN FAMILY, DEADWOOD, CHEERS and SEINFELD. This guy works so much his IMDb page goes on for-frickin-ever. (Frankly, it would be far easier to list the handful of shows he has NOT appeared on!) He’s also in a ton of features like CRAZY, STUPID, LOVE and BRUCE ALMIGHTY and DUDE WHERE’S MY CAR? and HUDSUCKER PROXY.
You get the idea. He’s a working actor. Rare breed, making a living doing what he loves.
Portraits in oil and bronze are his specialties, but after JURASSIC PARK he began exploring paleo and now his model dinosaurs grace museums around the world. Here’s just a sampling of his art, in oil, in bronze, in resin and other media:
Chris grew up in Detroit, where he caught the acting bug and never looked back. He got his Masters in Theatre Arts at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln in the mid-1980, where he honed his craft on the boards of Howell Theatre and taught acting classes. While at UNL he played Hamlet and Dracula (NCC’s own Todd Nelson played Van Helsing and got to stab him through the heart with a wooden stake nightly!), along with leading roles in American Buffalo and many other plays. A move to Hollywood followed soon after, and film and television has never been without his talents ever since. Painting and sculpture became a way to stay busy between roles, and well, the rest is (art) history. Chris was a guest at one of the first Salons ever, and now he will be returning in our 25th Anniversary year. Monday will be a real treat that you won’t want to miss, whether you love his acting work or his art. Come and be inspired. Hope to see you tomorrow at the Culver! |
Monday’s NCC Salon with Actor & Artist Christopher Darga
| Safe to say, you have never met a talent quite like Chris Darga. Actor, Fine Artist, Sculptor Extraordinaire. He’ll be making a return to the Salon after more than 20 years, and boy does he have some stories for us.
Christopher Darga is a face you have seen countless times over the last 20 years. On television in HERE & NOW, SHAMELESS, THE MIDDLE, MODERN FAMILY, DEADWOOD, CHEERS and SEINFELD. This guy works so much his IMDb page goes on for-frickin-ever. (Frankly, it would be far easier to list the handful of shows he has NOT appeared on!) He’s also in a ton of features like CRAZY, STUPID, LOVE and BRUCE ALMIGHTY and DUDE WHERE’S MY CAR? and HUDSUCKER PROXY.
You get the idea. He’s a working actor. Rare breed, making a living doing what he loves.
Here’s just a sampling of his art, in oil, in bronze, in resin and other media:
Chris grew up in Detroit, where he caught the acting bug and never looked back. He got his Masters in Theatre Arts at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln in the mid-1980, where he honed his craft on the boards of Howell Theatre and taught acting classes. While at UNL he played Hamlet and Dracula (NCC’s own Todd Nelson played Van Helsing and got to stab him through the heart with a wooden stake nightly!), along with leading roles in American Buffalo and many other plays. A move to Hollywood followed soon after, and film and television has never been without his talents ever since. Painting and sculpture became a way to stay busy between roles, and well, the rest is (art) history. Chris was a guest at one of the first Salons ever, and now he will be returning in our 25th Anniversary year. Monday will be a real treat that you won’t want to miss, whether you love his acting work or his art. Come and be inspired. Hope to see you Monday at the Culver! Salons are a great way to network, catch up with old friends and new ones, and have a taste of home in Hollywood. |