Friday, May 23, 2008

Matchmaker Mary... Update

The Tom Whitus film MATCHMAKER MARY is wrapping on Saturday. Sixteen lucky Talent Unlimited actors have had speaking roles. The celebrities in the film include Dee Walace (best known as the Mom in the film E.T.) and Jeff Fehey (from the TV show Lost).

On Set: Katherine McNamara, Tom Whitus and Dee Walace.

Rehearsing a scene with Jeff Fehey...

Talent Unlimited actors in the film include:


Katherine McNamara - "Mary"



Kevin Brief - "Bill"







Jilanne Klaus - "Cynthia"


Jon Daugharthy - "Eric"








Cynthia Hyer - "Ellen"




Tina Groumoutis - "Jessica"







Jeff Scanlon - "Friend"




Dean Vivian - "Stephen"






Delno Ebie - "Mr. Valasquez"


Susan Garrett - "Mrs. Valasquez"



Jacob Hays - "Jason"


Jennifer Aguilar - "Violet"








Doug Hartmann - "Guy in Restaurant"


Joe Backer - "Guy in Restaurant"







Sharon Snowden - "Karla "




Allison Ciafullo - "Ms. Casey"

Matchmaker Mary Newpaper Write-up

This article was in The Lee's Summit Journal today....

Movie shoots in Lee’s Summit
By Miranda Wycoff
The Lee's Summit Journal Staff, http://www.lsjournal.com/

Actress Dee Wallace sits in the living room set as her character calls her sister. An actress sits in a chair off to the side conversing with her. Wallace hangs up the phone says: “Phase two is complete,” then pauses.

From somewhere offstage: “And scene,” the director says. The process is done twice more so different camera angles can be filmed. But this isn’t a set in Hollywood, or even in New York City — the scene was filmed at 605 S.W. Benjamin Street in Lee’s Summit — a house just behind the Hy-Vee store on Tuesday.

Wallace, best known for her role as “Mary” in the 1982 film “E.T.: The Extra Terrestial” and since starring in several movies and as guest roles in television shows, plays “Aunt Karen,” in the Kansas City-based movie, “Matchmaker Mary.” “Matchmaker,” written, directed and produced by Tom Whitus, currently of Kentucky, is a family film that centered on “love and puppies.”

“Our plan was to make a film about how animals, specifically dogs, interact and make our lives better,” Whitus said.

“Matchmaker” begins at the local animal shelter Wayside Waifs. Mary Carver, played by Katherine McNamara of Lee’s Summit, is a 12-year-old sixth-grade student from suburban Kansas City. Her father promises her a puppy after achieving straight “A’s” on her report card.

At Wayside Waifs, Mary meets a young woman, and the two happen upon a pen of Labrador puppies — Lexie, Tillie and Bailey. The woman adopts one and Mary returns the next day to adopt the another one of the three — after convincing her mother, of course.

The next day Mary meets a young man about the same age as the woman from the previous day. She convinces him to adopt the third puppy, then enters into a scheme to bring the two together through the puppy siblings. But Mary doesn’t stop there. Her parents are on the outs so with the help of the puppies, the puppies’ new owners, her Aunt Karen and Aunt Karen’s new love interest — the owner of Wayside Waifs, Mary looks to play matchmaker one last time.

“I’m really excited,” Wallace said about the film. “It’s nice to do a sweet family film after doing all those suspense and horror movies.”

And Wallace, a seasoned veteran in the film business, was quite impressed with the local rookie who is the film’s star.

“I am so impressed with Katherine,” Wallace said. “As an actress and as a person.” “Jeff Fahey (of ‘Lost’ and another star in ‘Matchmaker Mary’) and I are going to see if we can help get her started in L.A.”

For McNamera her first starring role in a film has been surreal. “It’s been wonderful,” she said. “Just an amazing experience.” The 12-year-old got her start in show business as a dancer in a show, she said. “I ended up loving theater and it just went from there,” McNamara said. Although she said she was surprised to land the lead of “Matchmaker Mary,” she hasn’t been too intimidated. “It’s just been a wonderful learning experience,” she said. “I’m very, very excited and, on my down time, I’ve been observing all the different jobs so I know what’s going on. “I just feel like a sponge on the set soaking up everything.” The filming for “Matchmaker Mary” has been done all over the Kansas City metro-area, including Independence, Blue Springs and downtown Kansas City. And after the crew finished filming the scenes at the Lee’s Summit residence on Tuesday, which serves as “Aunt Karen’s” home, the cast and crew traveled up to Riverside, Mo., to film a few scenes there.

Whitus said he would be done filming on Saturday and throughout the summer they will be working to get the film ready for its Kansas City premiere in September. He said his goal is to get the film on television — as a family movie, and later available on DVD. “(The film) is not really about me or about anything else,” Whitus said. “I just want people to watch the film and hopefully it will help Wayside Waifs make some more money or get those animals adopted.” McNamara added that she hopes the film garners support for the animal shelter, as well. “The whole movie is about Wayside Waifs, this wonderful organization that fosters animals that are otherwise left on the streets. They are good people and hopefully the movie is seen by a lot of people and they want to continue or start their support of the organization.”

Wednesday, May 21, 2008

Cowboys and Cowgirls

Talent Unlimited models kick-up their boots and play Cowboy or Cowgirl for Shepler's Western Wear. www.sheplers.com

Salena Corkill...
Skye Gosewisch...

Tuesday, May 20, 2008

Hallmark Cards

Our Talent have so much fun working for Hallmark Cards. Check out a few of the latest bookings...

Jamie Smith and Amaya Yanes...
Jon Daugharthy....
Jared Orr...

Thursday, May 15, 2008

More from Set...

The Tom Whitus film MATCHMAKER MARY continues shooting at various locations around Kansas City. Katherine McNamara landed the lead role of "Mary".
Here's Katherine with Kevin Brief and an adorable puppy....
Jacob Hays and Katherine McNamara...
Katherine and Cynthia Hyer....
and Jon Daugharthy....

Friday, May 9, 2008

Matchmaker Mary

Talent Unlimited was turned into a movie set yesterday! The offices were a buzz with cast and crew shooting the Tom Whitus film, Matchmaker Mary.

Actresses Tina Groumoutis and Jilanne Klaus....
Actors Doug Hartmann and Joe Backer...
Tina Groumoutis before walking into a scene....
L-R: Jilanne Klaus, Tina Groumoutis, Director Tom Whitus, Owner of Talent Unlimited Jean Liebau and Jon Daugharthy....

Monday, May 5, 2008

On the Set

On the set of the film Last Ounce of Courage. Talent Unlimited kid actors Katherine McNamara and Kaitlyn Conner play "homeless kids".

Shown here with Rusty Joiner from the film Resident Evil ....
With Jenna Boyd from the film The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants....
With Hunter Gomez from the film National Treasure...

Friday, May 2, 2008

Garmin

Becka McGee for Garmin...

Wednesday, April 30, 2008

Rose's Mojito

Antoine Williams &
Skye Gosewisch for Rose's Mojito.




Monday, April 28, 2008

Kirkwood

Sharon Snowden for Kirkwood on the Plaza...




Thursday, April 24, 2008

Perfect Wedding

The American Heartland Theatre Presents....

Perfect Wedding

May 2nd - June 15

"The groom wakes up on the morning of his special day with a super-sized hangover and a complete stranger in his honeymoon suite. Worse yet, the bride-to-be is on her way up. And thus, the frantic cover-up begins! The laughs escalate as the tangled web builds into a full-blown crisis. It's a crazy and wonderful evening from the author of Don't Dress for Dinner. "

Talent Unlimited actors in the show are Darren Kennedy as "Bill" and Jan Chapman as "Daphne".

Wednesday, April 23, 2008

Freedom Team Salute

An endorsement for Freedom Team Salute.

Featuring the Voice of Jim Korinke. On-Camera talent include: Terry Henderson, Sanford Kelley, Jim Romick and Jill Szoo.

video

Mother's Day


Blayne Conroy for Hallmark Cards. This is part of their 2008 Mother's Day campaign.



Tuesday, April 22, 2008

Psychic Power

Terry Henderson and Carolyn Lang for the Psychic Power Network.

video

Monday, April 21, 2008

The Secret Garden

The Metropolitan Ensemble Theatre is staging a script-in-hand production of The Secret Garden. This promises to be a wonderful show.

The performance will be on April 27th and is free of charge, however, registration is recommended.

For reservations, call the Kansas City Public Library at 816.701.3407 or use the following link to register: http://www.kclibrary.org/rsvp/scriptinhand/

Talent Unlimited actors in the cast include:

Andrea Bosswell-Burns


Natalie Liccardello

Michael Dragen


Katherine M.

Monday, April 14, 2008

KC Jubilee Film Festival

2008 Kansas City Jubilee Film Festival is coming—April 16 – 20

This is the 12th annual celebration of independent film in Kansas City. Five days of new films. Many created by local filmmakers. Discover truly independent films with plots, character, and grit.

Films will show in Historic Westport at the Tivoli Cinemas, Westport Coffee House Theater and 4141 Pennsylvania. Interact with filmmakers, learn from the experts and take in some jazz & BBQ.

Check out the programs - www.kcjubilee.org

  • Festival Passes are $50 and gain you entry to all films
  • “Pick 5” for just $30
  • Single tickets cost $8 each

Thursday, April 10, 2008

Keystone

Holly Starr and Brent Crawford for Keystone Light Beer.





Welcome!

Welcome to the Talent Unlimited Blog! We're glad you're here. If this is your first time checking-out the Blog... make sure to scroll down and see past postings and continue to check back. We're always blogging about something new! Thanks for stopping by!

For more information on Talent Unlimited and our amazing actors, models, voice talent and kids visit www.talentunlimited.com.

Jacob Hays

Talent Unlimited represents Jacob Hays. His credits include; Are You Smarter Than a 5th Grader and Disney's Really Short Report. Click HERE to check out some of his work.


Tuesday, April 8, 2008

Hope

Click HERE to view the trailer for the film Hope.

Starring Bob Paisley
& Jan Chapman.

Friday, April 4, 2008

The Musical!


Featuring Julie Shaw and Jon Daugharthy. Visit www.qualityhillplayhouse.com for more info.





Thursday, April 3, 2008

Visit Missouri

Jon Daugharthy, Joseph Knopke & Shannon Knopke for Missouri Tourism. You can also see this ad as the back cover of Hallmark Magazine's May 2008 issue.


Wednesday, April 2, 2008

Get A Life


Click HERE to view the new "Get A Life" campaign for UMKC.

Jared Orr is the voice over in the "Skate Board" spot.



Morgan Buckner is a runner in the "Running" spot. (If the second spot doesn't run, hit your Refresh button)









Monday, March 31, 2008

RED

Sachie Stroder for Hallmark's (PRODUCT) RED ...

Thursday, March 27, 2008

Kevin on TV

Kevin Brief is always popping-up on Network TV. Kevin moved from Kansas City to L.A. several years ago and has become a successful (full-time) working actor! Not easy in a city full of actors. Here's a few interesting clips of Kevin's work....




Eli Stone...ABC
video


That's Kevin too! Full make-up for Star Trek: Enterprise.

Las Vegas...NBC

video

CLICK HERE to view Kevin's latest commercial for Cheetos.


CLICK HERE for Kevin's Now Casting site and to see more of his work.


FYI: Kevin will be in Kansas City for the entire month of May shooting a film. Call Talent Unlimited to book Kevin while he's in Kansas City!