by Carol Thalmann | Comic Con, Interview, Video
Karl Urban – Actor SLC Comic Con FanX 2014 SaltlakeComicCon.com From the very first moment, Karl Urban grabs his audiences’ attention, hearts and minds. Born in Wellington, New Zealand, Mr. Urban brought his deep, commanding voice to the stage of Salt Lake Comic Con. His wisecracking character enveloped the crowd with fast paced zings and deep answers. Karl showed his lifelong love of all things science fiction and fantasy. He fielded questions ranging from Star Trek to Lord of the Rings. Will he be the next Dr. Who? How about starring in Star Wars? Since beginning his major acting career in 1991 with the TV series, “Shark in the Park”, Karl has appeared in well over 40 TV series, video game, and movies. A brief list of these appearances would include, “Hercules: The Legendary Journeys”,” Xena: Warrior Princess”, “The Lord of the Rings” Trilogy”, “The Chronicles of Riddick”, “The Bourne Supremacy”, and in the J. J. Abrams reboot of the “Star Trek” movie franchise. Karl has also taken the leading roles of the “Dredd” movie and his own TV series, “Almost Human”. Here’s a bit of trivia about Karl’s acting abilities. After his first appearance as Leonard “Bones” McCoy in Star Trek, it was rumored that he had found a way to actually channel the spirit of DeForrest Kelley. His performance was so convincing that Leonard Nimoy (who starred alongside Kelley in the original series and films) was reportedly moved to tears. In April 2014, Salt Lake held its first Comic Con FanX. The Fan Experience brought in many guests, artists, and celebrity visitors. As a result, over 100,000...
by Brian Wesley | Fantasy Con, Gallery, Interview, Video
Sean Astin and Billy Boyd SLC Fantasy Con 2014 www.FantasyCon.com Sean Astin is an actor and singer known for his roles as Rudy, Mike in the Goonies, and Samwise in the Lord of the Rings. Sean grew up as a true Hollywood child. His mother is Patty Duke (from the Patty Duke Show) and Sean considered his father to be John Astin (Gomez from the original Adam’s Family). Sean started acting at a young age but got his first gig at 10. Three years later he starred in The Goonies. After The Goonies he played in one of my favorite TV movies, Disney’s B.R.A.T Patrol and went on to be in Toy Soldiers, Encino Man and Rudy. Children might recognize his voice as Oso on Disney’s Special Agent Oso and as Raphael on the 2012 animated Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles. As a teen Billy worked as a book binder for 6 years he then went to college where he studied acting and even puppetry. Billy became an avid surfer during his free time in New Zealand. In 2006 his Scottish band, the Beefcakes, released their first album. That same year Billy became a father. Billy is known most for his role as Pippin on Lord of the Rings. This year Sean and Billy spent time away from home to visit SLC’s Fantasy Con. It was more of a heart-felt comedy show than a convention panel. Enjoy!...
by Brian Wesley | Fantasy Con, Gallery, Interview, Video
Summer Glau – Actress SLC Fantasy Con 2014 www.FantasyCon.com This Southern gal’s parents sacrificed so much to provide for her ballet training and education. At 19 it all came to a halt as a small injury turned bad. A broken toe is no big deal but Summer kept dancing on it, ashamed to tell anyone, and eventually it ended her dreams as a professional ballerina. Her foot healed and she began doing other non-ballet dances. She convinced her parents to let her move to LA for the summer. Eventually, a few months turned into something longer and she landed a tiny appearance on Joss Whedon’s TV show, Angel. What did she play? You guessed it, a ballerina (Russian). In the video below she says she missed the initial auditions but snuck into the casting call backs and landed the role. This is where she caught Joss’ eye. Joss later cast her as River in the delayed hit Firefly. Since then she has starred as main characters and a guest actress in 16+ TV shows most of which have geek theme. She’s even been in a few movies. Summer also discusses training for fight scenes, her fiancé, and how much of a role model Summer’s mom played in her life. This July 4th weekend SLC held its first Fantasy Con. There were 100’s of guests and dozens of celebrities. We appreciate Summer Glau taking time away from family to visit our city and spend time with her fans. Tony Toscano (Tony’s website) MC’d the Q&A panel. Here’s the video of Summer Glau Interview: Here are a few of the...
by Brian Wesley | Fantasy Con, Gallery, Interview, Video
Simon Pegg Panel SLC Fantasy Con 2014 SLC Fantasy Con 2014 www.FantasyCon.com Simon Pegg is most recently known for his roles in Star Trek, Shawn of the Dead, Mission Impossible 3 & 4, and Hot Fuzz. However, before there was stardom he was a writer and comedian. He studied literature and theater at Stratford-upon-Avon College and the University of Bristol. Besides being an actor, Simon really understands crowds and was an absolute delight at the SLC Fantasy Con. His stories were fun and heart-felt and you can tell he really loves his fans. In fact, rumor has it that this was Simon’s first ever appearance as a guest of a con. Simon Pegg shared experiences with Leonard Nimoy and fun times on set. He talks about his friends and the pranks they played on set. One of the funniest stories was the Neutron Cream joke. Simon talks about his childhood, Nick Frost, script writing, growing up, and about the joy of being a geek. Here is a video of the interview. The MC was Tony Toscano (Tony’s website). Here are some photos we took during Simon Pegg Panel SLC Fantasy Con 2014 MC’d by Tony Toscano (Tony’s website). ...
by Carol Thalmann | Comic Con, Interview, Video
Aaron Douglas – Actor, Writer, Producer SLC Comic Con – Fan X Experience 2014 Salt Lake City Convention Center SaltLakeComicCon.com Ever wonder what’s really in the cockpit of a viper? Did you know that Katee Sackoff really is a girl? Aaron Douglas shares it all. In the video he talks about an experience when his son, at the age of 9, visited the set of Battlestar Galactica for the first time. Aaron also dishes on fellow cast members, Katee Sackoff and Edward James Olmos and how he landed the role of Chief Tyrol. Born in the Great White North (Canada, for those of us who aren’t from that local), Aaron stated how much he really loves Salt Lake City, comparing it to Canada. He also quoted his friend Nick Bishop (an Australian actor), saying, “it’s sort of like taking a city from the Commonwealth countries and plunk[ing] it in the middle of America.” Since beginning his major acting career in 2000 with the TV Movie, “The Inspectors 2: a Shred of Evidence”, Aaron has appeared in well over 80 TV series and movies. A brief list of these appearances would include, “Dark Angel”, ” Stargate: Sg-1″, ” X-Men 2″, ” Andromeda”, “The Chronicles of Riddick” and, of course, Battlestar Galactica. Here’s a bit of trivia about Aaron Douglas’ normal audition process. He will often audition himself by reading scripts for other people while they are competing for different movie roles. He says that in the hours he spends working with the directors, in the audition room, the directors get to know him and tend to give him little parts as...
by Brian Wesley | Music Video, Video
SLC Pops Orchestra Music Video Website: Facebook Wesbite: YouTube We at Wesley Productions spend half of our time producing content for others. We don’t mind because we do what we enjoy. We were asked to participate in the latest Salt Lake City Pops Orchestra music video entitled “Skyfall”. Yes, we had just finished a music video with TLC trio with the same song. What can we say, Adele is an amazing singer and the song is quite popular. Wesley Productions used our 18′ Kessler crane with revolution head to help the SLC Pops capture the excitement of this song. When we arrived on set early in the morning we learned that Brittany James would be the singer highlighted in the video. It was a blast. To make things better, a train passed just as we started filming. It couldn’t have been timed better. Here are a few videos from the video. Check out the...
by admin | Gallery, Promotional Video, Video
Wesley Productions was asked by Rock Canyon Studios and Refinement Records to help with a Christmas special called A Musical Christmas that quickly became dear to our heart. All of us at Wesley Productions became heavily involved. We provided help as Production Assistants, Craft Services, Gaffers, Lighting, Sound Assistants, directors, editors, and more. Now, we didn’t do it all. There were many people involved and there were many recording sessions. However, as the show began to come together Wesley Productions ended up editing 90% of the show and conformed it for television and delivered it to ABC4 and CW30 here in Utah. Brian Wesley, owner of Wesley Productions became a Producer for the show. It was a blast. Yes, it was work and many many long hours. However, the real fun came in working with Rock Canyon Studios, Refinement Records, and the singers and performers from all over Utah and California. We are amazed at the talent. The show aired prime time on both ABC4 and CW30 on several days including Christmas Day. A Musical Christmas was truly a labor of love. Rock Canyon Studios’ website: RockCanyonStudios.com Refinement Records has changed its name to Refinement Productions and you can find there website here: RefinementProductions.com Here is A Musical Christmas’ YouTube and Facebook pages: YouTube – AMusicalChristmas Facebook – AMusicalChristmas Here are some various production videos. None of these photos were taken by Wesley Productions. To see more visit Facebook – AMusicalChristmas Nathan Osmond and Lexi Walker We Are The Strike Jason Scheff of Chicago Adam Reader Crescent Super Band Crescent Super Band Crescent Super Band The Jets Adam Reader King...
by admin | Music Video, Video
Lindsey Stirling Violinist Lindsey’s YouTube Wesley Productions teamed up with Rock Canyon Studios to do crane work for a Christmas Special (that aired all around the US). Here is the portion of the video from Rock Canyon Studios (editor & producer). Wesley Productions was asked the following year to help produce the Christmas Special for the 2013 Christmas Season which was aired on ABC4 (KTVX) and CW30 (KUCW). Here is their YouTube and Facebook pages: YouTube – AMusicalChristmas Facebook – AMusicalChristmas Rock Canyon Studios’ website: ...
by Brian Wesley | Gallery, Music Video, Promotional Video, Video
TLC Trio Skyfall Music Video Wesley Productions is proud to be the exclusive producer for all of TLC Trio’s music videos. We are proud to release our latest music video “Skyfall” which features International Chess Champion Kayden Troff along with a live-action chess game. All to Adele’s “Skyfall” played by TLC Trio. Here are some production photos...
