Helmer is co-creator of “Teachers” web series
Following the recent announcement that its original web series “Teachers” was ordered to pilot by TV Land, commercial production company Cap Gun Collective has signed the series’ co-creator and director Matt Miller for U.S. representation.
Miller developed the “Teachers” web series alongside the sketch group The Katydids and produced it through Cap Gun TV, Cap Gun’s hybrid production studio that develops, produces, and markets original content for multiple platforms. The series includes dozens of webisodes edited by Tim Warnamen of The Whitehouse, and was first distributed through The Onion’s digital platform. Along with being one of Chicago’s most accomplished young theatre directors, Miller spent five years as a casting director for Paskal Rudnicke Casting.
“I first met Matt Miller when I was a terrible actor auditioning for commercials and he was running casting sessions,” recalled Cap Gun exec producer Matt Abramson. “We stayed in touch over the years, and when he approached us for ‘Teachers,’ we instantly knew it was a great fit. Very early into production, we realized that he is an extremely talented film director, and as shown in those episodes, he really knows how to get the best from everyone.
For the past 15 years Miller has directed for theatres large and small throughout Chicagoland. His critically acclaimed 2013 production of “The Seafarer” for Seanachai Theatre received four stars from the Chicago Tribune and two extensions; other notable credits include work with Steppenwolf, Mary Arrchie, Lifeline Theatre and Profiles Theatre. Miller is currently an adjunct professor at DePaul University’s Theatre School and a member of the faculty at both the Second City Training Center and The Acting Studio Chicago. Miller is also a proud 15-year company member of Barrel of Monkeys, a group that provides creative writing workshops for Chicago Public Elementary Schools that lack arts funding.
“Matt Abramson and I had a great time collaborating on ‘Teachers,’ and I also know Cap Gun co-founder and director Alex Fendrich pretty well from the Second City scene, and have often had him in to visit my on-camera classes around town as a guest director. So for me there has been a tremendous amount of trust and comfort in working with Cap Gun from the very beginning.”
On the U.S. roster for Cap Gun Collective, Miller joins directors Fendrich, Abteen Bagheri, Docter Twins, Tom Haines, Tomas Mankovsky, Jeppe Rønde, Michael Sewandono and Spooner/Bonde.
After 20 Years of Acting, Megan Park Finds Her Groove In The Director’s Chair On “My Old Ass”
Megan Park feels a little bad that her movie is making so many people cry. It's not just a single tear either — more like full body sobs.
She didn't set out to make a tearjerker with "My Old Ass," now streaming on Prime Video. She just wanted to tell a story about a young woman in conversation with her older self. The film is quite funny (the dialogue between 18-year-old and almost 40-year-old Elliott happens because of a mushroom trip that includes a Justin Bieber cover), but it packs an emotional punch, too.
Writing, Park said, is often her way of working through things. When she put pen to paper on "My Old Ass," she was a new mom and staying in her childhood bedroom during the pandemic. One night, she and her whole nuclear family slept under the same roof. She didn't know it then, but it would be the last time, and she started wondering what it would be like to have known that.
In the film, older Elliott ( Aubrey Plaza ) advises younger Elliott ( Maisy Stella ) to not be so eager to leave her provincial town, her younger brothers and her parents and to slow down and appreciate things as they are. She also tells her to stay away from a guy named Chad who she meets the next day and discovers that, unfortunately, he's quite cute.
At 38, Park is just getting started as a filmmaker. Her first, "The Fallout," in which Jenna Ortega plays a teen in the aftermath of a school shooting, had one of those pandemic releases that didn't even feel real. But it did get the attention of Margot Robbie 's production company LuckyChap Entertainment, who reached out to Park to see what other ideas she had brewing.
"They were very instrumental in encouraging me to go with it," Park said. "They're just really even-keeled, good people, which makes... Read More