What's New?
JULY, 2011
- Karen recently completed a very successful run as Fanny Brice in "Funny Girl" at . She garnered GREAT reviews, played to full houses and got new representation from an agency that came to the show! Watch a highlight reel of her performance on .
- has Paul and Karen very busy! Most recently, they shot more episodes of the ongoing and perform monthly in , live sketch comedy at The Second City Hollywood! Paul & Karen also appeared as The Movie Guys on "Broad Topics" on to talk film, part of The Movie Guys' monthly appearances on the show.
- Paul joined Jonathan Browning from and Stoney Westmoreland in a great documentary adventure, "The Rowdy Ridge Film Project". Paul spent a week in the woods at a summer camp that caters to families dealing with abuse - substance, physical, etc. The week Paul, Jonathan and Stoney shot was a group of moms in rehab bonding with their kids in an attempt to get them back from Child Services. The documentary promises to be a unique look at addiction and how the simple things (including a week in nature) can bring healing. It was an emotional and creatively satisfying week, and despite the heavy sound of the subject matter, it's always fun to make a movie!
- Karen is in rehearsals for a new musical going up August 27th at The Pasadena Civic Center. It's called "The Real Love", and features loads of Broadway talent, including Adam Pascal ("Rent"), Cady Huffman ("The Producers"), Robert Torti ("Starlight Express") and Daisy Eagan ("The Secret Garden"). There are also some legends appearing in this one-time-only performance, including Shirley Jones, Betty Buckley and Cloris Leachman!
- Karen and Paul are staying active as board members of , The Midwest Entertainment Connection. In June, Paul participated in MECONN's Script Reading Series, performing in a staged reading of the original screenplay "Little Mafia".
- Paul was cameraman at this year's World Stunt Awards on the Paramount Pictures lot. It was an exciting night in The Paramount Theater, and everyone was a winner, because everyone who's a stuntman is hot.
- Paul has appeared on "General Hospital" a couple of times this Summer as a bodyguard. It seems Jason and Sonny's criminal gangs have come together, so there's opportunity to protect two of the big guys on the show. We hope they don't die because 1) Paul would be out of work and 2) It would mean Paul is a horrible bodyguard.
- Leah Finkelstein's new CD, "Feigning Composure" is being released this week! It was recorded at Rusk Studios in Hollywood and Karen sang backing vocals on a number of tunes. Check out Leah's announcement about the new CD , and look for it on sale via iTunes in mid-August!
- Paul appears in a new short film entitled "Open House", a collaboration with Tom Martin and Kevin Will, whose previous work can be seen on . "Open House" is WRONG, and is in post-production.
- Paul booked a print job for Toshiba, appearing as a salesman for internal brochures and marketing.
- Paul recently finished more video projects with his production company, , including:
A Safety Week highlight reel for Environmental Health & Safety at Universal Studios Hollywood
A summer music events reel highlighting the new stage at Universal CityWalk
Audition tapes and demo reels for TV and film talent
APRIL, 2011
- Karen and Paul recently did a SAG job for ACURA that is difficult to define, but here 'goes. It's a tie-in for the movie "Thor" where you can go to and take some online quizzes and tests to become an AGENT OF S.H.I.E.L.D.! As part of your training, you get to interrogate/question people to see if they're lying. That's us! So, it's like a commercial, but it's online, and it's kind of a video game...! Thanks to fellow Fredonia alum for helping us get the opportunity!
- Karen and Paul have gotten active as board members of , The Midwest Entertainment Connection. Paul and Karen sat in on a panel about independent filmmaking in January, and hosted MECONN Unplugged, an open stage variety hour, in April.
- have Paul and Karen very busy! Most recently, they shot some episodes of the ongoing Movie Preview podcast and wrote and performed in the first shows of "The Movie Guys LIVE!", live sketch comedy at The iO West Theater, Upright Citizens Brigade Theater and coming in May to The Second City Hollywood! Paul also called in to a to talk Oscars from the red carpet.
- Paul went to San Diego in February to perform at the Cobi National Sales Meeting. After a week of training, Paul came in as the comedy guy to host game shows to quiz the employees on what they've learned concerning a new drug launch.
- Paul has appeared on "General Hospital" a number of times this Spring as Sonny's bodyguard Paulie. Hopefully Sonny keeps up his nefarious ways and will need protection wherever he goes...!
- Karen placed third for the YEAR in the finals. She performed "Folsom Prison Blues" and "Stand By Your Man" with her new Gretsch guitar and brought the house down! She also had a stint at Viva Cantina in Burbank on Tuesdays at 10:30 in February and March
- Paul's been shooting and editing for the upcoming DVD set. A pretty cool experience that involved shooting at Stan's studio, Legacy Effects.
- Karen wrapped recording backing vocals on a new Leah Finkelstein CD at Rusk Studios in Hollywood. Check out Leah , and we'll have plenty of info on prestonandvolpe.com when the new CD is for sale!
- Paul continues to do weird stuff for Universal Studios Hollywood, including a recent Blues Brothers show for a special event for QuestionMark assessment management systems and he played a Carnival Barker for a complete park buyout for ONE GUY AND HIS GIRL on Valentine's Day!
- Paul performed another set of Elvis music for the AGVA Sick & Relief Fund in Cheviot Hills in February. Always weird and always a hit.
- has hired Paul to shoot and edit another party video. Reel Memories' Russell Nickerson is good people. Check out his site.
- Paul recently finished more video projects with his production company, , including:
A commercial for Astound Broadband in the San Francisco area
A Marketing Council Meeting video for NBCUniversal, highlighting all the theme partk and CityWalk attractions for a meeting with Comcast in Orlando
"Hop" movie premiere sizzle reel at CityWalk
- "Eco-Ninja", a short film from featuring Paul is making the film festival rounds, playing this week at the 15th ANNUAL ASU ART MUSEUM SHORT FILM AND VIDEO FESTIVAL in Arizona. Producers Jonathan Browning and Leslie McManus do a great job at getting their short films seen around the world!
JANUARY, 2011
- Paul appeared on an epsiode of ABC's "No Ordinary Family" last fall. He played the Assistant Football Coach to JJ, son of Michael Chiklis' character Jim Powell. The episode was called "No Ordinary Quake" and can be seen for free on !
- Karen and Paul wrote original comedy for a roast of one of the east coast's biggest real estate developers and managers. Paul flew to NY and ran the party's activities and led the roast of the guest of honor, which included a bogus "A&E Biography" of his life. The event was run by .
- Karen recently recorded backing vocals on a new Leah Finkelstein CD. Check out Leah , and we'll have plenty of info on prestonandvolpe.com when the new CD is for sale!
- "Sweetener", Paul's short film featuring Karen, continues to get shown the love, most recently being included at The Official Best of Fest, Award Winning Films to Inspire.
- "Help Yourself", the short Karen wrote and stars in, and Paul directed, is playing at The Los Angeles Comedy Festival's Screening Series January 19th. Theater Asylum, 6322 Santa Monica Blvd., Hollywood. $10
- Karen and Paul are keeping very busy at , most recently appearing in a huge, full-length . There's new material posted to the site daily.
- Karen has made it to the finals in the ! She'll be singing classic country for a shot at a cash prize on Monday, January 24th. Please come out and support her, and we'll have more info here when she gets on stage with her new band sporting her new Gretsch guitar.
- Paul continues to perform at Universal Studios Hollywood in the Blues Brothers R&B Revue. He also hosted live bands on the CityWalk stage over the holidays, and the New Year's Eve entertainment on the Universal Tour Plaza stage for THOUSANDS of people with Gretchen Bonaduce's band Ankhesenamen.
- Paul appeared on KRLD 1080AM a couple times at the end of 2010 to discuss horror and holiday movies with the afternoon show hosts. Hear the appearances at .
- Paul recently finished more video projects with his production company, , including:
Flo Rida and Good Charlotte concerts at CityWalk & Emily Osment and Honor Society concerts at The Americana at Brand
"California Gurls" parody video for the HR Department of NBC/Universal
TV commercials for Samba Restaurants and Astound Broadband
My Visit With Santa videos for The Grove and The Americana at Brand
- "Going Green", a short film from featuring Paul is still going strong, making the film festival rounds, playing this week in Hamburg, Germany at the A Wall is a Screen Film Festival. Producers Jonathan Browning and Leslie McManus do a great job at getting their short films seen around the world!
- Karen and Paul recently became board members for , The Midwest Entertainment Connection, a networking group supporting and promoting entertainers with a midwest connection. Hit up the site if you want to join and meet some great people!
- Karen continues her up and down relationship with Broadway-bound musical "Baby, It's You!". The production has picked a Tony-winning actress for the lead for its NY run, but Karen made a great showing at the NY producer callbacks and got herself short-listed for future replacements and productions.
- Paul participated in One Day Play New Year's Eve fundraiser. He helped write a full-length play script in one night. A cast then went on to rehearse and perform the play, all in 24 hours!
- Upcoming gigs include a San Diego pharmaceutical training event that needs comedic game show hosts and the first Movie Guys LIVE show at iO West in Hollywood. Both scheduled for February.
OCTOBER, 2010
- Paul booked an episode of "No Ordinary Family" on ABC. It's episode five of the season and he plays an Assistant Football Coach to JJ, son of Michael Chiklis' character Jim Powell. So, no exact air date yet (we're assuming late Oct./early Nov.), but we're sure you'll hear all about it.
- Karen and Paul recently returned from a successful corporate hosting gig in San Francisco. The company Genentech trained employees on the ways of a new drug and Paul and Karen teamed up with and a group of other actors to host a game show that tested the employees on what they learned.
- Karen has won the Cowboy Palace Talent Contest (and placed, and showed!) enough times to qualify her for the overall, yearly finals. She's performing classic country songs, singing and playing guitar and recently performed with our band Hollywood Hayride at a charity benefit event.
- Check out for more work from Paul and Karen. Paul co-hosts a new MOVIE PREVIEW podcast every week, and Karen co-hosted for September and also shot a video review of "Get Low". Get this: Karen positively reviewed a Bill Murray movie. Imagine that. There's new material posted to the site daily.
- "Eco Ninja" and "Going Green", two short films from featuring Paul are still going strong, making the film festival rounds. It's recently screened at the Port Townsend Film Festival, MountainFilm on Tour at Pitzer College and the Interfilm Short Film Fest. Jonathan does a great job at getting his shorts seen around the world!
- Karen and Paul have been hired by their good friend Evan Tyler of to write a comedy show for a high-end NYC client's 75th birthday. Paul will fly to NY to MC the festivities.
- Paul hosted a night of this summer's 98.7FM Rockstar Competition at Universal CityWalk and is due to host more live events on the CityWalk stage, weekends, later this month.
- Paul appeared on a couple more episodes of "General Hospital" over the summer. His character is no longer "Sonny's Bodyguard". Now they call him "Paulie"!
- Paul recently finished more video projects with his production company, Digital Mind Productions, including:
The Songs for Hope concert at The Grove LA, featuring Brian McKnight and Michael Bolton
Fashion's Night Out at The Grove, featuring Fergie
The Summer Events Highlight Reel for CityWalk, featuring Tim Russ, Gretchen Bonaduce and Tito Puente, Jr.
And Digital Mind is in post on an original local commercial to air on TimeWarner for SAMBA Restaurants in Redondo Beach and Universal CityWalk
- "Sweetener", Paul's short film featuring Karen, continues to play at festivals, most recently at the Hell's Half Mile Film & Music Festival in Bay City, MI.
- Paul continues to perform at Universal Studios Hollywood in the Blues Brothers R&B Revue.
- And not for nothing, September 21st was Paul & Karen's anniversary!
JULY, 2010
- "Eco Ninja" and "Going Green", two short films from featuring Paul are making their way around festivals, including LA Shorts Fest on July 23rd at Laemmle Sunset 5 in Hollywood. The shorts have already played Canada, South Korea and Europe!
- is going strong! Karen will be doing a video review of "Get Low" on that site in July, and you can go there now to watch Karen's "Sex and the City 2" review and the May Movie Previews, which were hosted by Karen and Paul. There's new material posted to the site daily.
- Karen's been bitten by the songwriting bug, and as she writes new songs, she's performing classics about town. She recently placed at the Cowboy Palace talent contest!
- Hollywood Hayride, the country band Karen and Paul are in, has seen its debut around town at the Aqua Lounge in Beverly Hills, The Cat Club on the Sunset Strip and Viva Fresh in Glendale. You can watch the band in action .
- Paul's been called in to "General Hopsital" for a few days to appear in a couple episodes. He shoots this week and air dates will be announced as soon as we know them.
- Paul recently finished more video projects with his production company, Digital Mind Productions, including:
Live concert videography for Gilby Clarke, Faster Pussycat, Ed Roth's Funktone Express feat. Chad Smith of the Red Hot Chili Peppers & Frank Stallone
Sean Kingston concert at CityWalk
CityWalk StreetFest video
Plugged In concert series Press Event video
- Paul will be doing his first audience warm-up gig for a game show this Monday, the 19th, for "Catch 21". As he looks for a show where this can be a regular gig, we'll keep you updated here!
- Paul continues to perform in The Blues Brothers R&B Revue at Universal Studios Hollywood. Call or e-mail for industry comps or discounted tix!
- Paul & Justin Bowler continue to pitch their TV pilots around town. Their latest stop was Triage Entertainment. We'll keep you posted as the bites come!