 | A major contributor to this article appears to have a close connection with its subject.(August 2013) |
Bryan W. Simon | |
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| Born | |
| Nationality | American |
| Occupation(s) | Professional Film and stage director and writer |
Bryan W. Simon is a stage, film director and writer from Waukegan, Illinois. He directed his first professional stage play at 17, the regional tour of a children's show entitled Jack and The Wishing Beans, for the Roundtree Players.
Simon grew up in Waukegan, Illinois and attended Waukegan High School, the College of Lake County, and went on to attend the University of Wisconsin–Milwaukee, where he graduated with a B.A. in political science.[ citation needed ] His father Shadie Simon was a high school English teacher, writer, educational film producer, and scriptwriter for Coronet Films in Chicago. His mother Denise Pautz Simon was a former schoolteacher and homemaker. At a young age, Simon became interested in photography and film, buying a Super 8 camera and making short films.
Simon directed his first professional stage play at 17, the regional tour of a children's show entitled Jack and The Wishing Beans, for the Roundtree Players. [1] At 29, Simon founded the Chicago area Stage Two Theatre Company in 1985. Stage Two under the artistic direction of Simon held a quiet national status recognized on both coasts for taking risks, having staged 36 global and Midwest premieres. [1] [2] [3] [4] The troupe specialized in debuting works of new playwrights. [5] Simon's goal for Stage Two was to stimulate thought and arouse the imagination.
The Second Room, Simon's first film, is about an alienated architect, who is paralyzed by disengagement and fear of experience. The Second Room received the Gold Award at the Charleston International Film Festival and was one of five shorts accepted for the AFI-Los Angeles International Film Festival in 1995. The Second Room was selected for the Discovery Series at the Santa Barbara International Film Festival. [6]
Simon's next feature film was Along for the Ride, a film about two estranged brothers who meet in Mexico to lay their deceased father to rest. Each man's story, their lies, fears, and deceits weaves a humorous, hallucinatory and heartbreaking journey toward understanding. [7] It won Best of Fest - First Feature at the Saguaro Film Festival International. It was an official selection in competition at the Austin Film Festival, Sarasota Film Festival, New Haven Film Festival and Atlanta Film Festival. The film was originally distributed by Fabrication Films formerly Search Party Films (distribution rights purchased at Sun dance Film Festival). [8] It is now distributed by Pop Twist Entertainment after a complete digital restoration of picture and sound from the original 35 mm negative. [9]
2010 marked the release of I'm No Dummy, the first feature length theatrical documentary about ventriloquism [10] which examined and dissected the world of ventriloquism through clips, photos, and interviews with many of the greatest events from today and yesterday, illustrating that this perceived novelty act is truly an extraordinary art form. I'm No Dummy was re-released in a Special Edition two-disc set and for streaming on September 18, 2015. The Special Edition was subsequently released on August 22, 2016 in the UK, Germany, Spain, France, and Israel. [11]
The picture stars popular ventriloquists such as Comedy Central's two-time Comedian of the Year and YouTube sensation Jeff Dunham, Tony Award winner Jay Johnson of sitcom SOAP fame, and Campus Entertainer of the Year Lynn Trefzger. [10] The film had its world premiere at The Seattle International Film Festival [12] and played at The New York International Children's Film Festival before being released by Salient Media and Vivendi/NBC Universal. [10]
In 2012, Simon directed the big screen adaptation of Jay Johnson's Tony® Award winning Broadway play, JAY JOHNSON: THE TWO & ONLY!. It was shot in Wilmington, North Carolina at the historic Thalian Hall. [13] [14] The film was released on Pay-Per-View in over 55 million households. In December 2014, it was released worldwide on DVD. The film became part of the Broadway HD library and began streaming worldwide in 2015. [15]
Simon has been a frequent contributor to magazines and websites on filmmaking such as No Film School, MovieMaker Magazine and The Wrap]. His first book was published in 2021, a follow-up to his I'M NO DUMMY documentary, the book is called I'M NO DUMMY Everyday: 365 Days of Ventriloquial Oddities, Curiosities, and Fun Facts.
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Rick Moser of the Copley News Service stated, "An exciting directorial debut. Simon has successfully translated his keen artistic vision to the screen." and "For a film debut, The Second Room shows a strong directorial hand." [16]
Film Threat Magazine in its BEST OF issue gave The Second Room an 8 (out of 10 points); and said "The Second Room is a hot feature from a director to be on the look out for." [17]
Bill Gallo of the Los Angeles New Times proclaimed, "This first feature by a young Chicago director named Bryan W. Simon is an astonishing thing to behold", and said the film was a "brave, funny, and engaging movie." [18]
Russell Smith of The Austin Chronicle called Along for the Ride, "Fresh and compelling, look and feel is nothing short of amazing" and stated, "Thanks to Simon's assured and straightforward direction, this film rises well above the lackluster status quo of current indie cinema." [19]
Daria Snadowsky of INsite Magazine declared, "Along for the Ride is a triumph for independent cinema... an extraordinary antidote to the mediocre mainstream". [20]
Patrick Hickey of The Review Fix stated, "Simon has without a doubt done his homework and made his subjects charming, thoughtful and fun, from start to finish." [21]
Dan Pearson, Sun Times Media for the Beacon-News, "I'm No Dummy, an entertaining and often eloquent 2009 documentary by Waukegan filmmaker Bryan W. Simon." [22]
Edward Yerke-Robins of LAist commented that, "I'm No Dummy presents ventriloquism as a complicated, controlled, and nuanced exercise. I'm No Dummy isn't interested in throwing the last word on ventriloquism; its only wish is to entertain while it educates, and it does so beautifully." [23]
Patrick Hickey of The Review Fix stated, "Bryan W. Simon's directing also brings out Johnson's quirky and sincere style with shots that showcase his wide smile. At others, the shot selection adds some extra uniqueness. At one point in the show, Simon takes us the inside of one of Johnson's doll's cases. A rarely seen shot, it caps off an incredibly dramatic segment. Always in the right place at the right time, Simon's work on this production is both well-executed and well-edited." [24]
Ventriloquism is an act of stagecraft in which a person speaks in such a way that it looks like their voice is coming from a different location, usually through a puppet known as a "dummy". The act of ventriloquism is ventriloquizing, and the ability to do so is commonly called in English the ability to "throw" one's voice.
Edgar John Bergen was an American ventriloquist, comedian, actor, vaudevillian and radio performer. He was best known for his characters Charlie McCarthy and Mortimer Snerd. Bergen pioneered modern-day ventriloquism and has been described by puppetry organization UNIMA as the “quintessential ventriloquist of the 20th century”. He was the father of actress Candice Bergen.
Wenceslao Moreno Centeno, known professionally as Señor Wences, was a Spanish ventriloquist and comedian. His popularity grew with his frequent television appearances on CBS's The Ed Sullivan Show during the 1950s and 1960s. Later, he became popular with another generation of fans on The Muppet Show.
Herbert David Ross was an American actor, choreographer, director and producer who worked predominantly in theater and film. He was nominated for two Academy Awards and a Tony Award.
Dinah Manoff is an American stage, film, and television actress and television director. She is best known for her roles as Carol Weston on Empty Nest, Elaine Lefkowitz on Soap, Marty Maraschino in the film Grease, and Libby Tucker in both the stage and film adaptations of I Ought to Be in Pictures, for which she won a Tony Award.
Melvin Richard "Dakin" Matthews is an American actor, playwright, theatre director, and theatrical scholar. Best known as Herb Kelcher in My Two Dads (1987–1989), Hanlin Charleston in Gilmore Girls (2000–2007), Joe Heffernan in The King of Queens (1998-2007),and as Reverend Sikes in Desperate Housewives (2004–2012).
Nina Margarita Conti is a British actress, comedian, and ventriloquist.
The Great Gabbo is a 1929 American Pre-Code early sound musical drama film directed by James Cruze, based on Ben Hecht's 1928 short story "The Rival Dummy", and starring Erich von Stroheim and Betty Compson. The film features songs by Lynn Cowan, Paul Titsworth, Donald McNamee and King Zany.
Jay Johnson is an American ventriloquist and actor, best known for playing Chuck Campbell on Soap.
The Naperville Sun is a newspaper based in Naperville, Illinois, USA. It is published three days a week, Wednesday, Friday and Sunday. It is owned by Tribune Publishing's Chicago Tribune Media Group, a group that also includes the Aurora Beacon News, the Elgin Courier News and the Lake County News Sun, formerly Waukegan News Sun.
John Wing Jr. is a Canadian stand-up comedian and author from Sarnia, Ontario.
Terry Wayne Fator is an American ventriloquist, impressionist, stand-up comedian, and singer. Born in Dallas, Texas, he developed an interest in ventriloquism from a young age, developing both this and a talent for singing. After initially performing with two bands, Fator eventually conducted solo performances, combining ventriloquism and singing with comedy. He gained national recognition for his talent when he won the second season of America's Got Talent, which helped to boost his career.
David Binder is a Broadway, off-Broadway, and West End theater producer and artistic director of the Brooklyn Academy of Music.
James Edward Nelson was an American ventriloquist who appeared on television in the 1950s and 1960s. He is most famous for commercials for Nestlé chocolate featuring Farfel the Dog. He also hosted a children's show sponsored by Nestlé.
I'm No Dummy is a 2009 documentary film about ventriloquism directed by Bryan W. Simon and produced by Marjorie Engesser through Montivagus Productions. It premiered at the 2009 Seattle International Film Festival before being released theatrically in the United States by Salient Media and NBCUniversal in 2010.
All the Way is a play by Robert Schenkkan, depicting President Lyndon B. Johnson's efforts to maneuver members of the 88th United States Congress to enact, and civil rights leaders including Martin Luther King Jr. to support, the Civil Rights Act of 1964. The play takes its name from Johnson's 1964 campaign slogan, "All the Way with LBJ."
Valentine Vox is a British born American ventriloquist and author known for his scholarly book on the history of ventriloquism, I Can See Your Lips Moving: the history and art of ventriloquism, which traces the practice back some three thousand years.
Andres "Andy" Señor Jr. is an American actor, stage director and filmmaker.
Je' Caryous Johnson is an American stage and film producer, author, playwright and director known for his Off-Broadway stage productions in the urban theater circuit. He is also known for his work of adapting stage plays from various classic urban novels from authors such as Michael Baisden's books Men Cry in the Dark (2002) and Maintenance Man (2003) and Eric Jerome Dickey's book Friends and Lovers (2004) as well as films such as Two Can Play That Game (2017), Set It Off (2018) and New Jack City (2022). Johnson is the author of the urban fiction novel Men, Money and Gold Diggers and is a four-time national championship playwright and became the honoree recipient of the NAACP Trailblazer Award in 2007. Je'Caryous has also been acknowledged as the first producer to adapt an African-American romance novel into a stage theater production.