Several other actors also have signed on for ‘Suite 7,’ which is sponsored by the Better Sleep Council and will be distributed online by Lifetime via MyLifetime.com, Hulu and others.

NEW YORK — Milo Ventimiglia (Heroes), Craig Bierko (Damages), Shannen Doherty (Charmed), Illeana Douglas (Entourage), Brian Austin Green (Desperate Housewives), Eddie McClintock (Warehouse 13) and Jaime Murray (Dexter) are among the Hollywood names that will star in Suite 7, a seven-episode branded web series to debut Dec. 17.

The show, to be distributed online by Lifetime via MyLifetime.com, Hulu and others, is sponsored by the Better Sleep Council, the consumer education arm of the International Sleep Products Assn., to heighten awareness of the important role proper sleep plays in health and well-being.

Suite 7 is the latest sign that entertainment industry talent is increasingly taking to branded entertainment. The show was developed in collaboration with marketing/PR agency CJP Communications, whose branded entertainment arm CJP Digital Media is producing.

Each week, the web series will see a new couple — newlyweds, divorcing couples, best friends, business partners, co-workers or even total strangers — check into Suite 7 and unpack personal baggage.

The series’ seven writers include Bierko and Douglas, and its five directors include Doherty and Ventimiglia.

Also involved in writing or directing roles are Susan Miller (The L Word, Anyone But Me), Mark Gantt (The Bannen Way), Tony Janning & Sandeep Parikh (The Legend of Neil), Wilson Cleveland (The Temp Life) and Michael Kang (Easy to Assemble).

Three years or so ago, Mark Gantt found himself dissatisfied with the way his acting career was progressing. In fact, it was barely inching forward. His girlfriend had booked a film and a TV pilot, but Gantt was spinning his wheels, unable to get many auditions or meetings with casting directors. His one dependable creative outlet was his acting classes at the Beverly Hills Playhouse.

One day a woman in class complained that her career was, like Gantt’s, stalled, while her sister was booking work regularly. The teacher, Allen Barton, advised, “You’ve just got to build your own door and walk through it.”
Barton’s edict touched a nerve with Gantt, setting him on a course that would result in a starring role in an original web series and feature film, both entitled The Bannen Way. Gantt would play Neil Bannen, a suave chick-magnet of a thief who finds himself torn between the examples set by his chief-of-police father and his criminally inclined uncle.

Gantt says of the moment he decided to produce original content. “I’ve been on sets and I actually directed a couple of shorts and some music videos back in 2003 and 2004. So I knew how to create stuff.”

Gantt had begun working in the industry in 1991, starting as a production assistant, then a driver, and finally an assistant prop master. He had developed a pattern in which six months each year were devoted to prop-department work and six to his acting and other creative pursuits. Now he was ready to push forward fulltime with the latter.

I know I need to do something when it scares the shit out of me. Wait… that’s total bullshit. I only know that once I’m in it. In the beginning it usually starts with a thought like, “Hey, I want to do a workshop to help people get started on their own web series.’ That thought is usually followed quickly by my wonderful critic who says, “why would anyone come to your workshop? there are so many panels and workshops already, why start another one? you’re a piece of shit and don’t know what you’re talking about…” Those thoughts freaking suck. They paralyze me and make me want to curl up in bed and not do anything. This last couple months have been filled with several of these moments, shaving to a mustache on THE TEMP LIFE…

 Streamy Award Winner Mark Gantt Presents Workshop ‘Create Your Career – A Web Series Workshop’ in NYC – October 10, 2010

The One-Day Only Event will Showcase the Success of One of the Biggest Web TV Series “The Bannen Way” from Conception to Distribution

(PRWEB) October 7, 2010 — Streamy Award winning actor, writer and producer Mark Gantt presents “Create Your Career,” a web series workshop that discusses how to successfully leverage the Web to carve your own path in the entertainment industry. The daylong class will cover the gambit of web entertainment topics like“Producing for the Web,” Monetizing Your Content” and “Benefits of a Pitch Website.” For more information: Visit Gantt Workshops (http://ganttworkshops.com)

An industry leader, Gantt received international success with his series The Bannen Way, which he produced,  co-wrote and stars. Financed by Sony Pictures Television’s Crackle distribution arm, this unique Web Series/Feature Film, has broken records with more than 14 million views, 4 Streamy Awards including Best  Actor (Mark), Best Drama, Best Director and was nominated for 2 Webby Awards. Due to its vast success, Sony Pictures Television is currently developing the project into a TV series.

I guess it’s usually misquoted, people usually say, “If you build it, they will come.” But in Field Of Dreams, Kevin Costner’s character hears “If you build it, HE will come.” I guess, in a way, it actually works the way it was said originally. I’m realizing that I am a BRAND, a BUSINESS. I’m no longer just an actor with a ‘B’ job. I think as artists, it’s hard to think of us as a business and well, to even think with a business mind. I just overheard a make-up artist on set say she’d never worked in an office. She said that the joke with her fellow Emory classmates is they’re not good at math. “That’s why I date Jewish men so they can figure out the tip.” But what I heard was, that she’s an artist, she doesn’t do the ‘business thing’ it’s not her strength. I also saw a tweet from Felicia Day today, mentioning digging up W-9’s and getting credit reports and that the business stuff takes longer than the creative at times. I’m rambling a bit, there’s a lot of stuff rolling around in my head lately.

One of my teachers, Richard Lawson talks about the misconception of an actor and as a character. He’d take two tapes (before digitally recording critiques at The Beverly Hills Playhouse) and hold them up. He’d say, “This is you as the actor, this is you as the character. They look identical, but they are different. You have to learn to let that character go. You created it, put it out there and now it’s done.” I took that literally and said, well my ‘acting career’ is that over there, disconnected from me, Mark, the person.

STREAMY AWARD WINNER MARK GANTT PRESENTS
A KICK-ASS WEB SERIES WORKSHOP
“CREATE YOUR CAREER”
SUNDAY, OCTOBER 10 – NEW YORK

The One-Day Only Event Will Showcase The Success of One of the Biggest Web TV Series “The Bannen Way” from Conception to Distribution

STREAMY AWARD WINNING actor, writer and producer Mark Gantt presents “Create Your Career,” a workshop that discusses how to successfully leverage the Web medium and carve your own path in the entertainment industry. The daylong class that will cover the gambit of web entertainment topics like “Producing for the Web,” Monetizing Your Content” and “Benefits of Pitch Website.” Visit Workshop Site now: GANTT WORKSHOPS

An industry leader, Gantt received international success with his series The Bannen Way, which he produced, co-wrote and stars. Financed by Sony Pictures Television’s Crackle distribution arm, this unique Web Series/Feature Film, has broken records with more than 14 million views, 4 Streamy Awards including Best Actor (Mark), Best Drama, Best Director and was nominated for 2 Webby Awards. Due to its vast success, Sony Pictures Television is currently developing the project into a TV series.

Gantt recently completed filming a guest appearance opposite Illeana Douglas, Craig Bierko, Milo Ventimiglia and series creator Wilson Cleveland for the upcoming fifth season of The Temp Life, the web’s longest-running branded comedy series produced by NY-based CJP Digital Media and premiering December 6th on My Damn Channel. Next Gantt will go behind the camera to direct Warehouse 13’s Eddie McClintock in one of seven episodes of a soon-to-be-announced branded anthology web series also produced by CJP and set to premiere this December.

TOPICS COVERED:
CASE STUDY: THE BANNEN WAY | PRODUCING FOR THE WEB | CREATE A UNIQUE WEB SERIES
FIND YOUR VOICE | USING SOCIAL MEDIA | BENEFITS OF A PITCH WEBSITE 
DISTRIBUTION OPTIONS | MONETIZING YOUR CONTENT | BUILD YOUR TEAM
PLUS – YOUR SUGGESTIONS

                                 
                          be fearless

 think outside the box

                    stop waiting

Revealed: Season 5 Guest Stars and More!

Illeana Douglas (Easy to Assemble, Entourage), Craig Bierko (Damages, Cinderella Man) and Milo Ventimiglia (The Divide, Heroes) will guest star on the upcoming fifth season of The Temp Life (http://www.thetemplife.tv), the original comedy web series sponsored by and produced for Spherion Staffing Services since 2006, premiering December 6th on My Damn Channel.

Temp Life creator/producer and star Wilson Cleveland enlisted The Legend of Neil’s Tony Janning and Gabe Uhr to write the new season which finds Nick “Trouble” Chiapetta (Cleveland) resuming control of hiring temps at Celltons, now the number-two cellphone button-maker in the country. When Celltons’ icy CEO, Eve Randall (Douglas reprising her role), believes one of Nick’s temps is sabotaging the company from within, everybody is a suspect including Nick’s estranged stepbrother Eddie (Bierko), a socially-ungraceful cafeteria temp (Ventimiglia) and other temp hires played by new and returning guest stars Tony Janning, Sandeep Parikh (The Guild, The Legend of Neil), Taryn Southern (Rules of Engagement) Mark Gantt (The Bannen Way), Jessica Rose (lonelygirl15, Greek), Ben Blair and Anyone But Me’s Rachel Hip-Flores.

The Bannen Way Webseries Review
Anthony Letizia

While the webseries medium provides the opportunity for talented television wannabes to tell their stories, hone their skills and get the finished product out to the masses without having to play the Hollywood game, it also provides Hollywood insiders to likewise bypass the system and prove what they are capable of on their own. Joss Whedon’s Dr. Horrible’s Sing-Along Blog is the most prominent example, but The Bannen Way likewise demonstrates what media professionals can accomplish with talent, a handful of credit cards and calling in favors from connected friends.

The Bannen Way stars Mark Gantt—an industry veteran who has worked behind the scenes on over a hundred productions as well as created a dozen or so short films—as Neal Bannen, a small-time criminal trying to escape from his life of crime. Bannen’s “one last job” turns into more, however, when he loses the $150,000 he owes underworld boss Sonny Carr (Ski Carr) in a poker game and agrees to steal a mysterious box for his ruthless mobster uncle (Robert Forster) in order to get the money back. The assignment takes a turn for the worse when an attractive picket-pocket (Vanessa Marcil) seemingly double-crosses Bannen, the target of the theft (Michael Lerner) hires three female assassins to protect the box and Bannen’s police chief father (Michael Ironside) threatens his son with jail time.

Mattel Planning Big Web Series Push For Barbie’s Beau Ken

by Marc Hustvedt on September 16th, 2010

Barbie gets all the attention—the outfits, the special editions, the SNL parody sketches—but what about her forlorn beau Ken?

Mattel has been looking to reinvent Ken with an ever so clever product placement as a central character in Toy Story 3D this summer. Now it looks like they are turning to the world of web series to revamp their plastic bachelor.

We came across this site for a new reality web series Genuine Ken: The Search for the Great American Boyfriend that seems to have just gone up this week. It looks like a casting call for now to find the real-life eligible bachelors who will star in the 8-episode series this fall. Is it just me or would Bannen Way star Mark Gantt be a shoo-in for this?

Saw a Tweet Today Wondering About Creating a Web Series… Or NOT?? Ask Mark Gantt About Being FEARLESS!

Okay, so I’m not going to get on a soapbox and preach but I think it’s pretty amazing that web series creators are making their “Passion Projects” as my friends from the WebTV Workshop say… and that in itself says a lot about where the entertainment industry is going, everyone now has access, PLUS you have unlimited opportunity to reach everyone who has a smart phone or Internet access, so what are you waiting for?

Okay – so you hear people say “Be Fearless” and maybe you think it’s a cliche’ but when you look at the example of how web series creator/actor Mark Gantt took what was in HIS HEAD and made it into a webseries that now has international distribution by Sony…. you want to know more about how it was done, right?? How it can help you be FEARLESS!

Well… let’s start with what happens when you don’t let the word “NO” or the phrase “you can’t do it” rule your world…and you follow your dreams…