ED- There comes a time for every magazine to meet a great celebrity in person and able to share an interview of them with its readers. This is the case with actress Calista Carradine and The Eerie Digest. Calista is the granddaughter of John Carradine, and the daughter of actor David Carradine, and a famous actress in her own right. Calista, I had the pleasure of meeting you at the American Film Markets festival held at the Viceroy hotel in Santa Monica. It was a wonderful evening and I was very impressed by your warmth and style. Tell us about your family’s influence on your career and your early acting days.

CC- Well my parents had me in the theater in vitro .My mother danced in shows with my father before, during and after my birth. They had met at 16 and their families were close I have pictures where my great grandparents are together with my parents at birthdays and holidays. My parents did shows together in San Francisco, Virginia and New York. My father played the Catholic priest in The Deputy and the Inca King in The Royal Hunt of the Sun, both on Broadway. He and my mother did Othello and Mid Summer nights dream together to name a few and my mother went on to choreograph at a fine arts college in Geneseo New York and Alvin Alley asked her to join his company but she opted to give me roots instead later she choreographed musicals at a college in California. The first time I remember seeing my grandfather was at the cow palace when he played Scrooge in a Christmas Carol. When my mother and I moved to California it was an exciting time. My father was Kung Fu, Keith won an Oscar for I’m easy in the movie Nashville, Dad was nominated for playing Woody Guthrie in Bound for Glory .I got to meet Mork and The Fonze at the academy awards my grandfather came and made a grand event of it as always. I am most happy when I am in rehearsals or on stage. I feel at home when I get anywhere near a production. My battle cry is The Show Must Go On.

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Jacque Temple

ED- The Eerie Digest is proud to present the well-known actress, Jacque Temple to all our readers. Jacque, how did you get your start in your film career, and what was your inspiration to do so?

JT- I had the honor to serve as an Advance Person for First Lady Nancy Reagan. An advance person is one who travels 3 weeks before a scheduled engagement to work with the grass roots organizations, the facilities, the press, the Secret Service, and who plans every movement the President, Vice President, or First Lady will take from the time they step off Air Force 1 or 2 until they return to the plane for their departing flight. I learned so much from Mrs. Reagan’s love of in-depth preparation and attention to detail. She made appearing before the camera seem so fun that I told myself “one day I’m going to be working on the other side of the lens”.

ED- What was your earliest work and tell us something about the production ?

JT- Hahaha! My very first play was in 2nd grade. I was the queen of our school Christmas play and realized at that very early age how much I enjoy being part of a team and learning a new process! Unknowingly, the seed had been planted.

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Wayne Shipley

ED- The Eerie Digest is very excited to introduce producer Wayne Shipley to our many readers. Wayne, how did you come involved with filmmaking and what was your biggest influence to do so ?

WS-I’ve been a film buff all my life and remember fondly the countless hours I spent as a kid watching B-Westerns, serials, and the classic Universal horror films. My appreciation eventually broadened to include all manner of films. As a high school teacher, I had the opportunity for a time to teach film appreciation and filmmaking. Watching youngsters suddenly find themselves totally immersed in a filmmaking project further cemented my understanding of how powerful the art of the motion picture is. I also found myself early on drawn to the work of John Ford. In my mind he was a poet, whose compositions were often visually moving and whose characters demanded attention. Since I first saw it on a drive-in movie screen in 1957, Ford’s The Searchers has been my favorite film. Having screened it at least a hundred times—scrutiny enough to reveal all manner of warts and gaffes—The Searchers remains for me simply the best of its ilk.

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ED- The Eerie Digest has been reporting on the TV/ pilot for the upcoming hit television show, ‘Hard To Be Me.’ It is our pleasure to present one of the actors for that series, Bob Creager. Bob, when did you begin your acting career, and what influenced you to do so?

BC- Thanks Joe for inviting me to the pages of The Eerie Digest. About 10 years ago, my son started homeschooling and my part of his training dealt with his electives. One of his “classes” consisted of crewing on about 200 cable access TV shows including some that I produced and directed. My host (Edward Asher) on the talk show ‘Solutions’ suggested that I could become a better director if I spent a little time in front of the camera. Because of that conversation, I became an extra on ‘The Wire’ and “Ladder 49.’ Those experiences propelled me into acting classes and the search for meaningful principal roles. There have been a few detours on the search for “meaningful” but otherwise, I’ve had a lot of fun. I’ve been acting now for about six years.

ED- One of your early projects was ‘Pizza Palace.’ Please tell us about this film and the role that you played.

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Michael Bangham

ED- The Eerie Digest is really excited to present an author who writes in the genre of science fiction, on of the mainstays of our readers. We are happy to introduce author Michael Bangham to all our fans. Michael, what influenced you most to write in this genre?

MB-It began when I was a pre-teen. The classic—H.G. Wells “The Time Machine” was the written and visual experience that actually pushed me into the whole literary and sci-fi world. During that time I wrote short stories, viewed, and enjoyed just about every fictional and real-life experience.

ED- Please tell us the theme behind your novel, ‘Door World: Planet Dectonia’.

MB-Door World is the intriguing love-story, action, adventure, high-tech-saga about the dilemma of a young boy who finds himself caught up in cosmic forces (time travel) that existed from the singularity.

ED- Who are the characters in the story, and tell us something about each one of them?

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ED- The Eerie Digest has been breaking new ground recently into music and the Arts. This is true of many new production companies who have produced films and programs not on entertainment, but for a different purpose. Tom Porter is such a producer and his programs center on Animal Protection. Tom, you are the Director of Feed The Minds, Incorporated which was founded in 1997. What is the purpose behind this production?

TP- Feed The Minds, Inc. is the name of my non-profit corporation that I created as a legal entity to produce my educational and nature documentaries and entertainment projects under. I wanted a name that was broad enough to encompass a wide variety of projects under. My first corporation was named the Wildlife Foundation but the name was not broad enough to include my theatrical projects and it really was not a foundation. (more…)

Megan Hurst

ED- The Eerie Digest was very pleased recently to view the screenplay of the TV/pilot ‘Hard To Be Me’. One of the most pleasant surprises that we were treated to was exciting performance of one of the actresses in it, Megan Hurst. Megan, what inspired you towards the career of acting?

MH- I had many interests as a child. Like most little girls, I wanted to be a teacher one day, a lawyer the next. I even remember practicing giving shots as a pretend nurse. I didn’t recognize my love of the spotlight until I got a little older because I was very shy! When I was about eight, I had my heart set on becoming a singer after hearing Britney Spears’ “Baby One More Time” album for the first time. Nothing else had stuck since. I quickly got into voice lessons and I’d put on shows and pretend concerts in my room and would sing for my stuffed animals as if they were my audience. In middle school, I joined a show choir that would allow me to perform in front of a real audience. From then on, I felt like I was already living my dream. My drive for singing would eventually propel me into musical theatre for the next few years until I graduated high school. Along the way, I was bitten by the acting bug, and well, I’ve been infected ever since. (more…)

ED- The Eerie Digest is absolutely thrilled to introduce author Marc Douglas to all our readers. Marc, your books are the stuff that our readers really enjoy. What was your influence in this genre of fiction?

MD-I love science fiction but am particular about how it is presented. I prefer reality based what-if scenarios to fantasy. I like a good, creative imagination but I like to be substantiated. I was living in up state New York during the 9-11 crisis. I had spent most of my life living within view of the WTC and like so many other people this outrage hit hard. There were a couple of other personal events that took place when combined together presented an overwhelming unexpected change. I decided that terrorism, pollution, war, corruption and the vanishing resources we all deal with presented an interesting platform for a story, “How did we get here?” and “Where do we go from here?”. One last note: I have to give Dean Koontz another credit. After reading “The Watchers” I fell in love with the possibility of intelligent dogs. My test readers requested more chapters on the dogs and so I obliged. I think they add some fun into the mix and play a substantial role in the book. You might expect this from the cover.

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