"Maneater" - our latest project!

Good news! We've just started a 4 hour miniseries for Lifetime Networks called "Maneater" based on the book of the same name by Gigi Levangie Grazer (The Starter Wife). The script is written by Suzanne Martin, and I'll be able to share with you the name of the actress playing the lead shortly.

This is a funny and entertaining script, kind of a "Sex in the City" vibe, set in Beverly Hills. We'll be working on the 12 lead roles, including great roles for the lead's parents (Mother: 50's, very attractive Latina and Father: 60's, playboy type of guy, whose style is stuck in the 70's). Looking forward to finding some great people and assembling a wonderful cast. I'll write more about it in the upcoming blogs. This will shoot in February, most likely in the San Diego area.

Star-ving and other things upcoming

Well, the "Star-ving" shoot has been going incredibly well! The cast has been great, and everyone is having a good time. I can't wait to see the finished product. We had to do some last minute shifting when the shooting schedule changed to accommodate Gilbert Gottfried's schedule yesterday - and overnight we had to cast 2 roles. Luckily, we had some great people in our back pockets and it all went well.

Last week some of the wonderful improv players included Sean Cullen (Last Comic Standing), Natasha Leggero and Ahmet Best (Jar Jar Jinks from the Star Wars films). This week Jeremy Miller and Alan Thicke reunite (along with Tracey Gold) from Growing Pains for a funny episode.

Stay tuned.... we have some good casting news coming soon. We are in negotiations for a big project. More to tell you soon.

Actor of the week: Natasha Leggero - funny standup, improv actress. Has recently appeared on the Tonight Show with Jay Leno. Keep an eye out for her, she's very appealing and inventive.

Casting awards and other fun things....

Well, this has been a fun week (and it's only Tuesday!). On Sunday, the "Married...with Children" cast reassembled for David Faustino's webseries. It was so great to see everyone in one place, and it felt just like we were "home" again. Great to catch up with Ed O'Neill and Katey Sagal, and to visit with Christina Applegate.

When it came time to shoot and Ed's first line as Al Bundy was "God, I hate my life"... it was as if they had never stopped playing their roles. They all picked right back up where they left off over 10 years ago. Ed O'Neill has that Al Bundy delivery that we all know, and it was really funny to hear it come out of his mouth. I think everyone had a really great time, and it was wonderful to see Steve Ritt, the dog trainer - who brought a dog that looked just like "Buck" the dog. He told us that he had to use spray-on hair color to get the dog to look like the old Buck.

Last night were the Artios awards, where the Casting Society gives out awards to it's own. I was nominated, along with my casting partner Jason Wood, for our work on "Samantha Who". We didn't win, but congratulations to Meg Liberman and Cami Patton who won for "Pushing Daisies". Congratulations also go out to Jason Wood for winning his first Artios for "Park" in the independent low budget feature category.

Other friends of AreUaStar.com who won include David Rubin and Richard Hicks for "Re-Count". It was great fun to see all of the agents, managers and of course, all of my Casting Director colleagues. The CSA put together a great event and a wonderful dais that inclued Neil Patrick Harris as the master of ceremonies, Audra McDonald, Elisabeth Shue, Jimmy Smits, Sandra Oh, Joshua Jackson and Selena Gomez.

We're CAST!

When I signed on for the David Faustino web-series "Star-ving", I thought it would be a quick little fun project.  62 roles later, I think we've just about finished the casting for the 13 episode project.  I was right about the fun part, but not so accurate about the quick or  little description.

Lots of great people are doing the series including:  Ed O'Neill, Katey Sagal, Christina Applegate, Ed Asner, Alan Thicke, Seth Green and Coolio.   

They'll be shooting starting on Sunday for about 2 1/2 weeks.  It will be fun for me during the "Married...with Children" episode.  Since I cast the first 8 seasons of the show, I'm really looking forward to hanging with the cast - it's been a long time since we've all been in the same room together!

I'll let you know how it goes next week.