The Year In Review For Zach Louis

I started writing this update from the very frigid South where we were visiting family for the holidays. One of the main questions actors get on a daily basis is "What have you been in lately?"

It makes sense that people want to know if they will be able to watch a relative/actor in a movie or TV show.  However, they often seem to think any work by the actor doesn't count if it doesn't appear on their TV set or in their local movie theater.

Zach accomplished quite a bit this year in terms of advancing his career. In fact, here are the Top 10 moments of Zach's professional year:

1. Sharp Objects - This is the title of the new Amy Adams HBO show. Zach played a drunk high school wrestler in one episode of the show. Even though the episode was filmed in May of this year, the show won't air until summer 2018.
2. Fresh Off the Boat - One of the first "industry connections" Zach made in Los Angeles was a guy that books actors to play football players on TV shows. The actors are either real football players or actors that have the size and build of football players. Zach was called into action again this year as a football player on this ABC sitcom.
3. The Marriage Zone - One of two plays Zach was in at the same time in North Hollywood. The theatres were about 2 miles apart which made it easy for Zach to perform in both productions back in July, August and September.
4. Somewhere in the Middle - The second No Ho play AKA "the play with the better snack selection during the show".
5. Burbank Comedy Fest - Hundreds of comics from across the country sent in submissions for this comedy festival. Zach was chosen to participate for the second year in a row. Plus, none of his sets were lumped into "teen comic" nights. He was placed in showcases with veteran comics.
6. Flappers Comedy Club - The first club that took a chance on Zach by booking him on a regular basis in 2016. They had him perform multiple sets in 2017. While Zach fit well with many of the comedians he opened for at the club, he probably meshed the most with the sensibilities of Hal Sparks the night they performed together.
7. The Ice House - While this is not a new comedy venue, it is a new club he is performing at on a regular basis. The Ice House has multiple locations but Zach always performed in the main room at the Pasadena location. 
8. The Laugh Factory - This club is one of the most famous comedy venues on Sunset Blvd in Los Angeles. Zach had his first chance to take the stage there just a few weeks ago. The thing that instantly struck him was the fact that it was "one big room". Flappers and The Ice House have multiple stages and rooms so Zach was happy to find out that The Laugh Factory is a venue with multiple seating levels while still being one large room 
9. Mike Sager - Mike is a bestselling author as well as a award-winning journalist. He contacted us about writing a profile feature on Zach and his loving, supportive and amazing parents. The feature also includes an awesome video profile. The article and video are being shopped around and I hope to have some news soon about a home for the project in 2018.
10. AGT - The year closed with an email (out of the blue) from one of the casting producers of "America's Got Talent". She had seen Zach doing stand-up earlier in the year and asked him to provide some video for her to show the producers of the show. We helped Zach go through his sets from various clubs and found a strong set to send her. They must have liked what they saw because he has an audition with them in early February. It certainly bodes well for 2018.

Thanks for following along with Zach's adventures in 2017. I hope everyone has a happy, healthy and fulfilling 2018!

This actor is looking forward to a successful 2018.

The Proof Is In...I Am Not A Jerk!

Spoiler Alert: I'm not exactly a warm and fuzzy person.

It's not that I don't like spending time with others. I just have little use for talking about myself for any length of time.

I like people to tell me what they need/what is on their mind so I will know what needs to be done. Let's get to the point and get moving ASAP.

Having said that, I recently discovered my personality is not as combative as some people believe.

In 2016, I was contacted by Mike Sager. Mike is a journalist who has written for Rolling Stone and Esquire, He is also an author whose articles inspired the feature films "Boogie Nights" and "Wonderland". He discovered my blog and contacted me about doing a feature story on Zach and his Dadager. It seemed like an interesting idea but we could never get our schedules to line up before the idea disappeared into the night.

Fast forward to this year as Mike and I touched base about the story idea. His editor wanted him to come to Los Angeles and interview out family. The story would touch on the journey that led us here as well as what a "Dadager" does for the career of his child/teen actor.

Mike and his film crew spent a weekend with us in September. The whirlwind weekend, filled with an intense interview process, included:

• Mike interviewing Dana and myself over dinner at Jerry's Deli. Dana and I discussed the decision making process behind moving to Los Angeles and what life is like having a teen actor.
• Interviews with Zach as he discussed his reasons for wanting to make acting his career, He also talked about the weird world of being a teenage stand-up comedian in the Los Angeles comedy scene.
• Mike and his crew went with us to The Ice House in Pasadena to film Zach's debut at the club.
• A few interviews, with the three of us together, discussing show business and how it impacts our lives on a daily basis.
• Even Doctor Murgatroyd AKA Doc The Dog got in on the action by insisting on sitting with us during one of the interviews.

The weekend with Mike is the most I've talked about myself/discussed the past in many years. I am not big on reminiscing about the past. I am more interested in the present as well as where I am heading in the future.

The weekend seemed to go well. Mike got a lot of good footage of Zach at The Ice House and some fun interviews at our home with all of us. The time spent looking back helped us focus on the future by examining the goals Zach is trying to achieve with his career/

I can feel your question about the interview...When can you read the feature article about Zach?

Mike put the article together and also made a short film piece containing footage from the comedy club and our interviews at home. He submitted them to his editor and discovered there was not enough drama or conflict in the piece.

In other words, I was not the cliche "evil stage parent" most people think of when it comes to parents of child/teen actors.

To his credit, Mike refused to do a rewrite that would have cast me in a bad light. He could have easily redone the piece to make his editor happy by making me a giant stage parent whose only concern is living off his kid.

The editor wanted a story featuring a stage parent like this guy: http://www.latimes.com/sports/la-sp-lavar-ball-plaschke-20171121-story.html

So, what will happen to the story and the short film?

Mike and his team are shopping the story around and getting some advice from folks in the entertainment industry. I'm not sure what outlet will pick it up and run the story. I will definitely keep you posted in the future.

For now, the initial outcome of this project is proof that I am not as big of a jerk as many believe me to be.

Don't get me wrong...I am kind of a jerk. I'm just not a "stage parent using my kid to live out my show business dreams" jerk.

A feature story about this actor is coming in the near future.

Why Haven't I Been Posting Lately?

There has been a definite lack of new posts by me in the last few months. I have plenty to discuss and stories to share from Hollywood. The main problems are a lack of free time and (sometimes) a lack of motivation to compose a new blog.

It's not that I don't want to update my blog on a regular basis. There are just times when my brain is in "writer overload" mode.  In the past two weeks, I have written a combination of news stories, blogs, articles and white papers about these topics:

*The overseas cryptocurrency market

*Fishing season tips for residents of Texas

*Cosmetic surgery including Mommy Makeover, Rhinoplasty Revision, BBL and forms of Lipo

*Steps to take when talking to insurance companies after a hurricane

*Hot topics for parents in 2018

*How to track down company funding information

*A new cosmetics line based in Greece

*A film festival manual for aspiring filmmakers

*Duct cleaning scams

*Crowdfunding ideas and incentives for a number of companies

After spending about 10 hours a day writing, I sometimes don't have the mental energy to compose a thoughtful blog. 

While I might not be able to update you on Zach's adventures as often as I would like, I will give you a quick bullet point rundown of his recent activities:

• Contacted by "America's Got Talent" 
• Appearing on "Fresh off the Boat" 
• Stand up gigs in Burbank and Pasadena
• A show at iO West
• Auditions for series leads and recurring characters
• A part in a play running every weekend in North Hollywood

The kid stays busy while also going to college and working at Universal Studios.

Even if I don't get a chance to share everything with you on my blog, I do update his adventures in Hollywood on my social media pages. The links to my social media profiles can be found on the right side of this page.

Thanks for your patience. I will be back with more tales of Hollywood as soon as possible!

You can always check this page for updates on The Artist.