This demo reel was once distributed as VHS, then on DVD and now it is fully online. It features the following movies:
Celtic Pride
Celtic Pride is a basketball comedy written by Judd Apatow and Colin Quinn and directed by Tom DeCerchio. Stars of the movie where Daniel Stern and Dan Aykroyd as Mike O’Hara and Jimmy Flaherty, two passionate Boston Celtics fans and Damon Wayans as Lewis Scott, the Utah Jazz’s All-Star shooting guard. This movie introduced the tallest actor in Hollywood to movie audiences. Vlad’s name in the movie was Lurch and he plays NBA basketball player from Eastern Europe who is trying very hard to fit in. He speaks little bit of Ebonics, has 12 speaking scenes in the movie and at the end of the movie wins NBA championship by scoring last second shot – assist from Damon Wayans, captain of his team.
The Sixth Man
After Celtic Pride, Walt Disney Pictures extended Vlad’s contract into even bigger role and bigger movie – The Sixth Man. In this movie, the tallest actor in Hollywood was one of the six people in the tittle of the movie and his name appears in credit list before the movie begins. The 6th Man is a supernatural comedy starring Marlon Wayans and Kadeem Hardison. The film was directed by Randall Miller who as directed other films and television shows including Class Act, Houseguest, thirtysomething, and Northern Exposure.
The film touches on comedy, supernatural elements, and even some drama. The film features real NCAA schools, although the rosters are fictitious. Some schools shown in the film include the University of Washington, University of Massachusetts, Fresno State University, Georgetown University, the University of Kentucky, the University of Arkansas, and others. The tallest actor in Hollywood plays the starting center for the University of Washington and his charachter name is Ziggy Hrbacek.
The film was released in March 1997 and went on to gross just over fourteen million dollars at the box office. The film features cameos from college basketball personalities such as Jerry Tarkanian and Dick Vitale. The 6th Man was shot on location in the United States and Canada. The prime location used in the U.S. was the Seattle-Tacoma in Washington. Vancouver was the primary location for filming in Canada.
Cedric The Entertainer TV Show
This basketball comedy features Cedric The Entertainer as basketball coach of NBA team. Vlad, plays the tallest character in the cast. While demo reel begins with this show, this is a fun, but small part of Vlad’s portfolio.
General Electric TV Commercial
This TV commercial is for fully owned subsidiary of General Electric – Town Partner Portland General Electric. This commercial shows a problem and solution. Problem is depicted through a daily life of a very tall person. Tall actor in this commercial is of course, the tallest actor in Hollywood – Vlad. Solution is shown through the end of commercial – see the commercial to see the solution. 🙂
The Parkers
The Parkers is an American sitcom that aired on UPN from August 30, 1999, to May 10, 2004. A spin-off of UPN’s Moesha, The Parkers featured the mother-daughter team of Nikki (played by Mo’Nique) and Kim Parker (played by Countess Vaughn). Vlad, was frequent guest-star on the show when they needed tall actor who can act. Episode in this team features one of Vlad’s appearances alongside Shaq O Neal.
Where is that Nissan commercial you did when you can’t fit in the car? I saw it when I was in Mexico. You should include this in your demo reel. It is funny as hell.
Apple now has Rhapsody as an app, which is a great start, but it is currently hampered by the inability to store locally on your iPod, and has a dismal 64kbps bit rate. If this changes, then it will somewhat negate this advantage for the Zune, but the 10 songs per month will still be a big plus in Zune Pass’ favor.