Published June 2012
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PLEASE NOTE:
All newsletters up to Ferreira Fest 44 (including this one) used an off-site image storage system that is now unfortunately defunct.
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Whenever possible, photos have been added afterwards.
It’s June 20th – and that means it’s time for Ferreira Fest 30, the monthly celebration of the acting career of Louis Ferreira (Justin Louis)! Grab a free pineapple drink at the bar and come on in for breaking news about THREE new roles, tweets, pictures and a detailed report of A Week With Louis!
BREAKING BAD
Louis just finished shooting two episodes of the critically acclaimed AMC series BREAKING BAD (season 5, episodes 14 and 15). As soon as air dates/ times and titles are revealed they will be posted in Ferreira Fest, but you can expect them in mid- to late October. Due to a strict non-disclosure agreement we cannot reveal the character’s name or any plot points, but you can be sure it will be good!
PRIMEVAL: NEW WORLD
Louis is currently in Vancouver shooting 3 back-to-back episodes (episodes 11-13 of season 1) of the new series “PRIMEVAL: NEW WORLD” (a spinoff from the original British series which also involves a lot of Stargate alumni). Louis plays Colonel Henderson Hall, and there’s whumping ahead! Stay tuned for episode titles and air times, as Louis dons fatigues and combat boots again to deal with prehistoric creatures arriving through a rift in the space-time continuum in the middle of Vancouver. The series will air on the SPACE channel in Canada and on WATCH in the UK. If you have access to these channels, please let us know!
Addendum: France (Syfy France), and Germany (ProSieben) have also picked up the new series! (Thanks, Agi!)
GOOLA CITY
Louis landed the part of Peanut the Jazz Monkey in the Jim Henson Company‘s new full-length animated feature “Goola City“. Voice recordings will happen over the next month, also in Vancouver. Some of you might remember that this is one of Louis’ personal dream jobs, so let’s keep our fingers crossed that the movie is a big-time hit! More info as it becomes available…
A WEEK WITH LOUIS
A report by Bea
Earlier this year I found out I would be in Los Angeles on business for a week, and when Louis discovered he would be in town during the same time we decided to meet up and hang out. As you can imagine, for someone running a fan club this is a dream in 3-D!
A lot of preparation went into the trip on both sides, with the awareness that Louis’ schedule is entirely unpredictable and could change at a moment’s notice. One thing we had planned on from the start was the screening of “Dancing Still“, the short film Louis did in March of this year. Thanks to Agi for finding all the relevant information for the event, as the actual screen time was not set until literally days before!
I arrived in LA on June 8 in the afternoon and discovered that my El-Cheapo dumb phone actually works quite well in LA as Louis and I spoke several times that evening, trying to synchronize our schedules, since I was working a double shift the next day. We met up at his house and relaxed and talked for a bit and played with his dogs and the cat before heading to the American Academy for Dramatic Arts (AADA) on La Brea Avenue in Hollywood. It was a rather cozy gathering of academy alumni from various years, and I got to meet a lot of very talented young film makers, as well as established seasoned ones, such as Rob Munic and Ingrid Rogers, director and writer of “Dancing Still“, respectively, and Director of Photography and Editor Jeff Myers. Here are scans of the program:
The screening began with the showing of six short films; “Dancing Still” was third in line. The difference in production values was quite pronounced: everything about “Dancing Still” was far and above the rest – from the superb writing to the beautiful lighting and cinematography, the editing and sound. As a general rule Louis does not like to watch his own movies, but he was very pleased with this one and surprised at how much he enjoyed it.
“Dancing Still” is the story of two former lovers who meet up again 15 years after ending their relationship. Both have moved on to what seem to be perfect lives. There are sweet moments, shocking revelations, heartrending confessions and an ending so beautiful it can make you cry. Want to watch the movie now? Well, patience, grasshoppers. Mr Munic has kindly agreed to make himself available for an exclusive interview with Ferreira Fest in about 3 months, and then you will all get access to the movie. In the meantime, please send in your questions for Rob Munic. Please keep your questions pertinent to Mr Munic’s career and co-workers, the movie itself and of course working with Louis.
We had popcorn during the second half of the shorts and then Ms Rogers joined us, and she is every bit as stunning and beautiful as she is in the movie. During the break we took the opportunity to get a group shot. From right to left you have Jeff Myers, Ingrid Rogers, Louis Ferreira, Rob Munic and me.
After some more chatting with other film makers we all headed out to the M Cafe for a light late dinner where we talked some more about the movie. It was all shot in a single day, with flashbacks edited in later. Rob spoke about his next big project which will film in downtown Toronto, and that’s all I can say! Ingrid was getting ready to shoot a Jif commercial on Monday (yes, the peanut butter).
We drove the scenic route back through wildly meandering canyon backroads to avoid the freeway traffic, with a visit to Menchie’s Frozen Yogurt. Whenever we stopped anywhere during our travels – everyone knew Louis, and it was fun to watch him interact with his many acquaintances. Later I gave Louis a few of the original Mr. Mugs books (see Ferreira Fest 29 for more on Mr. Mugs). It had been a challenge getting a hold of these antique books, but Louis’ reaction made it all worth while, as he was very moved by his trip down memory lane.
I had another double shift the next day and was completely wound up when I met up with him again, so I turned down his kind offer for coffee and we went for Jamba Juice smoothies instead. Being a Georgia girl I had to have the peach smoothie, of course. After a couple of wheatgrass shots we mosey’d along.
Conversation with Louis is always easy. I’m not exactly tongue-tied myself, so we always had something to chat about, and then Louis decided we should both learn the lyrics to Billy Joel’s song “Vienna“. We must have listened to the song a hundred times while I was there – fortunately I have always loved it, and so it quickly became Our Song.
Dinner was at Iroha Sushi in Studio City, with the best seaweed salad I’ve ever had. And on we went to the infamous Aroma Cafe where Louis suggested a slice of chocolate cake. He came back with this huge thing about the size of his head! And it was warm and gooey and good enough to take a bath in!
The Aroma Cafe is this quaint little place where you get cookies and cakes (and everything comes in giant portions), coffee and tea, and where there are all these little environments both inside and outside where you can eat your dessert. Loyal Ferreira Fest guests will remember it as the place where Louis met up with Elyse Levesque and her mom recently. We ended up watching the remainder of the Tony Awards, and Louis’ guesses were of course always spot-on.
The next morning we drove out to Fryman Canyon to take the dogs on a hike. Again, Louis knew just about everybody and their pets – it’s a very popular place for people to walk their dogs. When we got to the secret turn-off we let the dogs off their leashes and let them run! Occasionally we would meet other people and dogs on the trail and exchange friendly greetings and chit-chat. At one point Louis turned around and nodded at the blonde lady we’d just been talking to. “That was Cameron Diaz,” he said, and then it hit me like a sack of bricks – I recognized her afterwards, as soon as he said it. But really – I’m on a trail with Louis Ferreira – why would I get excited about Cameron Diaz? Get real, people. She was very nice, though, and I think she probably appreciated both of us treating her like just another hiker. And yes, I did indeed forget my camera…
We took the dogs back to the house and then we were on our way to Santa Monica where Louis was scheduled to record a few tags for Mazda commercials. The studio was off an unassuming back street somewhere downtown and we chatted with the technicians and engineers for some time until 11am when the studio was booked for Mazda. I was so thrilled to be invited along – I would have been perfectly content waiting in the lobby, but I got to be in the studio and watch them work in what looked like Mission Control.
Louis was in a small room off to the side, and after some issues getting the proper texts the recording started. Louis did always 3 takes in a row. “Tags” are those short add-ons for commercials, usually at the end, that target specific markets or offers, along the lines of “Now, get the Mazda 3 with 0.9% APR for only…” The timing had to be absolutely precise, and it was amazing to see how Louis nailed it all the time every single time. In addition, because it was a tag the voice also had to match the rest of the commercial, in terms of timbre and speed. All in all there were about 36 snippets that were recorded. I thanked the producer for letting me sit in, and everybody was very kind. Here is Louis being Louis in the studio:
Afterwards we strolled through a pedestrian zone in downtown Santa Monica, the Promenade on 3rd Street, and we had lunch at a nice Mexican place, La Loteria. No spicy food for Louis!
Then he had to get ready for a cab pickup to go to the airport to fly to Albuquerque, to shoot his second episode of Breaking Bad.
I saw the big wildfires in New Mexico on the flight back home, so no wonder Louis returned with a blazing headache two days later.
Meanwhile I went off to OD on museums and galleries for the next two days. Personal favorites: the La Brea Tar Pits (apparently that’s also Aidan’s favorite) and the mineral collection at the Museum of Natural History. Total geek-out, and just plain awesome.
In fact, I was standing next to the skeleton of a T Rex when Louis called, back in town from filming. When I explained to him where I was he laughed and told me he’d just gotten the three episodes of “Primeval: New World“, which is all about prehistoric creatures ending up in Vancouver. This meant of course that the rest of our week was cut short, but I was so thrilled that he had landed another role so quickly, and as a bonus he was going to be in Vancouver a week earlier than planned to spend time with his son. And on Father’s Day to boot!
I met him at the house and finally had a chance to give him all the TOUCH cards and notes that Ferreira Fest guests had written for him, and he took his time to read each and every one of them.
Then we recorded his dramatic reading of “Meet Mr Mugs“.
I had scanned in the pages of the book and now with the recording I was able to put a little movie together. Enjoy!
Feel free to link to the video if you’d like to share.
Transcript of the introduction to the reading:
LF: A dramatic reading by Louis Ferreira – the book “Meet Mr. Mugs”. It goes back to my grade one school year. I was just one Portuguese boy with no clue about the English language or how it sounded. I’m still working on it very much. Anyway: “Meet Mr. Mugs”…
The rest of the text is as in the book.
Afterwards Louis dug out his guitar (apparently he also plays the accordion but didn’t have one at home), I tuned it properly, and we tried out our Billy Joel song for a few minutes – the phone kept ringing off the hook as many of the “Primeval: New World” production team members called in to get his info to start shooting on Monday. Then a dog sitter stopped by and it was general mayhem as he had to get ready for a dinner that evening.
We met up again the following morning for coffee and to head to yet another recording studio called Garden of Sound, this time in Hollywood. It was literally in someone’s backyard, in a converted garage, packed to the gills with high-tech recording equipment and two small closet-sized studios. Louis recorded three commercials and a tag for “Meridian Pediatric Network” in New Jersey. so if you live in NJ, listen for those commercials! One of the videos featured on their web site is of a girl named Loretta, and Louis recorded a radio commercial about her specific case.
Again, the process was fascinating, since it involved a technique called “phone patching”, where the directors, writers and producers are somewhere else entirely (New Jersey, Chicago and Vancouver in this case), and they’re patched into the recording session via telephone. Again Louis nailed every single take, adjusting his speed to the millisecond as requested.
Of course we had to take another picture, in the larger of the two studios, on the right (Louis recorded in the smaller one on the left). Note the new “Breaking Bad” hoodie and t-shirt!
Louis had planned on several more stops, but a brief drop-in on his agent turned out to take far longer than expected. I had left my cell phone at the recording studio, and so I offered to also run an errand for him while he went to another meeting. Since he had to start driving to Vancouver that afternoon we said our goodbyes, and then he was off to his meeting and I headed back to Hollywood.
And there you have it – my week with Louis. Jam-packed with activities, and a whirlwind of new and interesting experiences. My head is still spinning from the whole thing. Thank you, Louis, for spending so much of your precious time with me, and for showing us a glimpse of your daily life!
Louis also graciously allowed me to take pictures of a series of three beautiful paintings that his son Aidan had done for him. They are a little out of focus because of the glass covers, but you get the idea, and Aidan is certainly a very talented young man.
And as a special surprise, by popular request, Louis has recorded The Four Agreements by don Miguel Ruiz for us. You can listen to the sound file here:
And here is the text, as Louis read it:
The Four Agreements
1. Be Impeccable with your Word
Speak with integrity. Say only what you mean. Avoid using the Word to speak against yourself or to gossip about others. Use the power of your Word in the direction of truth and love.
2. Don’t Take Anything Personally
Nothing others do is because of you. What others say and do is a projection of their own reality, their own dream. When you are immune to the opinions and actions of others, you won’t be the victim of needless suffering.
3. Don’t Make Assumptions
Find the courage to ask questions and to express what you really want. Communicate with others as clearly as you can to avoid misunderstandings, sadness and drama. With just this one agreement, you can completely transform your life.
4. Always Do Your Best
Your best is going to change from moment to moment; it will be different when you are healthy as opposed to sick. Under any circumstance, simply do your best, and you will avoid self-judgment, self-abuse, and regret.
Thanks, Louis, for taking time out of your busy day to fulfill this request of many Ferreira Fest guests!
Since several of you asked about the Snickers commercials Louis did years ago we tried to find an old demo reel of it, but weren’t able to get one. So, Louis offered to do an impression of it while he was on the road. You can download and listen to the sound file here.
LF: “Snickers: Wolf one down.” (laughs) It was hilarious. “Wolf one down. Snickers: Wolf one down.” It was something stupid like that.
FF: Yeah.
LF: “Wolf one down” was the tag. But it was like, literally – they were like : “Sound like a wolf!” I’m like… they’re like “More!” And I’m like “Wolf one d-…” I was like, “That’s what a wolf sounds like to you guys? That’s hilarious!”
FF: Oh boy.
LF: That’s a mean wolf. Why can’t he be a nice wolf?
FF: Well, it’s a wolf that eats chocolate, obviously, so that’s all right…
LF: Every wolf has gotta be bad! Wolves get a bad rep, I tell you.
(Note for our non-native English speaking visitors: “To wolf something down” means to eat it like a wolf, or to gulp it down or eat it very quickly)
Finally, here is a personal thank you message for all those who sent a card or note on how Louis has touched their lives. This message was recorded via phone as he was driving north to Vancouver, somewhere in the Seattle area. You can download and listen to the sound file here:
LF: Hi, and thanks to everybody who wrote me a letter or a note re: the TOUCH episode. It really touched me very much and I just wanted to say thank you from the bottom of my heart, and Every Happiness, and “Fantastic”, and read The Daily Love, and “TOO SEXY TOO SEXY TOO SEXY!!!”
IT CAME FROM THE TWITTERVERSE
rebeccamarie found the following hilarious exchange among Peter Kelamis’ friends on Twitter, where they recast Star Wars – and Louis ends up with a part that would be absolutely hilarious to watch. See for yourself:
PBMom8:29pm via web
Jamil as Boba Fett?
lisawest998:27pm via TweetCaster for Android
@PBMom I’m totally thinking @MichaelShanks should be Lando!
PBMom8:27pm via web
Or Yoda could be @marksavela CGI
PBMom8:26pm via web
Yoda? Louis because he pulls off weird stuff like that.
lisawest998:25pm via TweetCaster for Android
totally!
PBMom8:21pm via web
I was picture Brian for Luke, glad we both see that. Yep Vader.
Peter Kelamis ?@PeterKelamis
For sure…Louis is Yoda!
Peter Kelamis ?@PeterKelamis
Darth Vader is easy… @robertcarlyle_ !
Peter Kelamis ?@PeterKelamis
I am envisioning @SpenceJen with a pair of bun-like hair balls over her ears!
Thanks for this fun little tidbit!!
Agi found another couple of Tweets about Louis (one wonders why this person is so confused, since for us it’s perfectly normal to have Louis on your mind at all times). (Seriously, girl? Vin Diesel? OK, OK, it’s all good, but against our guy – Louis wins hands down.)
25 May sheree ?@shereekachu
I could understand Vin Diesel…. mmmmm Vin… But Louis Ferreira? Ok he’s super nice on the eyes and a hella good actor but really?!?!
5:29 PM – 25 May 12 via Echofon · Details
25 May sheree ?@shereekachu
*WARNING* I’m on wine #3 so there’s no telling what I’ll tweet. Like I’m still trying to figure out why Louis Ferreira is STILL in my head!
5:28 PM – 25 May 12 via Echofon · Details
James Bamford (former fight coordinator on Stargate: Universe) spilled the beans about Louis’ part in Breaking Bad at the Leo Awards:
James Bamford ?@JamesBamford
Was great to see Louis Ferrari today before he embarks on his “Breaking Bad” adventure….so stoked.
James Bamford ?@JamesBamford
Yes….I called him Ferrari.
LOL!! 😀
PHOTOS
Agi and alea_senpai both found a picture that Patrick Gilmore tweeted live from the Leo Awards ceremony (below).
And another picture (right), this time from Sean Koo (who seems to be everywhere celebrities hang out).
And yet another picture (or perhaps Sean Koo is one of a set of octuplets) (down right)!
Another sweet find by super sleuth Agi:
This is a screenshot of a Facebook page, where Louis visited an acting class.
The entry is public but a little hard to find because it’s a few months old, so click the thumbnail to view a larger screenshot to read it.
ODDS AND ENDS
alea_senpai found a link where European Ferreira fans can watch Durham County online. Thanks for sharing it!
Update: Laptop Chat #5 with Patrick Gilmore and Louis Ferreira
In case you hadn’t checked lately, we now have a transcript for Laptop Chat #5 with Patrick and Louis, thanks to the diligent services of Jeri. Thanks so much! Remember – like the video the transcript is for adults only! BTW, I asked Louis what he said in Portuguese in the chat, and it was something along the lines of “A shoutout to all the people from Portugal!”.
Speaking of which – Louis said that it was his son Aidan who filmed the dramatic reading of “Air” in the Laptop Chat. You can hear him laughing in the background.
Louis is definitely not going to be at Dragon*Con this year. But he did sign a book containing his picture – it’s a promotional book with great photos and bios – most of those sell on eBay for around $200. This book will be in the Stargate Charity auction at Dragon*Con 2012, with Louis’ autograph in it; he was kind enough to sign it for the good cause.
So if you’re going to Dragon*Con this year, save up some cash for the “Don Davis Charity Auction”, and maybe this beautiful book can be yours.
Bradley Stryker’s short film “Unexpected Guest” won a Leo Award for Best Direction! Congratulations, Bradley!
The new website at louisferreira.org is well underway! In fact, this may be the last Ferreira Fest in the old LJ format – we hope to have migrated all the past issues to our own domain by the time Ferreira Fest 31 rolls around. Don’t worry – it will all be linked from here, so you will still get your LJ notices as usual, and what’s already here will stay here as well.
And that, dear Friends, is about it for this month! Thanks for visiting often! Be sure to follow us on “X” / Twitter for all the Louis news you can handle and TV reminders!
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We hope to see you all next month!
