Thank you for all the positive feedback on the “Five West” teaser / trailer, I can’t wait for it to be completed or to see the final product either. I think that the filming looked professionally done and I have been impressed by the professionalism of the writer, director, crew and fellow cast members. The editing and post production work look great so far too. Again, stay tuned! If you haven't seen it yet, check out the link below.

OK, now it’s time for the ‘Family’ stuff. As I mentioned in previous posts, we are up at Midway, Utah. Sue and I came up late Monday afternoon checked in, got settled then went into the town of Heber, Utah for dinner. Well sometimes those down home cooking places aren’t as good as you might think. Nice country atmosphere, lots of wood, homemade stuff for sale, friendly wait staff, and the menu… Mmm… “Roast pork, mashed potatoes, choice of white or brown gravy, homemade dinner rolls, fresh salad and homemade soup… then for desert, the special was homemade pumpkin pie for just .99 cents a slice. Mmm, WOW, did we find the right place or what? Kind of sounds reeeal good, hua? Well that’s what Sue ordered. I chose the chicken fried steak, white gravy, mashed potatoes… Not really part of the diet that Sue and I have been on this past year, but what the hell, we were on vacation. Right?

Let’s just say that the Spanish music blaring from the kitchen (not that there is anything wrong with Spanish music) and the waitress, when she served our soup, we said, “oh cool, our soup is here,” responded with “if you can call it soup” should have been a sign for us to cancel our order and leave. But, well, in these small towns it’s all about the entire experience. We ventured on because the soup wasn’t bad, it was actually pretty good. As a matter of fact as I look back on it, it was probably the best part of the meal, except for the pumpkin pie that is.

Don’t ever hit one of these places toward the end of the evening; you might just get the bottom of the pot. Every time that our waitress, bless her heart, tried to fix a problem she seemed to be sabotaged by the kitchen crew. The mashed potatoes were anything but mashed, so she ordered me another “large side with lots of gravy.” Sue said that her food didn’t taste right so we just traded dinners. That one didn’t taste right to her either. The waitress felt bad about our experience and apologized repeatedly. She was so nice she even offered desert on the house. Sue was done and didn’t want to try anything else, nothing tasted right to her, but when the waitress offered some fresh banana cream pie, her defenses came down, the waitress smiled and said I knew if I tried I’d find something you would like, and so off she went.

The pies came, Sue’s was all decorated with fresh bananas and some whipped cream. Our waitress did it up nice for Sue. So, while I was enjoying my pumpkin pie I looked up at Sue who wasn’t feeling too well to start with and she looked as if she was about to cry. I asked if the pie didn’t taste right either and she said that she didn’t know what was wrong with her and she just wanted to leave. So, I offered to taste the pie. I did and then I started to laugh. The waitress had brought her coconut cream pie, no wonder why it didn’t taste right. When the waitress came over with the bill, she apologized again. That’s when I told her about the pie. She felt awful and offered Sue anything to make it right. She said that the pies sit together and look almost the same, and now wondered how many other people she served the wrong pie to. Sue didn’t give this place any stars but I did tip the waitress well for her efforts, she seemed to care but simply couldn’t pull it off that night.

May not be too interesting, but I thought it was kind of funny. Poor Sue, poor waitress…

Other than that we have had a great and relaxing time. Sue has hung out at the indoor pool and spa/Jacuzzi. We had a bit of a picnic, visited antique shops, went shopping and even played ping pong, and cards. Friday we are going across the street to the “Homestead” to visit the crater and the hot springs with Robbie, Anna, & Sean. We wanted to wait for them so we could all see it for the first time, together. Billy, Dez and Dom are set to come up Saturday.

We had a great T-Day dinner with all the fixens’. R, A, & S came up in the afternoon and we had a home cooked turkey dinner, whipped taters, steamed veggies, rolls, salad, pies, wine… Very good stuff! After dinner, Sue, Sean, Robbie and I went down to the club house played ping pong and went swimming. Came back ate pie and the kids were in bed around nine, except for Sean who stayed up reading, he went to sleep around ten. Bunch of damn light weights!

See Ya,
Bill

Five West Teaser Trailer

This is the teaser trailer for an independant film I'm in called "Five West".

Chemistry Episode 1

Chemistry Episode 2

Here are two links to a short film that some of you may have seen called "Chemistry" by Benjamin L. Carthel. They were part of an internet contest. We made it to round two, but never quite got to round three. I think they were well done and I am proud to have been a part of the project.

Part one has a lot of camera shaking, but that was done deliberately. It is a style of film making. Part two is quite dramatic, but with not as much camera shaking.

You will need to scroll down the page to find the movie, click on it and watch. Then give me your feedback.

So, you ask: "What happens in part three?" I don't Know, we never got that far, only the writer/director know for sure.

See Ya,
Bill

Here is what is going on with my acting these past few weeks…

1.) Completed my on screen stuff for an independent film called “Five West”, still have the narration to do.

2.) Started and completed, my part anyway, an independent film called “Directionality” by Josh Samson. It was fun going up Little Cottonwood Canyon on one of the first snow days of the year, however it was freezing. Thank goodness the part where I die, and my body gets to be carried up the mountain in a body bag, I didn’t need to be there for. Sucks for them! When we got done and were packing up at the cars and a limo drove up, Dave C. went over and was invited in then the rest of the crew got in and visited with the limo crew who were up at “Snowbird” to show folks that they could hire their limo to get up to the mountain in luxury to go skiing.

3.) I auditioned for a part in a TV pilot and got the part of the coach. The audition was on Monday and the table read was that following Saturday. They started filming three days later on Tuesday and my part was filmed this past Sunday in Park City, Wednesday at Anna’s high school – East Hollywood High, and Thursday in Park City at the Egyptian Theater. Anna was an extra all three days and Sean the last two. So I’d say that was all done pretty quickly. It will be great when a network or HBO picks it up, then I think that life for the Gillane’s might just change a bit. The story is about high school life. The name of the school and series is “Forever High”. It is twisted and adult-ish. I am a cigar smoking football coach who enjoys the power a high school coach has. I have a very small part in the first episode, but it was fun for me. Stay tuned!

4.) I got a call while on the set for the pilot to be in a commercial which I shoot Monday morning. The call time is 6:45 am. That means I get to get up extra early, for me that is.

5.) I was cast as a preacher/pastor in an independent film that will be shooting on Friday, Saturday and Sunday of this week. I have a lot of dialogue to memorize by Friday. Hopefully they will be done with me and not need me Sunday because we are headed up to Midway for our T-Day vacation week.

On the home front, Robbie has put a bid in on a house in Magna. This is his second time up at bat. The house is really everything he needs for now. It is a small house that has just recently been redone. Nice new cabinets and counter tops in the kitchen, new hardwood floors, and the bathroom has a new slate shower/tub. The house is very nice and I hope for him, that he gets it. Plus he really needs a place he can call his own, to say nothing of the tax benefits he will begin to see too.

We love having Robert around but once he moves out, we can focus on finishing the basement, which is where he lives right now. We will be adding a bedroom and completing the bathroom, and relocating the laundry and exercise room. THEN Anna will be moving down there into her own space with her own bathroom. After she moves we will redo her room and Sean will move in there. THEN I get to make Sean’s room our home office, freeing up lots of family room and bedroom space, making Sue happy! OK, that’s all for now.

See Ya,
Bill

A friend commented to me about my blog, but not on my blog. She asked if my acting and mortgage stuff were contradictory. My answer is no, not at all. You’ll notice a link on the right side of my blog, where there is a photo of me standing up with my arms folded, the link that says “Owning and Living Your Dreams.” That has been a quote of mine for quite a few years now, and yes I made it up. I thought it was cool, so I put it on everything, my business cards, flyers, any advertisement, and now my web sites and blog. Go ahead and check out the link, you can even sign up for some free stuff.

For me, just so you know, the statement has very little to do with anyone actually getting a loan. It has everything to do with everyone including myself, declaring a dream then having the guts to go out and own that declaration, and live their dream.

Yes, it has to do with home ownership but before you can own, you have to have some idea, a dream, of what that home will look like for you. Double car garage, large master bathroom, gourmet kitchen, herb garden, and so on. You have to see it and once you do, you go out into the world and look for it. Maybe the picture isn’t very clear at the start, maybe the dream is simply ”owning”, but the more you look, the more you begin to see and once the image becomes very clear, you can start living that dream.

Maybe for you it is a home, or a car, maybe it’s your career, or even your future bride or groom, only you know what it is. But I think that you and I will only be happy when we are truly “Owning and Living Our Dreams”.

I had a friend, an acquaintance really, call me on my dream a couple of years back. OK, so I didn’t really know him at all, we had just met. He asked me why I wasn’t living my dream. Well to be really honest, he pissed me off. I told him that he didn’t even know me nor know what my dream was. He said that it was very clear that I wasn’t living my dream but it really didn’t matter what my dream was. He said that what did matter was what I was teaching my kids. I questioned him about that, and asked him what he thought I was teaching my kids. Then the jerk said that I was teaching them that they shouldn’t bother having dreams because dreams don’t matter. He said that by not living my dream, I was giving them permission to fail and not follow their dream or their heart, and not live their purpose, and not to bother doing what they thought was important. Dreams are not important, that’s what he said I was teaching my kids. This guy really pissed me off bad, but sometimes the truth hurts. Even a bad example, is an example.

He then asked me what my dream was and I told him what it thought it was. I hadn’t entertained it for quite a while, so I thought that I wasn’t sure what it was. I told him that I had always wanted to be a professional actor as long as I can remember, and that people had always told me that I have a great voice and have said that I should go into radio. I told him that I loved playing with my voice ever since my voice started to change when I was around 13 or 14 years old. I have been told that I have a great face for radio too.

What he did was spark in me the possibility that I could actually own my dream. Whether it does or doesn’t actually come true don’t really matter, the “going for it” is what does. The belief that it is possible is what matters. He allowed me to dream about dreaming again but with a different twist. I guess the reason I didn’t “go for it” was because I thought it was about me and maybe I didn’t deserve to be something or somebody, or have the finer things in life. But it is not about me, it’s about what I can give the world, namely my children and future grandchildren. For me to hold back, that’s where the “selfish” comes in, that’s where I rob them of the possibilities they hold, and rob them of what they are supposed to share with the world. So now, yes, I do get to Own and Live My Dreams.

Back to the question, the mortgage business will allow me to help individuals and family’s “Own and Live Their Dreams” while allowing me to be able to support my family and fund our dreams too.

See Ya,
Bill

New to this “blog” thing, so here goes:

My first post was a response to an email I had received from my dad. He asked how I was doing, and what my family and I had been up to, it was a birthday email. So when I was writing him, & after having gotten phone calls from my brothers Jim, John, and another one from my sister Mary, all asking me the same thing, I thought that maybe I should write down and post what was up with us. That way if anyone really cared to read it, they could all be updated at the same time and all with the same information.

After explaining what was up to Jimmy, John, and then Mary and even some friends that I hadn't spoken with for quite a while, it felt and sounded a bit like bragging to me and Sue too. So again if I post and you feel like getting an update read on.

I have decided to use this blog, mostly anyway, to list my acting and voice work, with some family stuff sprinkled in. I will write about the film and other projects that I am involved with. Please don’t take this as a bragging page, but more of a wow, look he IS doing it, living his dream and sharing his accomplishments with the world, or at least people important to him.

Here is a birthday dinner photo that was taken at “Benihana” on Friday night. Like I told my kids, and my family knows, I worked at “Benihana” 31 years ago in Phoenix, for 2½ years while I was in high school. Robbie and Billy took the whole family out for my birthday, we all had a great time. Thank you boys!



Here are a few photos from a film shoot on Saturday, where I play a middle aged man who after feeling that he has wasted his life goes up into the mountains to find his peace by ending his life. He is encountered by a young man who he offers his advice and life philosophies to. It is also about how this encounter has affects the young mans life.











The story was written and directed by Joshua Samson (above). It is sad story yet has a positive message. I have worked with Josh, and Dave Christenson, who plays the young man(Above Right), several times before. They and their crews do great work. I enjoy working with them and I’m thankful for the opportunity to work with each of them.

See Ya,
Bill

Thanks for the email. We are all doing OK. It has been a pretty tough year all around, but we are looking forward to heading up to Midway, Utah for Thanksgiving this year. ‘Trendwest’ has a new timeshare resort there and we are owners so we get to go there for the holiday week.

With Trendwest, we sent Billy & Dez to Hawaii for their honeymoon. Dez’s parents, because of her dad working for Delta, took care of the airfare part. We went to Las Vegas, when Steve & Jackie were there for a thanksgiving trip, two years ago. That’s when we first became owners.

Sue, me, Anna & Sean went to ‘Bear Lake’ in N/E Utah this past June. We have lived here for 10 years (in a few weeks) and had never been there before. The lake is beautiful with a real blue look from miles away and up close. We rented a boat and a pull tube and all got to ride and play. Even in June the water was very cold, but the ideal time to go, I hear, is in August for the raspberry festival days. That’s also when the water is the warmest for the year. My “myspace” page has photos in a slide show. -- I need to add the photos from our Halloween party here at the house. http://myspace.com/billgillane

I have been very busy with many short films and I even recorded a commercial for the Utah Film Commission that will be shown at the Sundance film festival, so tons of the ‘big boys’ will get to see it. It’s about why they need to come to Utah to make their film projects. I am the only speaking part where things happen around me. By the way, there were 23 feature films, 101 commercials, and several documentaries filmed in Utah this last fiscal year. Anna was in a Disney film. Sean was in the same one and another that is due out this holiday season called “Unaccompanied Minors”. I was in several of them too.

I was just cast in a TV pilot being filmed at Anna’s school and up in Park City. They started filming on Tuesday and my part is being filmed on Sunday and next Tuesday. The part is a small one but I was able to talk them into using me as the narrator during the opening scene.

I just finished filming my, on camera part, in a 60 minute short film where I play a shrink who is not as twisted as the internet film that I was in. I have about 10 full pages of dialogue left to record in a studio sometime in the next few weeks. And speaking of studio time, I will also be recording the opening narration for a feature film teaser and trailer. The teaser / trailer will be used to show investors, to get cash to make the actual movie where I also have a small part in addition to the narration.

I’ve got two other projects I’m currently working on too. One, I film on Saturday with studio work to be done at some other time and the other, I auditioned for last night, will film sometime in the next few weeks.

So that’s what is up with me. More than you expected I’ll bet, but that’s what I am doing and having a ball.

See Ya,
Bill