Dawna Lee Heising Interviews Multi-talented Studio Head, Producer, Director and Actor Ford Austin

May 10, 2010 - PRLog -- Dawna Lee Heising of Eye on Entertainment on Time Warner Cable interviewed Ford Austin, an award-winning actor, director, writer and producer. Since making his transition from performing on the New York stage, Ford has been working behind the camera on movies and television for 10 years in Los Angeles. His directing credits include the feature films  “Cerebral Print: The Secret Files”, “Cineme’ Fabrique”, “Slaughter Party”, “Gothic Vampires from Hell”, “The Curse of Lizzie Borden”, “Attitude for Destruction” and “Dahmer vs. Gacy”.  He is a direct descendent of Stephen F. Austin, who is commonly known as the “Father of Texas”.  Austin has a BFA in Theater from Oklahoma City University and an MFA in Theatre, graduating Magna Cum Laude.  

With a background in acting, Ford Austin has been seen on TV in "Another World", "Days of Our Lives", "Strong Medicine, "The Andy Dick Show", and "Saturday Night Live", among others.  Film projects include: "Pearl Harbor", "Fallen", “Dark Blue”, "Dog Gone", "Shank's Mare", and "Co-Incidence". He also stars with Talia Shire, Harland Williams, and Ethan Phillips in Vicky Jenson's "Family Tree" which premiered at the 2003 Sundance Film Festival and eventually made its way to 45 film festivals around the world.

On stage, he has performed in "Cat on a Hot Tin Roof", "Romeo & Juliet, "Woman in Mind", “Macbeth”, “The Hostage”, “The Homecoming”, “The Elephant Man”, “The Passion of Dracula”, “The Foreigner”, “Lone Star”, “A Winter’s Tale”, and toured for 2 years as a member of "The Let's Pretend Players".  In New York City, Ford performed in the original casts of "Lawyers" with Kevin Conway, "A Mislaid Heaven", "Natural's In It", "The Nektonic Facteur", and “Treasure Island”.  In addition, Ford co-starred in "Death of a Salesman" with Ralph Waite at The Papermill Playhouse where he met Arthur Miller.  Ford has also played Tom Joad in the Philadelphia premiere of Steinbeck’s “The Grapes of Wrath”.  In Los Angeles, Ford starred in Francis Ford Coppola's "Worldly Acts" at the Tiffany Theater.  He has also worked with Tim Robbin's The Actor's Gang Theater, The Groundlings, and City Garage Ensemble.

Austin’s film “Attitude for Destruction” won for Best Special Effects in the “Action on Film International Film Festival” in 2008 and Best Director at the “2009 Bare Bones International Film Festival”.   Austin co-produced “The Sphere of the Lycanthrope” with David Stay and Keith Grening, and the film won Best Horror Film at the 2009 Action on Film International Film Festival.  The film was also awarded the Grand Jury Award for Best Horror Film at the 2009 Bare Bones International Film Festival. “The Sphere of the Lycanthrope” is becoming a cult classic and is the only film to win two Best Picture awards in two film festivals internationally in 2009.  The Sphere of the Lycanthrope, a family friendly horror film 18 years in the making, has also created a buzz among film fans because the movie is “widely entertaining.”

Austin’s short film “Tiny Dancer” qualified for the 2008 Live Action Category of the Academy Awards.  Austin has created over 300 pieces of content for the Internet, including his award-winning comedy series “The Wright Stuff”, “The Cerebral Print”, “The Commuter Talk Show”, “Cineme Fabrique” and “The Shaving Cream Man Solution Show”.   In 2006, Ford created a television show for Paramount Television called “Judge by Jury”.

Austin is the producer and director of Dahmer vs. Gacy, which was released in early 2010. The film synopsis for Dahmer vs. Gacy is:  "A secret government lab has been trying to create the ultimate killer using the DNA of infamous killers Jeffrey Dahmer and John Wayne Gacy, but there's one big problem: they've escaped! Bloody mayhem stretches across the United States as they go on the ultimate killing spree. Trying to stop the maniacal madness is Ringo, a hick warrior being trained by God, using only a shotgun and a bottle of whiskey. In his road trip to hell, he must first fight off his own demons, not to mention an army of Japanese ninjas! It all leads up to the ultimate showdown!"
Austin was one of five founding partners of WonderHowTo.com and served as the Vice President of Original Production. He is currently the CEO of the Ford Austin Company, where he develops, produces and directs SAG feature films for distribution through a variety of outside distribution partners. Once the films are ready, the company premieres them at conventions and sells them for a limited theatrical release through Laemmle Theaters, Landmark Cinemas and Regal Cinemas. Other domestic distribution partners sell the films for pay-per-view in hotels across the USA and straight-to-DVD releases at Wal-Mart, Blockbuster, Netflix, Barnes & Noble, Target, Best Buy, Fry's and more. The company’s international distribution partners do the same with all major territories. Each film produced has name talent and a level of production value that sells the film to a specific audience.  He is also the founder of Angry Baby Monkey Pictures at www.angrybabymonkey.com.
To see the EOE interview with Ford Austin, please go to:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XiGVW6mCknw



About Eye on Entertainment
"Eye on Entertainment", a division of Eye on Excellence™ Productions, is aired twice weekly on Time Warner Cable in Southern California. The EOE team covers entertainment and music events, film festivals, red carpets and award shows, and features interviews with successful people in all walks of life, exploring the traits they have in common. Dawna Lee Heising, EOE executive producer and host, is a member of SAG & AFTRA, has an MBA and PhD in business and is Ms. Universe 2010. The EOE team includes Linda Maxwell of Time Warner Cable, producer and photographer David J. McNeil, former executive with United Artists and one of the developers of Pay-per-View, director and editor John Cox, Steve Van Wormer, Paul Heising and EOE photographer Kevin Le. EOE Worldwide includes the EOE team, as well as 2009 Record Producer of the Year Dino Maddalone, talk show hosts Keith Harris and Nikki Clarke from Canada and Jmusiz Musiz from Virginia. EOE set paintings are by Jeff Maddalone. For more information, please visit www.eyeonentertainment.tv, www.dawnaleeheising.tv, www.youtube.com/eyeonentertainment and www.youtube.com/EOEWorldwide

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“Eye on Entertainment”, a division of Eye on Excellence™ Productions, is aired twice weekly on Time Warner Cable. The EOE team covers entertainment events and features interviews with successful people in all walks of life, exploring common traits.