Benjamin Ephraim Sickles: Actor, assistant director and boom operator in Portales, New Mexico.

Thanks for adding me. Perhaps "this is the beginning of a beautiful friendship."

Hello all at Stage 32. I've been on this medium for approximately two years and it occurs to me that I have yet to seriously introduce myself. I have posted projects, responded to articles and built a network but I have yet to really introduce myself. My name is Ben Sickles. I am a creative visionary who lives in Spartanburg, SC and is attempting to build my own studio in the Upstate area. I see this area as a potential hotbed for Independent Film given the way that the market has heated up in Atlanta and given the industries long time presence in Wilmington. We are located exactly equidistant from each of these major centers and we have a commercial outlet in Charlotte, NC. It's with this in mind that I am working to set up a large independent studio in this area. I welcome all feedback on this idea and I welcome all qualified professionals who would like to join me in this endeavor. If this interests you, I can hardly wait for your comments. Let's collaborate and make greatness! Have a good one. I look forward to hearing from you.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ESLYUpVEUXI&feature=youtu.be

Hello! I am a professional film composer and sound designer Creating unique soundtracks, with passion and talent Always ready to take on new challenges! Able to write fast Welcome to my website (you can listen to some examples there) www.alexander-music.com

Great post. In the end it is faith n the goodness and bounty of the universe that keeps us in the game. For every audition that we don't win another one will come, and so it is. I love the positivity.

You make a valid point. The material on these films lasts only as long as the film itself. Kudos to you for your effort. I hope that when I am gone that the work that I do will be preserved and that people will remember it and preserve it. My resources are somewaht limited right now, as is often the case with Indie film makers until they get something recognized, but consider me an ally in this work. It is a good thing that you guys do.

These are really interesting works. It's really interesting the efforts to which he has gone to keep the work going. Even as subjects lose the sense of novelty and becoming, periodically, the subject of attention of so many becomes daunting, his work continues. Good work Michael Apted. Congratulations on another seven years.

The actor who works is in a much better place then the actor who isn't typecast, is free and still has to work as a waiter or at some other lousy job. This is a business and an industry not just an art. Thanks for the info.

I appreciate hering success stories. Most specifically, congratulations Phillip. It's great to see hard work, persistence and smart networking pay off. I have every confidence that I will soon be sharing a success story of my own, soon. Much love and thanks to RB for giving us this site. I invite every creative that I know in my area to join. They may be getting sick of it but I'm all about facilitating useful contacts. I'll continue to troll thie site and when I have finished my current work in April I will be free to start building the working relationships that create success here. In the mean time, I still visit everyday and I expect that eventually I will be rewarded for my efforts.

With China being Asia's fastest growing economy it makes sense that the film industry would be taking off there. I'm glad things are working out for you. I myself am going to have to be similarly creative as I look to get my foot in the door. This artivle was very inspirational to me and I hope that all of those connections that you're making pan out for you in a major way. All the best.

Thanks for the article. I have many young friends wno are also actors. I will be sure to share this with them.

Thanks, Kimberly, for the great advice. We must all take different roads to success. The key is to keep your hand in, your best foot forward and be ready when the opportunities present themselves. Thank you for contributing to making this website what it is. I find so much inspiration here and you have now contributed to that. Thanks a lot.

Thanks for the request! have a great day! :-)

Hi, my name is Ben Sickles, I live in Spartanburg, SC and I have had an idea running around in my head. It isn't a small idea and it won't be easy but it may well revolutionize the way that things are done in the industry in the area that I live in. The idea is to create a destination site that handles all matters of pre-, post- or any other manner of production in one site. The idea is to develop the site and then to get film, television and theatrical production companies onboard. I already have my own ideas of some key issues that I would have it address, having worked on the production side myself. I am currently looking for a dedicated working partner in this idea. It must be someone who has a high level of knowledge and competence with network management and website creation. Whoever applies must also have a vision of the raw and, as yet, largely untapped power of the Carolinas and particularly the Upstate and regions surrounding it. The Upstate of South Carolina as well as Charlotte, Hendersonville, Asheville, Columbia and down to the South Carolina-Georgia border will be the initial service area. I'll throw two or three of the services that I would like to provide out on this medium because I want whoever wants to work on this to come with ideas as well. This will be a full partnership and a collaborative venture with the idea of strengthening film and theatre in the Carolinas through facilitation of the production process and making it more green-friendly (though, unfortunately, I see no way to completely cut out paper use). Imagine a website where the following could all be occurring at the same time. One actor could be uploading his headshot and resume, another actor could be dragging and dropping his headshot and resume into a project to apply for an audition time, the casting director could be making arrangements for a video audition submission, a theatre director could be casting their show, a location scout could be entering their scouting report on a location that they've scouted out and a prop master could be finding out where to find a necessary prop and applying to it's owners for permission to borrow it. These are just a few of the ideas that I would have it serve and they are meant to get your creative juices flowing. I'm posting this here in hopes that there is a creative talent in the Upstate area who shares my vision and has the abilities that I'm looking for. If you're interested and would like to know what the vision is and where you fit into it send me a message at sicklesbenjamin@gmail.com. General questions and comments will be fielded in this discussion.

Thanks for the network request. I have added you to my network. Please check out my online store at www.zazzle.com/donaldnorrisjr for lots of personalizable items.

I appreciate this piece as a reminder that collaboration is the key to success. Orson Welles is at the center of so many controvercies but if you look at the facts of his life, all that is really there is the love of food and the love of movies. He got labeled a control freak by a system that was losing it's grip and was fighting for control of all of its artists. He stands a great film maker and an auteur. His style of film making was quite unique and his talent for collaboration caused a certain actor named Charlton Heston to insist that he be the director of "Touch of Evil". If not for this insistence the studios would have put some studio hack on the job and we wouldn't have the masterpiece that this film is today. Thanks for this contribution. I love Orson Welles and I love collaboration. Have a happy and creative weekend everybody.

nice to meet you Benjamin

Thanks for the add Benjamin!