Today we’d like to introduce you to Anthony Bradford.
Anthony, let’s start with your story. We’d love to hear how you got started and how the journey has been so far.
I grew up participating in the school plays since I was five years old and always loved the theater and had the fortune to see so many Broadway shows growing up in the NYC area. I was an athlete my whole life but still always kept up with acting concurrently, doing plays and musicals in between football and tennis. My freshman year of college, I attended Haverford College and was on the varsity tennis and squash teams, and took acting classes at Bryn Mawr College. I then went to Bucknell University, where I studied English with a concentration in Creative Writing, which really allowed me to grow as a writer. I also took all the offered acting and theater classes. When I graduated, I enrolled in acting classes at The Barrow Group Theater in New York City (and would later train at the William Esper Studio too) and then started going out for parts on soap operas. I was fortunate to gain experience working on a few soaps such as “All My Children” and “One Life to Live.”
I then decided to make my first film, “Transition,” from a script I wrote based on my brother Nick’s battle with and victory over cancer. We screened at festivals in New York and Los Angeles, and after screening in Los Angeles, I decided to move to LA. I spent the next few years in LA furthering my training under so many great teachers, including Marjorie Ballentine, AMAW, Annie Grindlay, Jo-Ann Pantoja, and Amy Lyndon. I also went up for a lot of roles in network TV and national commercials. After a few years in LA, I noticed I was getting a lot of self-tape requests from Atlanta. Feeling like signs were pointing towards Atlanta, I decided to relocate there and signed with Aligned Stars Agency not too long after my move. I have been fortunate enough to book some great jobs here as well as further delve into my own filmmaking efforts. I also found a great acting community in my class at AMAW Atlanta, run by the amazing Katelin Chesna as well as with acting coach Crystal Davis of PhotoSafe Actor’s Taping Services.
We’re always bombarded by how great it is to pursue your passion, etc – but we’ve spoken with enough people to know that it’s not always easy. Overall, would you say things have been easy for you?
This is for sure a tough business, and there is no one path to success. Each path is as unique as the person on it. It is a grind and this is not a hobby, but rather a vocation. I’ve moved across the country twice for my career, and will always be ready to do what I must. But honestly, anything in life worth doing will not be easy. And I’ve been incredibly lucky to have a very supportive family as well as friends.
Being in this business gives you a certain humility and ego check. I’ve gone up for some life-changing roles in some notable films and television shows, and have been cast in some major productions, but ended up on the cutting room floor. It can almost at times feel like the parts you didn’t get are constantly thrown in your face when you see the project in the news, or on billboards, or advertisements. However, no one owes me anything, and it is up to me to consistently give my best and get up and smile in the face of rejection after being knocked down.
Not only are you dealing in a business where you will hear NO more than YES no matter who you are, but you also have to work full time hours doing a day job or few and then still have the energy and spirit to bring your ‘A’ Game consistently to acting class, auditions, and on the set. I’ve worked so many different types of jobs over the years to support my dreams. Fortunately, I’ve managed to form my own tutoring business as well tennis lesson business that have both sustained me. It can definitely feel like a ton of juggling at times, but it has given me a lot of perspective and life experience and lends inspiration and appreciation to my Acting and Filmmaking work.
Each NO gets you closer to a YES. And after facing this business of so many rejections, when you get that YES, it makes success even sweeter. If anything, it has forged a greater fighting spirit in me, and also lit a fire in me to keep making my own content, where I have control over the stories and the final product. And through my production company Priceless Productions, I’ve been creating narrative content.
As Actors, it is our job to act, whether it is an acting class, doing a guest star on a TV show, a big studio film, student film, or our own projects. Also rather than waiting for a break, why not create your own. Creating my own projects has also allowed me to hire some super talented friends and colleagues to work on my projects alongside me.
Priceless Productions – what should we know? What do you guys do best? What sets you apart from the competition?
Priceless Productions makes inspiring and entertaining content. Our first film, “Transition,” is streaming on Amazon Prime along with some other narrative projects, including a dramedy TV pilot “Greenlit,” a sci-fi short “Cellular,” and Season 1 of the comedy series “Love, Millennial Style.” We also have a YouTube channel featuring shorts and sketches.
We were in the middle of shooting Season 2 of “Love, Millennial Style” when the pandemic struck, so I had to rewrite the second half of the season to reflect the times and also allow myself and the cast to film ourselves virtually from the safety of our own respective spaces. On my last few projects, I had already been honing my own DIY ‘one-man-band’ style of filming, so, fortunately, those skills are allowing me to keep creating.
Acting-wise, I recently appeared on an episode of BET’s “American Soul,” which was a real pleasure. I really have to thank the casting director of the show, George Pierre, for being such an amazing advocate for me and so many actors . I also appear in a supporting role in the sci-fi feature film “Proximity,” which is streaming on Amazon and all the other platforms. Next, I will appear in the upcoming horror feature film “Shimmer” in a strong supporting role. (all projects were shot pre-COVID). I also recently completed acting work as one of the leads in the feature film “Remote,” written by and co-starring Natasha Mayet, which was shot virtually alongside this awesome film collective consisting of Actors from the US and South Africa. We coordinated the shoot using Zoom/Facetime and our iPhones to capture our performances.
So, what’s next? Any big plans?
Right now, I am finishing up filming Season 2 of “Love, Millennial Style”. I rewrote the remaining episodes of the season so that all the cast can shoot themselves at home, and thanks to Zoom we are able to efficiently coordinate and work off of each other. Season 1 is on Amazon Prime if anyone wants to check it out and have some laughs.
I also have plans to shoot my first feature film once things are safe enough. For shooting anything in person, right now, I am still waiting and seeing how things will pan out the next few months with the pandemic. I would only want to proceed with shooting anything in person with a cast and crew once it is completely safe and no one is at any risk. Thankfully, technology is allowing many of us to still create from the safety of our own living spaces.
Contact Info:
- Website: www.ThePricelessProductions.com
- Email: Productions.Priceless@gmail.com
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/anthonybradford/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/ThePricelessProductions
- Twitter: https://twitter.com/ABradford10
- Other: https://www.instagram.com/the_priceless_productions/
Image Credit:
Brian P. Mobley, Joanna DeGeneres, Megan Dougherty
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