Today we’d like to introduce you to Josh Warren.
Today we’d like to introduce you to Josh Warren.
Thanks for sharing your story with us Josh. So, let’s start at the beginning and we can move on from there.
My mother is a dance teacher in Atlanta and my father is a Chartered Financial Analyst who helped raise money for Tri-Star Pictures. Since I can remember, I have loved to perform on stage and in front of the camera. I moved to New York City in 2001 to study improv comedy at the Upright Citizens Brigade, and coincidentally my first day living in NYC was 9/11.
After I moved back to Atlanta, I started improv at Whole World Theatre and while there, I was fortunate to work with a lot of talented comedians. I partnered with some of these professionals and we began working with Turner Originals, where we produced a sketch pilot, as well as an improv show called ‘Freeze Dried Monkey’ that would be broadcast live over the Internet, which was very innovative at the time! In 2007 we broke away from Whole World Theatre and started doing our own thing. We created the Village Theatre in 2008, where I was a founding member and Associate Artistic Director. I began to teach improv out of my house as we were building Village Theatre, and created an improv student program to help develop future improvisational comedians, as well as helping others improve communication skills, develop creative problem solving, and enhance teamworking skills.
2011 brought some great opportunities and I was cast in the remake of ‘Footloose’ as Rich Christopher, and a ‘M’Larky’ pilot created for Comedy Central, where I worked alongside Dan Fogler (Fantastic Beasts), Gilbert Gottfried, Jeffrey Ross, Lennon Parham, and Law Tarello (The Second City). In 2012, I worked on ‘Trouble with the Curve’ with my hero, Clint Eastwood, which was an amazing opportunity. In 2015 Syl Turner and I created our two-person show, Action Show, which is a 4D improvised thrill ride that will make you sweat Don Johnson. In 2016, Eric Irizarry and I created a comedic parody and satire of Game of Thrones and the 2016 election called ‘Dany 2016 (Game of Walls)’, which was directed by Justin O’Neal Miller.
Last year, I left Village Theatre and began the greatest journey of my life with my business partner, Sean Bokelmann, an Economics Professor at Georgia State University. We created Action Show Studios, a production company and creative incubator. Our vision is to create opportunities for comedic stage actors and improvisors to receive financial compensation for their work, which is unheard of in the improv community. Our goal is to help nurture Atlanta’s local talent and we specialize in ACTION! We want to foster content creators, not just on the stage, but on the internet, on television, and in film. In the short time since we’ve opened, we have produced numerous video shorts and sketches, we are currently working on a new pilot concept with Dan Fogler. Additionally, we are producing and distributing the second season of ‘Game of Walls’ on Facebook and YouTube. We also offer improv, acting, and production classes, as well as corporate team building, industrial video production, and commercial production.
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?
As an actor, I can say that this career path is not easy. As business owners, we are always trying to think of creative ways to make money and be innovative with our craft. Historically, improv, acting, and comedy have all been careers that don’t make money, and we would like to help change that. When I book a job and make something cool, it is so fulfilling, but sometimes it feels like it’s few and far between. The road for me and many others has been rough and will continue to be until we are able to create more local opportunities to pay artists living wages. Opening your own business is hard, especially when you have visions of grandeur. Taking baby steps can be challenging for me, since I have big ideas and some of my ideas would take a lot of money and work to execute. Motivation can be a very tricky mistress for an entrepreneur and a creative person. One day you may feel like you’re on top of the world, and the next day you may feel lost. Having said that, I am very blessed to have had so many dream-come-true experiences. I am lucky to have the opportunity to help local actors grow and develop, and I could not be happier with the team we are building here at Action Show Studios. I look forward to a very bright future.
So, as you know, we’re impressed with Action Show Studios – tell our readers more, for example, what you’re most proud of as a company and what sets you apart from others.
Action Show Studios is unlike anything else anywhere. We are Actioneers. Our shows are filmed with multiple cameras, produced on the spot, and streamed live. We are known for being bold and innovative. We create live 4D comedy events, ridiculous web series, unique classes, and we perform at Relapse Theatre. For example, we just finished our first Improv to Green Screen class, where students use improv skills to develop produced sketches in front of our amazing green screen at Encyclomedia. The sketches are professionally filmed by a RED Epic Dragon camera and edited by Action Show Studios. Students walk away with video sketches to use on social media to promote their brand. I like to think of us as a comedy grad school. Students get fundamentals training elsewhere and then we help refine and build on their skills. In addition, we make commercials, we make film, we do corporate training and corporate video production. The amount of innovation and variety we offer sets us apart.
So, what’s next? Any big plans?
I would like Action Show Studios to be a self-sustaining film and television production facility in Georgia. I would love to be consistently creating Action, Horror, Sci-Fi, and Post-Apocalyptic, Comedy films. I have always dreamed of having my own Movie Studio, complete with a 4D live experience destination, like a Universal Studios or Gatlinburg (HAHA). My partner and I would like to have shows on Adult Swim, Netflix, and Hulu. We are currently in development of a few B-Horror comedy films with Dan Fogler that we hope to be producing soon. I would love to help “Made in Georgia” truly mean “Made by Georgia”, with all of the talent and crew positions being filled by local Georgians.
Pricing:
- Improv classes and workshops range from $20-$500
- Editing classes (4 week class) $150
- Adobe Photoshop classes $200
- Sketch Writing (8 week class) $250
- Improv to green screen (8 week class) $300
- Improv for teachers, professors, and researchers (4 week class) $125
- Improv for business professionals (4 week class) $150
- Video production, commercials, and audio work – prices vary
Contact Info:
- Address: 1526 Dekalb Ave. NE. Atlanta, GA 30307
- Website: actionshowstudios.com
- Email: actionshowstudios@gmail.com
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/actionshowstudios/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/ActionShowStudios/
- Twitter: @actionshowstuds
- Other: https://www.facebook.com/GameofWallsDany2020/
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