Old Dogs & New Tricks

Thursday, May 31, 2012

Olympian Greg Louganis Joins Old Dogs & New Tricks as Recurring Special Guest Star

Olympic gold-medal athlete, actor, author and animal & gay rights activist Greg Louganis has joined the cast of the award-winning web sitcom Old Dogs & New Tricks for a three-episode arc in its second season, producers have announced.

Louganis will play “Dirk Evans,” a formerly notorious ‘90s WeHo circuit boy who turns over a new leaf to marry one of the show’s regular characters in mid-season.

Louganis first shot to fame as an Olympic athlete in 1976, winning a Silver medal at age 16, he went on to become the only male to win gold medals on both 3 meter springboard and 10 meter platform in consecutive Olympic Games (1984, 1988) – and is considered the greatest diver in history. In 1995, he stunned the world with his courage when came out as a gay man on both Barbara Walters’ 20/20 and the Oprah Winfrey Show.

He went on to tell his story in the autobiography Breaking the Surface, which was adapted into a TV movie featuring Mario Lopez as Louganis.

He continues to work with the Olympics as Vice President of the U.S. Olympian Association, for animal causes, and as a tireless advocate for diversity, GLBT and HIV issues. He is also writing a new book about creative learning and peak performance.

As an actor, Louganis has appeared in the films D2: The Mighty Ducks, It’s My Party¸ Dirty Laundry and Touch Me. He most recently played himself in the cult hit comedy series Portlandia starring Saturday Night Live’s Fred Armisen

“Greg is not only just a gay role model,” says show creator/actor Acord. “He’s the epitome of the vital, attractive, over-40 gay man that our show is all about! We are honored that he’s coming aboard!”

Written/created by Acord, and developed for the web by Arvin Bautista, Old Dogs’ first season was honored as “Outstanding Dramedy Program” and “Outstanding Ensemble Cast in a Dramedy” at the 2012 LA Web Fest.

Old Dogs & New Tricks begins shooting Season 2 in late summer 2012 and will premiere Wednesday, Jan. 2, 2013. The show is raising funds via the crowd-sourcing site IndieGoGo. To help, please visit http://www.indiegogo.com/olddogsnewtricksseason2.

For info: www.OldDogsNewTricksTheSeries.com.

Wednesday, May 16, 2012

Hightlight Hollywood wrote a wonderful feature about Leon Acord and the second season of Old Dogs & New Tricks:

"The series is award-winning for good reason. Creator Leon Acord has the energy and talent to capture humor and bring such a diverse group of people together in order to create one-of-a-kind hilarious moments, last seen on Norman Lear's series of the 1970s and '80s."

Read the complete article HERE!

Terri Garber Joins Old Dogs & New Tricks in Special Guest Star Role

May 15, 2012 – West Hollywood, CA –Actress Terri Garber is the first special guest star to sign on for the second season of the award-winning web sitcom Old Dogs & New Tricks. She’ll play “Dr. Ashley,” another inept analyst for neurotic “Nathan Adler” (series creator Leon Acord).

Garber is perhaps best known for her star-making turn in the 80s TV miniseries North & South, opposite Patrick Swayze, and the follow-up miniseries North & South Book II. She’s also a familiar face to soap fans, having played continuing roles on As the World Turns and General Hospital, as well as “Lesley Carrington” on the classic 1980s prime-time serial Dynasty. She’s also appeared on Law & Order, ER, among many others.

Old Dogs & New Tricks follows four middle-aged gay best friends living in youth-obsessed West Hollywood. Acord, Jeffrey Patrick Olson, Curt Bonnem and David Pevsner star as the four friends; cabaret star Amanda Abel and Ryland Shelton appear in recurring roles. Doug Spearman (Noah’s Arc) is also joining the show in Season 2 as a regular.

Written/created by Acord, and developed for the web and directed by Arvin Bautista, the web series’ first season was recently honored as “Outstanding Dramedy Program” and “Outstanding Ensemble Cast in a Dramedy” at the 2012 LA Web Fest.

“I’m thrilled to have Terri on the show,” says Acord. “Even in her dramatic roles, she always has a twinkle in her eye and a great sense of humor. I can’t wait for folks to see her in a new light!”

Monday, May 14, 2012

Leon Acord on Chit for Chat Oral Fix Podcast

Old Dogs & New Tricks creator/actor Leon Acord sat down with Henry M. Diaz of the website Oral Fix Podcast for a fun, hour-plus interview for Chit for Chat. Click HERE to hear the interview!

Thursday, May 10, 2012

Noah’s Arc’s Doug Spearman Joins Old Dogs & New Tricks

May 10, 2012 – West Hollywood, CA –Actor Doug Spearman, perhaps best known as “Chance” on Logo’s Noah’s Arc and its big-screen sequel, has joined the cast of the award-winning web sitcom Old Dogs & New Tricks for its second season. He’ll play “Neal,” the as-yet unseen spouse of “Ross” (David Pevsner).

In addition to Noah’s Arc, Spearman’s numerous TV credits include Star Trek: Voyager, Drew Carey Show, Charmed, The Hughleys, Gideon’s Crossing, MAD TV and Girlfriends. On the big screen, he appeared with Jet Li in the feature Cradle 2 the Grave, and in 2012’s Any Day Now, which won the Audience Award at this year’s Tribeca Film Festival. Stage credits include The Ice Pick, Men’s Room, Moscow, Bullpen Boys, Few Good Men and the world premiere of Howard Corder’s The Hollow Lands at South Coast Rep.

He’s worked behind the scenes, as writer/producer/director at ABC, CBS, NBC, LOGO and E! His production company, Ogden Group Entertainment, produced 2006’s documentary “Aretha,” about the Queen of Soul. Spearman is a recipient of a Leadership Award by the Human Rights Campaign for his tireless work in the LGBT community. His social commentary has appeared in Frontiers, Advocate, on ABC Radio and blogs.

“We needed a powerhouse actor to go head to head with David Pevsner, so I’m thrilled Doug is on board,” says show creator/actor Acord. “The fact that he is so well known and respected in our community is just icing on the cake!”

Thom Bierdz Returns to Old Dogs & New Tricks for Second Season

May 9, 2012 – West Hollywood, CA – It’s official! Due to popular demand, Young & the Restless’ Thom Bierdz will rejoin the cast of the web sitcom Old Dogs & New Tricks for its upcoming second season, shooting this summer.

Bierdz plays “Bobby Burton,” a FOX Sports anchor and boyfriend to Muscles (Jeffrey Patrick Olson). He appeared in 3 episodes of the show’s first season, and fan response was so enthusiastic (especially after photos from a love scene with Olson hit the blogosphere), that producers persuaded Bierdz to return.

“The character of Bobby was originally written out after the beginning of the second season,” explains Old Dogs’ creator/actor Leon Acord. “But when Thom came on board, he gave the show such an incredible boost. His fans have been adamant about him returning long-term. We’d be stupid not to listen to that! And he’s great to work with. So we’ve re-written the storyline, and Thom will appear in at least eight of our ten new episodes.”

However, Acord promises Bobby and Muscles’ road to love will be far from smooth.

Well-known to soap fans, Bierdz portrayed teenage heir “Phillip Chancellor III” in the mid-1980s on Y&R, until his character was killed off in an automobile accident. In 2009, Bierdz returned to the show, where his character explained he’d faked his death to protect his family from discovering his homosexuality – making Chancellor the first major gay character in Young & the Restless’ long history, and earning Bierdz the historic honor of being the first openly gay actor hired for a contract role on a soap opera.

His other acting credits include St. Elmo’s Fire, and television’s Melrose Place, Murder She Wrote, Matlock and Highway to Heaven.

Bierdz is also an accomplished author and painter. His memoir Forgiving Troy has won many awards, including “Best Indie Autobiography” from USA Books News and a nomination for a Lambda Literary Award. He is the 2006 recipient of the “Key to the Light” award from Thalians/Cedars Sinai. His paintings have raised over $100,000 for charities across the country, and earned him the title “Best Emerging Artist Los Angeles” from Out Magazine in 2005. The Belsito-Roche Gallery (www.belsitorochegallery.com) in Long Beach recently hosted a show of his artwork. Learn more at his website at www.thombierdz.com.

Old Dogs & New Tricks follows four middle-aged gay best friends living in youth-obsessed West Hollywood. Acord, Olson, Curt Bonnem and David Pevsner star as the four friends; cabaret star Amanda Abel and Ryland Shelton co-star.

Written/created by Acord, the web series is developed for the web by Arvin Bautista. Matt Ladensack, Laurence Whiting and Acord serve as Co-Executive Producers. The show’s score is composed by veteran film and TV composer Nic. tenBroek.

Producers promise a few new exciting guest stars in the second season, and will be announcing them soon.

Old Dogs & New Tricks’ second season will premiere Jan. 2, 2013. The show is raising funds via the crowd-sourcing site IndieGoGo. Please visit www.indiegogo.com/olddogsnewtricksseason2.

Actors & creative team are available for interviews. For info: www.OldDogsNewTricksTheSeries.com.

Old Dogs & New Tricks Plans Second Season

Award-Winning Hit Web Series Utilizing IndieGoGo for Fundraising Campaign

May 7, 2012 – West Hollywood, CA – Following a five-episode first season that garnered over 53,000 total views, a YouTube viewer approval rating of 98%, and Outstanding Dramedy Program and Outstanding Ensemble Cast honors at the 2012 LA Web Fest, the web series Old Dogs & New Tricks is preparing a 10-episode second season, and has launched a fundraising campaign on the crowd-sourcing site IndieGoGo.

Old Dogs & New Tricks follows four middle-aged gay best friends living in youth-obsessed West Hollywood. Leon Acord, Jeffrey Patrick Olson, Curt Bonnem and David Pevsner star as the four friends; cabaret star Amanda Abel and Ryland Shelton co-star. Thom Bierdz and Bruce L. Hart will reprise their recurring guest roles from Season 1. Producers promise more guest stars in Season 2 who are familiar to both gay audiences and soap fans. They’ll reveal their identities during the coming weeks.

The show has earned rave reviews and broad support from bloggers, straight and gay, during Season 1. PlaceVine.com, a blog covering the web series industry, wrote “Think The Birdcage meets Sex and the City, and you’ve got an idea of how this fabulously fun show plays” and later ranked Acord #3 on its list of Top Ten Emerging Web Series Stars of 2012. Mingle Media TV calls the show “a good comedy romp” while MatureGuyz.com posted “a team of actors who know what they’re doing.” Deep Dish Blog declared it “a web show worth watching.” The show has developed a solid and loyal worldwide fan base on social media sites, and has been mentioned in several publications, including New York City’s Next magazine’s recap of “Gay Moments in Soap History.” The cast has appeared on numerous radio talk shows and blogcasts.

Written/created by Acord, and developed for the web and directed by Arvin Bautista, Old Dogs’ first season also utilized IndieGoGo to raise $9,000 for production costs of the first five episodes. They hope to raise $30,000 for the 10 episodes in Season 2.

“At first, we didn’t want to go back to IndieGoGo. We’ve had two successful campaigns and felt we’d be jerks if we asked for even more. But the show now has thousands of new viewers and fans it didn’t have before Season 1,” says Acord. “And we want to raise the budget a little bit for Season 2, but it will all show up on the screen.”

Old Dogs & New Tricks is scheduled to begin shooting Season 2 in late summer 2012 and will premiere Wednesday, Jan. 2, 2013.

For more information, or to contributeo, please visit http://www.indiegogo.com/olddogsnewtricksseason2. Visit our website: www.OldDogsNewTricksTheSeries.com.