Sacramentan Joel Thompson wasn't expecting his acting career to launch as quickly as it has. After recently refocusing on a passion discovered as a kid, the 32-year-old will start work in five weeks as the lead in his first feature-length film. Thompson will play a young cop in the psychological thriller, "The Genetic Code." He's already done featured extra work in "Moneyball," starring Brad Pitt, which is set to open this fall, and in the Tuskegee Airmen movie "Red Tails" produced by George Lucas, which is still in production. He also has a bit part in a big movie he said he can't talk about yet. Thompson co-owned The Corner Restaurant and Bar with his father, Jerry Thompson, until two

If you happen to see people filming around town, and if they also seem to be in a hurry, there's a good chance they're making a film for this year's 10x10 Filmmaker Challenge, a program of the 11th Annual Sacramento Film & Music Festival.  Now in its 7th year, the 10x10 challenges filmmakers to make a 10 minute film in 10 days, on an assigned theme and using assigned elements such as quirky props and the Festival's mini-poster. Last night, filmmakers and prospective cast and crew members arrived at the Art Institute of California, Sacramento (a Festival sponsor) in enough numbers to require a move to a larger room.  In fact, the 26 teams that signed up to participate caused the maximum ru

Lots of actor wanna be's had the opportunity to act in front of the camera alongside professional actors at Studio 24's recent Entertainment Fair! It was an interactive event with live performances by entertainment groups, demonstrations of film making with equipment and actors, as well as hair and make-up artists prepping "actors" before filming a live scene. Oscar and Priscilla Haynes arrived dressed up and signed on with Ric Ramey's Media Casting Group. Igor Kleytman of Milwaukee, WI gets a feel of talking to a camera while reading from a teleprompter at EggHead Productions booth. Two men act out a scene in front of a Studio 24 camera. They were able to view their scene immediatel

You might not know it, but Sacramento is a growing market in the entertainment industry. It has it all: actors, directors, models, artist management, production studios and acting coaches. "If you talk to somebody on the street, the general public doesn't know we have an entertainment industry," said Cody Dorkin, actor and founder of Studio 24. "I've been working in the industry since I was a little kid. I've lived up here in Sacramento the entire time, pretty much, and I had no idea what the industry actually held in Sacramento. I think people would be surprised to know that there are probably over 40 entertainment companies in Sacramento." Studio 24 will host the First Annual Entertain