NEXT

(Post Production)

In association with DENIZEN Theatre

Directed by ADAM PELTIER

Written by NEIL LABUTE

Starring MARK FEUERSTEIN and MICHAEL RAPAPORT

Featuring LLOYD KAUFMAN

Filmed on location at DENIZEN Theatre, New Paltz, New York

Two men, former classmates, find themselves on either side of the audition spotlight in a war of words and nerves. Only the strong survive.

Neil LaBute began working in film in 1997 with his feature debut, In the Company of Men, which made its debut at the Sundance Film Festival.The film went on to win the Filmmaker Trophy as well as the New York Film Critics Circle Award for Best First Feature. In addition to Sundance, it screened at the Cannes, Edinburgh, New Directors/New Films, London and Deauville Film Festivals and won two Independent Spirit Awards.

Following In the Company of Men, LaBute established himself as a playwright and film & television writer/director.  Among his films are Your Friends and Neighbors, Nurse Betty, The Shape of Things, Lakeview Terrace, Some Velvet Morning, Dirty Weekend and the upcoming Out Of The Blue.  In television, he has created two series for DirecTV, ten x ten (a collection of filmed monologues) and Billy & Billie (a half-hour comedy starring Adam Brody). LaBute also served as showrunner on the series Van Helsing, which ran for five seasons on SYFY.

Mark Feuerstein got his break-through on television as a recurring character on the daytime soap opera Loving. Most of the people in his family are lawyers. He was a high school state championship wrestler. He enjoys mountain-biking, wrestling, dancing (hip-hop to salsa) and jogging.

He got the nickname "Chaplin" on the set of Giving It Up because of his uncanny knack of physical comedy. He even had a physical slapstick back-and-forth with Mel Gibson a year later on the set of What Women Want.

New Yorker through and through, Michael Rapaport was born on March 20, 1970, in Manhattan, to June Brody, a radio personality, and David Rapaport, a radio program manager. He is of Polish Jewish and Russian Jewish descent.

Rapaport moved to Los Angeles to try stand-up comedy following high school graduation (which came after a series of expulsions), but he never lost, forgot or deserted his New York roots. It's embedded in his work and is a major part of his low-keyed charm and ongoing appeal. His early idols were also New Yorkers (Robert De Niro, Christopher Walken, etc.).

Within a short amount of time Michael moved from the live comedy stage to working in front of a camera. The two developed an immediate rapport. A guest spot on the TV series China Beach led to a starring role in the quirky interracial indie Zebrahead, which clinched it for him. This, in turn, led to a string of standout parts in films, such as Christian Slater's pal in True Romance, an edgy collegiate-turned-skinhead in Higher Learning and a sympathetic none-too-bright boxer in Woody Allen's Mighty Aphrodite, all enabling him to build up a higher profile.

In later years, Michael managed to show his ease at offbeat comedy, demonstrating a kid-like, goofy charm as Lisa Kudrow's cop boyfriend for a few episodes on Friends and as teacher Danny Hanson on Boston Public.