Photo by Daniel Gastelum
Photo by Cheryl Walsh
A : Welcome Back to the Spiel Brad! For those who do not know, tell us about the Dream Loud campaign and how it got started
The Dream Loud campaign is an over the top visual campaign aimed at raising awareness to the schools losing the art and music programs and to encourage parents and others to step in and help save them.
I started the Dream Loud campaign after learning about so many of the schools letting the Art & Music programs go due to budget cuts. Art programs helped me so much in helping me develop as an artist and as a person and I couldn't imagine not having them growing up and in school. I decided to visually try and capture the parents and others attention to the schools dropping the programs by photographing many of the Daytime Soap stars and other actors in over the top dramatic shoots. I thought if I shot them in a way they'd not seen yet, that I would be able to be stand behind them with a red flag saying 'come this way and help the schools' pretty much. lol Slowly but surely it started to work and parents began going to PTA meetings again, having fund raisers for their kid's schools and more. It's been pretty amazing. I've been in this business for many years, worked on many projects that have left me in awe, but this is the most creatively fulfilled I've ever felt. Being able to work with so many of my friends & give back to the school's art & music programs that encouraged us and others to be the people we've become feels amazing. I know the fight is just beginning, but if I can help encourage one kid/person to pursue something artistically creative whether it be painting, drawing, photography, learning to play a music instrument, designing clothing, etc I'm a happy camper. I was a kid of the 80's where there were no creative limits and I want those growing up today to know that can the creative boundaries have expanded you just have to express yourself.
http://dreamloudofficial.com
B : Who would you like to photograph that you have not yet?
Gosh! There's so many people I'd love to photograph for the campaign. There's soooo many amazing phenomenally talented artists out there that would help raise so much awareness to the school's art & music programs. I've been trying to blend more of the unknown artists in with those known lately so that it showcases a broader spectrum of talent & to hopefully help the unknown to get discovered as well.
I often get asked if I have a set wish list of people I'd want to shoot. My reply is always I want to photograph everyone, but when it comes to a wish list there is only one person on that list, and those who know me the best, know exactly who that one person is. :) I'll leave it at that for fear of one day jinxing it. lol
Now others, fellow twitter friends, etc. have a looooooong wish list for me. :) I promise I read/hear every single tweet request. Multiple times. lol I often only favorite the tweets for fear of getting someone's hopes up too much till it actually happens. I have to shoot around their working schedules, which changes daily, sometimes hourly. So, scheduling is hard, but I promise I'm going through everyone's wish list and trying to get them in front of my camera for the campaign. Everyone has that artist that brings it home for them, inspires them and is part of their daily regimen like coffee & brushing their teeth, and i want to strike the heart strings of everyone with having their favs part of this movement. It's far from over, so I promise my camera won't stop clicking as long as there are kids/people out there to creatively inspire.
You photograph all different types of actors, but especially soaps.
Would you consider acting in one?
As an actor/fellow artist I've always respected the Daytime/Soap actor, but lately that respect has grown more than words can even express. There is no way I could have ever made the connection with the parents and gotten the word out about the school's and the programs without their help. Parents watch their shows religiously and thanks to the actors we were able to create an awareness for the need for creativity like never before. There's a saying in the acting world and that is that 'Everyone starts in Soaps' and that saying has never been more true than now. I've kind of done it in reverse, but I'm so grateful and blessed that so many of the daytime actors have such a passion for the art & music programs and have wanted to do all that they could to help save them.
Outside of the daytime world I've been photographing those in primetime, films, music, etc. Shooting friends on shows such as those on The CW etc have created a different kind of dialogue with them and the parents that aren't online, twitter to see the campaign. Those kids have been seeing the pics and going to their parents and asking if they are supposed to have art & music programs in schools and it's awesome to know that it's creating that communication and interest in arts the other way around. I've been seeing soooooo many drawings that fans of actors on such shows as The Vampire Diaries, iZombie, etc have been drawing of the actors I've been shooting. That ROCKS!!! I can't tell you how much that means to see that. :)
As far as myself being in some of the shoots in the future, I wouldn't count that out. :) Don't blink it might just happen sooner than you think. The ideas are certainly going back and forth between some of us, and let's just say I've missed being in front of the camera. I miss that way of creatively expressing myself and getting excited for the day that I make that return. :) Gosh I sound like a 901 year old stage actor who is coming out of retirement. lol Yeah, it's been to long. SOON! :)
But as you can see from the pics I've including w/ this interview I'm not opposed to doing anything that I have my fellow actors do in my shoots. I've done it all and wanna do soooo much more. :) You'll see where my love for action film comes in with the shoots I've personally done for myself :) And of course the straight jacket
What are actually your can't miss shows?
Hmmm Can't miss shows. Growing up in the 80's.90s my can't miss shows were those like Growing Pain, Who's The Boss?, 90210, Melrose Place, etc. So, these days it has to be something that reallllly captures my attention. I'm addicted to shows like Bates Motel, because the details, the homage and the phenomenal acting has me in complete awe. I don't dare blink during that show. lol But there's so many other great shows I watch too. I just wish I had more time to watch them all. I used to watch everything. Now I catch myself watching a select few. But I never miss The Flash, Arrow, The Vampire Diaries, iZombie and all those shows that my 13 year old teenage girl side wouldn't miss. :) OH, annnnd How To Get Away With Murder. Now that show....DAMN! So good. And so happy I have a friend who was just announced joining the cast this season. Stoked to see them mix it up and do their thing.
K, I'll stop rambling. I'm obviously working on caffeine now. :) Like always :)
Thank again for your continued support in the campaign and my work. Muuuuuah. So appreciated!!!
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