Space Captain Premiere!

This past weekend we finally had the official screening of "Space Captain: Captain of Space!"

It has been a pretty incredible journey from the first time I ever read one of Jeff Sproul's in-progress scenes for his new show. It was 2011-2012 at the No Tea Productions writer's meetings in Jeff and Lindsey's living room!

Now they have two beautiful baby girls and a feature-length film under their belts!

They and Jeremy Mather had a screening for the cast, crew and invited guests at the Maya Deren Theater on the Lower East Side this past Saturday and it was so much fun!

Here are my Instagrams of the day:

The poster outside the theatre for the screening of Space Captain: Captain of Space! at the Maya Deren Theater! #spacecaptainmovie #noteaproductions #moviepremiere #actor #madeinny #spacecaptain

A photo posted by Michele McNally (@michelemcnally) on Mar 21, 2015 at 1:03pm PDT

Just two actors waiting for our movie to start! #spacecaptainmovie #noteaproductions #moviepremiere #actor #spacecaptain

A photo posted by Michele McNally (@michelemcnally) on Mar 21, 2015 at 1:14pm PDT

The audience! #spacecaptainmovie #noteaproductions #moviepremiere #actor #spacecaptain

A photo posted by Michele McNally (@michelemcnally) on Mar 21, 2015 at 3:54pm PDT

Our amazing production team! Way to go Jeremy Mather, @sprouledout and @lindsey4242 on an amazing movie! #spacecaptainmovie #noteaproductions #moviepremiere #actor #spacecaptain

A photo posted by Michele McNally (@michelemcnally) on Mar 21, 2015 at 3:42pm PDT

Post-Movie drinks! #spacecaptainmovie #noteaproductions #moviepremiere #actor #spacecaptain #nofilter

A photo posted by Michele McNally (@michelemcnally) on Mar 21, 2015 at 4:27pm PDT

The finished film looked absolutely wonderful and I couldn't be prouder!

Space Captain Still Kicking!

Last week my fellow No Tea Productions company members and I all joined together to celebrate one of our own at the New York Innovative Theatre Awards nomination ceremony!

Jeremy Mather was nominated for Outstanding Innovative design for his video production of the multi-media show that NYTheatre.com called "non-stop entertainment from beginning to end."

Jeremy really showed off his incredible skills with a camera for that production, and his nomination is absolutely well-deserved. The IT Awards is one of the only award ceremonies that honors Off-Off-Broadway theatre. It was really amazing to be in a room packed to the brim with people who are incredibly passionate about creating and producing theatre, and yet definitely don't make much money doing it. 

We'd known Jeremy had been nominated for a while, but weren't allowed to talk about it until after the announcement ceremony, so I had no idea who else in the local theatre community would be nominated.

I'm proud to say I recognized three names in the nomination announcement. The biggest surprise was my good friend Harmony Stempel, nominated for Outstanding Solo Performance for her one-woman show, Human Fruit Bowl. 

When her name was announced, The Boyfriend and I jumped up and started screaming, fueled by both enthusiasm and surprise. Her show opens at the NY Fringe in August.

And not only is Harms still rocking hard, Space Captain is still gradually being turned into a movie. We had a shoot the other day at the Lullwater in Prospect Park, and it was awesome to jump back into it! Balancing the movie with other projects, birthdays, weddings, babies and family drama has been rough, but if we shoot one scene every six months, I'll be happy. 

I'm not going anywhere, and for a movie like this, I'd come back.  

Stay tuned for more news about the IT Awards, Human Fruit Bowl, No Tea Productions and Space Captain: Captain of Space!

Some photos from the second Urban Dictionary shoot...

Most of you probably recall the wildly popular "L-Bomb" video that's taken the internet by storm. (I think it's got like a 99% on Funny or Die, that's got to count for something.)

Well if you do, then you'll be glad to know that Pete and Josh are doing yet another humorous example of Urban Slang (and they're taking me and Gary along for the ride!)

Next up: Premature Evacuation, and if you don't know what that means, don't fret, there will soon be a video to explain it to you! The shoot was loads of fun, and counts officially as my first on-camera sex scene. Thank God it was funny, because that cut extremely into the awkwardness.



Although I've got to say the best part about filming a sex scene is that you basically get to nap in between shots. In fact here is a photo of Gary doing just that, while I text The Boyfriend, because how often do you get to text your boyfriend while in bed with another man and have it NOT be skanky?




Other exotic locations for this shoot include an air mattress in Josh's office, but the most fun was the day we did the club scene, and Gary and I got down with a bunch of extras and drank flat soda to the sounds of Pandora Radio's "Techno" station.


Everyone who helped out for the whole shoot got actual free drinks at the end, but it was worth it just to see Gary wearing that shirt...



Video coming soon! And it's going to be a good one!

More Photos from the Urban Dictionary set...

This shot also took place in the Waldorf. It was one of those fancy, dream sequence shots where the camera holds on a face and the room is spinning in the background. Only, we didn't have the right kind of equipment, so we just worked with what we had.

We got a baggage cart from the bellhops, and clamped the camera to one side so it wouldn't move. Then I got on it and hung off the side while Josh and Gary spun it around.

It was a lot of fun, but left me extremely dizzy afterwards.

And I'm pretty sure the hotel staff was a bit suspect about why we needed this. Also why Gary was wearing a gold shirt.

Urban Slang, Episode Two

Gary and I just started shooting the next Urban Slang short with Pete and Josh. And since the L-Bomb got such a great response, I can't wait for this one to be done!

The shoot is a little more complicated. We need to find a bar or a nightclub for one of the shoots, and since we have no budget and are relying only on people who love us, this is a little tricky. But it's a huge amount of fun.

Our first shoot was at the Presidential Suite of the Waldorf Towers. You needed a key to use the elevator. Two of my friends were in the shoot as well, and they saw Ben Kingsley on their way up to the room. I was like, "How did I even get in here?"

It was absolutely gorgeous. And for a small shining moment, I pretended that I was an important enough person to actually stay in one of these rooms.

Last week Josh and Pete screened the L-Bomb for over 500 people. The Youtube video has over 1300 views in 3 months, and the Funny or Die page has almost another 300, with a 96% vote saying it's funny. Huzzah!

So I'm extremely excited that we're continuing with the series, in the midst of shooting and editing the pilot, Max August: Private Eye, which is the entire reason I got involved with these guys in the first place.


After I wrapped, before I left the hotel for the day, I went into the bedroom and jumped on the bed. I figured it was my last chance to jump on the bed in a Presidential Suite.

I mean, here's hoping it's not, but it might be.

My Mother Should Be My Press Agent

She found this video on YouTube, which is from a promotional shoot for a movie called "Evil Things," which is about 5 college students who disappear during a weekend vacation.

For the shoot we were asked to create a character associated with one of the missing students and improvise for a minute or so.

This is what I did:

Huck Finn and The Five Boons

Saturday I filmed my scene for "Huck Finn and the Five Boons," an upcoming film from AstroLab Films.

Here's what AstroLab has to say about the film:

"This year, on the centennial of Twain's death, a new version of The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn was published replacing the word 'nigger' with 'slave,' just the latest step in the book's turbulent history. As one of the ten most censored books of the twentieth century, Huck Finn has endured it all. Huck Finn and the Five Boons combines Mark Twain's most treasured character with one of his most fantastical short stories, coincident with the centennial of the author's death and the publication of his long-suppressed autobiography. Huck Finn and Mark Twain himself must confront what it means to lose control of their narrative and their lives as they experience the audience's interest, love, anger, and even apathy."

Of all the film work I've been doing lately, this one was by far the most intriguing script, and definitely the most professional set. The shoot was extremely long (counting travel time, almost 18 hours) but I had so much fun I hardly even noticed.

I can't wait to see the finished project, and will continue to post updates on the project as they become available. In the meantime, they are looking for donors, so visit their website if you would like to help!