By Vikki Hankins

Photo Credits: Michael Letterlough Jr. & Barton B. Mac Leod

Gary Sturgis has brand new projects that teach, inspire and shows another side of him in his profession. Not only is he famous for a variety of roles in film, including Tyler Perry movies, but he hosts an Annual Celebrity Go-Kart Tournament. In this tournament celebrities are able to donate (as a winner) to their favorite charity. In addition he has a traveling workshop called MOVIESTAR, which is a two day course with focus on audition process and performance for screen; cities included (LA, New Orleans, Charlotte, Baltimore and a host of others requests across the country for MOVIESTAR). Regarding his new projects he shares with Fine Success:

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“It’s something very innovative and different that I’m doing. It’s a series of horror shorts. A producer friend of mine, named Rick Jenkins and I got together, along with photographer Blyth Kemp for the project. So, one day I put on a ‘buddy shirt’ and I started walking around this park and he (Blyth) was just shooting me walking around this park and down this baron road and people were stopping and calling the police, because they didn’t know what was going on.”

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“We shot this and I did some stills and I put it on Facebook and people were like, ‘what are you guys doing’ and we said we are shooting some horror movies and this thing took off. Everybody was sort of volunteering their time and wanting to come help us do it; they found that what we are doing is intriguing.”

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“Its five horror shorts that all comprised of one featured film. We are releasing them all individually via digital downloads and DVD. They are out of order…you will see them all. Like the first one is called The Devil is My Witness – I directed, I starred in it and I wrote it. It looks awesome… It’s a 20 minute short. By the end of the year all five of them will be combined into one featured film and they will be missing things that will connect all five of these and make it one big film. We try to capture the horror genre; people don’t really know we’ve been doing this. No one has ever done anything like this before. It was funny how all of this came about; it was an idea, from that it became a story and from that became several stories to connect… it just kind of organically came about.”

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In giving credit to one more person – Daeus Cannon – Sturgis talks about the power of social media and the communication through social networking that led to bigger projects.

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“For the purpose of this interview I want people to understand the power of social networking and social media. Here is a brother (Daeus Cannon) that I had never met before. We had talked over Facebook about 3 or 4 years about projects that I’m trying to produce and him doing the score of the music for them. I love some of his work, I’ve heard some of his work on other projects. He always said he wanted to work with me on something and when this opportunity came about, he said, ‘Hey man just send it to me I’ll score it for you. In 20 minutes I can show what I can do.’ So he volunteered his time and services and he scored this thing and when we got it back; I said, “Wow, we have a movie.”

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Sturgis further adds, “I’m very active on my Facebook… I value social network and the power of it.  When we use these tools for good, good can come from them.”

With as many friends on Facebook that he has, there are times when he causes controversy and simply is being himself.

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“For those who are my Facebook friends who don’t know me, I tend to write things just to get conversation going; controversial statements about women, relationships or weight, anything that will get people talking. I found that sometimes my point of view rubs people the wrong way. I find it amusing because…I’m just doing me. When you have a public life and you are an entertainer, there is a certain place people hold you and how you’re supposed to be and how you are supposed to think and what your moral fiber is supposed to be. I find it entertainingly funny, because outside of what I do as an entertainer professionally, I’m a person. As with anybody else, I have a bad day, I have a good day…I’m not trying to rub anybody the wrong way. Once I get people talking then I start promoting my business. You have to make sure people are watching – now that I know you’re looking I can post my stuff back up there (laughs). I’m not trying to rub anyone the wrong way…it’s like Barnum and Bailey Circus, I’m just trying to lure you to the pit.”

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Though he has starred in several of Tyler Perry films, (Diary of a Mad Black Woman and Daddy’s Little Girls), Sturgis does not want to get stuck in those types of roles throughout his career.

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“I’m trying to get away from some of that. People will often ask me ‘what’s it like to be tight cast like that’; I’m not complaining because I am working but by the same token people start to think that you are limited in what you can do and it’s not so much a limit of what I can do camera wise; it’s a limit in what’s presented to me by Hollywood.  So the objective when you are independent like I am, is to create your own so as a writer, I started writing my own films and creating my own project. I spend my days seeking finances, seeking distribution, seeking medians with production companies to pitch some of my product. Thinking at this point it’s a product I’m just trying to get in there and show people that I can create film and television programs that are just as viable and competitive as the ones that are out there, but I can give you something that you haven’t seen before.”

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Sturgis pointed out what is considered low budget in Hollywood, is more than enough to produce competitive films. “In Hollywood, 10 million dollars is a low budget film – I can make 5 pictures for that same 10 million dollars and still have ‘named’ actors in those pictures. From action, to comedy, to urban comedy; I have 5 pictures in this package for 10 million dollars.”

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“We have a totally different structure of how we do things independently to show people we can still compete with the big boys without spending the big boy money.”

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Visit MOVIESTAR Workshop at: www.1celebrity.wix.com/moviestars#