The seamy side of the movie industry has been a topic at least as far back as the 1932 drama What Price Hollywood. Milwaukee filmmaker Nick Sommer and onetime Milwaukeean Drew Rosas depict the struggle to rise in Hollywood in an entirely contemporary light. Their comedy series “Shangri-LA” can be seen on Amazon and Vimeo and is available on Blu-ray. They will also screen Series 1 in its entirety next month at The Cooperage.
Sommer stars as Nicky Kaplow, an actor whose career high was a starring role in a series of TV commercials for useless products ordered by phone. It was downhill from there—and he’s haunted by those still-running ads as he passes screens (and his former self even reaches out to him like an unwanted ghost). Nicky lives in a shack secured by a padlock and is a resourceful urban survivalist, frying his morning egg on the backside of a clothes iron.
Nicky crosses paths with a colorful cast of characters whose resumes are slimmer still. There’s the naïve young hippie standing at intersections with a cardboard sign: I WILL WORK FOR ROLES. There’s the exponent of J-Pop (Jewish pop) who records selfie music videos and lives in a stranded car with her potted plant on the windshield. There’s the guy dressed as a wiener who charges passersby to have their photo taken with him. And there’s the two-cent hustler “manager” who tries to exploit their dreams.
The characters live on dumpsters and delusions in this funny, endlessly inventive, fast-paced small-budget show. Milwaukee’s Mark Borchardt plays Nicky’s inspirational guru and several scenes are set at Riverwest Film & Video featuring the store’s owner, Xav Leplae.
“Shangri-LA” will be screened on Friday, Aug. 9 at 7 p.m. at the Cooperage, 822 S. Water St.
