What do Bruce Willis, Angelina Jolie, Madonna, Beyonce, Luke Perry, Tom Berenger, James Franco, Kane Hodder and other Hollywood celebrities all have in common?
Noah Naylor.
Naylor, formerly of Dundee, is now working in Hollywood as a production designer and actor, and because of his work, his name is listed along with some famous ones in the credits of several movies.
A filmography listing his work at www.IMDb.com includes 16 films.
His day-to -day responsibilities span a broad range of skills as he helps the other workers at a company called 41 Sets gather anything needed to prepare a set for a movie, TV show or photo shoot.
That’s where his connection with the worlds of Willis, Jolie, Madonna and many other big names comes in. He once had to get a motorcycle for a Willis photo shoot and has had to borrow, rent or buy other items for other photo shoots for magazines like Vogue and Vanity Fair and music videos for a variety of artists.
Some of the photo shoots he’s worked on have appeared on Fox TV as the small pop-up images that appear at the bottom of the screen promoting upcoming shows like American Idol.
He’s also done work on reality TV shows like Shear Genius, a competition for hair stylists that appears on the Bravo network, and he’s worked on several other shows for satellite networks.
Although most of his work in film, photography or video right now is with 41 Sets, the company that does a variety of work for low budget films that typically go straight to DVD, his ultimate goal is to land a major acting gig, after being bitten by the bug to perform.
He doesn’t have formal training in acting, but his latest acting job, in a cult-type film called Gay Bed & Breakfast of Terror, earned him mention in both the Los Angeles Times and the New York Times.
He says there’s talk of making a sequel centered on his character, a deformed boy-monster named Manfred. When made-up for the Manfred character, Naylor makes Heath Ledger’s Joker character from The Dark Knight, look like an innocent pixie.
When asked what his favorite project has been so far, he quickly answers the Gay Bed & Breakfast of Terror.
“It’s not a serious film. It’s just entertainment,” he says. The movie was shot on location at an old inn formerly owned by The Rolling Stones. “We lived there for two weeks and I was trying to act and do the art at the same time,” he says, explaining that typically, when he is involved with just the art or the props, he’s often bored during filming. “But on that set, we were laughing the whole time,” he says.
He says he’ll do any acting work that comes his way right now, but he prefers roles that lean toward the “crazy” side, like the character Manfred.
While he works on any type of project that comes his way, including made for TV or DVD movies for Hallmark, it seems he’s focusing on gory and gruesome works.
One of the more recent films he’s worked on, Ed Gein: The Butcher of Plainfield, stars Kane Hodder (Hodder has played the horror character Jason Voorhees in many of the Friday the 13th films) in a very gruesome and disturbing look at the bizarre and morbid crimes of 1950s Wisconsin serial killer Ed Gein.
In the credits, Naylor’s name is listed alone under production design, so he can be credited for the gory, realistic details in the film.
Naylor recently finished work on an action thriller starring Luke Perry and Tom Berenger. During the production of the movie, Recoil, Naylor found himself in a situation that made him ask, “How did I get here?”
The crew was filming a scene in which snakes were crawling through air ducts. Naylor’s job was to hold a small piece of duct work while the snakes were released into the duct.
He also was assistant property master on the drama Good Time Max, starring James Franco.
Naylor, a 1998 graduate of Dundee Central School, and son of Mike and Debbie Naylor of Dundee, began creating his own video productions as a youngster in Dundee. While he didn’t get involved in any productions or acting in high school, he attended the Arts Institute of Pittsburgh beginning in 2001 and then went on to the Los Angeles Film School in 2005. There, he began working for no pay on a number of projects before building a reputation and relationships that landed him paying jobs. “It’s all in who you know,” he says, explaining the calls keep coming in as long as he keeps working hard.
Even while visiting family in Dundee for a few days last week, he received some calls for work, including a three day photo shoot for Target stores.
His advice for others who want to work in the entertainment industry is to pursue a traditional education first, so they have something to fall back on before attempting to make it in the very competitive industry. And be prepared to work long, hard hours, he says, explaining, “When you’re on a job, you work, even on your days off.”
Although he’s found a way to forge a living in Hollywood, he’s still not ready to join the film union. “It’s hard to join,” he says, explaining you have to have 30 days work within a calendar year, which is complicated by the short production schedules he’s used to – seven days or less per project. Then you have to pay $5,000 to join the union and complete specific classes and be trained in specialized tools.
While his name appears in the credits of some graphic, disturbing films that could make Stephen King queazy, Naylor is still a soft-spoken, polite young man from small-town Dundee whose parents still cheer whenever they see his name in a film’s credits.
For more about the films Noah Naylor has worked on, visit www.IMDb.com and enter his name in the search field, which will generate his filmography, including trailers for some films.
The entire film Ed Gein: The Butcher of Plainfield can be viewed at that site.
Editor’s advisory: Ed Gein: The Butcher of Plainfield is a very graphic film that should not be viewed by anyone under 17.
