Andrew T.S. Bedgood onstage during the curtain call of Much Ado About Nothing.
Andrew T.S. Bedgood is an American writer, actor, and filmmaker and is, perhaps, best known for his work in film with the Life With Brother series, which he co-created with Casey Te Beest. Aside from LWB, Bedgood also co-created The Hollow Men, a science fiction series, and CTRL-Z, an irreverent comedy series developed as the spiritual successor to LWB when the series went on a hiatus following its fourth episode. Bedgood also enjoys performing onstage and went on to receive a great deal of praise for his performance as The Jury in a rendition of the musical Chicago. He would later perform as Claudio in William Shakespeare's Much Ado About Nothing, a role that would also earn him praise. On September 6, 2012, he was cast as Nicky in a production of the award winning musical Avenue Q.
Early Life:[]
Andrew T.S. Bedgood spent the youngest years of his life in the ghettos of Flint, an experience he would later describe as "horrifying." He spent the first seven years of his life moving multiple times ranging everywhere from Lower Michigan to Florida before his family would eventually settle somewhere in Northern Michigan. It was in the Upper Peninsula that Bedgood would meet his close friend and long-time collaborator Casey Te Beest. The boys met at a young age at Stephenson Assembly of God and have been inseparable since.
Early on, Bedgood always had an interest in film and would often set up childhood games as if they were movies. Bedgood has stated about this, "I don't know if Casey really liked it, but I always focused more on the dramatic part of playing 'Army' than the 'actiony' part." He chuckled before continuing, "I would always make my character die--because it was dramatic--and then have Casey avenge me in a blaze of glory."
It wasn't until Andrew was in his teens that he first had access to a video camera. He and Casey played around with the idea of making films and eventually developed the banner "Patriot Studio" for their film projects. Their earliest attempts at film were military movies with airsoft guns as props. They would also attempt stop-motion animations with G.I. Joes or various other action figures. However, all of these early films were destroyed in a fire. It wasn't until the release of Life With Brother that the boys would rise to prominence.
Life With Brother:[]
Bedgood in his Grand Puh Pah costume for the LWB series finale alongside Casey Te Beest and Vicky Johnson
Originally conceived as a feature-length dark comedy film, Life With Brother would undergo several changes before becoming the series that it is now. After abandoning the idea of a film, the creative duo, now referring to themselves as Patriot Studio, developed an outline for a show that had the brothers competing for the affection of a young woman; the actress would later back out of the project--an event that would cause Patriot Studio to replace her character with a donut.
The first episode of Life With Brother was uploaded to YouTube on December 20, 2006. From 2006-2010, Patriot Studio would produce five episodes of LWB, each more ambitious than the last. Patriot Studio is currently in post-production for Life With Brother: The Series Finale, a feature-length film that has been divided into additional episodes--a DVD release is rumored to be in 2013. There are a total of twelve episodes of LWB (with Episode VI being the first part of The Series Finale and the twelfth episode being the series conclusion) which, combined, have gained over 600 views.
Other Works:[]
While still regularly collaborating with Casey, Andrew T.S. Bedgood and Patriot Studio would go on to produce two short films titled Immortal and For Love. Immortal stemmed from an idea Bedgood had some time prior to beginning production on the film which he titled State of Mind--an incomplete brainstorm that he intended to develop into a film. When his ambitions for State of Mind were beyond what he and Te Beest could produce at the time, Bedgood and his then girlfriend reworked his concept into what would become Immortal.
Immortal was intended to be a psychological thriller about a boy who believes he has found an object that grants him immortality when he is, actually, suffering delusions caused by a brain tumor. However, creative disputes early in pre-production caused affected the script and led to poor pacing and plot development. This, along with disputes among the cast, led to the film becoming a complete failure for Patriot Studio and the creative team would return to working on Life With Brother before attempting their next short film in 2010, For Love.
Based on Andrew T.S. Bedgood's short story of the same title, For Love is a character tragedy that focuses on a young man facing some hardships in life and comes to a breaking point. It's a metaphoric tale that critiques the necessity of validation in one's self from outside influences as well as a commentary on the importance of persevering through the challenging times. It was a modest success and received some praise for it's emotional impact. Both Bedgood and Te Beest expressed pride in successfully presenting the sensitive and controversial subject manner in For Love despite some of the film's shortcomings.
For Love would be the last time Bedgood and Te Beest would appear together on film until production of Life With Brother: Episode V--the end of the untraditional "first season" of LWB. During this time, Bedgood attempted two other web series, The Hollow Men and CTRL-Z.
The Hollow Men Episode I
Bedgood's The Hollow Men
was first conceived when Bedgood was approached by an acquaintance who expressed interest in getting a film project off the ground. Bedgood initially suggested ideas for a comic book-styled action film but, as the two continued collaborations, their ideas began to stray significantly from Bedgood's original proposal. Their brainstorming sessions would eventually evolve into the idea that would become The Hollow Men. After a solid concept for the series was agreed upon, Bedgood began work on a thirty-episode outline. However, after completing only one episode, the entire cast backed out and Bedgood's first film project without any direct collaboration with Casey Te Beest fell through. Despite this, The Hollow Men was regarded as one of Bedgood's finest works with one acclaim stating, "It's as disorienting as it is experimental."
CTRL-Z Episode I (Uncensored)
CTRL-Z (Uncensored)
After The Hollow Men, Bedgood decided to temporarily abandon larger scale projects and make his return to comedy. He went to his roommate at the time with an idea for a show that would be the spiritual successor to LWB, and the two began sharing ideas before a script was finalized. This new show, CTRL-Z (pronounced "undo"), was more of a skit show than LWB and the first episode featured three segments: Hey, Andrew, whatcha eatin'? (an homage to HAWP), a skit featuring the two playing videogames, and a skit involving Andrew's fictional counterpart earning some side money. It is rumored that there were a total of five scripts completed for CTRL-Z, though only one episode was ever released. Reception was mixed with CTRL-Z as some people felt that the vulgarity and perversion in the show was an insult to filmmaking and humankind, while others felt that the direction of the show was a natural evolution of the medium.
Currently, Bedgood is working hard on his next film project "Players" under his new production banner Raw Footage Films. "Players" is a new comedy series that follows the production of a rendition of William Shakespeare's Julius Caesar. There is, currently, no date set for the release of this new series, but filming is set to begin fall 2012.
Personal Life:[]
Despite the success of his films, Bedgood prefers to keep a low profile. Little is known about his personal life other than he claims to be a Christian, he annually donates an undisclosed sum to breast cancer research, and, as of September 15, 2012, he is hopelessly single.
Quotes:[]
"I'm a writer; I don't have any money."
"How much? Never mind."
"I'm lonely."