If you don’t know the name Jason Manns, you should. He’s a fantastic solo musician, with a host of albums under his belt, as well as part of the band The Station Breaks.
He’s also produced albums for artists such as Briana Buckmaster and Gil McKinney, and has put out many Covers with Friends albums, where Jason and his friends cover popular songs.
He’s one of our favorites here at Nerds and Beyond, and we recently sat down with him to talk all about his music, his projects including a new solo album, Richard Speight, Jr.’s album, his favorite memory singing with Rob Benedict, and the Pivot Questionnaire, where he tells us his favorite word and more.
You can follow Jason on Twitter, and check out his music here!
Thank you again to Jason for doing this interview! Watch it below!
Swallow expressed her excitement via her Twitter page shortly after Lucasfilm revealed the first official casting announcement for the series.
AAAAAAAGH! I hate keeping secrets! I've been working on this for the past few months and now I can finally reveal how much I've been trying to focus on my scenes and not fangirl the day away… #TheMandalorianhttps://t.co/1FhaqCMRgb
The Mandalorian, which is currently in production in the skilled hands of Jon Favreau (Iron Man, The Avengers), is the first-ever live-action Star Wars series. It will be exclusive to Disney+, Disney‘s upcoming streaming service.
Image courtesy of Lucasfilm
The synopsis for the series is:
After the stories of Jango and Boba Fett, another warrior emerges in the Star Wars universe. The Mandalorian is set after the fall of the Empire and before the emergence of the First Order. We follow the travails of a lone gunfighter in the outer reaches of the galaxy far from the authority of the New Republic.
Lucasfilm’s official announcement also revealed a handful of other stars cast in the upcoming show. Confirming previous speculation, Pedro Pascal (Game of Thrones) will be taking on the lead role. As per Lucasfilm, his character is “a lone Mandalorian gunfighter in the outer reaches of the galaxy”.
With the 300th episode fast approaching, Supernatural fans have been anxiously awaiting any news regarding who we might see returning to the show for the milestone episode.
Today it was confirmed in an article from Entertainment Weekly that Jeffrey Dean Morgan will return to his role as John Winchester, the father of Sam and Dean Winchester, who died in season two of the show and returned one last time as a ghost to help his sons defeat the demon Azazel. Matt Cohen took up the role as a younger John when the boys were sent back in time.
It is yet unknown how the return of Morgan as John Winchester will play into the storyline of this season, but co-showrunner Andrew Dabb is thrilled to have him back.
“We’re incredibly excited to have Jeffrey back for this milestone episode,” said Dabb in the EW interview, “and think fans will love what we have planned for his character… and a few other surprise guest stars.”
Jared Padalecki and Samantha Smith shared Dabb’s excitement in an interview with TV Guide: “We see [Padalecki’s character Sam Winchester] tie up some loose ends and really make the most of his situation, and it’s a pretty awesome situation,” said Padalecki about John’s return that will provide Sam some long-overdue closure. Smith, who plays the Winchesters’ mother Mary, commented “I think that John is the love of Mary’s life and that would be anyone’s dream come true, right?”
In other exciting news, Deadline reported today that the 300th episode is titled “Lebanon” and will air on The CW on Thursday, February 7, 2019. Convention goers will notice that this episode is set to air immediately before Creation Entertainment‘s Supernatural Official Convention, which takes place in Seattle, WA, February 8-10, 2019. There will undoubtedly be epic watch parties planned!
We cannot wait to see what John’s return will mean for the Winchester brothers and the fight against archangel Michael.
Jason Manns and Justin Guarini teamed up earlier this year with the help of Stands to record a duet of “A Change is Gonna Come”, benefiting the Jacmel Children’s Center in Haiti. Stands has announced via their official Twitter account that January 18th, 2019 is the official release date for the song!
Annnnd we have an official release date for @jasonmanns and @JustinGuarini's A Change is Going To Come! January 18th!!
“A Change is Gonna Come” is currently available for pre-order here for $5 and according to the site, “100% of your donations will go to Random Acts to support operational costs of the JCC.” We are eagerly awaiting its release!
The film, directed by Dan Scanlon, is focused around two brothers who journey to find any magic that might be left in the world in order to spend one last day with their father, who has recently passed.
The movie is set to be in theaters March 6, 2020, and is sure to wow audiences. Scanlon explained in the EW article, “At Pixar we try to create stories that come from some kind of personal truth.”
Make sure to check this out when it comes to theaters!
The episode picks up right where Mel (Melonie Diaz) passed out after finding where the Sisters of Arcana are. She wakes up on Jada’s (Aleyse Shannon) couch in the tattoo shop. Jada tells her when Mel makes up her mind to come back to be initiated and become one of them. Later in the day she goes back, and they all make a circle around her chanting, then Jada takes her arm, and the mark of The Sisters of Arcana appears on her arm as crows fly overhead. Just like the night, they came home to find their mother was dead.
Parker (Nick Hargrove) and his brother Hunter (Constantine Rousouli), are in Romania to steal an Archangel’s amulet from a church, but everything does not go according to plan. The priest catches them and bangs his staff on the ground while chanting, opening the gates of Tartarus to banish them. Hunter attacks the priest and is about to kill him when Parker yells at him to stop, which he does reluctantly. After Parker vanishes, Hunter takes the staff and kills the priest anyway. Parker gives the necklace to Maggie as a gift; it will change to a black color once it has drawn the sisters powers into it.
Macy’s boss Julia Wagner (Rya Kihlstedt), who turns out to be Parker’s mother, shows him part of a serum that will keep him alive as a demon. Alastair (Craig Parker) and Hunter talk about the source’s return and needing to possess the body of a demon born of a human, in other words, Parker.
Mel and Maggie (Sarah Jeffery) are decorating the tree with Harry (Ruppert Evans) when Macy (Madeleine Mantock) comes into the room saying that they found the driver that hit Galvin (Ser’Darius Blain), making her question if this is related to the protection mark on him. Macy panics when Galvin comes to the door; he wanted to see her before he left to see his family. In an attempt to be cute, he holds up mistletoe above his head for her to kiss him, as Macy goes in for the kiss, he falls.
She comes up with a plan to try to avoid him while he is visiting so he does not get hurt anymore. When Parker meets Galvin, Macy sees the mark glow and Parker look pained. Macy goes outside to call Mama Roz (Eva La Dare) to see why that would happen; she says he must be evil for him to feel pain from the mark. Before she has a chance to go inside, Macy is knocked out by Hunter who then ties her up in the shed and takes her form.
One problem with his plan, though – he cannot get into the house because of Galvin’s mark. Hunter/Macy tricks Mel into putting a spell in Galvin’s drink to remove the mark. The necklace that Parker gifted to Maggie earlier changed color to black and Mel is suspicious of Parker. When the real Macy wakes up in the shed and tries to use her powers to escape, she cannot because of the necklace draining the sisters’ powers.
Maggie is excited because her father is coming to see them, but Mel does not share the same enthusiasm, warning her not to get her hopes up. This exchange is similar to a conversation about absentee fathers between Phoebe and Prue. Before dinner, Maggie gets a text message from her dad saying that he will not be able to come, and heartbroken she runs up to her room. Parker follows her and comforts her, and says he will never hurt her as he takes the necklace off. Mel was standing in the doorway witness him taking it off and putting it in his pocket. When Hunter learns that his brother removed the jewelry, he confronts him and tells him that he is supposed to be the source.
Macy manages to get the gag out of her mouth and call for Harry to help her, and he looks confused as Macy is standing in front of him. Once Hunter/Macy realizes that they know, he pushes Harry out of the window in the attic. Once Harry unties the real Macy and they go to the backyard, they are all greeted by two exact forms of Maggie. When Hunter/Maggie goes to stab the real Maggie, Parker shows up stopping him and revealing that he is a demon. Mel uses her powers to stop Hunter, and the crows come to her aid as well. Jada shows up to check on her and tells her that the crows were there to help her mother as well but were too late. Cole, but in reality Parker, takes Maggie with him to explain everything to her, but she wants nothing to do with him anymore.
Hunter comes back to the house to attack them, but Parker shows up with the staff, and they use it to banish him to Tartarus. Only, Hunter dragged Harry with him and Galvin – who somehow slept through everything else – saw it happen.
After the success of the Doctor Strange character in his solo movie and Avengers: Infinity War, many of us have been waiting for a definite answer on whether or not there will be a sequel to his first movie.
Jay Maidment/Marvel. Courtesy of THR.
On December 11, The Hollywood Reporter broke the news that Scott Derrickson will return to direct the sequel. They also reported that Benedict Cumberbatch and Benedict Wong will both definitely be back to reprise their roles as Doctor Stephen Strange and Wong respectively; and it is very likely that Rachel McAdams will also be back as Doctor Strange’s love interest.
There has been no date given as to when the filming would start or when it would be released, as the script has not been written yet. This Doctor Strange sequel would be considered part of Marvel’s Phase Four beginning after Avengers: Endgame.
Marvel is finally ready to conjure up a sequel to #DoctorStrange. Benedict Cumberbatch and Benedict Wong are both set to return. Rachael McAdams is likely to return as well https://t.co/tscBCs06vU
Richard Speight, Jr., Ruth Connell, Rob Benedict and Matt Cohen – Courtesy of Chris Schmelke
We’re back with a twist on our Fandom Photographers Spotlight, which will be highlighting more fandom photographers in the next coming weeks. We got the chance to interview photographer Chris Schmelke, who is a photographer and is also the face behind the camera taking your favorite photo-ops at Creation Entertainment conventions.
Read along as he talks about photography and more.
Nerds and Beyond: How did you get started with photography? When did you decide you wanted to pursue it?
Chris Schmelke: Came from my dad, and View-Masters which I loved. There was something incredible for me about looking through something and realizing I had then power to capture what I wanted. My dad had many cameras, and I always had cameras with me when I was young.
Nerds and Beyond: How did you get involved with convention photography?
Schmelke: It would be a 70 page essay but the short version was my Mom who worked at Creation from 1986 until she passed. That was my connection and then when I got back into photography was right after my band broke up. That was when this whole thing started. Right place, right time, and still rings true to this day how lucky I am.
Nerds and Beyond: What has been your favorite photo you’ve ever shot?
Schmelke: My phone pic of my son when I first held him. Sniffle..
Jensen Ackles – Courtesy of Chris Schmelke
Nerds and Beyond: What has been the most challenging photo shoot you’ve ever done?
Schmelke: When I am doing something, I don’t really think that way. There are always problems that need solving. Be confident in yourself, and fix it. I’m like the Wolf (Harvey Keitel) in Pulp Fiction without having to clean brains out of a car.
Nerds and Beyond: Besides people, what are your favorite things to shoot?
Schmelke: Abandoned landscapes, whether it may an abandoned amusement park or missile silo, there is something incredible in how quickly nature takes over something that was recently something else.
Nerds and Beyond: What equipment do you usually use?
Schmelke: Leica cameras and lenses. It was at a point when I did not want to take my huge SLR out any more and finding there was something unique and challenging with using a fully manual camera. The fact it was much lighter and smaller was something I used much more frequently. The equipment and tools we use has to inspire us in some way for us to want to use them.
Nerds and Beyond: For someone with some photography background who is wanting to get more serious, what are the must-have lenses?
Schmelke: Low light cameras and lenses. There are so many and I can’t keep up. Depends on budgets, history etc. www.dpreview.com has many reviews that are unbiased. Look for cameras that have low noise with high iso.
Nerds and Beyond: What photographers inspire you?
Schmelke: Honestly, my inspiration comes mostly from films. I am a total dork for science fiction and not surprisingly, westerns.
Nerds and Beyond: You recently had your own photography Q&A/Meet and Greet at a convention. What was that like? What did you think about it?
Schmelke: Honestly was quite the fun time. I’ve heard that I scare the crap our of some fans that don’t know me. I’m just deranged and being able to answer questions and talk about what I do was a blast.
Nerds and Beyond: How have the Supernatural conventions changed your life? What is your favorite part about them?
Schmelke: Working with an incredible cast who I consider some of my closest friends and getting to make people happy all day is something I’m proud to do. I wanted this to always be something to look back with great joy and besides the burning pain in my calves, I will never forget these days.
See a few more of Chris’ amazing photos below! You can follow Chris on Twitter, and Instagram.
Rob Benedict – Courtesy of Chris SchmelkeRuth Connell – Courtesy of Chris SchmelkeBilly Moran – Courtesy of Chris Schmelke
Sam and Dean enlist the help of their pal Garth to gain inside information on what Michael may be planning. The brothers split up to each go after weapons that can aid in their fight against the Archangel, but this may be a fight our heroes cannot win.
Tune in to Supernatural Thursdays at 8/7c on The CW.
In another exciting piece of news today, the trailer for Driven starring Richard Speight, Jr. will be dropping in just three days – on December 14!
It was just announced last week that the film will make it’s world premiere at the Oxford Film Festival in Mississippi on February 9! Glenn Payne directed the film, which was written by Casey Dillard, who also stars alongside Speight, Jr.
Emerson Graham’s nights as a rideshare driver are filled with annoyances and inconveniences. After picking up a mysterious passenger her night goes from working a job to performing a quest as they race the clock to defeat a force of evil and right a long-time wrong. The meter is running.
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![Interview: Jason Manns Talks Music, Producing, Richard Speight, Jr.’s Album, His Favorite Memory Singing with Rob Benedict & More! [EXCLUSIVE]](https://i0.wp.com/www.nerdsandbeyond.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/12/thumb.png?fit=696%2C380&ssl=1 "Interview: Jason Manns Talks Music, Producing, Richard Speight, Jr.’s Album, His Favorite Memory Singing with Rob Benedict & More! [EXCLUSIVE]")
