JANUARY 29, 2020

Meet Ryan Paul James and Melissa Disney

Today we’d like to introduce you to Ryan Paul James and Melissa Disney.

Ryan Paul James got his start as an actor and radio personality in Florida. Upon moving to Los Angeles, Ryan discovered a new dream and started writing. He was fortunate enough to write ten plays that got produced in Los Angeles, New York, Liverpool, Great Britain and Melbourne, Australia. Ryan’s plays received great reviews from several different publications. One reviewer called him “The Neil Simon of his generation”. Unfortunately, there was no real money writing for the stage so Ryan began writing for television. Since he started writing for several TV shows, Ryan has won many awards and has received great reviews.

Melissa Disney got her start in San Diego doing musical theatre. After college, she fell in love with voice over, moved to Los Angeles, took a million classes and did it the old fashion way – hard work and training. Since then Melissa was the first woman to voice a movie trailer (Gone In 60 Seconds), she was “Ginger” in Nickelodeon’s “AS TOLD BY GINGER”, was the singing voice for Snow White and has been the live announcer for The EMMY’s, The Academy Awards, The Billboard Music Awards, The GLAAD Awards and The Country Music Awards.

Back in 2008, Ryan was a local radio personality in Los Angeles and Melissa came on as a singing guest promoting her album “Love” on his morning show. For Ryan it was love at first sight, however, for Melissa, it took another year. But Ryan had a plan. He cast her in one of his plays. They were married in San Diego in 2010 and now have two children.

Both freelancers, work from home in their studio space. Melissa in her PJ’s and yoga pants, popping in and out of the recording booth and Ryan at his desk, turning down his “work music” every time she records. Their first love is being parents. However, if you’re reading this and you’re a studio executive, they love the work.

Great, so let’s dig a little deeper into the story – has it been an easy path overall and if not, what were the challenges you’ve had to overcome?

Ryan – Hell no! It has been a long struggle and a rollercoaster. There are days that you’re feeling great and it looks like your career is getting ready to take off and then there are days where you want to quit and move back to Florida. I once met with a very established writer/director. He has won EMMY awards and has written movies that everyone would know. I asked him what it was like to “make it”. His answer – “I don’t think I have made it yet.” That was quite eye opening to me.

Melissa – Once I had an audition for a “Melissa Disney type” and I didn’t get it! My agent consoled me by letting me know this was a good thing- I had become a “type”. People were trying to do my voice and sound. I still would’ve liked the job. This business is so tough. The producers are fickle. If you sound like you have a cold, you may be replaced on the spot. That’s why when I was in a terrible car accident in 2001 and lost my voice completely for two weeks while I was the lead on a cartoon series, I had to keep it a secret as I was re-learning how to talk and going thru major PTSD. Most of the struggles in this line of work are in continuing to work in excellence when you’re going through really tough times personally. Once my agent called to see why I hadn’t sent in my latest audition and I had to tell him I was in the hospital going through an awful miscarriage. But then there was a day when that same agent called me to tell me I’d booked the Oscars- while I was heavy breathing in labor with our beautiful son.

Please tell us about you business.

Ryan – As a writer, I will write anything while looking for the next TV show to write for. I have written for doctor presentations and have used large words like – “unglues incarnates”. In other words, I wrote a one hour presentation on ingrown toenails. I have also written for reality TV – yes, reality TV is sometimes scripted.

My real passion is writing a TV comedy. I wrote a pilot called “The Comeback Kids” and I’m proud of it. I wrote this pilot before all the reboots that you see on TV now. On this show, we bring back all your favorite TV stars and have them make guest appearances. The show is about two child stars now in their forties (Richard Horvitz and Dean Cameron) trying to make a come back in Hollywood. In the pilot, we have Gavin MacLeod, Bernie Kopell, Keith Coogan, Erin Murphy and Scott Schwartz. Some networks showed interest but they told me middle America might not get it. I wanted to prove them wrong. We took the pilot and submitted it to film festivals all over the country and world. We won first place in several film festivals and yes some of those were in middle America. I still think the show has a future.

Melissa – I love teaching voiceover acting. I started doing it for a few friends and eventually started the LA Voiceover Academy. We’ve produced numerous videos that people can buy on MelissaDisney.com/store. What I love most about teaching is seeing someone’s eyes light up when they “get it” and helping them on their journey. Honestly, I think you’ve got to learn by doing in this line of work and I base my line of teaching on honesty, from someone who has been there and is still acting for a living. It’s a very mentoring and supportive approach.

Do you look back particularly fondly on any memories from childhood?

Ryan – Getting to star in a Christmas play called “Arch the Angel”. I was eleven and I still remember looking at a spot on the floor right before I made my big entrance. It was a thrill I never experienced and it was at that moment I knew that I wanted to entertain people for the rest of my life.

Melissa – Singing Beatles harmonies with my family on road trips. Music has always been like a mentor in my life. Voiceover feels like I get to sing every day as I hear the musicality in the words and get to create new melodies. “My weapon is a melody”

EXCITING NEWS!!!!! RYAN PAUL JAMES HAS SIGNED WITH NATIONAL TALENT LA!!!!!!!

The Whitefire Theatre Presents “Live Pilots Society”

Written by Samantha Simmonds-Ronceros

What a brilliant concept.  Five short plays, all in TV pilot format, all hilarious and totally believable in subject, story and tone. 

With fully fleshed out characters, classic sitcom design and a perfect excuse for the strange and unusual, the quirky and the oddly profound.

The storylines range from a wild west Uurologist/sheriff, a mob-backed, high-concept restaurant, a billionaire social media influencer colonizing Mars, a brain injured, retired football pro/stay at home dad and a fired Wall Street big shot slumming it as an elementary school teacher's assistant.

These might seem a little far fetched and that is of course part of the point. But they all actually work anyway, quite magically.  I can totally imagine a studio executive somewhere giving a green light to any one of these.  In fact, I am ever so hopeful that they will!

The performances are wonderful, fully committed as only the best comedy can be, and everyone is having a blast, which, of course, translates directly to the audience. 

It’s like the weirdest, craziest dream you’ve ever had written up and played out before your very eyes.  But funny…very, very funny.  The Whitefire Theatre has a gift for bringing shows to their audience that boldly entertain and invent new genres and “Live Pilots Society” is yet another genius idea made real. I absolutely loved it! 

We all need a good laugh these days…and this is it!

Another Review

THEATRE REVIEW #792 – Live Pilots Society
“Live Pilots Society – Is Comical Television Sitcoms – Delivered Live to You On Stage!!”

Well apparently "The Comeback Kids" is still impressing film festivals. Even festivals I don't remember submitting to since it's been three years since I last submitted it anywhere.
I'm still very grateful and still believe there could be a future for this show.
By the way - this marks over TWENTY FILM FESTIVALS we have either won or placed and every time we get the same question - Why isn't this on TV? 
That's a good question if you ask me.

Starring - Richard Horvitz, Dean Cameron, Gavin MacLeod, Bernie Kopell, Keith Coogan, Scott Schwartz, Melissa Disney, Erin Murphy, Thomas F. Evans, Christopher Newell, Michael Leone, Natisha Anderson, Louise Gallagher and Galen

Special Thanks to Joseph Gilbert, Drake Travis and Serena Travis

PRESS!!!!!

Land O’ Lakes native screening TV pilot

Ryan Paul James’ first brush with fame came at the age of 6, when his name was listed in The Laker/Lutz News.

“I was playing Little League there, with the Red Sox. All of the players were mentioned there in an article,” said James, a former Land O’ Lakes resident, now an actor and writer who lives in Los Angeles.

Since moving to L.A., he’s performed in two dozen plays, has written 10 plays and is now shopping a pilot for a television show he’s written called “The Comeback Kids.”

The show is about a pair of actors who were famous as children and are attempting a comeback, decades later.

Melissa Disney is married to Ryan Paul James, who grew up in Land O’ Lakes. He’s shopping a television pilot, ‘The Comeback Kids,’ and she’s an acclaimed voiceover artist. She’s also related to Walt Disney, although she never met him.
(Courtesy of Ryan Paul james)

While no one has picked up the television show yet, it has been screened at film festivals in such places as Los Angeles, Honolulu, Miami, Switzerland, Australia and London.

It also has picked up a number of awards.

It’s a project James has been working on for five years. He’s written eight episodes of the show and has casted most of them, with different stars who would be making appearances as themselves, or performing a role in the sitcom.

The TV pilot most recently screened on June 10 at The Chinese Theatre in Hollywood.

James said his desire to act began when he was a young boy, when his dad was a wildlife officer and the family lived on the grounds of Pine View Middle School in Land O’ Lakes.

“Living in the middle of nowhere and playing there on the campus of Pine View, I would let my imagination go.

“I remember, that, like for a year, they were building their (Pine View Middle) gym. I don’t think I can get in trouble for this anymore — but I would go in there and play Indiana Jones,” James said.

“I would watch probably too much television,” he added.

His acting debut came in 1994 when he played the role of a Mousekateer on the Mickey Mouse Club, filmed in Orlando. His acting teacher, who was the show’s casting director, got him the gig, he said.

He knew from the beginning the role would be a short run.

“When I was brought on, they’d already announced that the show was cancelled,” James said.

He replaced a cast member who wanted to go to Los Angeles to pursue a music career.

James moved to Los Angeles in 1995 to attend the American Academy of Dramatic Arts.

But, that didn’t last long, either.

“I was so homesick, and I hated L.A. — could not stand it,” he said.

So, he returned to the Tampa Bay area, where he became a disc jockey on 100.7 Kiss FM.

“I wasn’t really looking to get into radio, but it just happened for me. I bounced around to a couple of other radio stations. A radio station out here in Los Angeles heard one of my air checks, and they called me up and wanted to see if I would be interested in coming out here,” he said.

He wasn’t sure what he wanted to do.

So, he prayed about it.

“I was like, ‘God, you’ve got to give me a sign here’,” James said.

He knew he couldn’t afford to move to L.A., but within a month of his prayer, he had booked two national commercials and had received the offer from the radio station.

“And, so I thought, ‘I’ll give L.A. one more shot.’

“Here I am, 12 years later, married, with a kid,” James said.

His wife, Melissa Disney — a cousin of Walt Disney — is a voiceover artist.

Though not a household name like her cousin, she has attracted her own share of fame.

She narrated the trailer for the action movie, “Gone in 60 Seconds,” — widely credited as one of the first major movie trailers to employ a female voice, according to The Hollywood Reporter. She also has voiced The Academy Awards, The Emmy’s and the Billboard Music Awards.

While James and his wife work in the industry, their 4-year-old son, Ryder, gets a chance to dip into the lifestyle, too. He already has met such international stars as Madonna, Harrison Ford and James Earl Jones.

Although the Land O’ Lakes native has lived in L.A., for a dozen years, he still gets homesick and travels back to the area to visit family a couple of times a year.

Every time he comes home, he must make one stop before returning to L.A.

He drops by Larry’s Deli, on Land O’ Lakes Boulevard, where he loads up on Cuban sandwiches to take back to California.

The mere mention of them, James said during a recent telephone interview, makes his mouth water.

Published June 15, 2016

The Comeback Kids!!!

Starring:

Richard Horvitz, Dean Cameron, Gavin MacLeod, Bernie Kopell, Keith Coogan, Erin Murphy, Scott Schwartz, Melissa Disney, Michael Leone, & Thomas F. Evans

Directed by:

Brian Baugh

Check out this website for all the details: www.thecomebackkids.tv

Like us on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/TheComebackKidsTVSERIES?ref=br_tf

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