A Dansville man accused of leading deputies on a high-speed chase on city streets on early Sunday morning is facing multiple felony weapons charges.
Dandra Jamie Cramer, 25, of Main Street, Dansville, is charged with criminal possession of a weapon in the second degree, two counts of criminal possession of a weapon in the third degree, criminal possession of a firearm or knife, and resisting arrest.
The incident began at 1:42 a.m. when Deputy Jacob Kipler attempted a traffic stop of a minivan on West Main Street, Batavia, for an alleged traffic violation. As deputies approached the vehicle, the vehicle fled.
The driver led deputies on a chase that reached speeds of 93 mph on city streets, including Bank Street, Fairmont, and Ross. The vehicle damaged a mailbox and ended on Swan Street when it struck a utility pole, knocking it down before overturning just on the corner of School Street.
The suspect attempted to flee on foot, according to the Sheriff's Office.
Cramer was taken into custody at 1:46 a.m.
A search of the vehicle allegedly yielded the discovery of a defaced Glock Model 19 chambered in 9mm.
The suspect is accused of possessing a firearm in a place other than the person's home or business, of possessing a weapon with a prior conviction, and of possessing a firearm defaced for concealment.
A Sheriff's Office pursuit that started somewhere on the north side of the city of Batavia ended at Swan and School streets at around 1:45 a.m. on Sunday when the suspect vehicle struck a utility pole and flipped over.
One person is reportedly in custody.
A deputy was overheard telling a distraught family member who ran up to the scene and crossed the police crime scene tape that the suspect was uninjured and was in custody at the Genesee County Jail.
Another woman was taken into custody kicking and screaming, "That's my brother," with a deputy telling her he was OK.
This is an ongoing investigation, and while The Batavian was on the scene, no members of the Sheriff's Office, which is the agency handling the case, were available to provide more information.
The pursuit was reported on both State Street and Ross Street prior to the crash.
There were flames coming from the vehicle when City Fire arrived on scene. The fire was quickly extinguished.
UPDATE 3 a.m.: Sgt. Mathew Clor confirmed charges are pending and should be part of a press release in the morning. One suspect in custody. The woman who struggled with police was released with a warning once she calmed down. Besides taking out the utility pole on Swan, the vehicle also struck a mailbox on Ross Street.
“The shooting at a rally for President Trump in Pennsylvania this evening was reprehensible and should concern people of every political affiliation. Differences in political views are never a justification for violence. Reports indicate an attendee has been killed, which is tragic. My prayers are with the family of this victim who died because of the senseless, hateful actions of the shooter. I pray that President Trump is okay and that no other individuals were hurt."
Personal trainer and entrepreneur Macy Paradise in his new gym, Flex Space, in Batavia City Centre. Photo by Howard Owens
If you’ve ever wanted a little workout space to call your own where you can exercise in peace without worrying about anyone else watching, interrupting, or—please, no—offering unsolicited advice, then personal trainer and entrepreneur Macy Paradise has the Flex Space for you.
Paradise, who formerly operated The Brick, a community-based fitness center on Harvester Avenue, for the past four years, has moved into a 2,000-square-foot revamped site at 8 Batavia City Centre.
True to its name, Flex Space offers the flexibility for anyone to work out at any time — 24 hours a day — without the hassle of a membership or fellow members competing for equipment or privacy, he says.
“So the training space is a 24/7 exclusive gym. You would sign up for a time slot by the half-hour on my website and pay. It’s cashless, and it’s yours for however long you book it. The customer will receive a code to access the gym during that time for exclusive use,” Paradise said to The Batavian while preparing for his grand opening. “The goal was to give people a private space, to help the person who wants to come in and train on their own (or book with a friend at a discount).”
An adjacent but separate event room can accommodate up to 100 people for birthday parties and special events or exercise classes and seminars. He has 12 tables, more than 100 chairs, a prep table, a projector, a full-size refrigerator and security of an easy entrance/exit and nearby parking lot, he said.
He created a gym and event space out of what used to be there, he said, which required redoing all of the floors and part of the ceilings, stringing Edison lights, installing central air, and “recreating the space that was left” by the former tenant by opening the space up to get all of the exercise equipment in there.
The lobby has an old-school vibe, with vintage furniture, plus some plants and ivy growing off the walls to give it “an earthy vibe,” he said.
What does Paradise know about fitness? Well, there’s his own journey — once weighing in at 300 pounds, he finally decided to get right with his own well-being, and lost more than 100 pounds, and got into the physical, mental and nutritional aspects of fitness.
The 39-year-old is certified by the National Academy of Sports Medicine and offers nutritional counseling and meal planning. He said he still has some openings for personal training, given his busy schedule that starts in the morning at his longtime haunt, Elba's Backyard Barbell and ends in Batavia.
His new gym has a range of equipment, from cable machines, free weights, a Smith machine, squat rack, dumbbells, and leg press to a Stairmaster, recumbent bike, treadmill, elliptical, box jumps, medicine balls and resistance training items such as a sled.
Everyone has their own niche in terms of personal training, and his leans toward working with women ages 30 and up to his oldest client of 78, currently. He’s looking for trainers and instructors that may be interested in renting space for their clients or classes on a weekly or weekend basis.
After all, that’s what the name is all about — it’s a Flex Space open to accommodate one’s needs for fitness and recreational pursuits.
Paradise invites everyone to come check it out during his opening, which includes a ribbon-cutting at 4 p.m. July 19, and then from 5 to 7 p.m. there’s “a big party” with a small group fitness class, a tour of the gym and event space, and food and refreshments from Everybody Eats.
If you park in the lot near the former Sunny’s restaurant, use the purple door next to Batavia Family Dental. For more information, go to macyparadisefit.com, and once he has his opening, bookings can be made at www.flxspce.com.
2023 File Photo of a happy Avantae Owens with his mom during the talent show at Genesee County Fair. Photo by Joanne Beck
With less than a week to go before Genesee County's largest event comes to roost for eight days, volunteers are mowing grass, whacking weeds, assembling animal pens, cleaning out buildings, preparing the barns, setting up tables and chairs and putting in the time from sunup to sundown until showtime.
It's hardly glamorous, but that's what keeps the annual county fair, driven by Genesee County’s 4-H participants and Agricultural Society volunteers, alive and well—with record numbers the last two years.
“For us volunteers that are putting it on, it never ends. So this is almost like our Super Bowl, right? We get to this very week, and we work a ton of hours. You know, it's a little bit different planning it because you do a lot of planning, like, during the day or at night, or when I'm in my car, I make a lot of phone calls, so you're always doing something every day to plan it," Ag Society Treasurer Norm Pimm said to The Batavian. "But within the week of the fair … we don't leave the fairgrounds. We’re there all week; we're there 24 hours a day for fair days. And it's tiring, because it's so long.
"But we do it, obviously, for the community, to keep growing and keep going so the kids in the community have something to enjoy. Because, I mean, a lot of the county fairs are either cutting back or are no longer in existence, and a lot of carnivals have sort of either died out or gone away," he said. "So we're trying to make sure that we stay there for the long term. Our focus is to keep this thing moving.”
The fair has continued to grow with the number of participants, variety of entertainment, and size of animal entries, Pimm said, and as a result, there’s been a constant increase of attendees that ramble through the entryway at $10 per carload.
It's all set to begin July 19 at 5056 East Main Road, Batavia with a stockyard classic hog show, the North American Six-Horse Hitch Classic Series, and the fair queen pageant, and the schedule doesn't stop until the final fireworks show is over on July 27.
Fair highlights Back by popular demand, the North American Six-Horse Hitch Class Series is set for 5:30 p.m. July 19 in the horse arena, with a draft horse farm team show at 6:30 p.m. Tucked into that is the first half of the traditional fair queen pageant at 6 p.m. under the yellow entertainment tent.
A fair favorite — the talent show — will hit the stage at noon on July 20 under the big yellow tent. Show organizer Laura Kauppi is looking for entrants of any age and type of talent (with the stipulation that acts must be family-friendly), so if you’ve got a song to sing, an instrument to play or a routine to perform, she wants to hear from you.
Participation is free, and there will be small cash prizes for first, second and third-place winners. Register before Sunday to receive a goody bag. Registration forms are available here
Later that evening at 7 p.m., The Eaglez tribute band will return for another year of “Life in the Fast Lane” and more country and soft rock tunes.
Knight Patrol, a Rochester 80s cover band, has been added to the lineup for 7 p.m. July 21, capping off the fair queen pageant and crowning earlier that afternoon at 4 p.m.
Meanwhile a Power Wheels demo and garden tractor pulls are scheduled at the track over at the grandstands at 2 and 3 p.m., respectively.
July 22 is Senior Citizen Day, which means half-price entry at $5 per carload from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. for seniors and special entertainment by Kelly’s Old Timers Band at noon.
In lieu of the midway’s arrival not happening until Tuesday, there will be several free inflatable bounce houses and obstacle courses set up for kids from 1 to 5 p.m. July 20-22, Pimm said.
July 23 is Veteran’s Day, with $5 per carload from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. for veteran visitors. The midway is set to open from 4 to 9 p.m., with a kids’ day special from noon to 4 p.m. on July 24 and July27 for $20.
The fair parade is set for 6:30 p.m. July 23, and 7 p.m. karaoke nights will provide opportunities for folks to perform July 22 for a competition and July 23 for an open mic.
Faith at the Fair, a popular collection of denominational musical performers, is set to begin at 4 p.m. July 24.
Unrelenting rain forced the cancellation of last year’s first-time 100-lap Enduro, so organizers have brought it back for a second try as a new element for the fair at 6:30 p.m. July 24 at the Grandstand.
First Responder’s Day on July 25 means $5 per carload for anyone with a first responder/EMS badge from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. This is the day when much of the 4-H participants’ hard work culminates in the market animal auction, which begins at 6 p.m. at the main show ring.
"We're working on getting another band for that Thursday," Pimm said.
The demolition derby is set for 7 p.m. July 26 at the Grandstands while BB Dang turns up a little high-energy pop, rock and country from 7 to 11 p.m. at the yellow entertainment tent. Fireworks wrap up the demo derby.
A new event -- the screaming diesel shootout semi pulls, modified pick-up, street and mini mod tractor pulls, are lined up for 7 p.m. July 27 at the track Grandstand while Nerds Gone Wild get their 80s on — figuratively and literally —with some fun apparel and melodies from the decade. Fair-goers are asked to join the fun by dressing the part.
Fireworks are scheduled to close out the evening and the fair.
In between these highlights there are, of course, the many 4-H animal exhibits and shows, tempting sweet and savory midway and Chuck Wagon foods, carnival games, pig races, kangaroos, trailer of birds, color wars, vendor exhibit halls, a balloon display and demonstration, small fry tractor pulls, a Future Farmers of America competition, radio-controlled car racing, a fair trivia hunt with prizes, and other activities.
Volunteers are always welcome throughout the event to help out with things such as parking and at the food stand, Pimm said. If you’re interested in helping out, call the fair office at 585-344-2424.
A kaleidoscopic, psychedelic video of drummer Chad Smith plays above him and Flea during the Red Hot Chili Peppers concert at Darien Lake on Friday. Photo by Howard Owens.
The Red Hot Chili Peppers hit the stage hot at Darien Lake Performing Arts Center on a steamy Saturday night with an instrumental jam that featured Flea's funky slap baselines, Chad Smith's pounding beat, and John Frusciante's sizzling fretwork.
Then Anthony Kiedis took the stage and kicked things up a notch.
The LA-based punk/funk band ran through 18 songs on the night, both hits and deep tracks, pulling material from most of their 13 studio albums released since 1984, including Blood Sugar Sex Magik, Californication, Stadium Arcadium, and their two most recent releases, Unlimited Love and Return of the Dream Canteen.
"Eddie" is Frusciante's tribute to one of his guitar heroes, Eddie Van Halen, and it is a standout track on Dream Canteen. From the same album, they also played "Carry Me Home." From Unlimited Love, they featured the opening track "Black Summer" and Kliedis's name-dropping ode to the LA music scene of his youth, "Aquatic Mouth Dance," which opens with one of Flea's greatest bass riffs.
Reliable fan favorites in the set included "Suck My Kiss" and "Californication."
The Peppers also included two covers of the Ramones: "I Remember You" and "Havana Affair."
The biggest hits, "Under the Bridge" and "Give It Away," were saved for the encore.
The opener on Friday was LA-based psychedelic rock band Wand, which is currently on tour supporting its fifth studio album, Vertigo.
Singer and lead guitarist Cory Hanson, with a David Byrne-like wiryness, is an impressive musician and strong presence on stage. Unfortunately, the set was marred by a poor mix. The bass guitar and kick drum dominated and overwhelmed everything else coming from the stage, making the mix muddled and suppressing most sense of melody from the songs. That's a shame because a check of a couple of the band's releases indicates they strike the right tone to potentially win over Chili Pepper fans.
Chad Smith, John Frusciante, and Anthony Kiedis Photo by Howard Owens.
Chad Smith, Flea, and John Frusciante. Photo by Howard Owens.
Frontman Anthony Kiedis Photo by Howard Owens.
Flea Photo by Howard Owens.
Chad Smith Photo by Howard Owens.
John Frusciante Photo by Howard Owens.
Flea, Chad Smith, and John Frusciante. Photo by Howard Owens.
Flea, Anthony Kiedis, and Chad Smith Photo by Howard Owens.
Cory Hanson, frontman for the band Wand. Photo by Howard Owens.
17 Hart Street, Batavia-City. GREAT HOME, FANTASTIC LOCATION, BETTER PRICE!! SELDOM FOUND-FRONTAGE ON TWO STREETS, AWESOME LARGE YARD!! MINUTES WALK TO HOSPITAL, SCHOOL AND BASEBALL STADIUM. This home is ready for someone new to move in and make their own-it offers super spacious downstairs with huge bright living room with gas fireplace, formal dining area large kitchen and first floor den/bedroom if you would need -currently used as rec/play room- with full bath attached and new sliding glass doors leading to back deck and awesome back yard! Upstairs has three more bedrooms and half bath. Upstairs Bedrooms do have hardwoods as well as primary bedroom has door leading to balcony porch for hot summer nites and firework watching!! Many updates to including year old furnace and central air , and literally many new (days old) windows and sliding glass door! Back yard is best kept secret as it is extra deep(240') -going clear back to Douglas Street and with full frontage too!! Basement is extra large with some partially finished areas for extra play/work areas! No delays here come check it out and be home by Labor Day! Call Reliant Real Estate, call 585-344-HOME (4663).
Mark Masse, CEO of the Genesee County Economic Development Center
The Genesee County Economic Development Center plans to build a 500,000-gallon water storage tank at WNY STAMP to help with the fire suppression needs of current and potential park tenants.
The immediate need to provide sufficient water pressure for the Edwards Vaccum plant is now under construction.
Mark Masse, CEO of GCEDC, said a 12-inch water main supplies STAMP now, but the water pressure isn't sufficient to meet Edwards's fire suppression needs.
Edwards will need 120,000 gallons of water at the ready from the tank to support its fire impression system. The excess capacity will provide service to any future tenants.
The water will be non-potable and rarely changed. A heating element will keep it from freezing in the winter.
A 30-acre parcel is available to the north of the new Edwards facility. If a potential buyer were interested, Edwards would have first right of refusal.
"There is a potential for a project there that could utilize that tank as well," Masse told the Genesee County Planning Board on Thursday.
STAMP Waterworks Corporation, which will own the tang, currently has an operations and maintenance agreement with the town of Batavia for the tank and the rest of the water system at the STAMP site.
The tank's design and engineering have yet to be completed, so Massee couldn't provide an estimated cost when asked by The Batavian. He said bids should go out by the end of the year. Funding is from a grant, Fast New York, already received by GCEDC to fund the overall infrastructure for STAMP.
July 26, 1990 was the signing of the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA), the first piece of legislation to provide people with disabilities the right to equal access to employment, governmental programs and services, areas of public accommodations, communications, and transportation. Many consider it to be the most comprehensive legislation giving individuals with impairments access to everyday life.
In celebration of this milestone, every year Independent Living of the Genesee Region (ILGR) holds a Consumer ADA Picnic. This year it takes place from 12 - 2 p.m. on Friday July 26 at the Town of Batavia Kiwanis Park, 3808 W. Main St., Batavia. It offers Free food and games including a Scavenger Hunt.
If you plan to attend, please R.S.V.P. to Catherine DeMare at 585-815-8501, extension 400 or email cdemare@wnyil.org. Transportation to this event may be available; please inquire with Catherine DeMare.
We look forward to having you celebrate with us!
Independent Living of the Genesee Region (ILGR) is a member of the Western New York Independent Living, Inc. family of agencies that offers an expanding array of services to aid individuals with disabilities to take control of their own lives.
The Genesee County Youth Bureau is excited to announce that our annual Safe Summer Children’s Carnival will take place on Thursday, July 25 from 10 a.m. - 2 p.m. at David M. McCarthy Ice Arena, 22 Evans Street, Batavia.
All games will be free, and children can win tickets to redeem for prizes. The Seneca Park ZooMobile is scheduled from 10 - 11 a.m. and educational booths/games will run the entire event.
Each child will receive one ticket for a free Sno Cone provided by the Youth Bureau and the ice arena will have their “Snack Shack” open to purchase food and beverages.
There will be several community agency booths that children can visit to fill up a Passport page for a chance to win one of our grand prizes. For more information on the carnival please contact George at the Genesee County Youth Bureau at 344-3960.
One of Genesee County's most successful industrial manufacturers, Oxbo International, founded in Byron 50 years ago, is planning a new 195,000-square-foot facility in Bergen.
According to planning documents, the new factory will replace the existing plant at 7275 Byron Road, Byron.
The new location is part of the GCEDC-created industrial park, Apple Tree Acres, which already includes Liberty Pumps, Craft Cannery ), All Season Party Tent Rentals, GE Renewable Energy, Insurance Auto Auctions, and Leonard Bus Sales.
The 49.7-acre parcel is off South Lake Road, just south of Clinton Street Road.
The Genesee County Planning Board recommends project approval after a brief presentation on Thursday evening.
Oxb manufactures custom-built specialized farming equipment. Planning documents state that the new facility will allow the business to continue growing.
The new site will provide ample room for expansion, said project manager David Ciurzyski.
In response to a question about parking, Ciurzynski said there would be parking in the back for existing employees, with room to add more parking.
"Right now, they have 140 employees," Ciurzynski said. "They're expecting over the next five or six years to have another 140 employees. They'll have room there to expand that parking for those new employees as they come on board."
The company is applying for tax abatements on the project from the Genesee Economic Development Center.
Oxbo began in Byron as a pallet repair business and then became Byron Equipment after filing for a patent on a corn head -- a mechanism to attach to the front of a combine that picks ears of corn off of stalks, leaving the stock behind.
The company then grew through mergers and acquisitions.
In 1998, Byon Equipment acquired a competitor in Wisconsin, and the new management team settled on the name Oxbo, after an oxbow that yolks and ox team together, to symbolize the concept of the new two integrated teams pulling together.
Both plants stayed in production.
In 2003, Oxbo acquired a pea-picking combine company in Illinois and moved that manufacturing operation to Byron. Oxbo is the only manufacturer of a pea-picking combine in the U.S.
In 2004, Oxbo acquired a fruit company in Washington state, and this past June, the company acquired another company in Wisconsin.
However, one of the biggest mergers occurred in 2009, when Oxbo merged with its largest customer in Europe and moved its headquarters to the Netherlands.
The company also operates plants in Brazil, the United Kingdom, and France.
Oxbo employs about 1,200 people in total, 700 in the U.S. The company's gross annual revenue exceeds $400 million.
Architectural rendering from planning documents.
Location map from planning documents. The proposed location is the large brown field in the lower left of the map.
Douglas Grant Goodwin, Jr., 33, of Maple Road, Alabama, is charged with aggravated unlicensed operation, criminal impersonation, lights that don't meet standards, and unsafe tires. Goodwin was stopped at 10:58 p.m. on July 6 on West Main Street, Batavia, by Deputy Jacob Kipler. During the traffic stop, Goodwin was allegedly found to be driving on 10 or more suspensions and he allegedly attempted to misrepresent his actual name. He was released on an appearance ticket.
Nafis Ameer Jackson, 28, of Crittenden Way, Rochester, is charged with criminal contempt 2nd. Jackson is accused of violating a stay-away order at 1:55 a.m. on July 2 at a location on Kelsey Road, Batavia. He was held pending arraignment.
Michael Anthony Sweet, 38, of Raymond Avenue, Batavia, is charged with criminal possession of stolen property 4th. Sweet was stopped at 9:39 p.m. on July 1 by Deputy Trevor Sherwood on Oak Street, Batavia. He was allegedly found in possession of stolen property (unspecified). He was issued an appearance ticket.
Esmeralda D. Ocampo, 22, of Batavia Elba Townline Road, Elba, is charged with DWI, driving with a BAC of .08 or greater, aggravated unlicensed operation, and unlicensed driver. Ocampo was stopped at 4:09 a.m. on July 5 on Church Street in Bergen by Deputy Ryan Mullen. She was issued an appearance ticket.
Jonathan Roy Beilfuss, 37, of Knollwood Drive, Buffalo, is charged with DWI and driving with a BAC of .18 or greater. Beilfuss was stopped at 10:47 p.m. on July 3 on Route 77 in Darien by Deputy Kipler. He was issued an appearance ticket.
James Ronald Williams, 39, of John Street, Lockport, is charged with DWI, driving with a BAC of .08 or greater, aggravated unlicensed operation 3rd, unlicensed driver, and speeding.
Joseph Michael Degweck, 52, of Pine Street, East Aurora, is charged with criminal contempt 2nd. Degweck is accused of violating a stat-away order of protection at 8:20 p.m. on July 7 at a location on Main Road, Pembroke. He was issued an appearance ticket.
Phillip Louis Preston, 50, of Bloomingdale Road, Alabama, is charged with harassment 2nd. Preston is accused of harassing, with intent to alarm or annoy, a worker in a business on Bloomingdale Road at 7:01 p.m. on July 5. He was issued an appearance ticket.
Justine Danae Wood, 37, of South Main Street Road, Batavia, is charged with criminal possession of a controlled substance 7th. Wood was allegedly found in possession of cocaine at 4:49 p.m. on July 10 at a location on Woodland Drive, Batavia. She was held pending arraignment.
Brian Daniel Gilfilian, 44, of Northwood Drive, Greece, is charged with DWI, driving with a BAC of .08 or greater, and illegal turn signal. Gilfilian was stopped at 1:10 a.m. on July 10 on Oak Orchard Road, Batavia, by Deputy Mason Schultz. Gilfilian was released on an appearance ticket.
Shawn Michael Sloan, 39, of West Main Street, Batavia, is charged with promoting prison contraband 1st and conspiracy 5th. Sloan is accused of conspiring with another person to introduce contraband into the Genesee County Jail on June 23.
Bonnie L. Cortright, 37, of Holland Avenue, Batavia, is charged with petit larceny. Cortight was arrested at 9:30 p.m. on July 10 on Veterans Memorial Drive. Details on Cortright's arrest were not released. Cortright was issued an appearance ticket.
Le Roy native Andy Rich in action during filming. Submitted Photo
When Andy Rich was a teenager, he daydreamed of becoming an actor and showing up in television or movie productions, except for one small detail.
A small-town boy from Le Roy getting anywhere in Los Angeles seemed like a foolhardy pursuit.
“I told myself that was like a silly dream and that I should get a real job,” Rich said during an interview with The Batavian. “So I just gave up on it until I turned 25 or 26. And then I started finding commercial work. I’m 37 now and have probably been in 100 commercial films and television productions. The biggest thing I’ve done recently is I produced a film with Alicia Silverstone.”
His portfolio includes “Pretty Thing” as a producer; movies “Halloween Inferno Part 3” and “The Ultimate Playlist of Noise” as an actor; and commercials for Rozwell Park and Independent Health.
A 2005 Le Roy High School graduate who was involved with Batavia Players and was on the group’s board of directors in 2022, Rich now wants other aspiring actors who may be reticent about working in the field of acting or are making an attempt but with no clear road map to get some tools to help them out.
Supported by a grant through the state Council on the Arts, and locally administered by GO Art!, Rich is offering two workshops of Acting for Large Markets from noon to 2:30 p.m. on Aug. 3 and 4 at Main St. 56 Theater, Batavia. Residents of Genesee, Livingston, Orleans and Wyoming counties may pick one of the sessions to attend for free.
“The reason I’m doing this is because when I got started, there just weren’t any resources for this type of thing. No classes, no one to explain to you how to get started, you were here to figure it out on your own. It took me the better part of 10 years to figure it out. How can I make this dream something real? So that’s the point of this class, is to essentially give people the tools that they need to get started. It is like a jumping-off point.”
There will be two others from the field providing their expertise:
Educator, coach and casting director Amy Gossels will talk about Mastering your Camera Auditions and offer lessons about “innovative on-camera audition techniques that will elevate your auditions and gain coveted industry insight to boost your career.
Gossels has cast more than 1,500 commercials and has been the casting director and, in many cases, a producer for more than 100 film and television productions during her 25-year career in the industry.
Andria Schultz is a brand strategist and consultant for entertainment professionals and organizations. She has worked on the production team for a variety of popular television programs, including “America’s Funniest Home Videos” and Disney Channel’s “Bizaardvark.”
Participants will learn more about honing their actor’s brand — for example, do you have that villain look?
“A lot of casting directors nowadays look for the look first, and then they’ll look at your audition if they’re interested,” he said.
Gossels will also offer tips on how to properly do a casting audition, Rich said, “and she’s not easy to get ahold of,” so making the connection with her is also a plus.
“This is going to give you all the work you need to do to get ready,” he said. “They’re going to get the opportunity to learn a lot of things that they maybe didn’t know as well and they’re gonna be able to make connections with people who have more industry connections than I do.”
He considered not promoting the class and just hoping for the best that people would learn of it and sign up. But then, he thought, “What a waste for it not to be full.”
He has learned the hard way about what not to do or say on set and in auditions, he said, and this is someone’s opportunity to start off on the right foot.
People can make innocent mistakes — say by talking too much on set — that gets them banned from future projects, and they may never know why. It’s a tough business, and the more you learn upfront about what’s expected of you, the likelier it is that you’re called back for other gigs because casting directors will remember you as the cooperative actor, not the difficult one.
And the really good news is that you don’t have to live in Los Angeles to get acting jobs, he said. Western New York is a burgeoning region for the field; there are commercials made for insurance and other familiar companies that are always looking for people of various ages.
New York State makes some eight I Love New York commercials each year, he said, and directors are always looking for people to serve as families in those projects.
Getting more interested? Registration will close by the end of July. To sign up, email iamandyrich@gmail.com with your preferred date of either Aug. 3 or 4. He hopes to see you there.
“I still have a really soft spot for small-town living, and Le Roy means a lot to me, and I just think that people in the region, the Western New York region, deserve more opportunities," he said. "I think a lot of people grow up thinking that there’s only a certain amount of options that are available to them. And I just want people to think differently, that the world is their oyster if they try hard enough.”
Andy Rich in a commercial with Yancey's Fancy cheeses. Submitted Photo
Country music superstar Chris Stapelton's All-American Road Show passed through Darien Lake Performing Arts Center on Thursday. Also on the bill, Marcus King and Nikki Lane.
City of Batavia, NY Position: Full-time Building Maintenance Worker. Salary: $20.60 - $24.45/hour. The City of Batavia is accepting applications for one full-time Building Maintenance Worker. The work involves a variety of mechanical and other building maintenance tasks. Applicant must have a minimum of two years of full-time paid experience in general building construction or maintenance work, or an equivalent combination of training and experience indicating ability to perform the duties of the job. Civil Service applications may be obtained at City Hall in the Human Resource Department. Please send completed applications to Teri Dean, Employee Payroll/Insurance Clerk, One Batavia City Centre, Batavia, NY, or via email to tdean@batavianewyork.com by September 20, 2024. Background check, psychological assessment, and physical/drug testing required. Candidate must become a resident of the County of Genesee or any adjacent town to the County of Genesee within 6 months of the date of conclusion of the probationary period for the City of Batavia. EEO