From Improv to Blank Stage, Brooks Makes His Way

If there is one thing that could most accurately describe Marietta-based improv actor-screenwriter-filmmaker-entrepreneur-and so on Brent Brooks is that he leads leading the charge in the marketplace in all of his myriad artistic fields and endeavors.

“I guess I would want to be seen as an innovator, using my passion for improv to develop original screenplays and scripts using Blank Stage as a resource for people looking to get exposed to the industry,” Brooks says of the opportunities he provides through his for-profit production company Blank Stage located within the .

Growing up in Gwinnett County, Brooks recalled his first encounter with video in eighth grade when his father bought him a VHS camcorder for his birthday. From there, Brooks spent hundreds of hours taping footage, developing his craft until he reached Parkview High where he befriended a group of other talented and quirky individuals who soon helped put his camera to use.

“We would create what we called Script Table Movies about abstract stories we made up just sitting around the table, and then we would shoot the best one,” Brooks says of his continued development during his high school days.

Soon Brooks recognized another skill set, which would come in handy again later in life: His gift for gab. His ease in conversation and making friends made him a naturally popular person as he could relate with anyone on any level. But for some reason, he gravitated to the basketball players. He recalls leading his student body with spirited speeches during the half time of their games, for which no one has quite picked up the proverbial ball since.

After a short stint at Young Harris College located in the North Georgia Mountains, Brooks left for Georgia State University where he found his calling while attending an Intro to Improv course from writer-actor Rob Lowe, not to be confused with the Hollywood star. Lowe’s improv focused on tapping into the spirit of spontaneity and something he called the ‘life force.’ As cheesy as it sounded, Brooks says this was the moment that changed his life.

It was there Brooks met another group of talented actors with whom he started The Slightly Mad Players, a sketch comedy improv troop. Eventually they pitched the owners of a venue in downtown Atlanta known as the Ballroom Studios (formerly the Playboy Club) on performing shows there, where they performed under the name the Comedy Response Unit. They obliged, and the troupe was on its way to success, though short-lived. As fate would have it one of the players of the improv team committed suicide which would lead to the dismantling of the troupe.

“This [the player’s suicide] was the premise of my first movie The Art of Suicide which was made around the same time I lost my father,” Brooks says of his struggle in dealing with the dual loss.

After directing another indie feature, The Gallon Challenge, where he met former suite mate Matthew Young of Brothers Young Productions, Brooks felt he needed a break from the long toiling hours of film production. So, in early 2008 he joined an improv troop at the Artisan Resource Center spear-headed by John Sneed. When Sneed’s business began to decline Brooksm offered to take over the space where he has maintained his production company, Blank Stage Productions, ever since.

“Anything’s possible with a blank stage…it’s a blank slate,” Brooks says of how he arrived at the name while in a 3 a.m. conversation with a fellow player of the Comedy Response Unit.  Since, members of the troop have gone on to found the Relapse Theater, another improv spot.

These days Brooks has his hands full developing new talent with monomyth, an improv style crafted by Joseph Campbell that drives actors to reach for their best. He is also co-founder of Get Connected, a film networking collaborative with Peachtree International Film Fest director Autumn Bailey and Cynthia Collins of Film Atlanta.

Meet Brent Brooks at the next Get Connected on April 28 (visit this  site for details), or you can reach him via his Web site at www.blankstageproductions.com, where he has links to any number of his social media connections along with other ventures. The Art of Suicide DVD will be available on iflix within the next few weeks.