Who is Merrill anyway?

I'm an actor and filmmaker based in the Southeast and Los Angeles.  My work has been featured in movies, television, theater, commercials, music videos, print, and the internet.  Before getting professionally involved in entertainment, I found a dusty-but-solid Pentax K-1000 Camera in my grandparent’s sauna-like New Orleans attic and taught myself still photography.  I soon began shooting for numerous local and national newspapers,magazines, and bestselling books.  Though I was born in New Orleans, I spent my younger days moving frequently with my family – Maryland, Colorado, Louisiana…

 

I grew up on the stage in various plays and musicals (Crazy for You, Rumors, Into the Woods, Little Shop of Horrors, and many others).  Being from New Orleans, I studied the saxophone for 15 years and played in a few jazz bands, but got tired of not being able to sing while playing so I started playing keyboard by ear.

 

While my first passion has always been (and continues to be) acting, I became enamored with the entire process of filmmaking and writing.  In 2004, I opened an independent production company with my friend and colleague, director Britt Pitre, called Doorway Entertainment.  The company went on to produce two award-winning feature films: the psychological-thriller Feral, and a movie adaptation of Jean-Paul Sartre’s No Exit starring Blanchard Ryan (Open Water) and Edoardo Ballerini (The Sopranos).

 

After Hurricane Katrina said hello to my neighborhood in 2005 (I was living on the same street as the infamous 17th St. Canal Levee Break), I moved 7 times all over the US in less than a year.  Even though, like countless others, I lost my home and car, I was incredibly fortunate to not lose any friends or family to the storm.  I ended up in Shreveport, LA for a couple years and finally made the trek to California to start living bi-coastally.

 

In 2008, I co-founded the film and television company White Oak Films, with publicist Dale Olson (American Beauty), and director John Dayton (Sultanat).  We made international headlines by breaking the news that we, along with Canada’s leading production company Reunion Pictures, were to produce The Bradbury Effect – a television event in which Hollywood’s top directors would bring their vision to their favorite short-story by iconic author Ray Bradbury (Fahrenheit 451, The Martian Chronicles).  We have many other projects in development.

 

In late 2010, I became involved with Enter Namaste – a not-for-profit production team dedicated to bring awareness to worthwhile humanitarian causes.  For our first journey, we went to India to make a promo-documentary for the Manav Kalyan Trust which runs three schools for Special Needs Children: the School for the Hearing Impaired, the School for the Visually Impaired, and the School for the Mentally Challenged.

 

My most recent acting endeavors include television shows (Turn: Washington's Spies for AMC and The Vampire Diaries for the CW)several short films, a feature-length horror film, and a supporting role in a WWII film starring John Rhys Davies (The Lord of the Rings).  I also began a new YouTube channel where I post funny videos I make with friends.  We were blown away when our first webseries @TheBar received over 300,000 views within the first two months of it being online and we had a blast making it!  

 

I have two new books due for global publication in 2017 and had the great fortune of working with and learning from literary giants such as: Ray Bradbury, Dale Olson, John Dayton, Rick Clark, and George Clayton Johnson.

 

Some of my other credits include:  Ray, Motor Mouth, A Love Song for Bobby Long, Wild West Tech, Return to the Hiding Place, Broken Promise, The Hunt for Outer Space, Abita Beer, and The Zurich Classic.

 

Thank you for visiting my site!  Do get in touch -- I'd love to hear from you!  I value your time and I wish you only the best in all that you do :)

 

Reviews:

 

“... fine performances given by Capps..”

     – Peter Bauer -- MicroCinemaScene

 

"... [Capps] holds his own against the seasoned pros for a great and believable  performance.”

     – Scott A. Johnson – Dread Central

 

Accolades:

 

2004 ALPHA AWARD XIX

 

2006 Best Lead Performance – Broken Promise

 

2009 Best Feature – No Exit