Brian McLaughlin

Other articles by Phil Villarreal:

From cutesy to sadistic Lebanese food is their passion Phil's picks Ask Phil Hoffman, Kaufman lost in 'Synecdoche''Four Christmases' finds humor in holiday stressWelcome back, Disney: 'Bolt' is a winnerOscar-winner is back Moving film shows Holocaust through the eyes of an 8-year-old Phil's picks

Health Care
Rio Salado College
PA's/Online Instructors General
CORT
WAREHOUSE/DRIVER Education
Assessment Technology, Inc
Social Studies Content Writer Construction
Komatsu Equipment Co
Mechanic General
CORT
Warehouse Supervisor

Actor and producer Brian McLaughlin, who uses the stage name Brian Mulligan, joins the growing crowd of people who want to revitalize Tucson's independent film scene.

He started Emerald Elephant Entertainment (emeraldelephant.net) last year, which he hopes will collect financing for upcoming films. The actor, who has a supporting role in "The Kingdom," which is due out April 20, sat down for a phone interview.

"Probably the role I'm most proud of was in 'The Decoy.' It was kind of a minor character, but people were telling me afterward that it left an impact. I was able to do a lot more with it than I originally envisioned."

"It was just one of the thugs — a throwaway character. But the director, at the beginning, told me he wanted me to play it as a hayseed dumb guy. And I was able to just run with that. A woman commented afterward that it was nice of them to hire someone who was mentally handicapped."

"Yes, some executive producing. I have a company that generates investor financing for local films. It's tough in that it's taken longer than I've envisioned. There's a lot of enthusiasm in the community for this. I think we now have had a breakthrough that will trigger lots of investors wanting to get involved. Matthew Earl Jones, James Earl Jones' brother, agreed to join in with us."

"We'll offer a slate of films to investors in films made by different production companies around town."

"It depends on getting funding. I think we should be going into production next year. We'll take it one film at a time. Even though there are a lot of film resources in town, doing more than one or a couple at a time would be ambitious."

It was a pen name I'd used before. I like it because it's an Irish name that sounds similar to my real name. Also, it was the name of Gilligan's friend back home that he talked about on the show. And a Mulligan in golf is getting to do things over."

"I just think there's going to be enough here to keep everyone busy, starting in the next year or two. Tucson has so much potential."