Jon Merz talks production studios and acting in “I Wanna Dance with Somebody”

My next guest is someone I’ve known for a long time, so it surprised me to realize he’d never been on the show before. Well, that just gives us a lot to cover, doesn’t it?

Actor/writer/model Jon Merz and I talk about opening the doors to Ten 21 Studios in Providence, Rhode Island. It’s a full-service company that does demo reel scenes, book trailers, script work and a lot more. We talk about the decision to launch his own company and some of the folks they’ve been working with. We touch briefly on his latest project, an adaptation to his successful vampire book series, and will do a deeper dive in a future episode.

Jon’s acted for many years and perhaps his biggest milestone to date was his role in the Whitney Houston biopic, “I Wanna Dance with Somebody.” We talk about being around some of the biggest names working today and how he prepared for his role. This May, he’ll be taking the stage in “Hunting Whitey” on May 16 at The Wilbur and shares the challenges of stage vs. screen and his techniques for this kind of performance.