SHAWN HAMBRIGHT has been a Coalition staple since 2012 when he started taking classes at our old training center in Carytown. Since then, he's been a part of a number of Coalition Houseteams (The Johnsons, Rodeo!, and Surprisingly Still Flammable), shows (American Documentary, Made-Up Movie, America’s Most Mysterious Mysteries, High There! Project 27) and directed the Degrassi-inspired show, "Coalition Jr High".
Shawn has not only contributed his talents on stage over the years, but also behind-the-scenes as well. If you've been a Coalition regular audience member, you've probably watched one of the many dope intro videos we've produced - all thanks to insanely creative Shawn Hambright. Check out his work here.
Want to see Shawn's stage and video work all together in ONE DAMN SHOW? Don't miss the award-winning TRASH BANG'S newest show "The Silence of the Bang" on Friday, Oct 25th and Saturday, Oct 26th.
As usual, we asked our Coalition family to hit Shawn with any burning questions they had for him. Take it away, y'all...
"What’s a perfect or near perfect movie in your opinion?" - Joe Mack
SHAWN: "Drive (2011). It’s got everything. Romance, action, brutal violence and amazing comic timing"
"Matt Newman HATES Drive. Can we get you two on a podcast to hash it out" -David Pijor
"I will happily record a NEWMAN HATES show" - Zane Adickes
SHAWN: Yeah let’s do that. I remember Newman loving Cabin in the Woods and I was pretty meh about it. Would love to talk about that also!
"What’s the wildest/craziest shoot you’ve ever worked on? If you could have worked on any shoot in history, which would you pick?" - Joe Mack
SHAWN: "I’ve worked on a lot of history-based projects here in Richmond, one of which was a Civil War feature co-starring David Arquette, Kieth David and Tom Skerritt, written and produced by the CEO of a certain Virginia energy company. The shoot itself was pretty routine, but I remember going to the Richmond premiere at the Carpenter Theater. They had an open mimosa bar before the screening and I drank many of them, so I was pretty buzzed before the show. The movie was SO terrible! There were some CGI wide shots in the movie that looked like little more than paintings that someone had photoshopped over. I remember at one point during the screening laughing VERY LOUDLY at how bad it was, and I became a little embarrassed because I was the ONLY one laughing. I only felt bad for a moment, because I was pretty drunk, but man was that movie bad."
"Follow up question: was Keith David a cool guy? Cause he seems like a cool guy" -Joe Mack
SHAWN: "Keith David was super cool and chill. I got a picture with him on his last day on set. All of the actors on that shoot were super cool to work with, it’s a shame the movie turned out so bad."
"Jess, Dean, or Logan? Just kidding I know it's Jess." - Zane Adickes
SHAWN: "Obviously Jess, but they were all pretty terrible. Logan was an ok character, but while she was with him, Rory stole a yacht, which may be the whitest crime I’ve ever heard of, on TV or in real life. Dean sucks. Honestly the more you re-watch Gilmore Girls the more you realize that both Lorelei and Rory are kind of psycho. I guess the writers had to come up with male characters who were even worse by comparison. Luke was maybe the least nutty guy on the show, but he had his dumb moments also."
SHAWN: "Oh, best Gilmore Girls character is Emily, obviously. "
"What’s a special effect idea you would like to shoot if you had no budget constraint?" -Harrison Brooks
SHAWN: "I’ve always wanted to do a giant monster Power Rangers/Godzilla type thing. Honestly, I don’t think there’s an effect that can’t be accomplished with the right kind of ingenuity and a good enough computer. I’ve been trying to come up with a giant monster-type sketch for Trash Bang since we formed, so keep your eyes peeled for that if we ever figure out something funny enough to hang on that setup!"
"What movie(s) classic(s) do you always tell yourself you're going to see but haven't yet?" -Shamoniki Ellison
SHAWN: "The list is long. I’ve never seen Apocalypse Now!, Full Metal Jacket, or The Shawshank Redemption. There are definitely a ton of others. I fell asleep during 2001: A Space Odyssey and haven’t tried to watch that since. There’s a lot of Kubrick movies I have not seen, and that I’m not really in a hurry to watch. I’ve seen The Shining and Dr Strangelove, what else do I need? I’ve also never seen any Harry Potter movies and I don’t think I saw the middle Lord of the Rings movie. I honestly couldn’t tell the first and last LOtR movies apart. There are probably a lot of fantasy movies on the list, too, because I’ve never seen a fantasy movie that particularly thrilled me or that I thought had anything interesting or novel to say. Oh and I also never saw Infinity War or Endgame. Eh."
"What's a show/group/performance you've seen that has really inspired you?" -David Pijor
SHAWN: "I think the improv team I’ve seen at a couple festivals called Summerland is truly one of the greats. They’re a two person team from LA that do just incredible improv together. Everything about it works. They easily switch between characters, they’re very physical, present strong relationships and outstanding world-building. Hopefully we can lure them to 2nd Best Fest one day soon!
SHAWN: Of course I also have to say my hometown improv heroes are The Hearst Girls. I’ve never seen them do anywhere close to a bad show, and the standups they bring on to open for them are always killer as well."
"What about Westworld makes it your favorite show?" -Jesse Hill Jr.
SHAWN: "I really love how every time a character opens their mouth to speak, their terrible dialogue makes me roll my eyes so far back that I’m worried they’ll get stuck or cause brain damage. Westworld is a true hate-watch for me. I absolutely loathe the show to the point where I am cheering any time something bad happens to any character. It’s awful. I’ve seen every single episode. Will I watch season three next year? Absolutely."
"What’s a film or other kind of project you just haven’t gotten around to tackling? A real world thing that’s challenging but doable?" -Joey Tran
SHAWN: "I want to make an ultra low budget independent feature film, but I haven’t come up with an idea I thought was interesting enough to ask a lot of people to work on it for either no money or next to no money...yet."
"What’s something you wish people knew about you, but you haven’t had a chance to tell anyone?" -Joey Tran
SHAWN: "The thing I want people to know about me is that the convictions that I hold and actually stick to can be considered maybe odd or trivial. Not sure if this qualifies, but I haven’t eaten at ChikFilA in maybe five years or more. I’m uncomfortable giving my own money to a company that in turn supports organizations that actively endanger the very lives of LGBTQ+ communities around the world. If you still want to eat there, fine, I guess. A handful of people not eating there isn’t going to hurt the chicken restaurant all that much. But just know that I am silently judging you and I shouldn’t be the only one."
"In a movie or tv show, what’s more glaring to you: bad writing or a bad performance?" -Patrick Allen
SHAWN: "It’s weird because I definitely notice it if it’s both at the same time (Westworld) but one can elevate the other. Like a not-great actor with a good enough script can work, and a good enough actor can make a bad script work."