User:Christianmidd/Christian Middleton

Christian Middleton
(writer, actor (stage and film)), (producer, director (stage))

Born: March 29, 1971 (38 years old), Kansas City, MO, U.S.A.

Married to Christina Middleton

Children: Mindy Cussen (13), Katy Cussen (11), Christian Jr. (5), Illyana (4)

Residence: Kansas City, MO

EARLY LIFE:'''

Born in Kansas City, Christian was artistic from an early age, exhibiting great drawing ability. His parents, Larry and Pam, provided him a comfortable middle-class lifestyle while encouraging his artistic sensibilities. As an avid reader and movie watcher, Christian soon became a budding writer at a young age.

WITHDRAWAL IN TEEN YEARS:

With some rebellious influences and his own sense of adventure, Christian began to experiment with drugs and, consequently, his grades began to slip, however his creativity rose during these developmental years. Regardless, he did graduate high school on time, with dreams of going to the Kansas City Art Institute.

EARLY TWENTIES:

After being accepted to the Kansas City Art Institute on the sole virtue of his portfolio, Christian was discouraged to attend, having spent a whole day talking with a KCAI counselor. While working odd jobs, going to colleges on and off, Christian was very prolific in his artistry- having written many scripts (stage and screen), alas his non-artistic lifestyle suffered with him having never been able to successfully balance the two.

NEW YORK CITY:

At 27, Christian moved to NYC with very little savings or prospects. Having suffered for several months- scraping by- he landed a job at the oldest National touring company in the United States- The National Shakespeare Company. Under their patient tutelage, he grew to understand all aspects of Theatre production and acting. Inspired by his love for NYC and theatre, Christian departed after a few years, to develop theatre in another area of the U.S.

NEW ORLEANS and SUCCESS!!!!!!!

Quickly after he arrived, Christian landed a job as the Administrative Director for the Delta Festival Ballet (New Orlean's premiere ballet company). He soon juggled that responsibility with a new career as Theatre producer, actor and director. His first play (in which he played the lead role) was in "This is our Youth''" by Kenneth Lonergan. It received rave reviews and launched him into an ongoing successful relationship with theatre and the theatre-going public. Among the many plays he performed in (and received great reviews in) were: Piggies' (a debut performance), The Third Man (lead role), Prophecy (debut from a Broadway Writer) and Hurlyburly (as Mickey). Hurlyburly gained much critical acclaim and The New Orleans Times-Picayune ran a featured article in their Saturday Edition cover page, garnering much recognition from the industry and audience of theatre. This was an acting pinnacle for Christian.

FILM and LOS ANGELES:

With his local celebrity in New Orleans solidified, Christian was soon offered the lead role in an independent film. Standing at 6'2" with dark hair and movie star looks, Christian had never taken on the leading man roles (typically enjoying supporting and/or character roles). However, this was his first opportunity into another medium that he was interested in and therefore, took the challenge. Single-handedly written, produced and directed by Damon Cart, the film was not successful by any financial measures. It did see the New York Film Festival, however, did not propel Christian's career. Nonetheless (at a Theatre critic's urging), it did propel him to venture West- towards Los Angeles. '''

KANSAS CITY, AGAIN:'''

While working hard as a waiter and saving money, Christian happened upon a beautiful young woman named Christina. Falling hard for her and her two daughters, Christian quickly realized that Los Angeles was not the place for him at the moment, and quickly married her. The two grew their family immediately, having two young babies, a year and three days apart. During this time, Christian grew into his new family-man persona and also began writing again. '''

THE WRITER:'''

Through a series of crafty, ingenious measures, Christian wrote a tailor-made script for Adam Sandler and actually got the script to him as well as Drew Barrymore's producing partner. Additionally, he wrote a script about 9/11 which made it's way to one of Sony's Vice Presidents. Unfortunately, nothing happened with these attempts. It wasn't until 2006, when an old friend called from NYC, and was in need of a script to produce, when Christian's luck turned around.

THE PLAY IN NYC:

"REVOLVER", an original script by Mr. Middleton, turned out to be a sold-out, laugh-riot to those Off-Off-B'way-goers. With it's witty dialogue, suspenful elements and characters everyone could relate to, it was sure to be a hit. And, after it's brief stint in NYC, Christian was sure it would return. However, after several years of rearing children, working to pay the bills and more reluctant contact with interested producers, the project fell flat. It currently lies in that dormant pile of scripts that I'm sure many producers have sitting on their desks or in files somewhere.

CURRENTLY:

After the death of his father in April 2009, Christian hasn't attempted much at advancing his life as a writer. Perhaps it's shock, or merely a willingness to grasp the most of what he has in front of him as a father and husband, that has stilled his artistic ambition. However, he still writes, still has many great stories inside him, and hopes for the day when those efforts will be brought to fruition, for others to enjoy.