Jeff Ornstein 0:01

Hi everyone and welcome to Next Act with Jeff Orenstein. I am Jeff, and on this show we celebrate people on the cusp of greatness. Those building on past successes in some of the curious and inventive and sometimes unexpected ways they have achieved those and stepping into moments that could define their legacy. We'll talk about current projects, lessons learned, and the extraordinary opportunities ahead. So the best is yet to come. He was known for his acclaimed stage work in Frankie and Johnny and The Claire de Loon, producing indie films like It's God, and executive producing viral web content such as Generation Awesome and The Bartender Hates You. That sounds familiar. A true creative polymath, where it combines acting, writing, producing, and fine arts to tell compelling stories and inspire emerging artists. Welcome. Thank you.

Bert Rotundo 1:02

I couldn't have said that better myself. That was beautiful, Jeff. I'm gonna steal that.

Jeff Ornstein 1:05

I take no credit. The producers put that together for me. So I get a little heads up about my guests a little bit beforehand. I had to look up what a polymath was. So congratulations on being a polymath. It's very impressive. So you have morphed a bit in your career. And we were speaking a little bit before the show about where you did it and now what you're up to. But let's start sort of at the beginning, because you you grew up in a home, right, that celebrated movies and and and theater. So was that sort of the beginning of the Bert story and theater?

Bert Rotundo 1:37

Yeah, big time. My dad, uh, and later I found out that his father, my grandfather, patriarch of the family, both wanted to be actors. I didn't find out about my grandfather wanting to be an actor until I graduated high school. He pulled me on the side and he's like, Come here, I want to show you something. He pulls out his little autograph book and he says, What does it say here under career? And I look and I looked down and it said actor, and I had no idea. And I looked up with surprise, and he looks at me and he goes, You know what they say? And I go, What? And he goes, Third one always makes it. He was like, Oh, wow, you know, and that was such a nice blessing from my grandfather. But early on growing up, movies were celebrated in this house, theater was celebrated in this house. It was always we had movie nights pretty much five to six nights a week. Wow. My dad was a big cinephile, and what he had one of the first VHS home movie cameras. So from a very young age, I was in front of the camera, and my dad was like trying to get me to do commercials and copy, you know, and stuff like that. So I had this entitled, not entitled, but an entitled sense of like I want to be in front of the camera. And I started doing plays very early. And we used to watch the Oscars. It was like a high holiday in my house, you know. Like, oh God, the you know, everybody quiet, nobody come over, you know, we had the TV on, watched all the red carpets. So from a very early age, movies and theater and acting was celebrated and and and put on a pedestal. So I started doing plays at a very young age, really fell in love with it, got really comfortable in front of an audience. And then eventually I went to theater school and really my dad was very big on like, look, you know, you got to pay your dues. Right. If you want to do this as a profession, you can't just willy-nilly just walk in. The people that you know and respect and love their work, those people just didn't walk in and get the job. They worked on their craft. And so my dad instilled that in me. And I was very lucky to have my mom and my dad, who were very, very supportive, knew very early on that there was nothing else for me. This is what I want to do. It's great. And which is great. Not everybody has that. So I'm exceptionally.

Jeff Ornstein 3:38

Not everybody wants their son to be an actor. No.

Bert Rotundo 3:40

Well, my mom was pushing for a lawyer there for a little bit, but I think she kind of got it really quick that that wasn't gonna happen. So I went to theater school. I went to uh American Musical and Dramatic Academy in New York City, met some great people, got really great theater training, and then cut my teeth in New York for a little bit, doing some theater and bouncing around, and then got my taste of film for the first time. A producer friend asked me to come and audition, and I auditioned and then I got the part and got to do my first movie at around 21. Wow. And fantastic. Yeah, I I had auditioned as a kid. My dad would take me to these big open calls, and I had some brush with almost success early on. I had auditioned for the young Tom Cruise role in Born on the Fourth of July. They'd open cast here on Long Island, and I had it gone, and I got the final callbacks. In fact, I was on a veil to play it, and then they production decided to move locations to Texas, decided to get somebody there or close to the West Coast. So that was my first brush with success, and my also my first feeling of that Hollywood uh letdown, you know. Right. Yeah, it was it was it was you know, it was so big. It was it was crazy. I read for Oliver Stone, and it was a very cool experience at a young age to get that experience. And had it gone the other way, I don't know where I'd be right now. Maybe I would have burnt out and been, you know, maybe I would have been a lawyer at this point.

Jeff Ornstein 4:57

But yeah, that's interesting because looking back at it, the actor that played his younger brother did have a more ethnic look than the rest of the family. Yeah. And you, you know, I'm imagining you with a l a fuller head of hair than you have presently at 14 or however old the kid was, would be your Long Island kid.

Bert Rotundo 5:17

Yeah, well, Ronnie Kovic, who he was playing, they were from Long Island, they were from Massapequa, so just a couple times over. And I was actually auditioning to play the younger Tom Cruise in the movie. And in the film, they would that role, because it was based on the book, Born on the Fourth of July, that part was much larger. Uh and in the film, I believe when I saw it, they had they had really narrowed it down and got got to the meat of the story. In fact, I have a birthmark in the same place as Tom Cruise. It's not as prominent now as I'm older, but Tom and I have the same birthmark, which I I guess they saw that and were like, okay, can this kid act?

Jeff Ornstein 5:49

Right.

Bert Rotundo 5:49

And nine callbacks later, you know.

Jeff Ornstein 5:52

And then you started dating Nicole Kidman, and it was a castle. Right. So we started early, and then you know, that's a common thread that we hear. People get bitten by the bug early. But it's fun, it's you know, when you're a kid, it's carefree and you're doing it, you know, but you're you've got a roof over your head and you know, three squares a day. But a lot of people don't follow through with it because it's like you say, you know, there's the heartbreak of rejection, there's the unknowing about uh how you're gonna sustain yourself, but you did actually.

Bert Rotundo 6:23

Well, you know, I I had some really great teachers coming up, um, some fantastic teachers all along the way, both in college and then privately. I studied with a bunch. And one of the things that a lot of them had made very clear very early on was if you're looking to get famous, and that's what you're looking for, there are plenty of ways to get famous. If you really love acting, then pursue acting for the love of the art itself and do it for that reason, not for what the the spoils of acting.

Jeff Ornstein 6:54

Right.

Bert Rotundo 6:55

Great advice. Going for the spoils, you're gonna be highly disappointed. There's a great Sufi saying that you're not entitled to the fruits of your labor, you're only entitled to the labor itself. So the labor itself has to be something that you enjoy. Right. Um, and it's something that I really do I do love, and uh it and it's sort of propelled me into other areas of writing and directing and producing. I like making films. Um, I like getting together with a bunch of like-minded people who are all dead set on getting something created and making something that will live forever. That's one of the things that's great. It doesn't matter what happens on the day, you know, there's fires that you're putting out and this, that, and the other thing, and pulling your hair out, and that's why I don't have any hair. But at the end of the day, it doesn't matter because no one's gonna remember all the craziness that happened on the day. They're only gonna remember what's in the can. Right. What we've made. And so there's something really special about that. There's it's capturing lightning in a bottle, you know. It's really lit me up inside. And so for that, you know, it's that's what keeps me coming back. And the rejection, yeah, it's rejection, but I I keep coming back because want to capture that lightning again. Right.

Jeff Ornstein 8:04

Right. That's what creatives do. What? So Frankie and Johnny in the Claire Dalone, that's some serious heavy acting going on down there.

Bert Rotundo 8:12

That was a big undertaking. That was one of those moments where it was like, okay, Geronimo, let's do this. I was very lucky to have a fantastic director and Frank Ross. I was encouraged by my acting teacher, the the late and great Sal Romeo. And I had the greatest co-star anyone could want, uh, Jessica Blair, who I saw doing another play. And after the show, I went up to her and I said, Hey, I'm thinking about doing this play. I really want to do this play with you. And she said, Let's do it. We workshopped it for about six months, and then when we felt like we were good with it, we jumped into rehearsals and produced it ourselves and put it on in a little 33-seat house in Tulica Lake, California. Um, and it was really well received, great reviews. It really, for the first time, made me realize that I could lead a film, I could lead a production. I wasn't just a character actor in the background, you know. And and it it was sort of a coming of age. In fact, funny enough, my dad flew out to come and see the show, and my dad came to see the show, he came to see it every night that he was there that opening weekend, and I was driving him back to the airport, and we're driving back, and he goes, you know, and I hear a little crackle in his voice. And my dad's pretty stoic. And he goes, You know, you've grown up, you're a man now. I was in my mid-30s at the time, and he goes, You did a great job. And everybody that came to see it came up to me and thank you and was just like, Oh my god, your son's fantastic. And and he says, You paid your dues, you're ready. Nice. And I was like, I'm driving. And so I was like, Okay, thanks, Dad. And then I I dropped him off of the airport, and I got about two exits from the airport, and I had to pull over because it's and I called him and I was like, Dad, I love you. Thank you so much. And you know, we had a good little cry on the phone. And but it was that it was that coming of age that sort of like, okay, you know, I got that that approval I guess I'd have been seeking from a young age as a kid. Right. Yeah.

Jeff Ornstein 10:07

Well, you know, it's really important because, like we were talking about, you do go through a lot of rejections. And, you know, it takes a a seasoned sort of uh auditioner to understand you you're not gonna not only not gonna get every audition, you're not gonna get the majority of the auditions. And it has nothing to do with your skill sets or talents or performance even that day. It has to do with how the director or the producer sees the character in their eye. So getting that kind of affirmation from someone whose opinion you really, really value, yeah, it's a good dad.

Bert Rotundo 10:37

He's a great dad, and he's still very supportive. Uh, we just launched uh, I have a movie that just we just put on YouTube, uh, just launched YouTube and did a festival run, and it was a short, but uh it was uh guys that I've worked with a couple times were really proud of it, called Prada and Pumpernickel. And we literally launched it yesterday, and my dad's been blowing up social media with it, and my sister, my family's so supportive, so it's so great, you know. So great to have that supportive team. Right. You were born with your own PR a couple. I really am. I uh you know my dad should be my my agent.

Jeff Ornstein 11:06

That's great. Well, if it sticks the family together with the glue. I want to um understand. So you you obviously were pretty involved in acting. I mean, having studied it as a young child and then doing these early works or even into your 30s, but you've also done producing, and that's hard. You know, when I'm on small indie films or even a feature film, that's hard. That producer is like juggling like a million things.

Bert Rotundo 11:32

It is the wild, wild west. And yeah, uh, and people have asked me several times, how do I get into producing? And I honestly don't really necessarily uh have an answer. I lucked out. I had I had worked, I was bartending, and I was doing, I was working with a group of guys producing some viral videos, some short comedy videos uh with uh Generation Awesome. And we were a little ahead of the curve before social media. We were putting stuff on YouTube and putting stuff on Funnier Die, which had just started at that time, and we were getting some buzz. We were presenting them at a local bar where we'd invite people to come and see the premiere, and we'd get 250 people come out. And and what I realized was that what I was doing was I was actually producing. And so when I started working at this place called the Village Idiot, they just closed a couple of years ago. Great place on Melrose, great group of artists all working there. And one of the women I got to work with, uh Susannah Hillard, her boyfriend at the time, Ryan Reese, who's now her husband, I met him at the Christmas party and she had showed him some of my videos, and him and I started talking became fast friends at the Christmas party. And he's like, you know, look, anytime you need help, I'd love to help you. And I said the same thing to him. And about three months later, he he called me up and was like, Hey, we're we're shooting a sizzle reel for a film, which ended up being It's God. I'd love for you to come out and uh associate produce it. Uh, we're trying to raise the money to make this movie. If you do it, you know, I can only pay you this much. And I was like, Oh, you're gonna pay me? I was gonna do it for free. Great, you know? And so I was partaining at night and and producing during the day, and we were all kind of new at it. So we were all learning as we went, and I've since produced numerous things with them. Gary Brunskill, the director of that and the writer of that. We also produced a movie called The Adventures of the Naked Umbrella, which is on Prime, which I actually have a co-star uh role in that. I play the villains, don't tell anybody. But you know, one of the things is find your people. Right. And, you know, and the only way to really do it is get out there or find somebody who's been doing it for a really long time that's willing to kind of hip pocket you and and let you follow them around and see. Because I'm sure there are people who are legit. I have producer friends who are line producers where there's more about the budget and the and really kind of dealing with the actual overall production and getting the money and and making sure that the budget's good. That's not really what I was involved with. I was more about the hands-on making sure that you know we had this location and that and and just being there. You are the everything, the glue that holds it together. Right. The best way to do it is make your own stuff. Get out there, fail forward, right, and learn from your mistakes. And then you it's not an accident, it's not a mistake if you keep doing it that way.

Jeff Ornstein 14:17

You know, this is part of this podcast, is also for people to say, could I do this? You know, I mean, I've been, you know, an IBM executive or I've been, you know, a mechanic, you know. The common theme that's spoken through our guests is the sense of camaraderie and the support. And kind of once you find this little niche of director, writer, producer talent, that support group a lot of times maintains, you know, I'll recommend you for this, and can you join us for that? And I think a lot of people might be surprised that they wouldn't see the entertainment industry as so supportive.

Bert Rotundo 14:47

And it is, it is, it really is. You know, there's a lot of, you know, I moving back to New York, for instance, there's a lot of people like, oh, you lived in LA. And I'm like, have you been to LA, first of all? A lot of people talk smack about LA, and a lot of people have ideas of what it is, you know, but there are there's a lot, yes, anywhere in any business, there's gonna be shady folks, right? Everywhere at any business is gonna be an underbelly looking to take advantage of people, right?

Jeff Ornstein 15:12

Right.

Bert Rotundo 15:13

And the acting and the entertainment industry is no different, but at the same time, there's there's so many people that have this incredible integrity that are there for all the right reasons and are really there at the end of the day because they grew up like me, watching movies, falling in love with being in that theater and being transported for two hours. And there are great people. And the the thing is it's it's about finding your community. You find your community, and you know what? You may work in a job and you may 90% of those people might be people that you know they treated you like crap and they they weren't nice to you, but there's one person that you're like, that person I want to work with again. And that's how it works. You go, hey man, can I get your number? I'm uh you know, I want to do this thing, and you start to build this community, and the next thing you know, 10 years goes by, and you've got this community of like-minded people that you know you have a shorthand with now, you know, like working with Ryan Reese and and Jerry Brunskill on several features. Now, Ryan will look at me and be like, and I'll be like, I got it. I know what you doesn't even have to say it anymore. I know exactly what needs to be done, and that's where you want to be. You know, you look at great, great, uh, the great teams, you know, Adam Sandler, all these guys, Marty Scorsese, all these guys who have their team together, they work with all the same people. You see them time and time again. Because we have these people who they're like-minded, they they kind of meld and they merge and they they work as a cohesive unit. Right. It's it's I play volleyball with my best friend since I moved back. In fact, I got a tournament tonight. We're in the playoffs. Good luck. And I play with all my best friends and that I grew up and I played in high school with, and it's no different. You know, it's it's being able to understand and move as a unit because it is not about a singular person, it's about a team moving together, and it's about building that team, you know, both creatively and commercially.

Jeff Ornstein 17:02

Right. You know, it's not uncommon that while people are pursuing careers in theater as a performer, that you have a day job. And we've had people here who have been in the food service industry, nannies, tech industry, all different kinds of ways to make money to support themselves while they pursue their craft. I will say you are the first bartender. And the reason I bring it up is that it's been said or alleged that people, after a libation or two, might share personal details with their bartender. So I'm just wondering, did any did you ever have a customer that left an impression on you that maybe was a basis for a character that maybe you played or or developed? Oh yeah. Yeah.

Bert Rotundo 17:47

I should have I should have an honorary PhD in psychology, sociology, mixology, and anthropology at this point for the amount of years that I've spent behind the bar. And it's been look, a survival job is necessary. It's great. And bartending would really afforded me the ability to work nights and audition and work during the day. And it's flexible, you know. I don't have a nine to five where I have to be there Monday through Friday. Right. So, you know, working weekends, a lot of things don't shoot on the weekends. Very rarely will you shoot on a weekend, especially, you know, network television and such. But yeah, definitely a lot of it makes you good with people. That's uh in fact, when I got asked to come on as associate producer for the sizzle reel of It's God, which ended up I came on as an associate on the actual feature a year later. The reason why I got the job was Ryan came to me and Jerry came to me and says, You're great with people. You know, and that is an attestament to just working behind the bar. You have to you have to be able to roll with the punches, you have to be able, you're dealing with high stake high stakes, but you know, you're in this, you're moving around, you're you're you've got 18 things going on in your head.

Jeff Ornstein 18:55

Time is money on a set, you know. Time is money. You gotta it's on track.

Bert Rotundo 18:59

Yeah, and you gotta be able to, you know, spin a lot of plates at one time. And bartending really helped me. It was a great training ground for that. I think I was I spent way too many years there. I overstayed my welcome a little bit, but it was a blessing to be able to have that as a go-to.

Jeff Ornstein 19:14

All right. The producers encouraged me. First of all, they thought you were a gem of a guy. I just thought I'd let you know your personality vibe was like right up there with like St. Sebastian or somebody. One of the questions that they encouraged me after they had spoken with you was did you have find a moment or project that made you feel like you were truly contributing to something meaningful? And I think it was when your dad said, You done good, kid. So I think we covered that ground. But is there anything else you would want to add about a particular role that propelled you in your mind and in your confidence?

Bert Rotundo 19:44

Um, yeah, you know, I think anytime you as an artist, but I as an actor, anytime that I did a role that when I was offered it or auditioned for it and got it, where I was like, oh crap, how the hell am I gonna do this? And you know, you'd sort of walk through the fire sort of situation and you come through it and you're like, wow, I did it. You know, and not by sheer luck, but by sheer will and going, okay, got it. Now you gotta show up and do the job. The Adventures of the Naked Umbrella, that film, because I was producing and co-starring in it. Um, that was a rough shoot. I mean, uh making movies is tough. We made a movie in the Salton Sea in Southern California in July. The low temperature was 110 degrees, the high was 125 degrees. At about 107 degrees, cameras stopped working, cars stop working, electronics, people stop working, you shuts down. And so to make a movie that is good and looks good and sounds good and checks all the boxes, that was that was an accomplishment on, and we didn't kill anybody, you know, no one no one no one died, and and you know, it was a rough go. And every day was like, okay, here we go. Put one foot in front of the other and show up. But I think Frankie and Johnny was the first one that made me go, okay, there's something here I can do this. And that led to the next, okay, now I'm gonna go up and climb up to this plateau and then keep, you know.

Jeff Ornstein 21:14

Of course, as is my nature, every interview we go over. So, of course, we've gone over significantly. I got time, so as long as you can tell. The producers will make it work. But I wanted to just kind of echo back or hearken back to something you just said earlier, because I think a lot of people that might be listening to this might take from it an important lesson that there are people like you and other guests who have been on and talk about, yeah, I decided I was gonna make this commitment, I've got this passion for it. And then you're given a break. You get a role, you're you win an audition, and then you go into that rehearsal or something, and you're like, I'm an imposter, I don't belong here, you know, your confidence is shattered. But like you just said, you are worth it, you know, and you pull it from inside of you, and you arrive, you know, with the performance that you're supposed to give. So, like that self-questioning is just part of the process of growing.

Bert Rotundo 22:06

It it is, you know. I think it's a a safety mechanism that we have to keep us safe. You know, our nervous systems don't like to go outside of that that that zone that we've set up for ourselves. And as an artist, you have to push that. Right. If you're really truly being true to your art, you're trying to push through that boundary every time. Look, there are plenty of people who are doing great and they do the same thing over and over again, and they knock it out of the park, and their box offices are huge. But for me to get excited about something, it has to scare me. Right. Because I've done a lot of things that I'm like, it's a paycheck, and I'm like, cool, I can do this in my sleep. I still do the work, I still make sure that I do all the homework that I need to do. But when it's scary, when it's like, ooh, I I don't know, can I do this? Can I pull this off? You know, that's when that's where the the cheddar is.

Jeff Ornstein 22:51

And you grow. Yeah, who wants to be the liberty bibberty guy all their life? Great meaning you good luck at volleyball. I don't know what to say. You don't break a leg at volleyball, whatever you do. I wish you the best. Good luck. And it was a pleasure having you. Thanks for tuning in to Next Act with Jeff Orenstein. Follow, subscribe, and stay connected to your favorite socials at www.nextdackpodcast.com. Keep chasing your next act. The best is yet to come.