Taylor Jorgensen ’15 Lands Lead in SyFy Channel Movie

Remember Taylor Jorgensen? Just last September, the 2015 grad and aspiring actor packed his bags and headed for the bright lights of LA, where, aided by an alumni connection to Shane Nickerson ’94, he soon landed a job as a production assistant on an MTV shoot.

Well, Fortune is still smiling on him. He was recently cast as one of the lead characters in a SyFy Channel movie, Shadows of the Dead, a horror movie about a group of high school kids. It airs in October.

So how does a Theater major from Keene State and a newcomer to the Hollywood scene land such an opportunity? “I landed the role through a little bit of hard work and a lot of luck,” Jorgensen explained. “Back in November I started temping at a film production company called Cinetel Films for their runner who was out on maternity leave. As a runner, I was going on deliveries and pick-ups for the production office all over the city. The coolest of which being the SONY Pictures lot. It was actually a really great way to acquaint myself with LA, given I’d only been out there about two months.”

When their runner returned from her leave, Cinetel offered Jorgensen a full-time position in its international department. Some of the people at Cinetel knew that he was looking for work as an actor, so when the Shadows of the Dead project came up, they pushed for him to get an audition. “I remember coming into work one day and my office manager plopped some sides down on my desk and said ‘You’ve got an audition with the casting director at three.’” Jorgensen recalled. “So I ran my lines over lunch and went in at three to do my thing. Over the course of the next two months, I received a total of three callbacks and was offered the role of one of the lead characters. We actually just started filming on Friday and it’s been an absolute blast. The percentage of working actors in this town is abysmal, so I feel so lucky to get to be one of them, even if it’s only for the duration of this shoot.”