Craig Rainey
Craig Rainey entered indie film in 2001. Since then he has amassed an incredible volume of feature films, industrials, commercials and voice over work. He started as a neophyte, in 2001, with a lot of ambition and drive but not much guidance. As a result he scoured the web looking for in roads by which he could enter the film business. His first head shots were stills pulled from a video camera. He had no photographer to guide him so he, instead, used a video recorder and posed in different positions and with different looks until he found what he was looking for. His first audition was with indie film makers Carl and Rob Middleton of NonFiltered Productions in San Antonio. He landed the role of Jacob Godhead in the science fiction film Slayer Pro. Later he worked with the Middleton brothers on two more movies. As time went on Craig's experience grew as he worked with Ponderous Productions under the direction of Brett William Mauser. He started with Ponderous, appearing in day roles and extra work. He later was cast in larger supporting roles such as Logan Chambers, corrupt attorney, who appeared in two films, Tag and White and Black. In one of his biggest roles, Craig was cast as the Ponderous Universe's arch villain, Collin Donovan in The Innocence Saga, Craig played Collin Donovan over a ten feature length movie series. The ten features were filmed in 12 months: a phenomenal body of work, unmatched in the industry. Craig Rainey portrayed anchorman, Steve Highland in Ponderous' latest film, VOSOT. Ponderous recently released a short film entitled Heroic Journey of the Gay Man,Craig hosts the tongue-in-cheek immortal mythos story of a man's journey of awakening. The film has won several film festival awards and enjoys a large audience response world wide. Craig Rainey's career has been one of almost a fated path. In that vein Craig met up with the L.A. based Mutt Productions. His first role with them was the main villain "The Mayor" in the grind-house cult film, The Return of Johnny V. The film was recently released by Indican Pictures of Canada and is available on Amazon and NetFlix today. Craig appeared in two more films with Mutt Productions: Dani the Ranch Hand and most recent, Mahogany Sunrise where he plays a tow-headed leather clad hit man. His education in the business started with the must read book Acting for the Camera by Tony Barr. He studied comedy with Laurie Guzda. He got his greatest under the tutelage of acting coach John Lansch. They, over the years, have become great friends and Craig still leans on him for up training from time to time. He attended numerous seminar courses and read laboriously the writings of Stanislovski. Although he enjoys it, Craig rarely appears on the stage. He appeared as Simon Stride in the musical Jekyl and Hyde and he had the lead, John Worthing in The Importance of Being Earnest. His first leading role came when he was cast as Dr. Marshall Dekker in the film Portrait in Sepia Tone, written and directed by Dr. Nancy Membrez. Portrait in Sepia Tone went on to win best film at the International Filmmaker's Festival in Kent, England. Craig was nominated for Best Male Lead Actor in a Feature Film. He didn't win, but the nomination was a great boon to his career. He acquired his first agent, Condra Artista some time in 2004. The imminent agency opened the way to professional film and commercial work for Craig. He appeared in big budget films like The Hitcher and Man of the House as well as booking regional and national commercials. His career had an unexpected break when he attended a San Antonio Film Council mixer in 2009. He met with Andrew Saldana who put him in contact with Mutt Productions. Aaron Lee Lopez, director, cast him as The Mayor in the grind-house-like film The Return of Johnny V. As the main villain in the film, he rose to a near celebrity status. He then appeared in the Mutt Productions film The Ranch Hand, directed by Brian Douglas. Craig Rainey enjoys the considerable attention from friends and fans alike. He is known as a heartful man with a solid intellect. His head for the business is boundless although he will admit he has much to learn.