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ESPN’s The Next Round with me, Scoop Jackson and GARY PAYTON.
Two days ago, I was invited to sit down with Scoop Jackson and one of the greatest point guards of all time, the Glove, Gary Payton. We talked basketball for a segment on Scoop’s ESPN show The Next Round. Being a huge NBA fan, it was an enormous honor to sit in the same room with these guys, let alone be allowed to open my mouth.
After working with Detlef Schrempf on Parks and Rec and now Gary Payton on Scoop’s show, I’m slowly working my way through the starting line-up of the 1996 Seattle SuperSonics. My next goal is to do a cooking show with Shawn Kemp.
Here are some clips from the interview.
Dallas/Miami Finals and me pleading to Chris Paul
My interview with Jordan Farmar (World Champion Los Angeles Lakers)
In celebration of the Los Angeles Lakers winning the NBA championship, I’m reposting an interview I did for last year’s ESPY Awards with Los Angeles Lakers point guard Jordan Farmar. In the same video, I interview Los Angeles Dodgers’ Golden Glove winner Matt Kemp, so if you like LA sports, this video is kinda perfect for you. The short was one part of a series of interviews I did with pro athletes last year entitled- “ESPN’s Conversations with Ben Schwartz”.
ESPN’s Conversations with Ben Schwartz- Tony Gonzalez
In the third installment of ESPN’s Conversations with Ben Schwartz, I sat down with future NFL Hall of Famer Tony Gonzalez.
ESPN’s Conversations with Ben Schwartz- Nastia Liukin
In the second installment of ESPN’s Conversations with Ben Schwartz, I sat down with Olympic Gold Medal Gymnast Nastia Liukin.
ESPN’s Conversations with Ben Schwartz- Shawne Merriman
In this new web series for ESPN, I sit down with various athletes and talk sports. In the first installment, I sat down with Pro Bowl/San Diego Charger Shawne Merriman.
My Youtube Link to the Interview
Mayne Street: Cutbacks
Here is the return of my character Evan Mintz on Mayne Street. The awesome people at ESPN found a way to write me in even though I moved to LA. If all works out, I will be doing a few more of these in the future. Check out the left side of my website for last year’s episodes.
Mayne Street Ep. 13 - Golf
Here is the 13th episode of Mayne Street entitled Golf. It features Ray Allen, Jon Glaser and Adam Wade. With the exception of some story beats, almost the entire shoot was improvised. The plan was for Kenny, Glaser and I to show up at a celebrity golf tournament and mess around as our characters. We lucked out when Ray Allen was in the foursome in front of us. The second video is filled with alternate scenes that were cut. If the golf video doesn’t work click here- MAYNE STREET- GOLF to watch it on ESPN.
BONUS SCENES FROM EPISODE 13 - GOLF
Mayne Street Interview
With only three episodes left, the first season of ESPN’s Mayne Street is winding down. So, as a wrap up, here is an interview Tilzy.tv’s Josh Cohen conducted with me before the show started as well as a picture of me and Jesus Shuttlesworth.
Tilzy.TV: What is Mayne Street?
Ben Schwartz: Mayne Street is a heightened version of Kenny Mayne working at ESPN with a splash of hijinks and coworkers.
Tilzy.TV: How’d you get involved?
Schwartz: I was sent out on an audition for a smaller role in the web series and after I auditioned, the guys pulled me to the side and asked me to audition for a different character that ended up being Mintz. Mintz was originally supposed to be 30 or older (I forget) but in the end they liked the way I played it, so the writers re-worked the character a bit to make him younger for me. The writers/directors and producers of this piece were so much fun to work with. They let us play around and have fun with the characters.
Tilzy.TV: Tell me about Evan Mintz.
Schwartz: Evan Mintz is the Senior VP of ESPN. A title that is usually held by a far older man. He is one of the big men on campus and holds the futures of a lot of anchors in his hands. He is constantly on a bluetooth headset and although sometimes he can come across as a douche, he works his ass off to stay on top and truly wants to succeed. (Also, in one of the episodes I think I added that he takes miniature horse back riding lessons. Unsure if that’ll be in the final cut.)
Tilzy.TV: How much of Topher Grace’s “Carter Duryea” of the Dennis Quaid film In Good Company is in your character?
Schwartz: I’ve never seen the movie In Good Company, so i’m going to assume Topher Grace’s role was very similar to his role of Venom in Spiderman 3…and if that’s the case, then Evan Mintz is nothing like venom and that’s a stupid question.
Tilzy.TV: What’s it like working with Mayne?
Schwartz: Kenny was great. He really is a funny, nice, genuine guy. The whole cast was hilarious and fun. I hope that some TV station picks the show up or ESPN.com wants to make more webisodes so we all get to mess around some more.
Tilzy.TV: Do you think if Mayne could do whatever he wanted that ESPN would look a helluva like Mayne Street?
Schwartz: I think if Kenny Mayne could do whatever he wanted, he would make himself fly or give himself the power of invisibility. Worrying about work would be way further down on the list.
Tilzy.TV: There are a ton of cameos in the series. Which one was the coolest for you?
Schwartz: There are 15 episodes in total and I think i’m in 5 or 6, so I missed out on all the Sopranos guys coming in, etc. The coolest cameo for me was doing a scene with Ray Allen. I am a huge fan of the NBA and although the Knicks are my team, it was a great feeling to do a scene with a guy who just won the championship and played Jesus Shuttlesworth.
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Mayne Street Ep. 12 - New Years
Here is the 12th episode of Mayne Street entitled New Years. It features Alison Becker, Seth Herzog, Linda Cohn and Robbie Maddison. In this episode, I shed some light on the age old question - is it hard to walk on a slippery desk with socks on?
Mayne Street - Team Building Bonus Content
Here is the bonus content from the Mayne Street episode Team Building. A link to the actual episode is below the video.
