February 8, 2011: Jeff East Returns to Acting Career

Actor Jeff East, who portrayed a young Clark Kent in "Superman: The Movie", moved back to Kansas City a few years ago where he continues to have a very busy acting career with almost 20 projects in various stages of development.

Of the projects East is currently working on, most are straight acting gigs such as starring as a principal in the new feature "Terminal," local auteur Stephen Pruitt's follow-up to "Works in Progress." He is also currently at work writing and producing "I Could Have Been Danny Noonan", a mock documentary about his own life.

Danny Noonan was the role Michael O'Keefe played in the 1980 comedy "Caddyshack." East was also up for the part.

"It's a mockumentary about me," East explained. "My childhood, my teen years, my life in Hollywood. It's going to be a search picture. I'm looking for Michael O'Keefe to see what would have happened to me if I'd done that part and he hadn't.”

East recently created a production company called Clown Fighters Productions LLC with his Kansas City running buddy Patrick Griffin.

Among their projects in development are:

  • "Return to Macon County": It's a sequel/spinoff to the iconic '70s drive-in hit about a couple of brothers who run afoul of a vengeful deputy sheriff down South. East had wanted to produce the feature several years ago, but his plans were derailed by the economic downturn.

  • A Doritos commercial intended for broadcast during next year's Super Bowl: "We had this terrific idea for an ad, and we're doing it on spec," East explained. “We have a Megan Fox look-alike and two grumpy old guys going at it playing football with a bag of Doritos. We plan to shoot it in the Ozarks in June.

  • "Pitch": A 20-minute short about a Hollywood pitch session between a writer and producer. Griffin and East will play the roles. Griffin said it was inspired by a trip he made with East to Los Angeles to pitch their ideas. "We're making fun of ourselves and of the whole experience," he said.

    • Read more about Jeff's upcoming projects and more at www.kansascity.com.