I recently directed a music video for a Zach Braff-hosted competition. He was looking for video clips to include in his Know When To Walk Away promo. My interpretation of the Jay Clifford video will premiere tonight at Torch, 545 King Street in downtown Charleston. The video involves many local crew and actors, including Julio Cotto.

Julio is an inspired artist who recently moved from Charleston to Greenville, SC. He’ll be having a Torch-hosted party tonight (July 10).

In his own words (from his MySpace account): “Torch! Tonight! Be there! Torch is throwing me a Birthday Party! A Going Away Party! And a Screening for the Jay Clifford music video Party! All in one! The party officially kicks off at 10pm. The screening for the video will start around 9pm.I hope to see you tonight!”

Pictured: Julio Cotto as a horny cop in my version of the Know When to Walk Away video. He lip-synchs and all, you know.

No sooner do I wrap filming of one competition (music videos for Jay Clifford's Know When to Walk Away) than another one comes up - but this time I was on the other side of the camera.

Author Paolo Coelho has teamed up with HP to bring his novel The Witch of Portobello to celluloid life. Filmmakers have been invited to shoot shorts from the points of view of different characters in the book. The best films will hopefully be combined into a feature.

I played a character called Heron Ryan in a short made by South Carolina filmmakers for the comp. The shoot was highly professional despite a modest budget, with some sumptuous images created with a Panasonic Pro HD camera.

The script by Beth Slagsvol and Shannon Bogan changed a lot since I first saw it, and I had to think on my feet when I arrived at the first Charleston location on Saturday morning. My agent had told me I'd be playing a different character, so I'd studied a different scene. But I figured things out as best I could.

On Sunday I appeared in a protest scene in the morning. Apparently some people don't take kindly to witched, even in this day and age. A downtown Charleston street doubled for Portobello Road, complete with black cab.

In the afternoon a "white room" was set up in a warehouse on Brigade Street. The room was created with white boards on the floor and white flowing curtains for walls. I was surrounded by professional dancers, ballet and tango experts. I danced with them and tried not to look too stupid.

A friend saw me doing this called her husband on her cellphone. She couldn't believe the sight. "Nick Smith's dancing," she said in hushed tones.

By the end of the day the film had wrapped and I'd figured out how my character fit into the story. Hopefully, Beth and Shannon's version of events will make the final cut. It's not too late to enter the competition yourself, mind. Further details below.

Catch you at the Film Fest!

This has been the busiest week of the year so far for me and I’m pooped. I started the week with three acting classes in a row, teaching at the Lowcountry Senior Center (where we’re planning a Shakespeare-themed showcase), South of Broadway in North Charleston and in Pine Forest, Summerville.

On Tuesday I directed a music video for Know When to Walk Away. It will be submitted to a competition created by Zach Braff to build a compilation film to accompany the Jay Clifford song.

The catchy tune will be featured in an upcoming episode of Gray’s Anatomy, so hopefully you’ll be hearing it everywhere soon.

By Wednesday I was working furiously on City Paper previews for Piccolo Spoleto. It gave me a chance to interview several cool creative people, including David Lee Nelson of Skinny White Comics and Chris Smith of the sketch comedy group Harvard Sailing Team. Check out their swanky new website!

I also took my eight-year-old son to baseball practice. It’s great to see him involved in the ultimate American pastime (no, i don’t mean video poker). Sam could be a great player if he ever stops lollygaggin’ on third base.

Thursday night I was a judge at Charleston County School of the Arts’ Spring Playfest. Talented high school-aged kids put on ten minute plays and I assessed their merit in terms of vocal ability, stage presence, believability etc.

Friday I appeared on Lowcountry Live to plug Undead on Arrival. I was the last guest on the local chat show, on after the dog. I think that would make a great title for my memoirs.

Today I’ll be signing copies of the novel at Waldenbooks, then racing to the Charleston International Film Festival to usher in audiences and introduce a couple of the films.

Strangely, despite the fact that I’m a film critic for the CP and I’ve covered the festival in depth, I haven’t been contacted by the organizers (I’ve had to chase them up) and I’ve been given no press pass or invite to the awards ceremony. They must know what a party crashing freeloader I am.

In between all that I’ve been auditioning for film roles, chauffeuring my family hither and yon, and trying to catch some zzzs. Of course, I couldn’t do it all without the support of my friends, colleagues and students. Thanks guys.