Leslie Hardy and Jeffrey Wylie formed third act productions to reclaim creative power and green light/produce their own projects.
TAP - Endeavoring to tell stories from often overlooked perspectives.
In Production
Short Films
Now airing on CUNY TV.
One of the most well respected theatre actors in the country, with a career spanning over fifty years, Denis was Tony-nominated for Lead Actor in a Play for his work in Simon Stephens' two-hander, "Heisenberg," opposite Mary Louise Parker.
He has appeared in over twenty Feature Films, including "How To Make An American Quilt," "Basic Instinct," and "Bandidas" with Salma Hayek and Penelope Cruz, and has made over sixty five guest star and recurring appearances on Television. His TV work ranges from "Annie McGuire" with Mary Tyler Moore, to the David E. Kelley shows' "Picket Fences," "The Practice," and "Boston Legal." to most recently, "Grey's Anatomy" and "The Good Fight."
A native of Maryville, Tennessee, nestled at the foothills of the Smoky Mountains, Melanie studied drama at The University of Tennessee before moving to Chicago and studying at Second City.
There she met one of the best Improv teachers in the business, Mick Napier, who invited Melanie to become one of the co-founding members of "The Annoyance Theatre," which is still thriving today. Her performances in both "The Real Live Brady Bunch" and "The Miss Vagina Pageant" garnered the attention of an SNL talent scout and ultimately Lorne Michaels. At just 23 Melanie was hired on Saturday Night Live in 1991 where she stood out playing Brady Bunch daughter "Jan Brady", and a lovable yet completely deranged Tri-delta sorority girl, among other memorable characters over four seasons.
Melanie has since appeared in numerous television series, both as guest star and recurring characters, including “United States of Tara,” “Suburgatory,” and “Transparent,” and a dozen films including "Bridesmaids," "Grown Ups 2," and "Mothers Little Helpers."
Listen to Jeffrey Wylie & Leslie Hardy's interview on the Bourbon With Beagle podcast.
Available on:
YouTube • Apple • Spotify • Google
WHITE PEOPLE WALKING THEIR DOGS
A buyer, a seller, and a realtor converge in a small Los Angeles home, each determined to come out on top or go down swinging in the ring of LA real estate, where the winners remain a gentrified few.
MOM'S DAY
An iPhone exercise. A mother and daughter navigate mother's day, and each other.
Feature Scripts
Two women's lives, worlds apart until now, converge in a decaying Alabama town -- a childhood haven for one, a lifelong sentence for the other -- as they challenge a past, poverty and apathy hell bent on dictating the future.
The Black List evaluation: “The hyper-specificity of the setting lends itself nicely to a host of unique side characters, and the writer does a great job of putting a spotlight on untraditional, often older folks not often featured in film. This is due in large part to the writer's (Hardy) amazing sense for naturalistic dialogue, which is able to remain character-specific, perfectly dodge emotions and consistently tap into an organic rhythm..."
Based on Leslie Hardy's play of the same name. Four strangers, each grappling with the loss of a loved one, arrive for a grief counseling session but soon find themselves on a collision course with each other's issues -- and confronted with much more than their grief.
In this ode to 1950s musical comedies, a straight secret agent tries to infiltrate a drag queen vigilante group planning to assassinate the new, religiously fanatical President. But Chase is too straight to pass as gay, so a radical DNA experiment launches him into a new world that has everyone questioning what “normal” actually is.
Driving the streets of South Los Angeles in Uncle Jose’s ice cream truck is the highlight of young Roberta’s life so when she learns of her uncle’s plans to leave LA (and leave her behind), Roberta sets out in search of salvation--her mother in Palmdale.
When confronted with a shared, tragic history, a Black man and a white woman are forced to reconcile their 21st century identities with the heavy weight of the past.
Bios
After two decades as an actor, Leslie turned to writing and wondered what took her so long to “pick up her pen!” She was accepted into the writers’ unit of Fierce Backbone, a theatre company in Los Angeles focused on new play development. It was here she honed her new found love of writing and discovered the inspiring art of collaboration.
Fierce produced one of her first full length works, "A Good Grief," in addition to workshop performances of other plays. Through this creative home in LA, Leslie met her producing partner, Jeffrey Wylie, and in 2021 they cofounded third act productions.
Leslie has written numerous plays and screenplays and co-directed several of her shorts including "Do Over" with Tony-nominated, Denis Arndt, and SNL alum, Melanie Hutsell. Leslie was selected to participate in the 2024 Sidewalk/Stowe Story Narrative Lab with her feature screenplay, County of Coosa. Leslie is currently filming a documentary in a small Alabama town, exploring the causes and effects of the town’s demise on its people.
Leslie is a member of Women In Film (WIF), The Dramatists Guild, Los Angeles Female Playwrights Initiative (LAFPI), and SAG-AFTRA.
With four decades of performing and directing for the stage, combined with his love of visual storytelling as a cameraman, Jeffrey brings a unique and singular take to his directing for the screen.
Most known for Director of Photography on the hit comedy web series, Where The Bears Are, and as a fifteen year member of playwright development group Fierce Backbone, he is equally skilled in helming comedy and drama, creating a captivating sense of moment-to-moment presence across mediums and genres.
One of Jeffrey’s most cherished creative experiences was directing Leslie Hardy’s play, A Good Grief, not just because of the production, but because it led to their continued friendship and collaboration in forming third act productions.
Outside of TAP, Jeffrey is co-host of the podcast Grayer & Gayer and also routinely performs in nightclubs as his aunt, Lyla Karug.