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Vancouver's Juan Riedinger Takes Home Two Leo Awards
Jun 5th, 2013
Multi-award winning actor Juan Riedinger can add two new wins to his resume; taking home two Leo Awards at this year's awards ceremony. Juan won 'Best Performance in a Youth or Children’s Program or Series' for “R. L. Stine's The Haunting Hour”- Coat Rack Cowboy; and 'Best Performance in a Web Series’ for “Pavement” - Wake Up. The Leo Awards were distributed to the best in B.C. film and television this past weekend in Vancouver.
On TV, Juan won Best Performance in a Youth or Children’s Program or Series' for R. L. Stine's “The Haunting Hour” - Coat Rack Cowboy. He played John ‘Mad Dog’ McCoy, an Old West gunslinger who comes back to haunt two brothers he believes cut down the tree he was hanged from. Juan worked alongside the youngest of the Jonas Brothers - Frankie Jonas. Juan was also nominated in the same category at last year's Leos for a different character on the same show.
Juan took home the Best Performance awards for his leading role in the exciting new web series entitled “Pavement”. Set on the streets of LA, Juan plays Mitch, a Meth-addicted father who is desperately trying to keep his family together. Juan was the only Canadian actor in the production, working alongside E.R. Ruiz (Sons of Anarchy).
On TV, Juan won Best Performance in a Youth or Children’s Program or Series' for R. L. Stine's “The Haunting Hour” - Coat Rack Cowboy. He played John ‘Mad Dog’ McCoy, an Old West gunslinger who comes back to haunt two brothers he believes cut down the tree he was hanged from. Juan worked alongside the youngest of the Jonas Brothers - Frankie Jonas. Juan was also nominated in the same category at last year's Leos for a different character on the same show.
Juan took home two out of the three awards he was nominated for this year. He was also nominated for 'Best Lead Performance by a Male in a Feature Length Drama' category for his lead role in “Havana 57”. The film was the first ever Canadian-Cuban co-production and was shot entirely on location in Havana, Cuba. “Havana 57” follows Rubén Velez (Juan Riedinger), a newly appointed homicide detective in the Havana police force in 1957, just before the Cuban revolution.
These past few years Juan has been extremely busy filming in Los Angeles, Cuba, Mexico, Montreal, Toronto, Rhode Island, Vancouver, and even in his hometown of Banff. Juan just completed filming a supporting role in a feature film entitled “Broken Horses”, by Bollywood legend Vidhu Vinod Chopra (Three Idiots, Parinda), where he worked alongside Vincent D'Onofrio, Anton Yelchin, and cinematographer Tom Stern (The Hunger Games, Mystic River). He is also a lead character in the horror feature “Alice D.”, also starring horror legend Kane Hodder. Juan also has the leading role of Jess in the post-apocalyptic web series called “Breakers”, currently in production.
Juan is no stranger to industry accolades, having received a long list for his performances already. He won a 2012 Leo Award for Best Performance by a Male in a Short Drama for his leading role in the film “blood/sweat/tears”. He was given the 'Best Actor' award at the 2011 Indy Horror Film Festival for his leading role in "On a Dark and Stormy Night", which was also awarded 'Best Feature.' He also recently became the only two-time recipient of the A&E Short Filmmaker's Award for his short films "Shark Out of Water" and "Birth Day". Riedinger’s role in the independent film "Zero Hour" also won him two best actor awards at festivals in Los Angeles and Las Vegas. For his work behind the camera, Juan received the award for 'Most Promising Director of a Canadian Short Film' at VIFF for his short "Float".
Photo Credit: Agam Darshi
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