In the ‘90s New York acting scene, Steve Zahn and Rick Gomez were two moons orbiting the same planet. They went out for the same roles and ran in the same crowds. Gomez landed a coveted spot in the World War II miniseries Band of Brothers, while Zahn bowed out due to scheduling issues that prevented him from reuniting with his That Thing You Do director Tom Hanks. Despite these close encounters, they don’t recall ever meeting.
Nearly 20 years later, Zahn and Gomez finally linked up on The Crossing, in which Zahn played a sheriff to Gomez’s deputy. The sci-fi show was short-lived, airing for just one season on ABC in 2018, but it spawned one of the closest relationships in both men’s lives. “We both worked the same way. We were both rewriting the scripts and trying to convince them to make it cooler than it was,” recalls Zahn with a laugh. Adds Gomez: “We totally mind melded and have this very similar sensibility. And where our sensibilities veer, it’s complementary.”
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As their friendship grew, their families grew close too. Zahn and Gomez are even friends with each other’s kids.
So, a few years ago, they took the next plunge and started a new company, Macaroni Art Productions. Zahn runs things out of Lexington, Kentucky, where he moved in 2004 to raise his family, while Gomez oversees his end from his home base in northern California. The company was also co-founded by Coby Toland and Jenny Gomez, and counts Mandi Reno as head of production.
Soon Macaroni Art will debut its first feature, She Dances, which will bow at Tribeca in June. Zahn and Gomez wrote the script during the pandemic, and shot She Dances with a ragtag group of friends and family in Kentucky. (It helps when your friends are actors such as Ethan Hawke). Gomez directed, with Zahn starring opposite Hawke, AudreyZahn,Mackenzie Ziegler,Sonequa Martin-Green andRosemarie DeWitt. It centers on a father and daughter who must reconnect while on the road to her final dance competition.
They also have the Kentucky-shot docuseries You Belong Here, focused on Chef Ouita Michel, described as “an exploration of memory, generational legacy, and the seasonality of life.” It will bow at the ATX TV Festival in Austin next month.
The pair is open to shooting anywhere, but are also keen on Kentucky, which has been pushing a tax incentive program to entice shoots. “It’s kind of the wild west,” notes Zahn. “You don’t need a permit to shoot the parkway. It’s like, ‘What? Really?'”
Another project they would like to shoot is Hot Fruit, starring Zahn as a widowed winemaker who processes his grief by harvesting the first grapes planted on a vineyard with his late wife. Gomez wrote the script and would direct if it comes together.
Though it took decades to connect, the pair recently landed on Apple TV+’s Silo together by complete happenstance, and shared a house in London when they shot. “It’s like a college situation,” says Zahn.
Adds Gomez of the long path they took to one another: “Once all of the planets aligned, they all aligned.”
Macaroni Art is repped by: IAG. Zahn, whose upcoming credits include the Glen Powell Hulu show Chad Powers and Sony’s Anaconda, is repped by UTA ,Principal Entertainment LA and imprint. Gomez, whose credits include Justified, Ray and Sin City, is repped by IAG.
