Brannon Bates

Brannon Paul Bates is an American actor and musician. Born in Atlanta, Georgia to Mona Lisa Bates and Jim Paul Bates, and older brother to Cheyenne Bates. At 10 years old the family moved to the small Mayberry-like town of County-Line, Georgia where he attended County-Line Elementary which was less than 100 students. He was a devoted football player beginning at 4 years old. He played as a running-back and linebacker through high-school when he stopped playing because of a shoulder injury that left him paralyzed on the field for five minutes.

Bates had questionable grades in high-school mostly due to girls and his rock band. He was nominated for five superlatives including Best Personality and Most Attractive but didn't receive any of them because they weren't sure if he was going to graduate or not. To make up for failing classes he would go to school all day and then drive to another county where they were offering night classes so he could graduate. Bates was very involved in his church theater group and he was in choir in both school and church.

After graduating he was in a rock-band called Bad-N-Fluence that won "best band" in a statewide contest and was slated for a recording deal. Now 19 years old he felt he was too young and not experienced enough to handle the fast lifestyle of girls, drugs, and fame that come with success at such an early age. So he quit the band and moved to Ohio for two years where he graduated from Valor College with an associates degree in Bible Study.

After college Bates moved back to Georgia and worked hard in the hot summer to save for his move to Los Angeles. After saving enough to move he was visiting family in Florida to give a last goodbye when he was involved in a near fatal motorcycle accident which crushed most of the bones in both of his wrists. Because he hit a curb riding over 100 mph he was thrown high in the air which sent him through the "Welcome to Pensacola" sign. A piece of wood debris hit Bates in the face missing his eye by millimeters and a scar is still there. He was in surgery for 8 hours. He wore two casts for several months and it took three years for full recovery and use of his hands.

After his accident Bates was back at zero saving once again for a move to Los Angeles. Working as a ballroom dance instructor at Fred Astaire Dance Studios in Duluth, Georgia he met who would soon be his wife, Larisa Bates.

He and his wife moved to Los Angeles in 2004 where she had instant success as a ballroom dance instructor and immediately Brannon became a studio brat working odd acting jobs, stand-in work, and commercials. He was a stand-in for one of the Baldwin brothers, worked shoulder to shoulder with the best in the business like Brand and Angelina, Clint Eastwood, Scarlett Johansson and dozens more of Hollywood's elite.

Bates attended Stella Adler Academy of Acting and Theater in Los Angeles, The Sanford Meisner Center in Burbank, Upright Citizens Brigade, and Second City. Continuing with his music he played all of the top clubs in LA including The Rainbow room which has hosted the greatest rock bands of all time. He released a CD called Brannon and soon after created the music persona Brand-0. A music video by Brand-0 ignited youth on MTV creating a sensation nationwide with a hairstyle called "The Brando" that was one of the most trending hairstyles of the decade. He soon released a rock cd self titled Brand-0 which was listed by Google Play as resembling Freddie Mercury of Queen and Robert Plant of Led Zeppelin.

Bates took what he had learned from working at the studios and in school and started Cherokee Productions where he made the film noir Payback Jack that has been compared to Clark Gable and Quentin Tarantino.

Bates is still happily married and lives with his wife and dogs in Los Angeles, California.