David Chiu

Here are my goals for 2009:

• 20min 5k
• 60min 10k
• 175lbs 10% bodyfat
• Conversational Cantonese
• Conversational Spanish
• Work less / Earn more
• Launch my independent projects

Looking back at my old posts I thought I made my goals of “Smarter, Stronger, Faster, Louder” in 2008. In actuality I made those goals in 2007! In 2008 I accomplished almost all of those goals. This year I’m just going to continue to push myself further.

As I contemplate the new year, some of the questions I’m asking myself are:

• If I could mirror someone’s journey to success, who would it be?
• What does my ultimate life look like?
• What’s stopping me from living the life I want?
• What is my path to success?

According to Chinese Astrology, this year is my year – the year of the Ox. So I look forward to the magic that’s in store for this year.

I’ve got tech recruiters from agencies all over Los Angeles calling me everyday – almost twice a day pitching me jobs and my number is not even listed anywhere. Tech recruiters have always used somewhat “grey” techniques in trying to find candidates such as asking people to refer their friends or colleagues to receive a referral fee, or cold calling companies asking for random people until they find a tech person who they can pitch a candidate, or pitch a new job. Now these agencies are trolling LinkedIn cold-calling companies and lying that they are connected to you through LinkedIn. What really annoys me is their fake way of trying to establish a friendship with you asking “what are your plans this weekend?” I’M NOT YOU’RE FRIEND! Why the hell should I tell you? And do all tech recruiters use the same script? I’ve been asked the “what are your plans this weekend” question multiple times by multiple recruiters at multiple agencies. AND NOW the new technique they are using is “I’m not calling to pitch you a job, but to ask you for a reference”. TWO recruiters from TWO different agencies almost used those exact words. Is there some shady tech recruiter conference that these people all go to?

I should open up my own tech staffing agency – but run it like the Hollywood studio system back in the old days. Hollywood studios used to sign actors with whom they saw potential and would groom them to be movie stars. I would sign top programmers who could not only code but were attractive and had really good presentation skills and then represent them through their entire career through the myriad of jobs that tech people go through – or help them start their own company. Top Hollywood agents and managers do this now and just collect a 10%-15% agency/management fee or establish a back-end deal with the actor.

On another note – why do tech people need to use recruiters anyway? In this day and age of LinkedIn and other social networks it should be easy enough for anyone to find a job through their friends and end up with a higher salary since they aren’t going through a recruitment agency. The true hustlers will never need to use an agency. They will find business opportunities for themselves or even better, create their own opportunities.

Don’t get it twisted. In many ways I’m not mad at this situation. There’s obviously no recession in the internet/tech sector.

People just don’t want to sleep.

Or so it may seem. I’ve stumbled upon several articles about the use of Provigil by healthy individuals to enhance cognitive functions. All of the articles say that the drug does have very positive effects on cognitive functions, but what is the downside? The possibility of a serious skin reaction.

Men’s Health also has an article on polyphasic sleep patterns (referred to as the uberman sleep pattern) and how it may allow you to spend more time awake rather than sleeping by taking multiple short power naps instead of sleeping for a straight period of time.

What is this obsession with working?

It’s a problem that I also have. My problem is that I feel like it’s a race to achieve all of my dreams. But what kind of quality of life can you expect to have if you don’t take some time for a siesta, to meditate, to reflect, to just spend time with friends and family?

These are questions I struggle with everyday.

(BTW the title of this article refers to a famous research paper dealing with the limits of working cognitive memory.)

This movie poster for “The Mummy: Tomb of the Dragon Emperor” caught my eye over at Quicktime.com. I saw Jet Li’s name attached to it and I instantly knew that the movie probably had something to do with the Qin Dynasty and the Terra Cotta Warriors. What a coincidence since Heather and I just visited the Terra Cotta Warriors exhibit at the Bowers Museum last weekend. The trailer looks pretty cool but of course the movie takes liberties with the historical account of the Qin emperor. If it wasn’t for the Qin storyline and Jet Li I’d probably wait to see it on video, but now I might actually see it in the theater.

I might have to go watch “Hero” again since it’s another Jet Li movie that deals with the Qin Dynasty.

I just received an email directed to all SAG members giving an updated report to contract negotiations with the AMPTP. The top headline is:

The AMPTP Wants to Use Excerpts From TV Shows and Motion Pictures Without Actor’s Consent on the Internet….And Beyond

New Media is one of the biggest issues in contract negotiations. The studios still don’t know how to monetize video on the internet and are still experimenting with ventures such as Hulu at the same time making deals with various online video distribution companies including Apple/iTunes/AppleTV. I know of these issues first hand as a web developer who used to manage FX Networks and helped to establish their online video distribution of their shows using Brightcove. The key question that needs to be answered before royalties can be paid to actors for “internet use” is how do you track and control video views and distribution? This can get pretty tricky. Using Brightcove, there are built in metrics but other distribution services may not have these tools. And who will keep the studios honest? In my experience I’ve seen metric numbers be “adjusted” in order for a studio marketing team to sell more ad space or get bigger budgets for their group, so who’s to watch the studios and keep them honest as to how much royalties to pay back to the artist based on internet “views”?

For the savvy actor, this is actually an exciting time. Forget the bickering between SAG, AFTRA and AMPTP. This is the age of opportunity and empowerment. It has never been easier or cheaper for actors to be seen by larger audiences other than the 99-seat theater. If you’ve paid any attention to the video revolution on the internet you will know of the publicity and opportunities non-actors have received from stupid videos on YouTube. Entrepreneurial actors are already online creating brands – monetizing their creative work and creating bigger opportunities. Just read this article:

Rise of the internet star…

So what are you doing to take charge of your acting career? Why are you sitting around waiting for your agent to call? Go out and create your opportunities.

The top of my wishlist is to re-design this blog which I’ve neglected over the years. But in the meantime I’ve started another blog just for fun called “One Man’s Wishlist” which just lists stuff I’m interested in – from shoes to gadgets and everything in-between.

5k : 33.37min. I just picked up the Nike+ iPod sensor to start timing my runs. Even though I’m wearing New Balance RC1001 I made it work by sticking the sensor under my front laces.

Here are my final results for the Navy Seals Fitness Challenge:

*breast stroke or side-stroke only

Not too shabby since my only preparation was a 250m swim and 500m swim the previous week. My only complaint is that I was stuck in a swim lane with 2 slow swimmers ahead of me. I passed one guy but couldn’t get around the second guy which cost me making the SEAL standard time of 12:30. The running on the other hand, is something I knew I would have problems with. In the end, I was the last competitor on the track, but I didn’t care. I just wanted to complete the course no matter how long it took me. Plus, I have never run a 7min mile in my life – which is about the pace I would have needed to run in order to meet the standard. My running is awkward to begin with. I’m a total “heel-striker”, which according to my Google research, is the most bio-mechanically inefficient way to run. So I really need to work on my running. But overall I had a great time. I’ve caught the competition bug. Next stop, Ironman.

Last week I signed up for the Navy Seal Fitness Challenge. It’s a free event sponsored by the Navy to see if you can pass the initial fitness test for entrance into the Navy Seals. Everyone thinks I’m crazy especially since the event is next Saturday, but I think I have a chance. The Seal standards are: 500m breast-stroke / side-stroke swim in 12.30min, 42 push-ups, 50 sit-ups, 6 pull-ups, and a 1.5 mile run in 11min. It’s been years since I’ve swam laps, but I’m pretty confident in my swimming. I can complete 42 push-ups and 50 sit-ups without too much problem (and even without resting), but I’ve never been a good runner so the 1.5 mile run in 11min would be a problem for me. I’m going to hit the pool this week just to re-acclimate myself to the water. It’ll be fun to compete. I want to start competing in athletic events like this anyway so this will be a good introduction.

I’m burning the candle at both ends and in the middle. But I have nothing to complain about. This year has been incredible and I’ve been blessed with so many opportunities. I’ve got work raining down on me – and I’m not even talking about my day job. Unfortunately I’m not talking about acting either, but rather outside technology/internet projects. I can barely keep up. I feel I need to grab as many opportunities as I can while they exist ’cause ya never know what tomorrow will be like. Hollywood is quickly trying to converge into the digital/internet world and I’m a part of it in every aspect and from both ends of the business. It’s exciting albeit exhausting talking to so many people about so many different ideas, projects, opportunities. My own creative projects as actor and producer are also proving to have big possibilities – I just need the time to concentrate on them.  At this point it’s a race to the new year as I have a couple projects I need to finish and deliver before Christmas all while taking care of holiday errands and doing XFlowsion (a high energy yoga/cardio) 4 times a week trying to reach my goal of 10% body fat by year’s end.

It’s amazing to think how much I’ve accomplished since the beginning of the year. I’ve been very blessed.