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.
There have been plenty of times when I have left an audition and thought “I wasn’t feelin’ that performance”. Luckily, this wasn’t one of those times. I spent the whole morning mentally preparing for the audition and every time I went to the restroom I would practice my lines in the mirror - remembering the notes that Lisa had told me. I just needed to make sure that I had personalized both scenes so that they were real to me. Then I needed to trust that I didn’t need to “act” or “show” any emotions. Just “be” in the moment.
I left the office early in order to arrive at the casting office 45min before my scheduled audition time. The casting office was a small little blue bungalow in santa monica. I parked my car up the street from the office and just sat in my car prepping myself for the read. 15min to my scheduled time I walked into the office and sat down in the very small waiting area. There wasn’t anyone else in the waiting room. It was one of those indicators that this was an important audition and that they were being selective in who they were considering for the role. About two minutes went by and the casting director came out and said “David Chiu”? I replied “yes” and she asked my to follow her into the back office. There she had a portable blue screen setup and a very tiny handheld camera mounted on a big tripod. She mentioned something about “the first time” and “bi-coastal”, but honestly I wasn’t paying attention. I was doing my final mental preparation for the read. The casting director looked at me and said “Oh! You look like you’re ready to go! Let me just turn on the camera real quick!” This was a good sign - the fact that the casting director could see that I was already emotionally prepped and ready to go. But I didn’t let her rush me. I said, “give me one more moment” and I just stood there centering myself. Then I moved onto the mark and started the scene. We did the first scene twice. The first time, I did it exactly how Lisa coached me to do it. The casting director said it was really good but to try doing it a little less intense - and to save the intensity for the second scene. The second scene we did twice as well.
I felt really good about my performance. I feel like I demonstrated the intensity they are looking for. Now it’s just a waiting game. I can’t help but to think how cool it would be to work on this movie with Jude Law and Forrest Whittaker….
Breathing is the most basic part of life but the majority of people do not realize the power that breath has on mood, energy and focus. That’s why you’ll find that in Yoga and Martial Arts, breathing is an essential component in training. In the past it would take years of practice and training under a Master in order to perfect breathing techniques, but now there exists affordable biofeedback devices that can quickly train you how to breath properly in order to reduce stress.
Recently I’ve noticed ads in different magazines for a device called StressEraser.
Basically it’s a small portable biofeedback machine which gives you a visual guide on how to breath while measuring your heart rate. It’s been receiving a lot of good reviews from very reputable sources such as Good Morning America and The Washington Post so I decided to look it up on the internet. The device costs $300 which is kinda expensive, but you’re paying for an easy portable way to train yourself to relax and relieve stress. A few years ago I actually bought a biofeedback device which you connect to your computer and is bundled with gaming software, called The Wild Divine Project.
What attracted me to this system was not only the good reviews, but the idea that you could use a video game to train yourself different breathing patterns. This idea alone sparked my imagination and I had to try it. The Journey to Wild Divine only costs $199 and comes with a biofeedback monitor and software. The software is a game called The Journey to Wild Divine and has a similar feel to the popular game Myst. In the game you explore this magical land and encounter different puzzles which you can only solve by changing your heart rate and breathing patterns in different ways. I really enjoyed the system. The difference I see between the StressEraser product and the Wild Divine product are portability and flexibility. The StressEraser is aimed at reducing stress and is ultra portable. The Wild Divine can be used to not only reduce stress but teach you different breathing patterns to create energy and change your mood.
I originally purchased The Wild Divine to help me with focus and to help me combat my anxiety attacks which had sent me to the emergency room twice. Well, it worked. I haven’t had an anxiety attack for more than a year now. My next goal is to conquer my hyperhidrosis/stage fright which I know stems from lack of self confidence - which I feel like I already have a good control over. It’s all the result of knowing how to breathe.
I’ve started to upload some of my old videos to a service called Brightcove and integrate it into a separate blog - DavidChiu.com. Brightcove is similar to YouTube in that anyone can upload videos to the service for free and Brightcove will host the videos and stream the videos using a custom player, but also provides an easy way for other people to syndicate your videos on their own website. But the best part of Brightcove is that they don’t compress your videos as much as YouTube so the quality is 10x better (which is relative depending on the quality of the original video your uploading). Right now I only have a couple videos uploaded which were converted from VHS tapes so the quality isn’t that great, but I will be posting more videos soon.
Tomorrow morning I will be subjected to picks, drills and pliers as they rip my impacted wisdom teeth from my mouth. Fun times. The doctor promised I would be “comfortable” and under heavy sedation, but will still be slightly aware of what is going on. I’ve never had surgery in my life so there is some trepidation to the whole process. I’ve avoided this procedure for years to the chagrin of my dentist, but I’ve finally decided to face my fears. Plus I can use the experience as artistic reference in acting.
To prepare for the whole recovery process I’ve put together a post-operation diet which consists of:
-Lean Mass Matrix meal replacement shake
-frozen fruits for smoothies
-almond peanut butter for smoothies
-matcha green tea
-raw kefir
-raw milk
-raw honey
-soy milk
-almond milk
-lentil soup
-bean soup
and other soups….
The doctor said it should take me 10 days to fully recover. Hopefully using this diet and listening to Mozart and other baroque music I can heal in half the time.
BTW, I shouldn’t have watched Hostel… Think positive thoughts… Think positive thoughts…
I asked my theatrical agent today if there was any feedback from my audition a few days ago. She called the casting office and they said they had already thrown out all the notes because the role had been cast. Bummer. No call-back either. I guess I wasn’t right for the part. Well, all I can do is send a “Thank You” postcard to make sure they don’t forget me.
I started going through Now Casting and LA Casting casting notices and submitting to TV, Film and student projects. Nothing yet.
Out of frustration with the stagnant state of my acting career (and my failed eBay publicity stunt) I decided to meet with my theatrical agent for a little career counseling. I’ve been with the Ann Waugh Agency for almost 9 years now. Things started off pretty good with me booking a role on General Hospital and consistant auditions for film and TV roles. Over the years things have started to slow down and now my theatrical auditions are very few and far between. What I found out today was both encouraging and discouraging. Shelley told me that I am now the only one of my “type” that she represents. This is good because that means I will be the only person submitted by the agency for roles that match my exact type. But what is discouraging is that I’ve been submitted for around 16 projects since the beginning of this year but have not been called in for any auditions. Something is not working. So Shelley and I came up with the following action plan:
Post new photos on Actors Access, which is the online service the agency uses to do electronic submissions to projects.
Send a postcard/note to Gwen Hillier, one of the casting directors for General Hospital who has hired me twice in the past
Consider joining a well known theater group such as East West Players
Get listed in the directories for film schools such as the AFI and USC.
Ultimately it would be awesome to work with an up-and-coming USC film student who has vision and talent. Just imagine having the opportunity of working with the next Steven Spielberg or Quentin Tarantino. This would be my first choice over some small role on a national TV show or major film.
The other option is of course to create my own opportunities - be the next Matt Damon or Vin Diesel who wrote and produced their own film which became the vehicle into Hollywood. Or use my web development skills and convergence knowledge to create some new media project that gains a lot of attention.
So that’s the plan - to do it all. A full brute-force attack on the Hollywood system.
The second day of my eBay auction ended today with 108 page views, 10 bids and an auction price of $40.
I want to thank all of my friends for supporting this crazy idea. I spent most of the day doing guerilla PR sending the press release to the newswires and also sending copies to individuals at different media outlets and personal blogs.
I also want to remind bidders that if you have a legitmate project you would like me to mention here please email me after your bid and let me know so I can post the details.
There are still 8 days left in the auction. Within this time I’m hoping to make a contact with someone who has the power to put me on a show or project.
BTW I had a Toyota commercial audition this afternoon. It’s the first audition for the new year. It went pretty well. Nothing special really.
But the big news is the progress I’m making in scene study class. I feel like I’m coming unto my own on-stage. The scene went surprising well considering we never rehearsed last week.
At the beginning of this year I had set a couple of goals for my acting career:
· Land a guest starring role on a prime time network tv show
· Land a supporting role in a major motion picture film
· Land a lead role in a feature length, high visibility indie film
· Get a manager who can help jump start my career
These goals seem pretty high especially since I can’t even remember the last time my agency sent me out for a theatrical audition. (ok I lie, it was last summer for a guest starring spot on Malcolm in the Middle) I’ve been really wanting to find a way to “make things happen”, to make that permanent transition from the office cubicle to the movie set. Anthony Robbins has been telling me for weeks that if I really focus and meditate on my goals I could make it happen. Just as he did with his own life in creating his motivational empire.
So for these past 2 weeks my mind has gone into over-time trying to devise ways to accomplish my goals and dreams - from becoming financially independent, to becoming that award winning actor I see in my mind. And I have come up with a few crazy ideas that just might work.
One of them is happening right now.
I decided to put myself on eBay and auction my acting skills to the highest bidder who would put me in a TV show or feature film. To up the ante I decided to donate the proceeds of the auction to charity. Crazy huh? I intended to just post the listing and leave it to “fate” to see if anything happened, but I started getting a lot of positive feedback from friends and family. They said I needed to get this in the press. So I started tweaking the listing and doing guerrilla PR by sending the link to various blogs and news sites. I started getting more hits and H urged me to send out a press release. I wasn’t sure if I really wanted to spend $500+ on an official press release and distribution but then I found www.prfactory.org who would write and distribute my press release for $179. So that’s where it’s at now. An official press release is being drafted and will be sent out in a couple of days. Steve McCardell, the man behind PR Factory even mentioned how much he liked the idea.
So maybe I have something here? The chance to score an additional 15min of fame which if used properly, could jump start my career? I dunno. At the moment I have 198 hits on my ebay page but 0 bids. It’s a chance. But that’s all I need.
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.