Published on Monday February 23, 2004 .
This is the question I am asking myself tonight. Not because I’m pondering my existence or place in the world, but because I need to know how to market myself as an actor. You see today I met with a photographer (Vanie Poyey) and this is the question she asked me. What roles/characters/shows do I see myself fitting in? How am I currently marketing myself?
This question actually isn’t new to me. Tom has brought up this question in class and I have also read a lot about celebrity marketing and branding. But for some reason when faced with the question, I didn’t have a solid answer. I showed Vanie my current photos and said that in the past I have been sent out for a lot of “thug” roles. But I definitely wanted to be able to play more than just a thug. I’ve also been told by one of my acting partners that they could see me on a TV drama like The Practice as a young professional. Vanie thought that I would fit a lot of shows on the WB network and could definitely play a young professional. But I don’t really know.
The studio has given me the roles of strong leading men who are commanding, or passionate, or sensitive, or romantic (a cheating husband, a war-time soldier in love, an egotistical hard-hitting producer, a passionate hedonist and a reformed arrogant bad-boy). This definitely gives me a clue as to how the studio views me and my work and what roles they think I could play. But what does this mean? It’s not as if I will be offered leading roles at this point of my “career”. I need to market myself towards roles I am right for.
So that leads me back to the question, “who am I”? In real life I am funny and quirky around friends and family. But around strangers and at work I can be the “bad-boy”, or formal, or the young professional depending on the situation. So basically, at this point, I have no answer. I’ll have to ask other people who have seen my work and see what their opinions are…
Then again, do I have to decide? During the photoshoot I could go for the bad-boy, the young-professional, and the funny/quirky guy and see how the pictures turn out…
Published on Tuesday August 5, 2003 .
2/9/05 Updated bio for the independent film “Mah Jong”:
David has been in the performing arts as long as he can remember. As a small child he studied piano for many years, participating in numerous recitals and competitions. At the age of 10, he composed his first song entitled, “Mommy”. By the time he reached middle school he became bored with the piano and decided to learn the violin. David showed natural ability and accelerated through the Suzuki method playing in orchestras, string quartets, duets, solos and competitions all the way through high-school.
At the end of his high-school career, David set out to break through Asian stereotypes. He was tired of being the quiet, shy, Asian student in class. So at the 1991 high-school talent show, David created a MC Hammer/Janet Jackson inspired self-choreographed dance routine. Within the first few dance steps he shocked the audience and won over the crowd of over 500 people who started chanting his name.
In 1997 David moved out to Los Angeles to pursue acting and has had small roles on shows such as General Hospital and The Tonight Show with Jay Leno. David also has served as a host for a short lived late-night TV show called IZ and has acted in numerous independent and student films. David is no stranger to the stand-up comedy scene and has performed in comedy clubs across LA and participated in the Asian Pacific American Stand-Up Comedy Festival. David continues to break through stereotypes by participating in shows such as Everything You Ever Wanted to Know About Asian Men and is currently doing triple duty as writer/director/actor on independent film projects such as the Crispy Creme Conspiracy and the Smooth Butter Love project. David is a graduate of the two-year method acting program at the Joanne Baron/DW Brown acting studio.
5/8/2003 bio for the “Everything You Ever Wanted to Know About Asian Men” performance:
David Chiu is an Internet Developer/Computer Technology Specialist turned actor/entertainer. Over the past seven years he has worked in the dot-com sector as a consultant and developer while simultaneously pursuing acting and performing stand-up at local comedy clubs. David has appeared as “Eddie” on General Hospital, a host on IZ, a Chinese bum on Saturday Night Live and has also participated in many independent and student films. He is currently enrolled in the two-year acting program at the Joanne Baron/DW Brown studio and keeps an online blog at www.davidchiu.net.
BTW, I never appeared on Saturday Night Live. That was a mistake. I meant to say The Tonight Show with Jay Leno. I did a small skit that I’m not sure even aired.