el aye

Darn, my trip to LA was cut short by a few days since I got booked on a couple of print jobs back in NYC.  It was hard turning down Asahi and another Microsoft gig, so back to the Big Apple I had to go.  (Look for the Asahi ad in airports all over the world starting next year!)

My week in LA was amazing.  I left the left coast for the least coast back in 1998 and I've always looked back.  Coming out here was not by choice as, at the time, I was torn between an acting career and going to graduate school.  I chose the latter for safety and m...Read more

Day 3

I cheated again since Day 3, our last day, ended yesterday.  I was a tad bit too fried to blog.  Nothing like a day to recharge!

We had our most complex scene on our final day as it was a fight between two girls on Houston in a very busy area.  I was curious to see how this was going to play out with all the bystanders, traffic, and noise.

Well, all of those things were a problem to a degree, but once again, our DP saved us with fabulous work as he got everything quickly and efficiently.  We staged the scene exactly as it should have un...Read more

Day 2

Day 2 actually ended awhile ago, but since I had a bunch of stuff to get at - dinner, a fantasy football draft, and a jaunt to see someone visiting from out of town - my wrap up had to wait till now.  3:43am in the morn!   The joys of late nite 'net surfing...

Today was a shorter day and compared to all the long days I have worked on a shoot, it felt like it was just an hour.  It was longer than that, but our DP continued to rock it and we continued to get our shots and motor on.  I think it's Clint Eastwood who is known as a two-take m...Read more

Day 1

Day 1, our longest day, is done! 

It's roughly 13 hours after we started this morning, and truth be told, that's not really a long day in this biz.

I can't believe I'm saying this, but it went well! 

We have a good team, but mainly it went well today because our DP is really good.  You can never underestimate the value of this person.  Yeah, you gotta write a story, yeah, you need a director to drive it, a producer to make things happen, and talented actors to convey the words to screen, but man, without a DP w...Read more

ready...start....

We start production tomorrow bright and early!  Here goes nothing.  I wanna try to keep a little production blog after each day ends.  If it's not the end of me first.

It's funny, there's a famous Kit Hui out here on AnD whom I've never met but know through a trillion and one connections.  It's funny, I think it's a sign the she landed here in NY the day before our shoot starts.  We're going to meet up at some point this weekend.  May her and her talents bless our endeavor.  Read more

the other side...

I was in a long casting session tonight only for just the second time in my life, I was on the other side of the table.  I once helped out with casting for a Remy Martin industrial gig a few years back, but tonight, this was my first time I was on the casting side of a film audition as I'm helping my friend Natalie produce a short film she wrote and will star in.

That Remy spot was all about finding a beautiful girl to star in the spot - no lines - just be a knock-out.  (Oh, the injustice of it all.)   Tonight was far different....Read more

Simpsonized

Apparently, this is what I look like as a Simpson....I love it.

the week that was

What a dreary NYC day it was ... it didn't stop raining for a second!  Too bad, it was such a nice weekend too...and speaking of that, this weekend kicked off the NY Asian American International Film Festival where I started catching up on all the films I wanted to see.  I have to say - one stuck out in particular by a mile.  

If any of you ever get the chance to check out a film called American Pastime, do yourself a favor and do it.  Read more

face to face

It's funny, my friend, producer Teddy Zee, pointed out that at first he saved my face and then he stuck a chopstick through it.

It's true.  Totally true.

Teddy was the producer behind Saving Face as well as Mike Kang's recent West 32nd.  I had a tiny part in W32nd, in fact, if you blink, you just may miss it(!), but it was a lot of fun to play and I finally got to do a scene with John Cho (back in '97 (eghads!) John and I both got cast in this film that never c...Read more

Producing on the 4th

Happy July 4th All! 

Well, I suppose to everyone not in the States, it's meaningless, but today, here in the NYC, we celebrate the independence of ... hot dogs.  Can't wait for my friend's grill to fire up in a bit on this lazy day as we all sit around and oooh and ahh at the fireworks show.

Actually the view from his place is terrible, so we'll probably only be focussed on the hot dogs.

It's terrible, ever since I got back from Asia, I've been obssessed with finding mangosteens.  I've...Read more