Featured Hotties in Camp Bud

After keeping busy with classes, my wonderful agent sent me out for a few more auditions while I was still in Toronto. It was just my luck that I managed to book a print campaign with Budweiser’s Bud Camp! There were a lotta hotties and a lotta fun for one entire day of shooting!

I totally loved our photographer Matt Barnes’ get-up who is notorious for dressing up as well. (Check out his cool Budweiser jacket!) I’ve blurred the background since the big Camp bus is part of the print campaign -and i’m not too sure if I’m really allowed to post.

Definitely worth posting when the campaign kicks off in Spring 2010!

I stopped to stare.

I got together again with my photographer Sai at his place in a quaint little neighbourhood just nearby Trinity Bell Park. We talked for hours about our lives, our careers and our motivations in life. We’ve become motivated by challenges and the development of our “craft”. The money comes and goes and we go through so many roller coasters in our lives just to live and breathe the work we do.

I always joke around about how he’s my favourite photographer (but he really is). After 6 years, we’ve developed a great creative relationship where I’m often dumbfounded by our collaborative work. Sai is a storyteller and he’s told so many stories through the pictures he’s taken of me. He reminds me to caputure the essence for myself, not for my readers or for other boys.

Thanks again Sai, you never cease to amaze me!

(Next Entry: Budweiser’s BUD CAMP Shoot!!)

(What are you looking at?)

I’ve been keeping extremely busy these days with working on my own personal projects. I’m starting to get delirious but it is all worth the noise. I can’t believe how fast the time has flown by already – the pirate was right! But these last few days will be absolutely crazy.

I booked the print campaign for Budweiser’s Bud Camp! I’ll be representing their token Asian quota with stride!

WOOT! WOOT! Thank You God! I’ll be back in Asia just around CNY – so make sure you prepare all those Ang Pows for me!

I wanted to get creative again so I managed to call upon a great team in Toronto to shoot a creative. It was all about the nitty gritty and the underrated decor of sleazy motel rooms. The best thing about them is that they are just as cliche as they are portrayed in the movies.

So, I just shot with my favourite photographer Sai Sivanesan, favourite make-up n hair stylist Ivy Lam, and favourite fashion stylist Christine Brant. I’ve known most of them for years and its great to be back in Toronto working creatively with my friends again. Nothing beats sleazy, like a sleazy motel room in the middle of the city.

Very raw, very dirrrty. Stay Tuned!

(Relaxing after those classes at Roosevelt with Rich)

So, I haven’t taken the time to write any sort of meaningful entry in a little while and now I’ve got some great stuff to share!!

I took an intensive course from the VADA Studios with Simon Longmore this entire weekend. He gave us a rundown of basic acting and encouraged us to learn through relevant material. We performed exercises alone and then with partners. Finally, we were able to tape it and check it on tv with new directions to try the next time. We finished our course with a scene study and performed it with Simon’s coaching.

Although everything he taught wasn’t new to me, it was refreshing to hear words like: “the moment before/after” “be interested, not interesting” and “react”. I think its so important to go back to doing classes and practicing new techniques and new ways to look at a scene. I don’t think actors should ever stop taking classes. I’m very privileged to be able to take good classes out here to hone my skill. I was starting to hit a plateau in Malaysia and there weren’t many opportunities like this. With my hectic schedule, I’m glad I have time for this.

For anyone in Vancouver, I highly recommend Simon as an instructor. He builds your confidence as a working actor and will give good insight as to what people are looking for and how to work well on-camera. Its definitely a useful class if you’re considering film/television/commercial work. I had an amazing weekend of fun, full of laughs and left with much more knowledge than ever before!

On the flipside, I finally got the guts to walk into Second City Toronto to register for a few improv classes too. Second City’s Alumni include Mike Myers, Martin Short, John Candy and even more notable comedians. As you can tell already, their repetoire and their name are pretty big in the grand scheme of things. Improv is mostly about reacting to the moment- it is unscrīpted, unplanned and uninhibited! The beauty about improv is that its often quite funny because of all the unexpected turns. Its one of my favourite parts of acting, yet one of the most challenging. I had my first class on Monday and after the 2 hours were up, I was begging for more!!!

Improv classes are also a great way to just have a sense of play. Highly recommended for people who don’t really know how to de-stress. Don’t think. Just play!