Beware of LA Connection

Hey blog!

So I got an audition for an improv group/show called LA Connection.
They called me to audition so I said I would go.
But then before I went, I was smart enough to ask my improv teacher at Second City about it. Because I am smart. And sexy.
And I was glad I asked, because my teacher immediately told me his experience.

So this place is actually a training center in disguise. It is not a troupe but a school. And you have to audition and then pay for rehearsals. "Pay"??? OK that is an alarming keyword to me. As a poor actor, I don't like to hear that word! And why would you have to pay for rehearsals?

My teacher said this group was found by a guy who went to Second City for a while, and then started
this place. But it was just kind of sort of an improv school that is shady. They tell you to pay dues to join, and then you rehearse for shows. Hence the paid rehearsals.

But he said he went to one of their shows, and the shows were .... yeah.
First the show was using improv exercises not even games to use as show material. And there was this rude guy who was doing everything he could to alienate the audience.
Then there is this part where the teen group were called up, and the guy made them do "accents". So audience members would choose an accent from a country and have the kids mimic all the stereotypes of that country's peoples. How offensive!! We would never do that at our classes.

 My teacher said there was the suggestion of Japan among others, and of course you then see 3 white boys mimicking Japanese accent with all the stereotypes, while the guy(owner) himself laughed like crazy. My teacher was just shocked and stunned in the audience. I asked him how did the audience receive it, he said some white women were laughing, but probably for the wrong reasons.
What the heck!! (ps my teacher is white if you wanted to know.)

So I did not go to the audition. And I would like to share the experience here. I mean where better to share it than on my blog that no one reads!

Anyway I hope it was not too biased, tried to only speak the facts.

Update on life:
My acting life is taking a sprint! I am really busy these days just booking jobs! Sometime background and sometimes speaking roles! Yay! And I am SAG-E now, getting to the point where I might have to join soon. Trying to save up for that.

Stay tuned for my awesome review of  Always be My Maybe which I just watched!

Asian perspective: Review of The Farewell Awkwafina movie part 2/2

(Continued from last post)

What amazed me about this movie is how popular it has become in the US. It has been very highly valued in the American media. I did like it too, but to me, I consider it to be one of the better made Chinese movie out of all the Chinese movies they make in a year in China. Yes, Chinese movies, as in movies made in China. This film, to me, follows largely the "formula" or pattern of Chinese movies, with Chines humor, Chinese artistic style, and maybe with some western Hollywood influence mixed in, likely due to the involvement of Awkwafina, an American rapper. But the humor, artistic style and editing are very habitual and unsurprising for a Chinese movie viewer like me. I embrace them. And they are a norm to me. But to the general American audience who are not acquainted with this type of movie-making -- specifically things like Asian humor, Chinese landscapes, family relationships of Chinese people, etc this can be new and fun to watch for an American audience, who is probably pleasantly surprised and entertained.  Most Americans have never had the chance to scrutinize the happenings inside a Chinese family. So this is just something new and refreshing. In other words, it is exotic. Which is why it became popular in the US.  The Farewell definitely stands out on its own as well-made compared to other Chinese movies, and plus the fame of Awkwafina which make the film a success in the US.

I really like the "realness" of the film. No character was stereotypical or cliche or predictable. They are all so real we can find one of two relatives that kind of resemble them. That would really hit hard for the Asian audiences. Especially the fact that every one of us has had a grandma. Everyone can relate to the loss of family members. That's why it is a film for everybody. Since the whole topic revolves around death, during the film I prepped myself mentally and was so ready to cry by the end. However the ending surprised me and my tears just never fell. They kind of choked back which was awkward. But I am happy about the ending which I shall not spoil here.

Anyway, I don't want to sound like a dork but to an Asian movie viewer like me, it is a great Chinese film but not such an over the top masterpiece as some would have said it to be.

Official Review of The Farewell by an Asian American actress Sadie 1/2

www.instagram.com/s307c
Feel free to follow me, no pressure.

So last week I watched The Farewell starring Awkwafina and other buddy Asian actors. Now, as an Asian and American actress, I do have my two cents to say about this trending film. Short summary is: I liked it! My American (white) friend who went with me really loved it. And I understood where that came from as well.

First, I was born in Taiwan and raised in the US. I totally dig the family dynamics in the movie - because my family is very very similar and I can say that the movie really portrayed the concept of the Chinese family very well. Chinese families are huge, with different members who think different thoughts. But on the surface, we want to keep it looking peaceful. "he" or the word "peace" is a central concept for the Confuscius thinking Chinese people and the Chinese family. We try our best to maintain peace on the surface and most decisions are made so to maintain the peaceful surface.

But underneath, it is definitely chaos. Especially in the film, there are family members coming from all over the place such as US, Japan...etc. Each member holds a different view on life and the meaning of "family". The discussions and fights all happen in private spaces, away from the center of the family - the grandma. Even though they all try to hide the truth that grandma has cancer from grandma herself, I feel like this grandma already knew because can they be more obvious by acting so weird! Hijacking her medical exam report? A fifty year old son crying like a baby at a wedding? Yea even I would have guessed it, not to mention a wise old Chinese grandma. However, grandma still pretends to play along with them. Just to be considerate and retain the "peace". This is my objective opinion though. The film never revealed if she ever "knew" about her illness.

I love how the film looks at death. It is sad and also humorous. I have learned in my acting class that humor and sadness are basically side by side, separated only by a thin sheet of paper. In this film, many moments definitely make me teary at one point, but then my tears never has a chance to fall down because I have to laugh at the play of humor which closely follows the sad moment.

(more to follow...)

Student film school tours, I mean auditions

Week into 3/23
I had a fruitful week in auditions.
It is interesting because I had 3 auditions and basically did a film department tour of LA film schools lol.

So 3/20 I went to New York Film Academy. Someone tell me beforehand how hard parking is! because it took me seriously 30 minutes to find a spot 1 mile away! And walked 1 mile to the school.  The whole street was full and then it was WB studio next door so no parking there as well. It was a nightmare, especially for someone who cannot drive well like me.

The audition went horrible. First I shook hand with the wrong person who I thought was the director, because the assistant looked more like the director. But the young looking kid sitting in the back was the director! OMG she looked 18 and in super casual clothes.. Oh well.
And then she was not giving clear instruction as to what I should do. Very unclear. And her face was as if bird poop had just landed on her hair or something, for the whole duration of the audition. I hope I wasn't the cause....

The same night I went to USC. Their film school department looked better than a 5-star Cancun resort. It was so fancy, with water fountain and arches... Thanks to Mr. Lucas, I suppose. This one didn't go well either because they needed me to cry on cue. I couldn't at that point. But at least the director was a normal human who smiles and holds normal conversation.
Interestingly all the auditions this week were Chinese student film projects.

The third one I went to later in the week was at American Film Institute. No one told me it was on a hill! I took the metro because it was in the middle of Hollywood and must be hard to find parking. And I was right on! There was no parking or free/cheap parking! Props to me for going by metro!
It was at night too, everything was dark and it would make driving harder.

I had to walk a while to get to my destination. When I did, I almost doubted my google maps. Where was I? It was almost magical actually, walking past homeless people and empty bars and barren LA streets, and finding yourself looking at a castle among woods. Yes the school looks like a Harry Potter castle! Maybe it was the perfect weather for walking, maybe it was the stars and clear sky, but I had an enjoyable trip walking into the castle that was AFI. See how much happier not having to park has made me? lol

The audition was for a Mandarin student film. I played a speech teacher. At first they were like, you are too gentle. So the next time I showed them my inner evil side haha. And they were like oh girl you can be mad too.

I thought I did pretty well, and this time actually had a friendly conversation with the directors. They were nice people. That and the starry sky and the view overlooking Los Angeles completed the happy night for me.

Hustling on...

Suddenly turning into a sad me

3/17 and 18
Did a photoshoot with a photographer named tibi from Las Vegas.
He was pretty chill.
He was in town for a week so I met up with him twice and did 2 shoots actually.

We sneaked into a luxury apartment and went to the roof to shoot. It was fun. Then manager found us, but she was cool enough to let us be there for a little bit and shoot a few more photos.
Funny it all worked out well.

His memorable quote was "everything is about sex." Ok I better explain.
So he took a marketing course, and every commercial and marketing plan evolves around the concept of sex and sexy. That's all every and any human wants, according to this theory. So things like coca cola, car commercial, any commercial, will feature some sort of sex appeal in order to grab eyeballs.
I mean I heard that's all guys think about all day lol. But for us women, I dont think about it so much at all. Not every day at least.
But I guess if more than 50% of the population does think that way, commercials will tend to go that way as well...
So he thinks portrait photography is also about being sexy.
I dunno. I guess. Not 100% convinced but ok I did learn something today.

I look like tom sawyer??!! lol


After the shoot, I had a happening that still saddens me today, 2 months later.
So I got into final rounds of a Kate Spade commercial thing. They were casting Asian daughters, and since I am authentic Asian immigrant daughter, and my audition tape was great, I got into the last round! The director from NY would skype with me that day to talk!
I was so thrilled, but I did a bad job. I didn't know what I was talking about. I was not charming enough as a person... so she didn't like me. That must be it because I never heard back from her!
Maybe I was tired from the shoot. Maybe I looked ugly after 2 hours of running around modeling in the sun. Maybe we just didn't vibe.
I can go on forever. But I will try not to.
Fail forward, that is what I have been taught.
I can only go on.
Even though that would have been a big break for me..

Oh Well. I will get over it.

Sorry to end this blog post in a sad tone. But I gotta say nobody is happy all the time.

3/15 My first appearance on public radio

So this is a tiny milestone to break I guess.

For the local series which I auditioned and got a role (recap here)
the producer is also doing a local radio show!
And he put me on and had a short interview with me!!
OMG! I have never been on radio before! I never liked the idea of talking my whole life lol. (only now that I am acting, I need to talk all the time..)
I was so nervous. When the time comes, I received a call. Then I was on!

Good thing is, it was only very short. Maybe 10 minutes.
They only asked me how I felt when I got the role, how did I end up acting...etc.
And I was worried that I wouldn't be funny and entertaining but I thought it would be in vain to try so I didn't even "try to be funny". And it was fine. Being funny was just naturally in my blood so I didn't need to try lol.

They asked me to give a shout-out to my friends. So I just said "omg I am on radio!!" the way people say "mom I am on TV". haha.

Why was I so cool about it? Well it was a local station, and most likely not too many souls are listening anyway.

But I was glad I made it onto the radio, for the first time ever!

Life continues...

Hair Modeling into a Bob cut

3/11/2019
Today was a record-breaking busy day. I had multiple offers for work and I had to turn down some.

At 11 I went to a hair salon in Studio City, and got my hair cut by a professional stylist. Basically by being a hair model. And I am getting paid for it. So I did it.
It was cut to up to my shoulder and was a bit short, but I pleaded that it could be in a ponytail so it was long enough to be tied up.
The stylist was not too nice but it was ok. And they had refreshments. I loved that! A professional photographer took a photo of me, which turned out really nice!

Someone said I look old.
Whatever. I got paid well.

After that, I drove to somewhere near Culver City and almost to the beach. For another audition which makes you think on your feet and do an improv scene on the spot. It was great and really fun. Afterwards they led us away to sign some papers, which made me assume I got a role? But then until today, 2 months later, I still did not receive anything so I guess it is not for me :(

Drove away to the dreaded DTLA. The traffic is so busy and crazy. And there is no free parking!! Any parking costs at least $10! I am not paying that for an hour of audition! Then I was lucky to find a spot on the street with coin machine. It ended up costing like 4 dollars to park an hour. Expensive...
The audition was at a random old building. I might hesitate to go in if it was at night. But this is the bright afternoon so it was ok.

It was for a commercial calling for Japanese women. I am not but I submitted anyway and they asked me anyway. I see on the sign in list, the names were all Japanese except for me..

On the 3rd floor of this old building, I finally found the suspicious looking room. I opened the door, 3 teenager looking kids are inside, swiping away on their phones. I was barely greeted, and was told to stand on the bright side of the room. A kid took photos of me, front and side. And they said that's all. Um are you sure?
Yeah.
They told me to wait outside the door for 5 minutes, and if they didn't call me, I could leave.

That was the randomest audition so far.

So I drove home then, having been so tired out from the day. Ended this busy day.

A weekend very looonnnngggg

This is the first weekend of March.
I was booked for the whole weekend for 2 days shoot as background for a new tv pilot.
It was a rainy weekend so I was glad the shoot was indoors.

The first day was actually kind of fun.
Not the call time though, call time was 7am in downtown, which means I need to wake up at 6 at the latest.
But I still went and parked my car in the garage they said to park in. And arrived at 7:10.
Then I was in a blue temporary tent stand thing out in the parking lot with about ten others. The tent was leaking drops of rain from time to time and we had to be careful to not get wet. It was very cold.
But the good thing was there was hot catering breakfast.
Nice!
I ate and we changed into office attire as they wanted us to. I had my blazing pink jacket on. Good and warm.

Finally we got on set, which is inside the office building that I think they rented.
The shoot was already on, with the main cast.
I was going to just walk around the office while the main actors talked in the first scene.

Second scene we did a "chaotic" office, with me fighting with another employee, spilling paper everywhere. That was wild and fun. All of us was just improvising, but it probably looked pretty nice.

I met 2 girls, one is very loud and one is giggling all the time. We kind of talked a little, but I brought my laptop again like last time (see last post) so I can work on things such as my blog! hehe
But the girl warns me to be careful because of possible theft. I said got it. And so I was hauling the laptop with me from the set to the resting area downstairs, back and forth all day. Yeah I don't know if I want to bring my laptop again...

As background actors, there are a lot of waiting times. People just sit on benches and swipe their phones until their phones die. Some people talk. A group of African Americans are chatting loudly. They got some funny jokes.

In the afternoon we shot a scene where the boss talked to everyone, which was super funny. I think this is definitely a funny show if it makes it.

Unfortunately I had to leave early and I already told them before I booked the job. So I did, and then found my car stuck in the closed parking lot. The parking lot closed at 4pm!! and it was 5:45pm.
So I cannot drive my car home because there was no one to open the garage! I was a little panicky. The crew tried to help me, but he had to wait until the assistant producer was out, which meant I waited until the shoot is done, so there was no point in leaving early.

The guy was nice to help me, but he couldn't find anyone to open the garage anyway, so he suggested to pay for my uber. So until Monday, I would have no car... But he would pay for my uber..

So I ubered to my meeting with another TV show producer, and fortunately they were still there when I got to the cafe in Hollywood. And meeting ended very soon after that. So I bought some dessert and ubered to my friend's house all the way across the city, for the birthday potluck for everyone who has a birthday from January-March. And randomly met an actress in the crowd. So it is true that in LA if you throw a stone, you would hit an actor.. Yes I had a full day...

But I didn't stay long and didn't drink, because a 6am morning next day awaited me.

Day 2 started with me Ubering from home to the set. Ate breakfast and talked with one black lady she was younger than me and came from Georgia. Her accent is so cool.
Then it was endless waiting. The whole day we only did 1 scene, which was epic but short.
It was the all hell break loose at the office, and we were to throw things around, fight each other, and do all the crazy things.
That was fun but I kicked a chair too hard and hurt my big toe really bad. It was bleeding lightly. And I was limping after the scene. Hey talk about sacrificing for art.

The good thing about it was that we had no other scene so until 5pm we just sat there and did nothing. There were a lot of snacks so we just ate and I read my book. Many people were just hanging and talking. The two girls I met yesterday did not show up today even though we are supposed to do both days.

We got off, and the producer ubered me home again. And then I had to uber back Monday morning to pick up my car.
What an experience!! It was cool but I didn't want to do it again...

First time on set at a super professional movie shoot

This was 1/26, on a Saturday. It was a great day, for the most part.
I was to be a background actor in a feature film. Later I found out it is a very serious legitimate production. I had to say it that way because, of course there are many productions that are kind of different. Maybe made in their backyard, with some friends, neighbors staring, etc.

But this was a nice full cast and crew movie. I was the first extra there. And I saw a guy stocking up a table with food. Yes there would be a whole array of food provided the whole time. Yay for that.

We didn't start to shoot until like an hour or so after call time. I am glad I was chosen to sit next to the person next to the main guy. So I was pretty much in the frame for many scenes. Or maybe just my shoulder but that's ok.

We are shooting at a classroom, pretending to take a test. It was a long time ago that I was in such a setting. But I did what I can. I looked at the physics exam that was passed down to me and that I was to be "taking", and I would probably get an F on that because I did not know any of the answers. Oh my, the falling object, the salt water density... I had not seen these phrases since high school! Reminded me of the bad memories of high school...  I just hope my smirk when I recalled my physics class wasn't recorded on tape.

The story is about a deaf girl and a guy who has an interest in her. I am not sure about copyright stuff so I will not write the title yet, until the movie's out.

I wore a pink sweater. The stylist asked me if I brought another set of clothes to change. I did but it was white, which she didn't like either. So I ended up just wearing my sweater. I wonder if pink was not a good color for the film...

Anyway, I was just "student #1". So there wasn't a lot of work, and sometimes the wait time was very long. The few of us background actors would talk for a bit.
But I was sooooo glad I brought the laptop as a prop. Now I can write about my camino trip blog which I am writing in Chinese. (I walked the Camino de Santiago last year, which was a blast and I will share more here if I have time) (But I'd have to finish my taxes first that's higher on my list of to do's lol).

Lunch was burgers and they used gas burners to heat them up so they're hot!(no kitchen) So nice as it was kind of cold and we were waiting outside. Love the professional crew!

And then I was called in all of a sudden, and put in front of the camera. I was super nervous because there was no prior notice! The producer was just like, ok you know what to do right? I was just like NO!  And they laughed. So it was a joke... lol ok. So I was to do a "roll my eyes" move. I did it, and they told me to do it again, more discreetly. I did it again, and they told me I was done. Phew, that was nerve wrecking because there was no rehearsal. But was that ok?? Later I heard 4 people were doing the roll eyes move. I wonder if mine was good or not.

So. That was my 2 seconds of fame. And I went back to blog writing.

The day was from 10am all the way until 7 or 8 pm. Very long day for me but apparently this is a short day. People were getting restless as some background extras didn't have much exposure at all so they just pretty much sat the whole day. I met a girl named Rachel and we had a nice talk.

By the end I was just so tired and I had to pay respect to everyone at the set. The lighting, equipment, camera, sound, producer, actors, everyone was working diligently without complaints even though they must all be tired. They are a good crew/cast!

At the end they wanted to record some background tracks (voice only), so they asked us to form groups. And they asked my group of 3 girls, who obviously do not know anything about physics, to talk about physics! Good choice you producer! And the "fake" conversation was soooo dry I was almost laughing out loud. I think everyone might be because we were just like,
hey did you do the homework?
Yes.
It was so hard.
Yes it was
.........
Why on earth would you asking 3 apparently nonscholar girls to talk about physics? I felt sorry for them but our clip was probably unusable.

The previous 3 guys got to talk about parties and theirs was a lot more entertaining. I was jealous they got the good topic to talk about. But then they said something about this slutty girl messed up the party house so bad so sick. It got a little wild, so theirs was probably unusable too Hahah.

So I started this day in warm Cali sunshine and ended when the stars came out and it got chilly. But I liked today's work. Hope I'll see it on screen soon. I will definitely update on this blog when it's out!!

The Surreal Audition that Went Well

Dear blog,

Can you slap me? Because I cannot believe what had just happened today.

Things started like this, I found an audition notice online that needed an Asian actress for a supporting role in a small local tv show. So I applied to it with my resume and photo. A day later, I received a call from someone named Edgar. (I was at another project and it was next to the train station, loud! I will write about it later)
Edgar gave me a chance to audition. I was like ok! He said to prepare a monologue, so I was like oh no... This is a real deal. I am afraid of monologues but I will still do it.
So I searched online for a monologue, a funny one since the character I was to audition is a smart and witty person.
I chose a monologue in which I was a teacher. And then I didn't get to practice for 2 days because the next day I had jury duty! Ok that was a super boring day and I couldn't do much.
Then I practiced like crazy the day before. I memorized it, but I think I acted so badly when I see the replay of my own video. I was so frustrated.
But then I still tried to get my act together. Finally this morning, I was a tad more confident to my monologue. I still practiced like crazy, doing it while driving, and whilest the potluck I attended today prior to the audition. My friends must thought I was crazy, mumbling something inaudible all this time.

Anyway, I drove to the audition site. When I entered the building, I could see that it was a professional audition building! There were 9 rooms, each holding an audition for some film or TV or something. OMG it is my first time in a real audition in a can't-be-more-real audition site. Everyone was waiting in line and seemed nervous. I got nervous too.
I lined up with about 7 or so people. I was the only Asian. Most were African American looking. Then the producer came out and greeted some people. He could tell I was the one auditioning for the Asian part. Well it couldn't be more obvious with my face.
I waited for about 30 minutes, (and mumbled for 30 minutes), then it was my turn.

I assumed I would be facing a camera and I was. I said hello to about 5 people in the room. Then they asked me to start. I was grateful I didn't forget or mess up. And they even chuckled at a joke at the end. And they received it well!! I was surprised! I guess I was still not very confident about my own act, but they said it was funny. And then they each had comments for me. Someone said I had great comedic skills. Another had a comment about not enough emotion -Yes I do need even bigger and more reactions, I will work on that.

Then they said they will take me for the role!!! Wow! I had never had an audition where they wanted me before! This was the first time. It was so unbelievable! I was sooooo happy. I thanked all of them, and went out of the room dazed. I could hardly believe it. It was like my hard work paid off, and it was like some sort of reimbursement for the year 2011 when I worked so hard and even crashed my car going to an audition but there was no result, none. I could still feel the sorrow when I recalled how hard I worked and the disappointment of non-achievement that came after. My parents were not supportive either. But then I felt better now. Because I got the role!! I was thanking the heavens on my way home.

Now I am a little calmed down. I do hope this was real. But I'd have to wait until next week when the producer said he will meet with me. And I will wait until I wake up tomorrow to see if this was a dream or not!

Now a Rapper

I have officially re-started my actress life!
Well at least just while I am job searching now.

So on 1/20 I went to a small music video production to do a very special role.
I was rapping in a rap music video!
Oh if my friends would have seen this... me rapping! The sun might as well rise from the west!
But that album with me rapping would probably not sell... I think I better just stick with acting/singing for now.

What I was doing was lip-syncing to the lyrics of the rap song. That's right. Fake, air-rapping - my favorite thing to do!
So for 3 days prior to the shoot, I was practicing the lyrics a lot. I still remember I was just mumbling and playing the rap song while I jogged. As I usually do not listen to rap, it felt pretty cool. I was chilling to the music while I cruised the neighborhood on my feet. Ok, maybe I got a little brain-washed. Even after a week passed I was still rapping inside my brain. But some occasional rap could definitely spice up a boring job-seeker's life!

On the day of the shoot, they said "wear something bright". That was the instruction for wardrobe. I wore a pink classy sweater because I wanted to have that "contrast" of a nice proper Asian girl - but RAPPING! wow!
And so I arrived at the location, which I assume is the director's own apartment. Then of course my wardrobe was not ok. But fortunately I was wearing a hip puffy jacket, which they told me to wear outside my pink sweater. Problem kinda solved!

The shoot was before a blank screen, sitting on a stool. I was like the 11th person. Phew long day for them! The director probably practiced the lines with the other people, but I started pretty smooth, so he was like he didn't need to practice with me.
And I thought the filming went pretty well. At least for me it was pretty smooth. Because I basically got all my lines down. So mostly I could do it in one or two takes. Smug! (that's my favorite line from the song. This is great. I am learning new vocabulary and stimulating brain as well as doing acting!)

I was out in 30 minutes. Great speedy finish! And I will just take the director (African American-ish) 's calling me a "homie girl" as a praise that I did ok!

So ended this kind of fun day! And I liked air-rapping, will do it again any time.