What's the time? Now.

Another week gone, another chapter closed. It's been a funny week, trying to find a balance between my work goals and my own personal goals. As Chris rock would say, this is my Career not my job lol But this is what has been taxing my mind this week, like the quote I have probably mentioned heaps on this blog already says, the hunter who chases 2 rabbits catches neither one, I worry that by trying to meet and exceed my targets for my job I am losing steam in my train for my filmmaker dream. But hey, I have a job and I plan on keeping it for the time being, however I get lost in my imagination a bit...

Like for real, I always think about that and other times about how awesome it would be to actually be filming instead of behind the counter asking people what they have planned for a weekend I'll never see lol

 Melody comes back tomorrow from her overseas trip which is great, I look forward to seeing her smiling face again and already this week I have finally finished version 10.1 of Chase so feeling pretty good! 97 pages, no doubt I still have rewrites ahead but at least now I have something solid to show people, I have sent it away to a couple of parties to vex their minds and get some feedback on fleshing out their characters, In the meantime I'm hoping to start some promotional photos and early filming next week for my webseries. I've put the casting net out so let's see what curious fish we can catch :)

 Trying to eat healthy is a challenge for me, but they say the best things to do are usually the hardest, and laziness is one of my vices when it comes to preparing meals, I'd much rather order takeaway for the same cost of preparing a meal/the time it takes and have a meal straight away. But still, I made a couple efforts this week, as below, the main is served :)

Was supposed to be saving money this week, some of it 'accidentally'  slipped out of my pocket and bought the second season of nikita with it :) Guilty pleasure, reward for the hard week :) Such an awesome series! I get the same feeling watching this as I did from Alias, Prison break, burn notice, sopranos, chuck etc, Thats down to great casting, awesome writing and genuine empathy for the characters, plus the fighting scenes are good, even if they are cut way more than they needed to be but thats a hollywood thing these days :)

I finished reading one of my books I borrowd, Way of the peaceful warrior by Dan millman, really enjoyed it and definitely recommend it to you, it gave me the same feeling as 'the alchemist' and 'the last lecture' and spirtually uplifting books like that, a couple passages in the book I had heard before on my travels so I could relate alot. One of the key concepts I had been trying to grasp prior to reading this was being aware. The key to really living is to be engaged with everything, color, sight, smell, feeling, listening, everything. 

 He summed this perfectly when the protagonist of the story poses him the question, 

,"what time is it? He answers ""Um its 2.35."

"Wrong! The time always was, is, and always will be now! Now is the time; the time is now. Is it clear?" There are no ordinary moments. When I read this passage it reminded me of something I read a long time ago when I was into figuring out zen, lol thats a riddle for another day, anyways I learnt that having enlightenment meant that for studied monks when the bell tolls they hear it for the first time, for example, when you live near a church like I used to, at 12 each day they would ring the bell, after the first intial toll, its loudness ringing in all directions, its tone rumbling through your ears, you would fully realize the sensation but eventually by the 3rd of 4th shake it becomes nothing more than a casual sound, whereas a monk heres each and every single toll as if it were the first time. And its that awareness that I'm seeking myself, I tend to glaze over things abit. I'm quite happy I wear glasses, cos wearing contacts means I have no choice but to experience the clearness and color of life around me everytime I put them on. The trick is carrying on that awareness :)  anyways, Another passage I quite liked is quoted below 

,"Happiness = Satisfaction divided by Desires."

"You are rich if you have enough money to satisfy all your desires. So there are two ways to be rich: you earn, inherit, borrow, beg, or steal enough money to meet all your desires; or, you cultivate a simple lifestyle of few desires; that way you always have enough money."

So back from the spirit to my material goal of being an actor/filmaker :) Remember how I said I was working on that action themed ad made by a japanese company? After a quick turnaround I finally have some footage to share with you :) Check it out below, You wont see any of us in it, we were there to make it look impressive and vast in size, but its pretty cool to see how it all turned out, arrows, horses, smoke, cannons, swords, rifles and all :)

 Please click here to watch Cup Noodle - Survive Ad

Anyway, Until my next update which will probably be an Ivy Investigation casting update, take care and live life, don't just sit there for the ride, take the wheel! Til then see you....

A couple new jobs, and work on an ad.

So Last weekend I did two film related jobs, the first was another walk on role on Shortland St, just reading a magazine in the waiting lounge. Easy 5 hours to do one 10 second scene. It's not really news/exciting til I'm prominent or get a line, but I'm letting you know so I reinforce myself that I am doing the work experience I need to get under my belt as an actor, even if it's just background work. Also Last Sunday I did work on an advertisement by Good Oil films (who did the Takara commercial I mentioned a couple months ago) This time they were doing an ad for athletes foot -the shoe shop not the medical ickiness lol,

But we spent most of Sunday dressed in different protest outfits shooting around Britomart and hopefully that ad will air soon so I can share that with you here. I met a girl while shooting called Paz and she was from Chile, She's an environment technician or something like that and she was really cool to talk to. These shoots are always easier if you have somebody you can get along with. This is usually why I don't enjoy the Shortland st shoots as much I guess. She was the second person I've met from Santiago since I moved to Auckland, I never realised that Auckland was a location they'd ever dream of coming. Anyway in regards to the ad I doubt I can be seen in it but trust me, I'll be the first to point it out if it's possible.

Outside of these couple jobs I've been looking on the market for a real job. That market research role has given up the ghost, so no more calls from them so yeah, a short lived celebration I guess.

With no other options left in the market since I have no experience apparently (bs) I've reverted to applying for jobs along the lines of my old GKR karate job of door knocking and working on commission sales. Sure enough, I got a call the very next day from the marketing company I applied for and was due to appear at 2.15pm for my interview.

Ok things are going to be good today, I told myself. Still I left a little late and sure enough Murphy's law hit the fan, First off 1)I was low on petrol but couldn't waste time filling up at a gas station on the way, 2) I had to stop at EVERY red light (unbelievable - I could have run a couple but I'm not spending money on tickets I don't need to), 3) for the first half the motorway was held up travelling at like 30 k instead of the normal 80-100 kmph, so 3) thinking at one point I should take out my cell and let the office know I was running late I reached for my phone but decided against it. If I'm late, I'm late. Sure enough, I look up again and a cop is flashing his lights, just about to take off after pulling somebody over, He would have seen me if I had been on the phone just by looking in his rear view mirror as he pulled back into traffic so another intuitive decision on my part  I guess lol, then 4) when I got to the place I couldn't find a park. I guessed and hoped that ME sales was right (it was so phew) then 5) I had trouble finding 7a. it went 6 then 7b. What the hell? I walked all the way to 1a and asked there where mysterious '7a'would be? (It's like harry potter's 9 3/4 station) turns it out it was in the corner between 5 and 6 (usually its 567 not 57a67b oh well)

Anyway, Long story short, got past the interview, second interview, 2 training days and now today was day 1 of my 6 day evaluation. So all going well, WHEN I hit my targets next week I will have the job as well as a cool paycheck and then finally FINALLY be able to get my Camera and rid of some debts.....It's been a long road, I tell you.   I've spent the previous week up til doing this job, thinking positively about attracting money, when today 'out of the blue' I got a letter in my mailbox from the tax refund place I signed up for once in 2009, and got 2 checks worth a bit of cash. I think things are gonna be all right now :) In related news, 2 weeks ago my computer's hard drive died a peaceful death, it suffered little and beeped out it's last squeak. I think if i don't upgrade it I'll just buy a mac....whatever's easier to edit my future film with. No matter what, I can't forget the main goal. Become a local action star.    But bills come first, and I love jobs with personal development, targets, uncapped earnings and team work. Today was great, I can't wait to try my hand at my future....

So yeah, thanks for following the blog, I promise I will do something big at some point this year, til then I'm just keeping up with everything via my wife's laptop and trying to give 200 percent to this job so i can make a big income, fund my crazy dream so yeah *high five!* Out of the unemployment market, ready to become a shark :)

Splash!

(also came across a cool saying that I wanted to share with those who like inspiring quotes
 After the game,
the king and the pawn go into the same box.
Italian Proverb

don't let anyone get you down, we're all the same at the end of the day and are just the product of our choice....)

Long days at the office (Emperor shoot and Takara commercial)

What a busy weekend! Saturday I spent shooting emperor and Sunday I spent on a Japanese Commercial.

Saturday; Emperor.

We shot Emperor at Whenuapai Airfield this weekend for what will serve as Atsugi Airport, here are a couple pics that the NZ herald took when they visited the first bit of the shoot. In the first photo take notice of the truck at the very back, when that shoots in the movie I will be in the passenger side with my arm out when the film shows those convoy scenes. That pic was taken during second unit shooting when I wasn't there. It was a really fun day apart from the biting wind, but to see that many people in army gear was cool. And I look forward to tomorrow :)

Go Team America ;)

Seeing those cam's move across the tracks is cool, so much better than
our Run-with-the-camera-like-a-crab shots ;)

The Man in all green with the hand on the head is Our Sgt, the military advisor for the film. Really nice guy, told me he only had an hour of sleep before they started work. But it's paying off, all of us look the part :)

(link to article is http://www.nzherald.co.nz/defence/news/image.cfm?c_id=32&gal_objectid=10792850&gallery_id=124577#8745253 )

Sunday; Takara commercial.

When I got home from shooting Emperor on Saturday Night I had a text from my agent wondering if I was keen to take part as en extra for a Japanese commercial and being in a crowd. Of course, up for any opportunity to see the film game work and get my experience up. It wasn't hard material, just cheering, gasping and clapping on cue. But very interesting to see how a Japanese crew and a largely freelance NZ crew get along and communicate. I had alot of ideas how to shoot my film come May from working with these guys.

I was told it would be a 3.30pm to 11.30 pm shoot, but we ended up finishing at 5.30 in the morning. So the first 7 hours was just waiting around. I finished my George clooney book and played through my MP3 playlist twice. I got good at my cellphone game too lol. Anyway after a long shoot and a run home at 6 am in the wet I got home at 6.20am and chilled on the internet till wife was ready to work and take her to the train station, so today (Monday) has been basically about catching up on the missed sleep of the weekend. Haven't done a 14 hour shoot in a while, I have got to shoot tomorrow at the studio set for Emperor so the week doesn't stop just yet :) Shootings due to finish March 24 so then after that I can try hunt for a paying job to fund my lifestyle and my own movie :)

On wife's payday I can print off the DVD/DVD covers for Timefish so my next post will be the Timefish movie :) I have seen other films from my class which were pretty good but none with action yet so I hope they like mine ;)