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Less Negativity, More Control

2011/12/08

I see it’s been a few months since I last updated my blog; a lot of things have happened since then. There was going to be a sequel to my previous post, but I decided to scrap it. Before I go on, I should showcase a couple of the commercial projects I appeared in that were released to the public recently:

There are a couple of other commercials I appeared in that I haven’t been able to locate yet, but I have been informed they have been released to the viewing public. I have been paid most of the money that was owed to me for the commercial projects I was cast for in the Summer and Autumn. Over the weekend, I completed work on a production for an upcoming advertisement for Škoda Auto.

I’ve decided to take control over my acting career, namely by managing and tracking the payments for these commercial jobs myself. I’ve also started working on my own creative project, which I won’t disclose here. I haven’t talked or written about it much, even to my friends. I have my eye behind the eight-ball, and I’m not doing this project for shits and giggles (though it will have plenty, I’m sure).

There: short and sweet, with less negativity.

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The Dangers of Working in Prague as a Foreign Actor

2011/09/06

This blog entry is part memoir, part lesson; exactly what readers get out of it is completely up to them.

In August, I encountered a number of career-related obstacles that reinforced the limited and limiting nature of the film and television industry in Prague for foreign actors. Needless to write, it is a very frustrating prospect. A lot of it has to do with the level of acceptance by the movers and shakers of this town; a status quo that no one has the inclination to break. I was speaking with a friend of mine recently – he is a well-known figure in the hospitality industry in Prague - and he said the city needs to be turned upside-down before any significant and lasting change may take place. While he was speaking from the perspective of a successful manager working at an international restaurant franchise, I found his words rang true for the local acting community that work in film and television productions shot in Prague.

So where do I begin? Ah, I know: getting paid for gigs (film, television, commercial, and theatre jobs). I’m owed a significant amount of money for four (4) commercial productions I acted in between early June and the middle of July. I’m also owed money for a number of theatre performances I did between the middle of February and the beginning of March. Due to the lack of actor unions in this country, there are no rules set down or a watchdog organizations to govern the remuneration of career actors.

The theatre I used to work for is called The Bear Educational Theatre, which travels around the Czech Republic and France, and performs educational plays to students with the aim of teaching English as a second language through drama. The company employs three full-time staff for administrative purposes, including one to control finances and accounting. I contacted the company director, David Fisher, directly on June 30, and again on August 10 when I did not receive a reply. I finally received a reply from him on August 14, informing me that he would be in the centre of town on the 18th and would pay me the outstanding amount in person. On the morning of that day, I received a text from David telling me the meeting would be postponed because he would not be in town. On August 23, I received a email from him asking for my bank account details so he could transfer the money to me, as he was in the tourist town of Český Krumlov. I replied immediately after reading the email; to this day, I have not received the money nor a reply from David. Since that date, I have attempted to initiate contact with him on three different occasions to no avail.

This incident is not the first time I have heard similar stories of late payment by The Bear Educational Theatre to its employed actors. There were two instances in the past where the actors had to chase the company for payment. One payment – a relatively small amount – was a year overdue; the second – a much large amount – was willfully withheld from the actor by David Fisher after he and the actor in question had a falling out (the actor eventually received payment for the work he did).

Even professional production companies in the Czech Republic will not hesitate to permanently withhold payment from actors. I have never been paid by the International Production Company for my work in the horror-thriller film Psych: 9; and I had to chase Starlite Productions to claim my daily fee for working on the set of The Pagan Queen. In the latter case, I contacted production three times over the course of 365 days after the production wrapped before I got a lawyer involved. Only then did they agree to remunerate me, but outright refused to pay the interest owed due to late payment, even though it was stipulated in a clause in the contract (which was signed and stamped by company producer, Vladimír Lhoták). They knew it would cost me more in legal fees to take them to court than I would receive from the interest they owed me. Both production companies are based in Prague.

Most foreign production companies – be they from the US, the UK, Italy, France, wherever – take advantage of the lack of actor unions in the Czech Republic. It allows them to defer payment to the actor for a minimum of three months (90 days). A recent example of this happening to me is the “Campari” commercial, directed by Joel Schumacher. That particular production wrapped on June 16, 2011. I saw two cuts of the commercial in the middle of August: a long version, and a short version. As of the writing of this entry, I have not been paid for working on that set. Even more recently (and strangely) is the “Lipton” commercial – the one starring Pierce Brosnan – that I worked on in July. A “final cut” was made a week after the production wrapped, so my agent sent off the order for the daily fee and buyout (I was visible in the cut). A few days later, production notified her the “final cut” was going to be reedited, so payment was withheld. A week ago, I learned that one of the featured extras on the set received his daily fee. It was his first gig – he’s not an actor by trade – and the agency or company that represented him for that production solicited his payment and received it. Now I am with a long-standing agency in Prague that specializes in representing foreign talent; I’ve been with them for five years. As of the writing of this entry, I haven’t been remunerated for that gig.

To be continued…

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They even have a bag for the Bag

2011/07/25

I had a fabulous weekend, the events of which will likely keep me feeling optimistic for the rest of the week. I didn’t go out drinking or dancing. For two days, I was working on a commercial set for Supply & Demand Integrated, who were filming TV spots for State Street Global Advisors for distribution in North America and Asia. It was by far the best experience I’ve had working as an actor on a commercial set. Compared to many of the sets I’ve been on, this one was really relaxed, and yet everything flowed very smoothly. The on-set photographer, Dušan Martinček (whom I’ve worked with before on a previous commercial set), was correct when he said working on that set was a gift. It felt like there was no pressure; no one stepped on anyone else’s toes; people were happy.

I was very happy. I landed the lead role for that TV spot, which was filmed on one of the platforms at Prague’s Hlavní nádraží (Main Train Station). The production had access to one platform, with all other platforms still in operation. There were lots of people – locals and tourists alike – stopping and watching the action or taking photos of the set. Despite being surrounded by the bustle of a European train station, the production carried on without incident. I attributed this to excellent leadership. The director was Robert Logevall, a Swedish-born Canadian who began his career as an art director. The Director of Photography (D.O.P.) was Michael Coulter, a Scottish cinematographer that’s been working in the industry since 1980. The first Assistant Director (1st AD) was Craig Pinckes, a New Yorker based in L.A. that’s worked on many Hollywood production sets since the early 90s. The combination of an eccentric Swede, a soft-spoken Scotsman, and a brash American made for the perfect team behind the camera. They were all extremely professional, yet their individual characteristics made them a joy to work with. I would work with any of those guys again at a drop of a hat.

The producer and clients were also very personable. I don’t believe it would be a good idea to mention their individual names, because I foresee a whole lot of hassle from name-dropping them. The producer was from the aforementioned Supply & Demand Integrated and the clients were from The Gate Worldwide. They were all very friendly and treated me well. I was speaking candidly with one of them about how my next commercial gig (which happens tomorrow) apparently has Pierce Brosnan on set. He told me it was ironic, because when they were casting for this TV spot, they were looking for someone that could display a quiet sort of confidence. “Someone who looked like they could assassinate people,” he said, “but on a more emotional level. And we were all saying ‘someone like Pierce Brosnan’.” I was chuffed to learn that my main competition for the role was an actor from London (UK), but I fit the profile better. Besides, the clients in Tokyo apparently stated that I looked Japanese enough. Believe me, I’ve had Japanese people think I was Japanese!

Right, a little segue about this commercial starring Pierce Brosnan. I received an SMS from my agent on Saturday morning – the first day of shoot – that read:

Good morning, please do not let anyone cut your hair. I know you agreed but it was never discussed about how much. Please let them discuss it with me first. Thanx.

So there was a discussion between the production assistants, the clients, and my agent about how much hair the makeup department could take off my head. Eventually my agent consented to the haircut, with the express condition that a post-haircut photograph of me be sent to her and the production assistants of my next commercial gig. All the production assistants knew that Pierce Brosnan was cast in my upcoming gig - it’s a small industry in Prague; everybody knows everybody else. So during the day, they would ask me if I was excited to be working with him. I had NO idea he was even in the commercial. For me, it ranks up there with sitting at a table with Sean Bean and Ashley Judd, and doing a reading with them and the rest of the cast for an upcoming television mini-series. While it is cool to see A-listers, it doesn’t advance my career or pay my salaries (which is to write that it doesn’t rank very highly). For me, being able to work on another gig one day after wrapping on another commercial set is better than sharing the same oxygen space with a celebrity. Being creative, active, and paid overwhelms the smell of fame by miles.

Besides, I doubt tomorrow’s gig will be anywhere near as nice an experience as the one on the weekend. I mean, I was treated well. The production assistants would always make sure I was comfortable; asked me if I wanted to sit down or have a coffee while waiting off-set. The women from wardrobe and makeup were always fussing over my costume and hair, respectively (they were all from Unit Sofa, a Czech production company that I’ve work with in the past). The Director, D.O.P., 1st AD, and clients were always very pleasant and fun to talk with. There was also one girl from wardrobe whom I thought was gorgeous. Okay, this is the Czech Republic; there are women here that are so beautiful, it’s ridiculous; like being too sweet it’s sickly. This girl had the right balance of looks and personality. She had a great smile, and I liked her style (when she put on a leather jacket on the last day, I was sold ). Again, no name dropping; could cause future embarrassment. So basically, it was a dream set for me.

Oh yeah, I guess I should write about why the blog entry is titled the way it is. Part of my costume was a suitcase, which the cute wardrobe girl instructed me not to drop or put on the ground because it was very expensive. I had no idea just how expensive it was, until I gave it to one of the production assistants to hold on to while I went on a coffee break. I came back and he showed me the label on the suitcase: Porsche Design. Yes, as in the car company Porsche! “No wonder they’re so protective of this suitcase,” I said. “I mean, they even have a bag for the Bag!” When not in use, one of the wardrobe girls would tuck the suitcase in a protective, tear resistant bag.

A HUGE thank you to Robert, Mick, Craig, all the clients from The Gate Worldwide, the producer from Supply & Demand (remember, I’m not name dropping), Martin the production manager, the production assistants (Ruben, Shakir, Filip, Jan), the wardrobe & makeup girls (no name dropping here either), the transport girl Martina, my drivers, Dušan the photographer, and all the crew from Unit Sofa for making my weekend a memorable one!

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Don’t look a gift horse in the mouth

2011/07/17

In layman’s terms, it means don’t be ungrateful when you receive a gift.

A good friend of mine in Toronto asked me recently how much I charge for a custom WordPress theme. This includes coding, designing, implementing, and validating the theme. I told him I charge $800 per custom theme (for the sticklers out there, the American and Canadian dollar are just about on par at the moment). I’m confident in my web designing and programming skills to charge that amount. It is not uncommon to find senior web designers charging between $1000 and $2000 for a custom WordPress theme. If the theme is truly monumental with a lot of bells-and-whistles, then web designers are well within their rights to charge more; I certainly do.

A custom theme is different from a premium theme in that it is unique. It is coded and designed for one particular customer or organization, with their input used as a guideline to create the look and feel of the theme. Due to this constraint, a custom theme is a one-shot deal (another individual or business would be absurd to use a theme with someone else’s logo on it). Using WordPress software as the backbone for a website allows a layperson to manage their own content. So long as they know how to use a word processor, they’re golden. This adds to the “one-shot deal” idea. I like to refer to WordPress themes as “fire-and-forget” projects, because once they’re completed, they’re out of my hands. The days of requiring a dedicated web designer to maintain a website are largely over.

I have worked on the barter system in the past, though I am reconsidering this policy simply because I find that it’s often a one-sided affair (100% effort coming from my side). I decided to use the barter system on a case-by-case basis because I knew there were a lot of small businesses and artistic individuals that could not afford an upfront fee in excess of $800. An agreement between myself and a customer was simple enough: I created a website for services rendered and/or goods with an equivalent value of the cost of the project. I began to find that a few of the projects suffered from “student film syndrome”. Typically, student films are unpaid and a good number of them are never finished. Financially supporting a project gives it a sense of urgency. In layman’s terms, if you pay for it, there’s a higher chance you’re going to eat it. In the aforementioned projects, I found that while I was accomplishing my end of the bargain, the other parties were not. There would be long delays in responses concerning the project, which invariably led to no responses at all. It’s a typical apathy that sets in when one feels like they are getting something for nothing (the operative word in that sentence is “feels”, because according to the agreement, my services aren’t free).

One-hundred percent of the time, I discovered a nifty trick or something new while coding up a new project. In a previous, unfinished project, I designed a beautiful site with multiple layout options. So what happens if an unfinished project doesn’t get used? Simple: I offer it to someone else. There’s no sense in wasting a perfectly great design, and I’m not going to stop development on an idea because someone else wasted their opportunity with it.

And as a “by-the-way”, let me finish by writing that I won’t barter my services for sexual favours. You can pay a hooker for that sort of thing, which means you can pay me too for creating a website for you.

Bonne fête du Canada!

2011/07/01

Today – July 1st, 2011 – marks the 144th celebration of Canada Day, the anniversary of the formation of the British North America provinces into a federal dominion under the name Canada. This year, the ceremony on Parliament Hill in Ottawa was graced by the newly married Duke and Duchess of Cambridge, Prince William and Catherine Middleton, who began their tour of Canada with a visit to the capital city. There is also a partial solar eclipse in the sky today (only visible in Antarctica).

I lived in Ottawa between 1995 and 2000, and returned to the city in 2004 for a short visit. I have not lived as a resident of Canada for the past 11 years. I’ve lived as an expatriate in three different countries during that time. By definition, the word “expatriate” has a negative connotation. It implies banishment or exile from one’s country of origin, whether willful or not. It also implies a lack of love or distaste for one’s home country. For me, this is a misnomer. I love Canada, and I miss it on a daily basis. I’ll always remember the words used by Canadian illustrator, John Howe, to end his presentation at IdeaCity 2006 in Toronto:

I haven’t been back to Canada very often, so Canada is in a way my imagined country. It’s the country I dream of. It’s the passport to which I cling resolutely, like a lost sailor in a stormy sea.

(Click here to view the entire presentation; highly recommended).

For the uneducated, John Howe is best known for his works based on J.R.R. Tolkien’s worlds. He was one of the lead concept artists (along with English illustrator, Alan Lee) for Peter Jackson’s Lord of the Rings movies and the upcoming prequel movies based on The Hobbit. Born on August 21, 1957 (making him a Leo) in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada, John Howe studied at Ecole des Arts Décoratifs in Strasbourg, France, after graduating from high school (Strasbourg is a beautiful city, by the way). He currently lives in Switzerland with his wife and son. John Howe is also an expert swordsman. There are tales and videos on the Internet and on the Lord of the Rings Extended Edition DVDs that depict him wearing armour and sparring with other employees of Peter Jackson’s project using steel blades. While I know plenty of Canadians living abroad that do not possess the skill of wielding blades (or any weapons for that matter), medieval swordsmanship is a curious connection that John Howe and I share.

I got a little sidetracked there. To continue, I often felt like a lost sailor in a stormy sea during my time outside of Canada. Being away from my home country has given me a better appreciation for it. When I lived in Canada, I used to say, “I’m Chinese-Canadian.” Now when people ask me about my citizenship, I just say, “I’m Canadian”. Growing up and being educated in Canada had the greatest impact on the person I am today: my open-mindedness; my expansive imagination; my respect for the natural world; hell, even my unnatural (I’m Asian, remember) tolerance to alcohol. My greatest and longest friendships originated in Canada and continue to exist to this day.

I’ve often said and written that I left Canada because the country wasn’t ready for me yet. I’ve sometimes wondered if the reverse were actually true: that I wasn’t ready for Canada. The paradoxical truth of it is that it’s likely a combination of the two ideas. I left Canada to see the world; to see and experience new things. I’ve learned a great deal about myself, about this spaceship we call Earth, and the people that inhabit it. I’ve been allowed the freedom to learn many new skills that I may have overlooked while living in a comfortable environment. I’m certainly not the same boy when I left Canada, both psychologically and physiologically. In many ways, I have become “ready” to return to Canada, but I wouldn’t have become ready unless I left the country. Paradox.

This is not to write that I will return to Canada any time soon. Believe me, I would love to return to my family home in Toronto, take care of my parents, landscape the garden, finish the basement, dance the night away at Nocturne, live in a multi-cultural city, and shoot the shit with my close friends. One of the things I miss about Canada is LARPing. Yes, that stands for Live Action Role Playing. I’m not going to get into detail about it, because there’s plenty of lore and information via Google. If you live in Toronto and would like to try LARP, visit Underworld. If I could live in Toronto and work in film and television projects abroad, it would be a dream come true. Financially, it would be the best possible scenario for me. While they don’t admit it, I believe my parents would like me to return to Toronto. Of course, they’d prefer if I worked in an office and stayed away from acting. No one in my family line has ever become a full-time actor; I’m the first one. I can understand their apprehension to the idea; there’s no precedent set. It makes them afraid. Hell, it makes ME afraid too.

I was born under the sign of Sagittarius. I can’t think of another family member that was born under that sign; certainly none of my immediate family. I’m the middle child in a family of Fixed signs (Scorpio and Taurus – Fixed Water and Fixed Earth, respectively). Sagittarius: the great adventurer; the world traveler; the most mutable of the Fire signs. Of course, what happens when you imprison fire? It dies. So the question on my mind now is: will returning to Canada allow me to thrive and burn creatively? Or will circumstances trap me – surround me – and eventually snuff me out?

The decision is looming.

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