Wuxia Red Carpet

So I’ve been to a few movie events lately and I am behind on my posts because I have been so busy lately. I’ll catch you guys up on what I’ve been up in a next post, but for now I want to do a quick post on the 3 movie related events I went to. Upon looking at the pictures all these amazing personalities were in Beijing in a relatively close together time frame and I had the honor of sitting smack dab in the midst of it.

So to count off.. we’ll start with WuXia, starring Donnie Yen.

Donnie Yen at Beijing Red Carpet for Wuxia

This was for the red carpet event premiering the movie in Beijing. I won’t go into a full on review of the movie but I thought the action was good… there could have been at least one more fight scene squeezed in in my opinion. Some people may have qualms with the title “wu xia” but I didn’t mind too much. The film made some moves at innovation with some CSI style forensics of martial arts techniques so I thought that gave the movie a little something different.

Wuxia Cast at Beijing Red Carpet

Above is the cast of the movie. I sat in the front row so I was pretty close to the action.

Next up we have me! …with 3D glasses watching the preview trailer to Flying Swords of Dragon Gate.

Flying Dragon Gate 3D Glasses

It was a pr event with basically a teaser trailer for Flying Swords of Dragon Gate.

Here is my boss and Tsui Hark. They spoke to the media about working together in the past and working together this time.

Flying Swords of Dragon Gate

Last up in no particular order is the screening of Overheard 2.

Our good friends of AnD happened to be in Beijing and so of course we had to go check out Overheard 2 together. I actually never saw Overheard 1, but apparently this is not a direct continuation.. although it uses some of the same actors and themes.

Overheard 2 Cast

Above is the cast who came out at the end of the movie to answer some audience Q&A. I must admit it was rather informal and I didn’t really expect it to be organized like that, but it was cool because everyone seemed really chill. I had a good time.

Overheard 2 and Alive Not Dead

Here we are in front of the posters after the movie ended. Also there was a raffle based off of our ticket seats and we actually won!

Keep in mind these events happened sporadically throughout the past month or two. I just finally got around to posting about it. I’m glad I got to see these movies and see the actors in person to hear their feedback in response to their works. Jia you!

Zhang Ziyi at Hong Kong International Film Awards Ceremony

And by madness – I just meant I was going to post a few pictures from the event. haha!

Nadia Hatta at the Asian Film Awards

A ton of AnDers and other people I knew all happened to be at this event. It was very fun.. and I wasn’t even planning on going… I just kinda ended up there. It was great meeting all the people behind the blogs. =P

A few notable attendees of the night included – Sammo Hung, Chow Yun Fat, Zhang Ziyi, Aaron Kwok, and Feng Xiaogang.

Sammo Hung sat 2 rows ahead of me.. he seemed startled when they announced he won best supporting actor for Ip Man 2… not sure if that was his acting skills though.

AnDers at the Asian Film Awards Afterparty

My Dinner at the HK Film Awards

So with my remaining days in HK I’m hoping to be able to meet up with a few other people that I met up from last night. It was good (an unexpected) gathering for me.

Oh and I might as well comment on some of the victories at the awards ceremony: Sammo won for best Supporting Actor in Ip Man 2, a Korean film Yellow Sea’s lead won best actor, Taiwanese film Monga’s lead won best new actor, ‘Uncle Boonmee Who Can Recall His Past Lives’ won the Asian Film award for Best Picture, and best-actress award went to Xu Fan for her role in ‘Aftershock,’ from Chinese director Feng Xiaogang. Aftershock also won for top grossing film for 2010. It pulled in US $101.3 million.

Veteran Hong Kong producer and co-founder of Golden Harvest Raymond Chow received a lifetime achievement award for his contribution to Hong Kong cinema, which includes classic films starring Bruce Lee (Enter the Dragon), Jackie Chan (Police Story) and Jet Li (Once Upon a Time in China).

Here is some more info in case you’re curious:

BEST FILM

* Uncle Boonmee Who Can Recall His Past Lives (Thailand)

BEST DIRECTOR

* Lee Chang-dong / Poetry (South Korea)

BEST ACTOR

* Ha Jung-woo / The Yellow Sea (South Korea)

BEST ACTRESS

* Xu Fan / Aftershock (Mainland China / Hong Kong)

BEST NEWCOMER

* Mark Chao You-Ting / Monga (Taiwan)

BEST SUPPORTING ACTOR

* Sammo Hhung Kam-po / Ip Man 2 (Hong Kong)

BEST SUPPORTING ACTRESS

* Yoon Yeo-jeong / The Housemaid (South Korea)

BEST SCREENPLAY

* Lee Chang-dong / Poetry (South Korea)

BEST CINEMATOGRAPHER

* Mark Lee Ping-Bin / Norwegian Wood (Japan)

BEST PRODUCTION DESIGNER

* Hayashida Yuji / 13 Assassins (Japan)

BEST MUSIC SCORE

* Indian Ocean / Peepli Live (India)

BEST EDITING

* Nam Na-young / I Saw The Devil (South Korea)

BEST VISUAL EFFECTS

* Phil Jones, Zhang Yan-ming / Aftershock (Mainland China/ Hong Kong)

BEST COSTUME DESIGNER

* William Chang Suk-ping / Let the Bullets Fly (Mainland China / Hong Kong)

The Asian Film Award for Outstanding Contribution to Asian Cinema

* Kim Dong-ho

Tsim Tsa Tsui Meeting

So Misa and I among a group of other young entrepreneurs have a monthly meeting we like to call Young CEO meetings.. we try to model the meetings like the big boys in EO… but either way it’s a great way for us to get good feedback on ways to improve our businesses and also keep each other accountable. This meet up wasn’t specifically a “CEO meeting” but it was awesome in that we both usually met up in LA and this time we were able to update each other while both being in Hong Kong.

Alfred and Jet Avenue of Stars

We took a walk on the Avenue of Stars so of course I had to say what’s up to my boss’s hand print!

Mango Smoothie and Tea

After that it got hot from all that walking around so we kinda randomly stumbled our way around and found a chill spot to have some drinks. This day was a much needed day of chillin out because Jet didn’t have anything really work related planned and I actually got to meet up someone I knew from LA which was a nice change of pace. Moreover, due to our monthly meetings, Misa pretty much knows everything that’s going on with WushuKicks up until I left for China and I was pretty up to date with her food truck business NomNomTruck so there was tons to talk about.

Rockin out at Racks in lkf

We hit up the Jade market, did a couple of other things, met up Ryan for dinner in Central, and then ultimately ended up at Racks to hang with Pat from AliveNotDead!

Pat and Alfred at Racks

It’s nice to be able to meet up other AnDers in all different places from LA to Beijing to Hong Kong. Pat, Ryan, and I caught up over dinner. Unfortunately I couldn’t stay out too late so I’ll have to continue where we left off and hang with Pat next time I’m in Hong Kong.

Misa and Alfred at Racks in LKF

Surprisingly, some of the pictures that Ryan took – that Misa and I both thought he was totaling messing around… came out okay!

Daniel Wu, Alfred Hsing, Pat Lee

Maggie and Alfred at Diesel Party

Alive Not Dead at Racks in LKF

Well its been a while since I actually posted a blog entry with my thoughts in writing. My latest entries have been filled with video blogs of my random and fun adventures in Taiwan. I’ve actually been without a stable internet connection for the past week or two. In Hong Kong I only had the lobby internet and since I moved in to my new place in Taipei, I was also internet-less for a few days. I just got a wireless card from http://www.ivideo.com.tw/rent_memory/video_detail.asp?film_id=39545 yesterday so now I can finally go online at home. Yay!

Let me first give a shout out to Pat / rottendoubt for inviting me to a cool party at the W hotel in Hong Kong and introducing me to a lot of other artists on Alive Not Dead. I had a good time and not just because it was open bar. =P

Seriously though, with the amount of “going out” I’ve been doing in each country bouncing back and forth from Taiwan to Hong Kong to Macau to Hong Kong to Taiwan… its a wonder that I am still alive… not dead literally. Don’t get me wrong.. I am having a GREAT time, but my body has needed to rest/recover from Day 1 upon arriving in Asia. I mean after all prior to arriving in Taiwan I flew from LA to SF to Toronto finishing world games then back to SF before flying to Taipei… so my body was already pretty tired.. then the first day I arrived Sarah took me clubbing at Primo – and since then it has been non-stop.

However! My partying has not been in vain. I have met some really cool friends and had really memorable experiences that you can’t put a price on. Also I met an agent through randomly going out. The agency is called Evert agency – www.evert.com.tw – Has anyone heard of it? If so, what are your thoughts as far as their capability in the tv and movie area? I would like to be referred to a few more agencies so I can see what they are all like. Evert just sent me out to an open casting for a 7-11 commercial. It was my first experience auditioning in Taiwan. I think the casting guy was cool with me, but I could use more practice nailing the feeling he wanted faster. I am going in for headshots on Friday. So far the agency has been cool and quick with things, but I haven’t signed anything and just want to learn the ropes out here first.

One thing I do notice out in Asia is that casting is a lot “easier” in some ways. I don’t mean that it’s necessarily easy to get work, but I just noticed that the day I went in to talk to the agency, the next day they were able to send me to an audition.. the reason being.. its Taiwan so more than 90% of commercials/work are FOR asians whereas in the US asian males most likely only audition for roles that specifically mention “Asian Male” or possibly “Mixed Ethnicity” which is far less roles out of the total possible. Anyways, it will be interesting to see how it goes out here this month.

JC Stunt Team Victy Wong

Meanwhile, while I was in HK I met up with Jackie Chan stunt team member Victy Wong who mentioned he would be interested in having me teach wushu for an action/martial arts/stunts school he is opening up for kids and actors. Of course these were just talks and I was just in HK for a week so we will be in touch and playing it by ear. I also met Daniel Wu and also ran into Jackie Chan’s son at Racks.. apparently I hear he is out partying in Taiwan quite often as well.

As a means to clear my own thoughts I came up with my GOALS for the acting/entertainment world.

1) Star or Co-star in:
1 HK gangster feature film
1 Chinese Wu Xia Period feature film
1 Hollywood action blockbuster
1 National Commercial

2) Demo for or work with Jackie Chan in a film
3) Host a Travel Channel show

Those are my clear cut goals. If I achieve that I would be pretty happy with my acting/entertainment career.
…and if you are curious why I want to be in those specific types of movies, it’s because I love action and those are the movies I grew up loving. I want to be a part of the movies that inspired me in so many ways and contribute to paving new paths in those movies to keep inspiring others.

I think I’ve also decided I would like to give Asia a shot and live here for a while, but first before I do that I really need to get my ass in gear and set up my businesses properly in the US. When I get back in January, it’s purely hard work and focus.

That’s it for now, time to eat. I’ll be uploading more taiwan and hong kong adventures soon!

Taipei 101 on New Years Eve!

It’s been decided! I am going to Taiwan Nov through mid January 2010! I will be spending new years in Taiwan and watching the Taipei 101 building ignite as the seconds count down to the new year! I’ve never been abroad for a new years celebration so this will surely be an exciting occasion!

I am up in Northern California right now. I will soon be in New York and drive to Toronto then fly back to San Francisco just in time to jump on a plane to Taipei. I just decided ALL of this yesterday for some reason. Somehow it all made sense.

Here is where I need help! I basically have to decide today by 5pm. My flight stops in HK to transfer to Taipei. I was thinking of stopping in HK which I’ve done in the past, but I don’t really have any particular plans in HK and not sure what I would do. I would love to meet up with some of you AnDers but this is all very last minute so I am just throwing it out there and curious to see if there are any compelling arguments to make a stop over in HK.

This is a sudden decision, but I guess it makes sense because I feel like I have a calling to be in Asia. Plus when I finish competing at worlds I am going to want to chill out for a bit so I figure I’ll spend that time in Asia. The entertainment industry along with some businesses slow down during Christmas and the holidays so its a perfect time and when I get back fresh in Jan 2010 I will be ready to go!