I’m happy to announce that the Live 88.5 TV commercials are now on the air! They’re also available online on YouTube, posted up by Parktown Productions.
Check them out below! You can play them straight from here, via the play icon, or by going to it’s YouTube page by clicking the commercial’s name below the video.
Feel free to take a look at their YouTube account parktownpro for more of their work.
I’m happy to announce that I’ve booked my first job since moving to Toronto which was just shot today – a D’Italiano print campaign for a contest to win a Vespa Scooter. The ad will feature Edith Camirand and I on a Vespa (as seen in the behind the scenes pictures), and was shot by Avner Levona.
I gotta start by saying everyone was great to work with! Avner and his team of assistants, the art director, wardrobe and make up artist, the clients and Edith were all easy going and professional. I even had the chance to reminisce about my trip to Taiwan, since the make up artist grew up there! All in all, I had a good time, and met a lot of great people, which I hope to see and work with in the future. Some are also interested, and/or working in film and TV as well, so I’ll have even better chances to run into them again!
Now going back to just a couple of days ago, I was interviewed by Sara Koonar and her friend Jill, for a school project in their Journalism program. Conducted in my Toronto apartment, they asked me about my role as the lead male in 2@2. Sara’s actually a friend of mine, who I met years ago back home in the Ottawa-Gatineau region. She has also moved to Toronto to further her career! Anyway, I had fun and was happy and flattered to be the subject of their interview! I’ll make sure to provide a link if it ends up online!
Once again I’ve gone a long time without any updates. Well, this is because I’ve decided to move to Toronto at the beginning of this month! I’ll do my best to summarize most of what has happened since.
The first thing I had to do was find a place to live. Once I did that, I moved and took a few days to settle in. From that point, I started my search for a talent agent. I had already went over a list with a friend back home. So when I was finished with the move to Toronto, I submitted my photo and resume to some of those agencies via email. Shortly after, I found out that most agencies prefer a hard copy submission. So, I decided to print some pictures and resumes, then deliver them as I biked around town.
After this, I started getting some responses from agencies. Either they were interested, or their roster was full and weren’t actively expanding. As these were coming in, I had secured an audition for a upcoming TV game show called “ManUP!”. Also, Jamal Hashemi drove from Ottawa to shoot a short video. Also involved, Umid and Nawid Orokzai, two brothers from Toronto who I met on Jamal’s last project, “Under the Influence”. We met together to discuss the project, then shot it the next day.
Getting back to my agent search, from the interested agencies/agents, I was very happy with Teri Boyack from Hines Management. When I sat down with her, I realized she was everything I was looking for in an agent.. and more. We had a really good rapport and by the end of our meeting, I knew who I wanted to work with! So on Friday, I made it official and signed with Hines Management. Even to this day, I’m still getting contracted by other agencies who I’ve submitted to, expressing their interest in meeting with me. This is because some of these agencies get hundreds of submissions in a short amount of time, and take a while to get back to the talent. Regardless of that, I feel I made a great decision by signing with Teri, and I’m grateful for having her as my agent!
I also attended an acting workshop on the 18th, which featured Toronto casting directors Crystal Kramer and Lori Pearlstein. Not only did I get a refresher on things I knew already, but I also learned a lot, worked with some nice people and had a great time. Crystal and Lori did a great job and it was nice meeting them along with the other actors!
More recently, I started auditioning again (thanks Teri), which I’m very happy about! As for the ManUP! audition, I was contacted to be a contestant! Actually, the episode I was in was just taped on Saturday. Basically, I competed against two other guys (Mike and Konrad) in a series of challenges, as well as some trivia questions. It wasn’t really about the points, but more about the comedic and fun aspect of the program. In the end, the guys at RedFish Entertainment, the production company behind ManUP!, put together a fun show for us, and were very appreciative with our participation. This was my first experience as a game show contestant, which turned out to be really fun. Plus, I didn’t leave empty handed! I’m not saying who “won the show”, but there were prizes for each challenge. A big thanks to the guys who put this together!
As if there wasn’t enough to read already, I put together another self-shot and self-edited picture of myself. This one, shows a more serious side of myself, and also serves an alternative look to my head shot, as I have a beard in this one. In addition, just last week I signed up for a martial arts class! Without mentioning who the master is, I will say that he used to work in film, with stars such as Bruce Lee and Jackie Chan, back in the 70s and 80s. He has long retired from the film scene, and now teaches in his school here in Toronto. I feel very lucky to have found such an amazing teacher, who despite almost being in his seventies, is extremely capable and young at heart! Did I mention hilarious? Well that too.
Just yesterday, I again worked with the guys at Parktown Productions. Funny enough, I had another topless shaving scene, just like when we did 2@2. Well not quite topless.. as we ended up using a towel over my shoulders this time. Yet I must say, I was amused at how Richard, the producer, was excited about me having my shirt off… Hahaha! It was all in good fun.
Anyway, before we even got to that part, we were over at an electronics store. There, we shot the first commercial which went quite well. Especially considering the store was kept open, and we had a few extras on set. Everyone did a really great job! I also had a friend and fellow actor, Andre Givogue, who I met on the set of Pascal Aka’s film “Jamie and Eddie: Souls of Strife”, came in to play a salesman in the background. My role was to pass this orange puck, to a customer.. and then happiness ensued.
The other commercial, which I had mentioned earlier, took place in a bathroom. As I’m shaving, some noise gets my attention. So, I look around for it’s source, then the girl in the bathtub hands me the orange puck. Suddenly, something extraordinary happens and everything becomes bright and cheery. These two 15 seconds spots for the Live 88.5 radio station actually follow each other. I first receive the puck in the washroom, then give it away at the electronics store. Thus the slogan “Pass It On”. Check out the previous “trilogy” also produced by Parktown: Walker, Bench and Office.
It was awesome shooting with Richard Towns and Kyle Connolly again, as well as Ben Walker (directed a music video I took part in) who was helping out on set. I also met Nick Lacelle, who did a great job too. Last but not least, the other actors involved were also a pleasure to work with!
A week ago, shooting for “The Comet” continued. We actually had to change locations and use another house. Thankfully the footage we covered from the last time had my character, along with Jess who plays my wife, walking into another room. This saved us from having to re-shoot that last bit. We ended by finishing up all of Jess’ scenes in time, which was our goal because it was a long commute for her. Despite her inexperience in acting, I felt Jess did very well.
Later that week on Friday, I worked mostly with Nancy’s daughter, who actually plays my daughter in the film. I think Rhiona was one of the youngest people I’ve had to act with. She was great for someone who’s never done film before, and made her mom proud. This day covered the rest of my required footage since the meat of the film is actually a visual narration of an experience in my character’s childhood. When the film is shot and partially edited, I will then need to add a voice over narration over those scenes.
It was great working on this film, having a lot of first time actors. This gave me the opportunity to guide them, which helped me grow well. I find that we tend to remind ourselves of what we’ve learned, and even learn new things, when it’s our turn to do the teaching.
I spent the most part of this last weekend, both Saturday and Sunday, doing ADR (basically, re-recording the dialogue on top of the original) and voiceovers for Raied Ghanam’s short film, “The Loyal Lucifers”. This project was formerly known as “The Portal”, which we shot close to a year ago.
Working with Raied again (along with soundman, Gareth Williams of course), was a great experience. Despite our occasional creative differences, I really appreciate Raied’s dedication to his project. His strong work ethic and desire to excel are qualities that I appreciate very much in a person, especially when it comes to someone I work with. It’s very encouraging and also makes it easier for my best to come out as well.
There’s still a lot of work left to be done to this film. More ADR with the other actors (as Raied wants all dialogue to be re-recorded), background environments for the green screen scenes, etc. I know this might seems like a long time, but within another year or so, it should be released and I’m sure the wait will be worth it. A reminder than this is an independent film project, and Raied is dedicating his free time, outside of work, to this movie!
Lately I haven’t been updating my website as often and I would want, so today I’m going to play catch up, in chronological order, from newest to oldest. I will also include stuff that I didn’t previously write about!
Just last Friday, we had our first shooting day of Jeff Wood’s short film, “The Comet”. Here I play the main character, a workaholic father who shares a narrative from his childhood with his wife, when he realizes the importance of the day depicted in the story. We were able to shoot parts of the beginning, and I feel we got some good takes in. We actually had a read-through of the whole script a few days before this. Not to mention, I’ve been involved with this project for awhile, meeting with the rest of our little team behind this project, putting it all together. I even took part in casting an important role.. so it was nice to finally start shooting.
On the last day of August, I participated in an episode of a short TV Pilot currently named “FX Challenge”. Actually a friend and fellow actor, Daniel Lavigne, asked me if I was interested in having a small part in the show. Oddly enough, not only did I already meet director Kevin McMillan, but before I had left for Taiwan, I had given him a list of actors to help him out on a project. Well, Daniel reminded me about that, how he was on that list and that it was from there that he and Kevin started working together. I had forgotten about the whole thing!
So anyway, in the episode we shot, I played myself, but as a guns enthusiast/expert (which I’m not really.. although I do know a thing or two about them). Anyway, don’t want to say too much about it, but feel free to check out the director website at risevideo.org. Overall we had a great time!
Finally, I had the chance to work with a handful of local actors on “One Bathroom”, just at the end of September. This was directed by Lisa Meuser, who I had met on the set of another film, over a year ago, where she mostly worked as a script supervisor. What can I say; it’s a small world… Well at least a small Ottawa!
Just over a week ago, I went to Paul and Shalan Crivellari‘s new studio, where we proceeded to shoot some new headshots for me. I think they did a good job (see for yourself on the left)! As always, things went great! Not only did we get some nice shots out of it, but had a good time together.
We also took some other shots for both our portfolios. I won’t talk about them now, but I will definitely be showing you once they are ready. Not only are Paul and Shalan talented, but they are great people! We plan to work, and continue to work together in the future.
Once again, if you are looking for some great shots, whether it’s for professional uses (such as a headshot for acting, some modeling pictures) or just some nice shots of yourself for friends and family, make sure you check out their website at www.cprophoto.com!
I haven’t written in a while, but it doesn’t mean nothing’s going on! There are quite a few projects that I have been involved in, but are still in the preliminary stages. I also hope to shoot my very own short before the summer ends! So even though I haven’t had much to show lately, things happening behind the scenes!
Going back to the main topic, I spent most of last weekend working on a short film called “Under the Influence”. We got all the footage we needed in those two days, being a short and having shot until almost sunset. It was a great experience! The project was being led by Jamal Hashemi, who I’ve worked with before and met through Pascal Aka (who was part of the crew). Nawid Orokzai, from Toronto, also played a big part in the production, also having a lead as my friend in the film, as well as taking part of the camera work with Pascal. Nawid will also be editing the film. His brother and friend, who both came from Toronto, helped out on set and had small roles in the film.
I had a great time while having the chance to meet, work with and befriend some great people! I hope to keep in touch and work with them again.
Finally, just yesterday I had a special extra role as a waiter in a locally shot TV series called Family Biz, produced by Muse Entertainment. Didn’t have to do much in terms of acting in this one, but it was fun regardless.
Actually, I don’t usually mention these roles, but I’ve done a lot of un-credited work with the same production company in the past. This includes another silent role as, how to put this, let’s say a “casual hookup guy” of one of the lead’s in a Movie of the Week called The Watch. In this one, while the two female leads were talking in the living room (Cassie and Andrea played by Clea DuVall from “Heroes”, and Elizabeth Whitmere), I happen to come up the stairs wearing only boxers. They notice, and start talking about me as I grab some orange juice from the fridge. We then make eye contact, I wave with a smirk on my face, and head back downstairs. If you happen to get that scene recorded for me, I’d love to see it!
Over a week ago, I was photographed by the lovely couple, Paul and Shalan Crivellari. We all had a great time and got along well as always. After they had finished shooting me, I insisted on grabbing the camera and taking shots of them as well which was lots of fun! They also showed me some of the raw shots as we went along and I was very satisfied with their work!
Some of the shots have already been worked on and I’m more than willing to share a preview of one, as seen on the left. Paul and Shalan actually offer professional photographic services which you can learn more about on their website www.cprophoto.com. Make sure you check it out!
To finish, as I’ve implied earlier, Paul, Shalan and I worked together before, but not in photography specifically. It was actually on a short film which Paul Crivellari wrote and directed himself, called “Nothing Left to Say”. I’m happy to say that after a long (but understandable) wait, it’s nearing completion. I’ve seen an early cut of it and it looks great!
