First off, Yesterday’s post was in fact an April Fools. I’m still holding on to my acting career!

Actually, on Monday, photographer Robert Gagnon shot me for the cover of an upcoming Harlequin book. I forget the name of it, but know it should be released in October 2009. We shot two main looks for the character. First his handyman side (complete with tool belt) then with a more cowboy look to him (no tool belt, but a hat this time). It went great and everyone on set was pleasant. Hope to work with Robert and his team again!

If you were wondering about the Doritos Guru contest, my commercial entry didn’t make the top 5. However, I’m still very happy with how things went and the way the video turned out. I’m very thankful for everyone involved in this experience, and the support I had throughout this contest! Filmmaking is definitely something I want to continue to peruse. As for this video, you can now watch it on YouTube in HD!

Just a few days ago, Paul Crivellari sent me a new photo that was taken the last time we worked together. Our main purpose for that photoshoot was to produce a new headshot for acting. Soon after getting some great pictures, we agreed to move on with another idea.

What you see on the left is another awesome shot that came out of the second half of the photoshoot. We were actually aiming for something a little different, and only got one picture of this pose. It was just thrown in between different ideas. In the end, sitting down together and looking at the shots, we all agreed it was one of the best ones! Again, I can’t say this enough about Paul and Shalan.. a great and talented couple!

Also recently, I decided to look around the Sara Lee website to see if I could find some of the shots that we were taken back during the job I booked in May of 2007. We had taken shots for both a TV commercial and print/web usage. Here on the right, you can see two of the shots that we taken for the latter.

Actually, when I first saw the picture in the blue shirt, I wasn’t sure if that was me or just a guy who happened to look like me! I didn’t even remember wearing that shirt.. but as I kept going through, I caught the one in the red shirt. Only then was I sure it was me! I guess I’m not used to see myself smiling with a mouth full… That and I look so young in those. Anyway, I’ll keep my eye open for the TV commercial!

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.

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!

As you might have noticed, I’ve put a new picture up. This one is actually my own work. Not only did I shoot it, but the post/editing work is all done by yours truly. Unfortunately, I’m not sure if the picture is large enough to make an 8×12 print, since I cropped it quite a bit, but I might just try it. Regardless, I feel the shot serves to showcase a more intense (and creative) side of me. Make sure to click the shot or check out the pictures section for a bigger version!

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!

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!

Today was my last job in Taiwan. This, was something different because, as you can see in the title, I shot with costumes! I went through quite a few, including superheroes like Superman, Batman, classics such as a pirate, a zombie, a skeleton, even costumes like a ninja, Zorro and Santa Clause (belly not included).

It was pretty simple and the posing was particular to what I was wearing. It was a good time and we were able to finish early. Apparently these costumes are sold all over the world, which means you might be able to catch my picture on the packaging of these costumes in North America. Hmm.. not sure how I feel about that… hahaha!

Today was another day that will make me miss Taiwan. It started off with the trouble I had finding the address I was given of the photographer’s studio. I got off the bus near the correct street, which I walked up, attempting to find the lane number written on my sheet. It seemed like the numbers would sometimes go up, or down, and it would skip a whole bunch which included the one I was looking for. Now, you might think that my initial remark was sarcastic, but it couldn’t be further from the truth.. read on.

I eventually got on another bus, which was driving down that same street and showed the address to the driver. He nodded and drove as he looked around.. but he was confused. He was even asking passengers inside, and ones getting on board. This was a bad sign. He then let me off, back on the same street, and wouldn’t accept payment. Well, since there was a police station close by, I thought what better place to get directions. I made the right choice. The officer at the desk consulted his colleagues and finally told me that that lane number didn’t exist. He then noticed phone numbers on my voucher, called my agent and got the right address. They didn’t seem too busy at that time and really made an effort to help me out!

After that I couldn’t believe what they were doing.. because it looked like he was getting another officer to drive me there! Well that’s exactly what happened. The other officer not only drove me to the location, but escorted me inside, and helped me find the studio. Wow, they did all this with nothing to gain.. helping a foreigner (and a male one.. point being I wasn’t a good looking girl or anything like that) by driving him and walking him to his destination. They really went above and beyond. I felt like some sort of VIP.. and was smiling as I wondered what the guys at the studio thought when they noticed my “police escort”.

Since I had been some fifteen minutes late, they right away sent me to get prepped and changed. Another model was working on the set, so when I got started we alternated and had a few shots together. The clothes was by Kinloch Anderson from Scotland and was composed mostly of business casual wear. At lunch the other guy was finished but I continued after, doing more shots and ending with traditional Scottish attire (as seen in the picture on the right). Everyone was so nice and friendly while Vincent the photographer was great as well as very easy to work with. He gave me his card and, since I’m leaving Taiwan soon, asked me to contact him when/if I come back. The whole thing actually went by pretty quickly. I then bussed back with no problems, but on the contrary, with the same great hospitality and kindness of the Taiwan people. Yep.. I will definitely miss this country.

This morning, was a very special one. No, not because I had some catalogue work (although I’m always happy to have work) but for another reason all together. Today was the day the roommate from Hell, who I`ve been stuck with for almost three months, went back to where he came from (I mean Ottawa, Canada.. not Hell). I’ve been pretty quiet about that one, especially considering how horrible it was having him live here. Honestly, you wouldn`t believe how bad it was.. so I couldn’t be happier.. and my other roommate Marko would second that.. in a second.

Concerning work, the catalogue was for Liukoo, a local Taiwan clothing label. I worked with one of the new, recently flown in female models from PT, Lindsay. For most of the shoot, it was one after the other. While one of us was shooting, the other was changing. Some we had some together, usually with golfing equipment. The half day job went by pretty quickly and we were offered lunch at the end. Another good photoshoot spent working with some great people!

As I got back to the apartment, Marko had already begun cleaning our ex roommate’s aftermath. I joined in and then the cleaning lady got in and took care of the rest. It was quite the job but now, everything’s finally clean and organized. I’m excited about my last days here, finally living in comfort and ease.