Feeling old...

So today Richelle and I went to Burnsville to work out with our good friend Janelle (she owns the Burnsville ATA school). She has helped both of us with our forms and techniques throughout the years and is just a good training partner. Anyways I must have done something to re-aggravate an old lower back injury I had from gymnastics a while back. I cannot explain the kind of pain I felt today, it was bad enough that I let Richelle convince me to use ben-gay and extra strength tylenol. I RARELY use any medication for stuff like that. Anyways I have been going to the chiropractor and it's been helping I think but now it seems like it was all for nothing. I am hoping just a little rest will calm it down. On top of all that, Richelle just thinks I am a big wimp... I kind of agree :P

Tomorrow we are having our 2nd garage sale to help us get rid of a lot of our things that we won't be taking with us to California. In fact I still need to get a lot of furniture out to the garage tonight. After that I get to work with some of my favorite students at the school for some private lessons. I can't tell you guys how much Richelle and I miss working with all of the kids at the school. We are excited for this weekend's testing to be there to support all of the students testing for their new ranks. I think after Saturday's testing we are gonna have a little ice-cream social to say our final goodbyes to the students. If you are reading this (all three of you?)... please join us!

Well that's it for today, I feel pretty silly just telling you guys about my day but hopefully in the future I will be able to share more exciting things other than my back pain! (like being cast in a feature film!! haha)

Lazy and Unemployed

Well it's been a month and a day since Richelle and I got hitched. Since then I have worked only a handful of hours at excel. I truly miss being at the school all the time seeing students and families but it has been nice not working my body into the ground. Although we are both sad to leave Excel for the time being I think this transition will work out for the better in the end. I hope someday in the distant future I will be able to open up my own school and implement a system that fits my teaching style. But for now, it will be nice to place my focus more on training as a student.

An interesting fact you might like to know is that 95% of all union actors make less than $15,000 a year from acting work. Now, that is not much at all especially in Hollywood where cost of living is astronomical. That is why I need to find a flexible, part-time job that will help us pay the bills and keep me busy. Luckily for me, Richelle is going back to a full time job with a great company so for a while she will be supporting my acting career. I have a few jobs lined up for when I get out there but I will just have to wait and see which one works best when I get out there. They are both part-time teaching jobs which will be nice because it will not be everyday and it will be on a very flexible schedule.

For the next few weeks I may not have to work much but I need to remember that in a month from now I will need to really buckle down and stay as busy as possible. But for now, I am enjoying this time off while it lasts.... today we will be at afton state park with cheech having a picnic and enjoying this beautiful weather!

Headshots taken!

I got my first set of Headshots!!

There are so many things an actor must do in order to even be considered for any role. The most important tool is the headshot. Lucky for me I have met so many generous and caring people through the connections I have made working as a martial arts instructor for the past few years. For 3 years I taught at an afterschool program for the school district called interact. Through this program I met Felice and Bryant Avey, the directors of the program. When I broke the news to them that Richelle and I were moving to California, they were sad to lose me as an instructor for their program, but excited and supportive of our new life. They graciously offered to take my headshots free of charge! Richelle and I spend a wonderful evening at their house with their family and we ended up taking over 700 pictures!!! I figured with my goofy looking mug I was gonna need to take hundreds to hopefully get a few I could actually use :) Luckily I think we got a bunch of good ones that I will eventually narrow down to 2 or 3 to use as my headshots. I've posted a few for you all to see.
If you're reading this Avey's, thank you so much!

Another thing an actor needs to get work is a resume. Building my resume will take some time because I have not had much experience acting other than a few plays and musicals in high school and of course my trip to Hong Kong on the Jackie Chan movie. Since there isn't much time to audition for roles here in MN since we're leaving in a few weeks, I have been taking acting classes with Cynthia Uhrich in St. Paul. She has had over 10 years experience living and working in Hollywood and the class has really helped to motivate me to work on my acting craft. Taking classes has also made me realize just how tough it is to be an effective actor. Just like martial arts, training is required to improve and right now I feel like a white belt!

When we get to CA, my plan is to submit myself for as many independent/student films and projects as possible to gain experience and build my resume. Although these projects do not pay, they will provide invaluable experience and it will hopefully help me meet some people in the industry. As I continue to build my acting resume I will be actively searching for an agent to help me find work in commercials, television, and film. Ultimately, it can take some actors up to 10 years to start finding work as a union actor. I will save the whole union thing for another posting. I wish I could share with all of you all I have learned but my fingers are getting tired and i'm sure you're sick of reading already! I'll leave it at that for now but I will post again soon. Even though at this point no one is even reading this blog! haha

Getting ready for the move

Now that the wedding is done, the next big event is about to take place: The Move to California. We will be driving across the country the second weekend in June to start a new chapter in our lives. We will miss all of our students and the families at Excel, but use this board to send us notes and photos to stay in touch.