charlie’s talent agency ripoff report

Happy New Year, everyone!

Wonderful news today! My scene co-star, Dwight Sora, from Red Dawn sent me a message today with a link to an article about the release of Red Dawn in 2011. It seemed late last year that this film could be in limbo forever, but apparently MGM has gained a $500 million dollar credit line to go towards making the next James Bond film and also continue with The Hobbit project. This also means that they now have the money to market and release Red Dawn! This was my first acting role in a major feature film, and its release in 2011 means that I will have at least 2 major theatrical releases this year, Red Dawn AND Salvation Boulevard. Let’s up the ante for 2011, eh? I’d like it to grow harmonically this year. 😀 Click the photo to link to the article! (I had a very small role in the film and was not part of the central cast, just FYI.)

Red Dawn remake cast photo

I also had my first audition of the new year today. My fingers are crossed for some more good news this month!

I always like to share any useful acting tidbits, and here’s a useful one if you’re a paid-up-to-date SAG member in SE Michigan. You can go view any SAG-nominated films that are currently screening at the Phoenix or Emagine Theaters for FREE if you show your current SAG card. It’s the gold one.

Here’s the list from my SAG email:

Thanks to the generosity of two of our local theatres, Phoenix Theatres and Emagine Entertainment, Screen Actors Guild members in Michigan can attend showings of SAGAward nominated films free of charge. A great member perk, this is a valuable opportunity for you, the member, to view the nominees before you cast your vote!

Here are the rules:

You must present your SAG card (paid-thru April 30, 2011) and photo ID.
The free ticket is for SAG members only, not accompanying friends or family.
This offer is valid between December 27–January 25, 2011 for Phoenix Theatres and January 3–25, 2011 for Emagine Theatres.
This offer is valid Monday thru Thursdays only; not valid on Friday, Saturday or Sunday.

This offer is valid for the following films with nominations:

“127 Hours”

“Black Swan”

“Conviction”

“The Fighter”

“Get Low”

”Green Zone”

“Inception”

“The Kids are All Right”

“The King’s Speech”

“Rabbit Hole”

“Robin Hood”

“The Social Network”

“The Town”

“True Grit”

“Winter’s Bone”

Here are the participating locations:

Phoenix Theatre: The Mall of Monroe in Monroe

Phoenix Theatre: Laurel Park Place in Livonia

Emagine Theatre: Novi

Emagine Theatre: Canton

Emagine Theatre: Woodhaven

Cinema Hollywood: Birch Run

We thank both Emagine Entertainment and Phoenix Theatres for their continued support of Screen Actors Guild members.

Have fun, vote and return your ballot to arrive by January 28!

Don’t forget to watch the 17th Annual SAG Awards live on TBS and TNT at 8 p.m., Sunday, January 30, 2011.

And one last little tidbit for any fellow outrageous hat lovers! I became the recent proud parent to a beautiful SpiritHood!

Image from the SpiritHoods.com site

Click on the image to get to their site and order your own, and join the tribe! They have different animals, and some of them are Product Blue, which means they donate a portion to a conservancy group that helps that particular animal species. I ordered the Snow Leopard, which is among the Product Blue offerings. =^_^=

Meow--Cindy Chu

Paws--Cindy Chu

That’s it for now. Hope to have more good news very soon!

Happy 2011!

While this site is mostly used for posting about my acting career, I figured I can also tie in some notes about my film friends’ achievements/updates.

If you’ve seen my film Qing Lou Nu, then you’d know the name Bryan D. Hopkins. Earlier this year he drove down to Louisiana to shoot a ton of coverage on the Gulf oil spill for a documentary he’s putting together. Here’s a peep at the trailer he just released for Dirty Energy:

Dirty Energy featurette from Bryan D. Hopkins on Vimeo.

Dirty Energy featurette

A new buddy of mine that I met on the set of a GM commercial I was recently working on shared a short film he did with me, that I also feel needs to be passed on to more potential fans. It’s hilarious, and it’s about Death. Good work, Clark Birchmeier!

no harvest:the intern from clark birchmeier on Vimeo.

This short film is called “no harvest: the intern”. It is a dark-comedy about the Grim Reaper. It was produced by Rebel Cow Productions LLC, and was directed by Clark Birchmeier.

Another personal venture I haven’t mentioned yet is that I recently joined the band Origami Cat Plan, and we just played our first gig. Having had only 2 practices with the band, I didn’t perform my best, but I think it was still pretty impressive for the amount of time we had to prepare.

Cindy Chu as Princess Koneko of Origami Cat Plan

Origami Cat Plan at the Blind Pig 12/15/2010

Origami Cat Plan Groovin at their first show with Cindy Chu

In my thirst for learning, and owning musical instruments, I even obtained a baby jimbay or djembe yesterday, at the encouragement of my best friend Ris Tena, who is a master of the hip hop and fashion worlds. I’ll be able to add it to my tambourine/vocals skills for Origami Cat Plan!

Cindy Chu with her new jimbay or djembe (various spellings)

And in other news, had a few more auditions recently, but I don’t really like saying what any of them are because like I mentioned in my previous post, the majority of the time you don’t hear anything back afterwards. So I usually do the auditions, and then forget about them and if I DO hear anything, then of course I jump for joy like I won the lottery. I will say, though, that I am extremely excited about Fox picking up a live-action adaptation of Joe Hill’s Locke & Key! My current fantasies are to play a part in a live-action version of a graphic novel, and to do some more animated voiceovers!

Cover of Joe Hill's Locke & Key

A page from Joe Hill's Locke & Key

If you’re curious about what I’ve been watching recently, wonder no more. I just caught up on Dexter, amazing amazing show, and I have to give it to Julia Stiles for shocking me with her great portrayal of Lumen in Season 5. I’ve also been re-watching Firefly, and am about halfway through. I had seen bits and pieces of it before when I was younger, but never got to view the entire series. Guess I was too busy with Buffy, The X-Files, and Charmed? Joss Whedon is a genius, and I have a soft spot for Mal.

Captain "Mal" Malcolm Reynolds of Firefly

Julia Stiles as Lumen in Dexter S.5, with Dexter

For films, I can’t wait to see Black Swan and TRON LEGACY this weekend! The Michigan Theater starts screening Black Swan today.

Natalie Portman as the Black Swan

Production Still from Tron Legacy with Olivia Wilde, Joseph Kosinski and Jeff Bridges

And if you enjoy graphic novels, one of my all-time favorite and most beloved books is now available as a graphic novel: The Alchemist, by Paulo Coelho.

A page from the new graphic novel version of The Alchemist by Paulo Coelho

Hopefully I’ll have some good news to share with you all when I post again! And thanks to my awesome agent, Curt Howe of Charlie’s Talent Agency, aka CTA, who believes in me and keeps getting me auditions! One of these days…(fingers crossed)

If I don’t update before Christmas, I hope you all have a wonderful holiday with loved ones, and remember to appreciate all the goodness in your life.

~cindy