michigan actresses

Happy Holidays, now what?

Posted on by cindychu
Cindy Chu and Santa Claws Jinxie Cat

A holiday greeting from Jinxie and I to you and yours this beautiful holiday season! Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!

Pittsburgh was wonderful!  I got back home last week from filming on Those Who Kill, and it was great hanging out with my fellow cast mates James D’Arcy (Master and Commander with Russell Crowe), James Morrison (TV show 24, Jarhead, Catch Me If You Can), Chloe Sevigny (Big Love), Omid Abtahi, Ryan O’Nan, and Kate Boyer, along with getting to chat with my director Joe Carnahan (The Grey) about growing up in Michigan and his next project Undying Love, and rehashing scenes from Willard (starring the great Crispin Glover) and What Is It? with Glen Morgan.  I ran into a couple production people I’d met in Michigan, too.  My costumer Tony also worked on Red Dawn, and one of our craft services peeps was on LOL (starring Miley Cyrus and Demi Moore).  Small world getting smaller.

While having the weekend off, the actors got together and watched some work from a couple of us, including Brooklyn Brothers Beat the Best, nominated multiple times for Best Original Song in the Oscars (listen to the soundtrack), and Showing Up, an interview style documentary about auditions that can be a very meaningful watch for more than just actors, really, but anyone who has dreams he/she wants to pursue and is afraid to try.  It was all very inspiring for me to be amongst these working actors and film professionals who are doing what they love, and making a living at it.  A few conversations with them about the perks of moving to LA got my internal clock ticking again.  It’s something I’ve been talking about for as long as I remember but I keep holding off, citing money as a reason.  Another reason is to get myself a little bit more into the niche market here in the Midwest and East Coast as THE young Asian actress to hire, but it’s still a matter of do I want to hit the big time, because if I do, I will need to make the move at some point.  When we Skyped last night, my sister said if I didn’t do by June 2013 she’d be very disappointed in me.  So, maybe LA this next year?  So many things to think about as we enter the post-Mayan calendar.  Looks like I’ve got to make some huge New Year’s resolutions…

For now, I will have to wait and see if Those Who Kill’s pilot gets approval once it’s edited, and then we’d all get to watch it on A&E.  If not, it was a grand experience working with the team.  Still waiting to hear back on an audition time for a big project I really want to land but all in good time.

Happy Holidays to you all!  Remember to enjoy life and follow your dreams!

xoxo,

Cindy

PS: Our family doesn’t really celebrate Christmas, but my second brother Mike and I are home enjoying family time with the parents.  Mike has been shooting on a Canon 5D for awhile, which is a full-sensor camera, while I’ve been shooting on a Nikon D7000 which is awesome, but a cropped sensor, and everyone in the film/commercial world I know uses Canons…  I was checking out Canons yesterday and IF I COULD, I’d love to upgrade to the Canon 5d Mark II one day, with the Canon EF 70-200mm f/2.8L USM Lens one day…Maybe next Christmas, a gift for myself if I can kick ass at the whole acting career this year!  It’s okay to get yourself Christmas presents, right?  😛  (All my siblings and I invested in a new 40 inch flat screen for our parents this year.  A huge upgrade from their little 20 inch old-school big box TV…which my mama wants to keep for some reason…)

Cindy Chu Enjoying a mug of coffee at Zenith Antiques in Shadyside, Pittsburgh

Cindy Chu Enjoying a mug of coffee at Zenith Antiques in Shadyside, Pittsburgh

 

The First Presbytarian Church near my hotel, the Omni William Penn

The First Presbytarian Church near my hotel, the Omni William Penn in Pittsburgh

The first coconut I ever cracked

The first coconut I ever cracked

Our honey wagon for Those Who Kill

Our honey wagon for Those Who Kill

One of the dining rooms at Zenith Antiques, Shadyside, Pittsburgh

One of the dining rooms at Zenith Antiques, Shadyside, Pittsburgh

Those Who Kill basecamp Pittsburgh

Those Who Kill basecamp Pittsburgh

Cindy Chu's little dressing room

My little dressing room on Those Who Kill!

Little theater in Pittsburgh, the Harris

Little theater in Pittsburgh, the Harris, where I watched Holy Motors

Saturn Return

Posted on by cindychu

Happy Chinese New Year, Happy Lunar New Year, and Happy February to you all!  You know my birthday’s coming up.  I won’t say how old I’ll be, because I’m just so young at heart.  ^_^

FILM UPDATES

So I just got back from Sundance recently, and I had the greatest time.  I met some incredible people and got to see the films I needed to see.  The sad part was that after all the marvelous luck we had getting in to Salvation Boulevard, I never got to see my scene, because it was a victim of the cutting room.  Fortunately, I ran into George Ratliff after the Q&A, and he was so extremely kind about it, and said that it would be on the DVD extras.  Yay, something to look forward to!  He’s a great director, and the film itself was very hilarious.  After having seen his last Sundance baby, Joshua, I had no idea what to expect.

I also saw Cedar Rapids, directed by Miguel Arteta, and starring Ed Helms, and boy oh boy was it a riot.  I really liked the relationships they showed in the film, they were very real, and the cast chemistry was great.  It was nice seeing Ed Helms in a new role, too, as a small-town Iowan who has never been to the big city.

The most controversial film at Sundance (no, not Red State) was The Woman.  I had the extremely fortunate experience of getting to see it twice.  I had to support my friend, Lauren Petre, of course.  She played Miss Hindle, a smaller role in the film, but she was great!  And she looked great on film. The Woman was definitely great horror.  I had nightmares after the first viewing and spent the entire night tossing and turning, thinking evil little boy actors would sneak into the house where I was staying and knife me!  Lucky McKee knows how to elicit some raw emotional responses, and on the night of their first screening, a girl fainted, and he being the great and wonderful man that he is, tried to get the theater to halt the screening, but they didn’t.  Then, an irate viewer got up and started spewing all sorts of horrible things ignorant thoughts about the film.  He obviously didn’t see the bigger picture, the ENTIRE POINT OF THE FILM…Some people.  Anyway, if you get the chance to see it, I highly recommend it.  Lucky said, “It’s designed to be viewed multiple times.” So I’d say get it on dvd, and watch it a couple times, within the week.  It’s one of those films that keeps you thinking and processing, and I hope you’re able to see beyond the gore and evil to see what Lucky is trying to show the audience.  Sometimes evil hides in plain sight.  Pollyanna McIntosh was stellar, actually the entire cast was.  Angela Bettis, Sean Bridgers, and oh the children, (I’ve got to say that again) oh the CHILDREN!  It should also be noted that the soundtrack is amazing, and I need it!  Sound design was also superb, and really added to the feel of the film.

Q&A at The Woman screening at Sundance

Q&A at The Woman screening at Sundance

Cindy Chu in front of The Egyptian for Sundance 11, in her Snow Leopard Spirithood

Cindy Chu in front of The Egyptian for Sundance 11, in her Snow Leopard Spirithood

Lauren Petre and Cindy Chu at Salvation Boulevard screening, Sundance 11

Lauren Petre and Cindy Chu at Salvation Boulevard screening, Sundance 11

The Woman

The Woman, what I told Lucky...

PRESS

While I was at Sundance, Robert del Valle of Real Detroit Weekly contacted me about their biweekly local stars’ Michigan Motion Picture column.  My friend (she’s so pretty!!!) Treasure Groh, also staff at RDW, had asked awhile ago if I’d like to be interviewed for it.  Of course, I said yes.  I’ve also got tons of people that I think they should interview in the future, too!  The link to the article is here.

OTHER STUFF

When I returned from Sundance, I was on this inspirational kick!  I had a drive to make some videos pure awesome Youtubeness!

So for your viewing pleasure:

A sneak peek of my Sundance adventures.  This wonderful woman who hosted us took us to this delicious sushi place called Yamato’s a few times.  Her “roundeyes” son works there as a sushi chef, and I gotta tell ya, he’s good!  So the fish in the aquarium clip was from there.  Those fish weren’t for eating, LOL.

And then we got hit by Snowpocalypse 2011 in the Midwest (although it really wasn’t that bad in Ann Arbor) so I had to make a cutesie little video for that, and used a song from Scott Pilgrim by Anamanaguchi “Another Winter” for the backing track

Aaaaaand I was in the mood to play my ukulele after being away from it for a week, and uploaded TWO songs in one night!  Then a third the next night! Talk about feeling inspired.  So the first one I’d been working on learning the strum pattern for awhile, and I was sick when I made these so I didn’t sing them as well as I would have liked.  The second one was the song that was in the trailers for Blue Valentine, the one Ryan Gosling’s character plays for Michelle Williams’ character while she tap dances.  The third one is a cover of a song by Soko (from Paris!) called “I Will Never Love You More” and it’s very funny.

Last Friday night, Fitz and the Tantrums played at the Magic Bag in Ferndale, and it was a sold out show (it was free, but filled up immediately upon doors opening).  Luckily, I had met the female vocalist, the very beautiful and talented Noelle Scaggs, back in LA a few years ago, so my friends and I were able to sneak in the back with her.  I shot a decent live video of their final encore song, their hit single, “Moneygrabber”.  (<—Did I get that punctuation right???)

And one last one, because I miss warm weather and am feeling nostalgic for warm sunny days.  I switched the audio on my skydiving video, and now it looks and sounds cool.

Alright, my lovely readers, that was my huge February update.  Remember to smile, spring is just around the corner.  Appreciate the little things in life.  Don’t forget to laugh, especially at yourself.  And always tell your family you love them.  They might not always be there.

Peace, blessings, joy,

~cindy

Gorgeous icicles outside my balcony

Gorgeous icicles outside my balcony



SUNDANCE 2011

Posted on by cindychu
Sundance 2011

Sundance 2011

So it’s almost upon us!  I’m talking about the Sundance Film Festival, of course!  And I’m going.  😀  You may recall in an earlier post, that I played the part of Alisa in the film Salvation Boulevard.  Well, George Ratliff is premiering it at Sundance, so I felt it would be the perfect opportunity to attend for the first time.  My only qualms are that I decided so late in the game, and the ticketing procedures were unfamiliar to me, so I will have to see if I can get tickets once I’m there.

Here are some images from the film (they all link back to what site they’re from if you click on them):

Pierce Brosnan as Dan Day in Salvation Boulevard

Pierce Brosnan as Dan Day in Salvation Boulevard

 

Salvation Boulevard--Dan Day

Salvation Boulevard--Dan Day

Greg Kinnear as Carl VanderVeer in Salvation Boulevard

Greg Kinnear as Carl VanderVeer in Salvation Boulevard

 

I’ll have a partner in crime for my SLC/PC trip: my actor friend Lauren Petre!  She’s also represented by my talent agency, Charlie’s Talent Agency, or CTA.  She also has a film in which she acted premiering at Sundance.  It’s a horror film directed by well-known director Lucky McKee, called The Woman.  We’ll be attending the Wednesday night showing together!  Here are a couple creepy images from the film:

 

Still from Lucky McKee's The Woman--from ShockTillYouDrop.com

Still from Lucky McKee's The Woman--from ShockTillYouDrop.com

Behind the scenes shot of Lucky McKee's The Woman--from soundonsight.org

Behind the scenes shot of Lucky McKee's The Woman--from soundonsight.org

In preparation for the festivities, I picked up a couple more sweaters and some good solid snow boots, so I’ll be ready to wait outside in the cold!

 

The North Face Nuptse Fur IV Boots

The North Face Nuptse Fur IV Boots

It had been awhile since my last haircut, too.  I had my stylist, Josh Thiele of Orbit Hair Salon in Ann Arbor, Michigan, give my mop a good cleaning up today.

 

Cindy Chu haircut

Cindy Chu with her fresh coif

Looks like 2011 is off to an exciting start for me.  I can only hope that this year will be even more successful for me in my pursuit of acting.  As with all actors, learning new skills or just having other skills can be important sometimes.  Take Christina Hendricks, who has been learning how to play the accordion.  Well, while the writers of Mad Men were brainstorming ideas, they decided they wanted an episode in which she played a song at a dinner party.  They found out she played accordion, and so they wrote the scene for her.

This brings me to my point.  I have been earnestly practicing on my ukulele, and recorded another song the other night.  Right now, I’m working on learning yet another, and as soon as I feel I’m performing it at my best (difficult strum pattern!) I will post it, as well.  This one was “Sentimental Heart” by She & Him, and I definitely should have practiced it longer than 15 minutes before uploading any performance, but c’est la vie!   (Pretty sure I can perform it a bit better than in the video now… 🙂 *shrugs*)

And in other skill areas, I finally got out my Nikon D70 to shoot my friends’ event.  The Ann Arbor hip hop duo made up of J Thrill, and D Train, aka Thrill$Train, had a show at Sava’s last weekend, and I was there with my camera to capture the magic.  They were pretty happy with the photos!  They’ve got a show in Detroit next month at The Old Miami.  Check out their website for more details or to download their album free!  These were a couple of my favorite images from the night:

 

D Train says J Thrill looks like "The Most Interesting Man in the World's Son" here

D Train says J Thrill looks like "The Most Interesting Man in the World's Son" here

 

Thrill$Train in all their hot hot glory

Thrill$Train in all their hot hot glory

D Train thrilling the crowd

D Train thrilling the crowd

Thrill$Train playing to a packed house at Sava's in Ann Arbor

Thrill$Train playing to a packed house at Sava's in Ann Arbor

 

As with other posts, I like to promote friends, and I went to a show recently at the Crofoot and discovered this AMAZING new band from Monroe, Michigan.  They are called Jack & The Bear and they play instruments like the banjo, violin, trumpet, accordion, etc.  Absolutely brilliant.  One of their friends uploaded some live video footage from the show which you can check out on their Facebook fanpage.  From what I heard, they are in the midst of recording their first album.  I wish them the best of luck, and I honestly wouldn’t be surprised to see them blow up big time in the next couple of years.

Alright, I guess I’ll hopefully have a few more updates for you when I get to Salt Lake City/Park City, UTAH!  It’ll be my first visit to the state.  Huzzah!

~cindy

 

Red Dawn, New Year

Posted on by cindychu

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

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!

SpiritHoods

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

Meow--Cindy Chu

Paws--Cindy Chu

Paws--Cindy Chu

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

Happy 2011!

~c

Other Ventures

Posted on by cindychu

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

Cindy Chu as Princess Koneko of Origami Cat Plan

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

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

 

Origami Cat Plan Groovin at their first show with Cindy Chu

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)

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

Cover of Joe Hill's Locke & Key

A page from 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

Captain "Mal" Malcolm Reynolds of Firefly

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

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

Natalie Portman as the Black Swan

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

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

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

PSA: Curt Howe & Ripoff Report

Posted on by cindychu

I wanted to post something regarding Curt Howe and Charlie’s Talent Agency (CTA).  As with every industry, you sometimes make a few enemies, even when you haven’t done anything wrong.  I have known Curt for several years, and he represents me in the Midwest for SAG/AFTRA projects.  He signed me when all I had on my resume were a local theatre production and high school plays.  He gave me a chance, and got me in to all the local casting agencies, including Pound Mooney, Detroit Casting Company, and Carrie Ray Casting, just to name a few in Michigan.  It’s because of him that I had the opportunity to be in Red Dawn and Salvation Boulevard as a supporting cast member.   He believed in me and pushed and fought for me, and he’s gotten me into so many auditions, even in the last couple of months. He submits me for roles he believes I can play, and even when I don’t fit the breakdown, the casting agents sometimes see me for them.  As any professional actor knows, there may be a hundred no’s before you get a yes.  It’s part of the job.  Sometimes you don’t fit the look.  You could be an amazing actor but your talent agent and casting agent don’t make the final decisions on casting.  The sooner we all stop having delusions of grandeur and expecting to become stars overnight, the better for our local budding industry.  If we can’t all work together and make Michigan look GOOD and PROFESSIONAL, how many productions will want to give us a chance and use local casting?  Because pushing someone else down to drown so that you can get ahead doesn’t work.  Be thankful for every audition you get, and keep working on your craft, and one day you WILL get a yes.  But do NOT blame your not getting parts on your talent agent after he/she has worked to land you an audition in the first place.  The blame game and the hatred and the lies a certain individual has been propagating across the internet does our local industry no good.  We should be helping one another, because success can be contagious.  We need to show that we are just as professional and just as qualified and talented as actors from Chicago, New York, and Los Angeles.  I don’t need to name names, but be warned, you are only succeeding in painting yourself out of the picture and blacklisting your own name.  In this industry, you never want to burn bridges nor bite the hand that feeds you.

My name is Cindy Chu, and I am a SAG actor.  I am proudly represented by Curt Howe of Charlie’s Talent Agency aka CTA.

Michigan Movie Magazine!

Posted on by cindychu

I recently did an interview with Michigan Movie Magazine, held at my agent, Curt Howe’s office in Ferndale.  Jordan Trovillion and I were both being featured in the local movie mag as up and coming young actresses.  Also in the same issue was an article about Sucker, in which Jordan played the female lead, Evelyn, and I was makeup and hair assistant.

Still from Big Screen Entertainment's upcoming Sucker

Still from Big Screen Entertainment's upcoming Sucker

Kimberley Kates in Sucker

Kimberley Kates in Sucker

Monty Bane with Jordan Trovillion in scene from Sucker

Monty Bane with Jordan Trovillion in scene from Sucker

The last photo is from an article on DreadCentral.com, a nice piece they wrote on Sucker.

Anyway, back to that interview!  The videos were posted awhile ago but I just came across them and wanted to share them with you!

Part One

Part Two

Also, some fellow web-savvy chicks in the EU contacted me recently to ask about my experience filming with Ciaran Hinds on Salvation Boulevard!  They were gracious enough to include a link to my site, and in case you’d like to check theirs out, click here!  Thank you Sylvie!  They do have a lovely photo of Mr. Hinds as Jim, his character in Salvation Boulevard.

As always, thank you for stopping by my blog and stay lovely!

~cindy

My Michigan PSA

Posted on by cindychu

I’m writing this post as a PSA to Michigan talent, or anyone interested in the acting industry in Michigan.  Any agency that asks you for money UPFRONT is a SCAM!!!!  Agents make their money off of commission, meaning they get you auditions, you book the work, you get paid, then you pay them their fee.  The only legitimate agency I know that charges you to join is Real Style, an extras casting agency.  Last I knew, they charged $15 as a one-time fee to put you into their database, but I know that they have done extras casting on many major films and they get you PAID work.  In fact, companies like JR Galactic are the ones you should stay away from.  I once did an extras gig on Trivial Pursuits (now changed to Answer This!), that I found through a message from I-Group, and was paid $50/day.  The extras that were cast from JR Galactic were only given $30/day…wonder where the rest of it was going?

If you are interested in finding an agency, these are the ONLY SAG/AFTRA-franchised agencies that I know of in Michigan:

1) Charlie’s Talent Agency (CTA)–I am exclusive with this agency for film/tv work.  They specialize in film/tv.

2) Productions Plus (Talent Shop is now joined with them)–PP is a huge agency and does commercial, industrial, and print work, as well as film/TV.  So if you’re interested in modeling, car shows, etc., this is a great way to get in and get started.

3) I-Group–I-Group casts models for fashion, print, etc. along with film/TV, so again, probably an easier one to get started with.

A good way to be prepared to join any of these agencies is to have A) headshots for film/TV work, and B) comp cards if you’re going into modeling.  Simply having a resume of extra/stand-in work isn’t really enough to get you noticed now.  Try getting involved with some student films, or local indie productions, and even local theatres for some stage acting experience.  I am a SAG member, but it took me  a long time to get where I am.  I have extensive stage acting experience, along with having participated in Grosse Pointe South’s show choir program for all 4 years of high school, not to mention being in choir and/or band most of the rest of my K-12 education.  Even after high school, I participated in some student/indie films, and local theatre productions, doing whatever I could to participate and gain experience.  If you have talent and you work hard at it, eventually it’ll pay off for you, too.

These are just my words of advice, everyone has a different path to follow.  Maybe my advice won’t work for you, but I think it’s a good basic guide on what to do.  Best of luck and break a leg!

Stay lovely,

Cindy

PS:  With all the films coming in to the state to film, a lot of scammers have been popping up, offering you the world for the small fee of, say, $500 or whatever they charge.  Remember that NONE of these companies are legitimate, and you can always call the SAG offices to find out if an agency is actually franchised or not, or look them up on the BBB, Better Business Bureau.  I was once at an indie animated audition, and a gentleman was there saying he’d helped organize the audition, and had formed a new agency and was looking for new talent.  He asked me what I’d been working on and there were so many red flags that popped up about him as soon as we started having a conversation about the industry.  1) He didn’t even know who the casting agents were that I was mentioning I’d had auditions with the past few months, and these are the local casting agents the Hollywood films have been using to find local talent.  2) He didn’t know the current projects that were shooting here, and anyone who follows the film industry at ALL, by reading local newspapers or looking online could find this out.  3) He has no film industry experience.   I won’t mention his agency name because I don’t want to smear him, but I’m sharing this story to warn you of the people that appear out of the woodwork when they smell money to be made and some easy prey.  You have to be careful and do your research so you don’t fall victim to these industry vultures.

Cindy Chu--Actress

Cindy Chu--Actress--Charlie's Talent Agency

Qing Lou Nu wins Best Short at the 3rd Annual Philadelphia Independent Film Festival

Posted on by cindychu

The official winners were announced yesterday for the 3rd annual Philadelphia Independent Film Festival, and I am proud to tell you that Qing Lou Nu took home the Best Short award!  That’s a 2 for 2 weekend for us.  Congratulations to Bryan D. Hopkins, my wonderful director.

Here’s the list of winners excerpted from the PIFF blog:

Benjamin Barnett
Festival Director
Philadelphia Independent Film Festival
June 23 – 27, 2010

++++++++++++++++++
OFFICIAL WINNERS
++++++++++++++++++
3rd Annual Philadelphia Independent Film Festival 2010

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Best Feature:
Kandahar Break (David Whitney ~ Director)
Honorable Mention – Feature
The Beginner (Benjamin Coccio)
Honorable Mention – Feature
Putt Putt Syndrome (Alan Cognata– Director)

Best – Short:
Qing Lou Nu ( Bryan Hopkins ~ Director)
Honorable Mention – Short
Furs ( Jill Knox-Gosse)

Best – Political
Who killed Chea Vichea? (Rich Garella ~ Producer / Bradley Cox ~ Director)
Honorable Mention – Political
Auf Wiedersehen: Till We Meet Again (Linda G. Mills ~ Director / Producer)

Best – Special Feature
Letters from the Desert: Eulogy to Slowness (Michela Occhipinti – Director / Producer)
Honorable Mention – Special Feature
Blue Wonder ( John Shenk / Akemi)

Best – Feature Length Music Documentary
Average Community (Fred Zara ~ Director and Christopher Zara ~ Writer /CoProducer)
Honorable Mention – Feature Length Music Documentary
Riot Acts – Flaunting Gender (Madsen Minax ~ Director)

Best Film – Foreign
Stockholm (United Arab Emirates) (Tiffany Yoon Director/Producer)
Honorable Mention – Foreign
Bruja (PANAMA) (Jason Yamas ~Producer)

Best – Animation
The Lift (Robert Kohr)
Honorable Mention – Animation
The Cow Who Wanted To Be A Hamburger (Bill Plympton)

Best – Music Video:
Nicolas Maranda – “646” (Nicolas Maranda ~Director)
Honorable Mention: Music Video
Ruse of Fools – “The Flood” (Mark Gonzalas – Composer)
Honorable Mention – Music Video
DJ Ease Back / Prince Lord – The Light (DJ Ease Back – ~Director)

Congratulations to everyone who screened at PIFF and to all the winners.  Thank you for letting us screen with you, and sorry we couldn’t be there in person as our screening at DWIFF was the same night.

The next official screening of Qing Lou Nu will be at GlassCityCon, the premier Toledo-area anime con, taking place at Owens Community College in Perrysburg, Ohio.   The event, which is scheduled for July 17, 2010 from 11AM-12PM, will consist of a screening of Qing Lou Nu, followed by a Q&A conducted by me where I can answer any questions you may have about the film, or the acting industry.

Thank  you for stopping by my blog and stay fabulous!

~cindy