Passion, Persistence, Perspective.
If you’re new here, start with 10 Things You Need To Know.
This is Episode Six of About a Week Ago, a piece I’ve been writing since I began my formal journey in February 2022 to pursue unit photography for motion pictures after I moved out to Los Angeles.
This once one off thing turned newsletter and public journal entry acts in now ways that have been developed over time:
- keeping my friends and family updated on what’s happening.
- allowing a public space for me to process that, as it is.
- giving room for my photography to breathe in a storytelling manner.
- updating my mentors and professional network where my career is at.
I hope you enjoy the read and in a little peek inside how my brain works.
You would exist in the gray…we’d be teaching you how to kill bad guys — and seeing that you already killed one, it seems like that won’t be an issue.”
“Disposable?”
“Expendable.”
“How long?”
“Let’s just say you’d be indefinetly useful to us.”
— Sierra Six to Donald Fitzroy, The Grey Man
Chapter 1: Passion.
[1/2 of October 2022]
Becoming Trojan
Earlier in July, I had begun discussing what the roadmap of the back half in the second half of my year in the film industry would look like. Being still in an industry wide strike, there wasn’t much Lynne Hale ( for those new here, she’s been my mentor for the past year and a half since I met her at one of her retirement ceremonies— she ran publicity for Lucasfilm and Star Wars in the vast majority of her life, George Lucas — Thank the Maker !— quite literally handed her the keys) could do from me from an actually getting me a job kind of level.
We decided to take it as a blessing and leverage the time to continue making most of our time. The answer to that question was going straight to the best of the best, holding true to our initial ideas of what would be my break into the industry.
The simplest way of explaining what it our plan was when we started was combining the three aspects that define my best traits at heart all driven by my love for cinema that began with Star Wars:
- A desire to connect missing link that wasn’t mentioned at all in film school — stunts, understanding the only way I knew how by going and doing the thing. I made it clear early on to myself that I was here to learn the mentality of what it takes to be a stuntman and that in the end, I would be able to join all movement with my photography shooting action like no one else did because I had came up with my generation of stunt performers.
- My big picture understanding of how to build a brand that naturally came from my previous seven year career crossing community relations and traditional P.R. This would the first time I’d be doing it for my own personal brand however — I had always been doing it for others and figured it was time.
- A knack for personal network and understanding the human first. I have never really understood why my networking skills have always been so good.I didn’t have the confidence to do it right until it was almost too late in my last career. Not again.
We’re 9 months in since my year 1 in film that formally began January 2023.
Spoiler alert: the idea worked.
“I was just along for the ride. The ride became my life as we know it now.”
-Ceaser Flores
Earlier in September, I had already met gaffer Ceaser Flores who was lead grip and electric on “Movement, Light and Life” — my first major project that was with an entirely new crew I had not worked with before. All my other sets on some level were making movies with my friends truly only for fun. Walking onto this set was a deer in the headlights moment for me. Part of that was due to Caesar’s magical lighting — it was the first time I left things on many of my photos on the production “as is.”
An introduction from producer Gus Murray led to me talking to Ceaser about how he navigated the LA film community to get to where he was at, now known as one of the best rising gaffers in the city who spent the entire strike…working. He confirmed our initial thoughts that the idea Lynne and I had wasn’t too far off. A solid amount of sweat equity had resulted in him by the end of his first year basically be known as a USC student, despite him not actually ever going to the class.
The University of Southern California’s film program is known as one of the best — if not the best in the world for good reason. The majority of the graduates end up somewhere they want to be. And that’s not even because of the education. The real reason why people go is because of the strength of the network. I mean, just off the top of my head.
Ryan Coogler — Ludwig Gorranson — Rick Famuiya — John M Chu…more?
Building a network of 2023/24 students meant the most statistically possible success for my career as a unit photographer over the next 10 years. Everyone knows someone knows someone.
I would be reminded that life has a sense of humor…a certain way of going about things.
Meeting Daeil Kim
Daeil Kim came into my life 3 days after I had made a spontaneous decision to join a short film — Timewriter — that needed a last minute still photographer.
Kim moved from South Korea when he was 20 to pursue film, originally starting in New York City. Meeting his partner Melanie while on set (naturally, as life goes for us in the industry) Daeil would eventually graduate from the University of Buffalo making his move to USC’s Cinema MFA program earning several prestigious scholarships in the process. A prolific filmmaker, Daeil would complete his first feature at 24 in 9 days on an extremely low budget. On top of writing his next several feature ideas, he would DP short in the meantime consistently that would eventually lead me to meeting him.
Whether it was our shared Asian backgrounds, our calm confidence and dry humor on set, or our passion for telling stories about the human condition, D.K. was the first director of photography to give me full access to a set like no one had before. He knew why I was there, why I did what I did, and how he could best support me.
Impressing Daeil enough had led to him introducing me on my first truly USC set— a capstone (their term for “thesis”) film needed a still photographer. He had won an emerging filmmaker scholoraship that. would provide the lenses for the project through Panavision, becoming my first major referral in the process and my next “yes” in life.
Why life had a sense of humor? The questions Lynne and I were asking behind the scenes were answered naturally along the way.
Mr. Floofiemunchies
Even though I was originally flying out to Denver for a few days during thshoot, I said yes without hesitation. I changed my flights and got to packing my camera gear instead of my luggage.
Although I can’t speak much on the project due to respecting its privacy, I’m happy to be able to share a few of the images.
The picture would be my first time:
- working with a child actor.
- spending five days straight on the set.
- having a consistent camera crew I had previous with.
- navigating an emotionally draining family story with substance abuse.
- having an entire above the line crew (director, assistant director, director of photography, producer) that understood the value of why I was there, giving unfettered access to anywhere, anytime, anyplace.
- using one of my photos as the eventual poster for the production.
Daeil — Thank you for being the first DP that truly made me feel like I was a part of team camera. Even if it was just you being you, done more than you know to add perspective to what life on a film set will be like. You’re defining the kind of person I am going to be choosing to work with. I look forward continuing to rising together wherever things may lead us!
Chapter 2: Persistence
All is Lost.
[1/2 of October 2022]
October was the most rough month I had in while.
Seasonal depression was hitting me hard. I had lost my motivation to go to the gym and train consitstenly. Everything seemed to be going wrong or in some unexpected way I thought wasn't possible.
To name a few of the things that happened:
- I had a horrible trip back home to Denver. I spent the week dealing with one my parents who is an alcoholic in denial and another that wasn’t willing to have a conversation with their son until forced to.
- During the same week, my mind was still home in L.A. I had found out one of my best freinds in the 501st had been sexually assaulted and that no one was doing anything about it. I decided to say something and it blew up in my face, resulting in me losing a few people I thought were my freinds. I will note however, my command staff in Southern California and Legion level command were very supportive during this time. My primary focus while I was in Denver was being there for her.
- A contract negotiation for a new client failed in the paying side of my life, being indefinitely postponed.
- On top of that, my longest standing client of two years decided to revert a month of my pay. Because of the way they handled the situation, I decided it was best to save my sanity, forgoing a large end of term bonus that wasn’t worth an extra month of pain and stress.
- As icing on the cake, a lady friend I thought I had interest in decided to ghost me a few weeks of serious consistent time together. I was nearly to the point of asking her out. It would have been the first time I asked someone out in four years. Bullet dodged, I guess?
And then, clarity.
I realized I had already spent a year building the consulting funding the my entry into my next career that is going to last a decade or more planning for a moment like this to happen. I had already gotten a year head start on that entry into my new industry. I had three strong communities I had building for years behind me between Star Wars, the one where my consulting lies, and now stunts that led into the great world of film in L.A..
I recognized that if I could make it through the first few weeks of the month, I would be able to return home to my happy place and give my body the jolt it needed to get back in action.
How you might ask?
By waking up at 4:45 A.M. for a week, spending six hours a day that week with people I love, and capturing the best of the best training for the world to see. When I arrived, everything going on in outside my outside life was left at the door. If I wanted to making the gym “my house”, I knew I needed to give it the respect it deserved.
It was time to once again Join All Movement.
Superheroes
[2/2 of October 2022]
Purple has become a large part of JAM’s identity and brand. The sole reason why it was chosen was because it stood out and the community would immediately recognize where a piece of choreography was shot at. To be fair, it was a pretty genius idea from Aaron Toney, his only claim to fame as Travis Wong often says (well, outside of bringing in the speakers that grace the gym’s open training sessions).
It felt like it was yesterday I saw that floor for the first time. It was the only place I knew where to go to find a network of people who loved film and mixed martial arts as much as I did, after discovering the gym through Corridor Digital’s Stuntmen React. I would backpocket the idea for two years, training Muay Thai (a style of kickboxing from Thailand) and Kali (a filipino weapons focused style known for its dual sticks). I knew at the very least, I had to make JAM a home to understand the mentality of what it took to be a stuntman. At the very least, that would be a level up for me. Knowing I wasn’t going to walk in the gym and be able to pull out my camera, I went on a six month endeavor to train as if I was becoming a stuntee, building relationships with the community and staff.
I did not know how just how unprepared I was going to be.
Superheroes
When I started at JAM at the end of January, I had the blessing of getting to spend three full days learning from Aaron Toney — A.T. — as we call him. Aaron met Travis Wong, the founder of JAM, when they started their careers into stunts around the same time by kicking him in the face.
Years laters, Aaron would be my first instructor when I started back at JAM. He would calmy walk me through my first punches, blocks, and falls prepping me if I wanted to do it on film. He would be the first to help me answering the missing link in photography — movement. In one of his classes, I would meet the first half of my first group of solid freinds in L.A. The second half of that group would come from a day with Vlad Rimburg who taught us a fight in the mud (hint: there was no mud) one “Hell Yeah!” from the very boisterous teddy bear of man.
Photographing A.T. would mark two thirds of the stuntmen, the first being Travis, that were responsible for getting me out here to Los Angeles and starting out my journey thanks to the “Stuntmen React” videos they did in collaboration with Corridor Digital, a YouTube channel that turned a group of indie filmmakers to their own studio whose work in general was also intergral throughout my general journey into film from their Frozen Crossing and Video Game High School.
At the end of Day 1, I would reference the Corridor videos to Travis knowing who the instructor was the following day. T would proudly respond by saying it was not entirely on his own accord that he found his way to the hallowed couch that so many of my inspirations had sat on. Without Day 2’s instructor, much of my life and love for film as we know it would not have been possible either.
During class on Day 2, I would reference the Corridor videos in a conversation with Travis and how excited I was about who the second intructor was going to be. Travis would proudly respond saying that without him, all of the Corridor videos I had seen that inspired me weren’t possible. Frankly, without him, much of my life wouldnt have been either.
Wakanda will no longer watch from the shadows.
We can not. We must not.
We will work to be an example of how we, as brothers and sisters on this earth, should treat each other. Now, more than ever, the illusions of division threaten our very existence.
We all know the truth: more connects us than separates us. But in times of crisis the wise build bridges, while the foolish build barriers.
We must find a way to look after one another, as if we were one single tribe.
— T’Challa
Gui Di Silva became an integral figure in my journey after I had watched one of his stuntmen reacts, being the final push I needed to pick up the flow of Kali. I had already been familiar with the art from my love of Star Wars, where many of the fights in the Prequel trilogy had used the style and it’s speed as influence.
The choice would lead me to find Train. Fight. Win. Denver led by Mike ad L.A. Jennings, where I trained under the FCS (Filipino Combat Systems) for the vast majority of the pandemic allowing me to naturally find my way to mixed martial arts. Spending two years at the gym would more importantly build the mentality of a fighter that naturally translated to stunts, my work ethic and stubborn inablity to quit being the most vital.
The choreography taught by Gui on this day set students up to fail, being one of the first fights he learned to Black Panther. In some way, everyone impressed Gui with that in mind and it also reminded him the love he had for teaching.
After class, I patiently awaited everyone to finish their questions, taking Gui aside privately for a few moments to tell him my own story and just how influential he was as “The Corridor Connection” to getting me here. Even though we had just met, my time with Gui felt like we had been brothers our entire lives.
As a result, knowing no fear, I would have one ask for him that would be integral to Phase 2 of my career taking things back to where they all started.He wouldn’t hesitate to be my next “yes.”
“Baby Steps to Giant Strides.
You are well on your way, my friend. Keep up the fanstastic work!”
— James Young to me after seeing the first key selects from his class.
An entire decade of my life was spent growing up watching James Young without knowing it.
I remember watching The Winter Soldier in 2014 when I had graduated high school, on a date with a girl I liked. By the end of the movie, I had chosen the action in it over the girl. Looking back now, it’s clear that this was the the first time my brain recognized action was going to be a massive part of my life, only for it to take a decade to realize that idea leading us to now. That fight with the now Extraction director Sam Hargrave who doubled Captain America was also the first time I would also be the first time I was introduced to the A.T. and Gui (who we will never forget the shot of him falling asleep in the back of a quinjet).
My favorite story Travis told of James is one I’m going to tell you today for perspective.
Like the rest of the instructors of this course, he would start around the same time as them. There was no stunt school, so Travis decided to make his own — James was someone who was someone who was always training, always putting in the work and still willing to go to lengths to help Travis in any way he could open JAM. He would stay up late to paint the walls of the first JAM before it opened and one of these nights, he told Travis he was going to “hit the ground running.” in reference to where he felt his career was going after he persisted coming from nothing. Then, The Winter Soldier happened. It led to him doubling Iron Man, coordinating Black Widow, and eventually second unit directing The Gray Man.
Now is the first time he’s had any sense of a break and he decided to spend it by coming to teach. Like Gui, the experience would remind him how much he loved passing things along to the next generation. He promised to be back (he noted sarcastically in less than 10 years this time).
Privately, James would get in touch with me after. Like Gui, and Aaron before him, he would uplift me giving a massive boost to my social presence. By the end of the week, everyone who was in stunts on Instagram had saw a photo I had take — stunt teams from around the world (including Singapore!) would say hello unlocking future important connections.
James wouldn’t hesitate offering to see what he could do about getting me in touch with a still photographer that he had worked with during his time at MARVEL.
Jason’s quick tips for everyone, especially if you’re in stunts:
Take care of your body.
If your mind is not in good standing, everything else is gonna fall along with it.
Seriously — take mental health, seriously.
Drink water, lots of it
Eat well.
Recover as hard as you train; stretch, foam roll, oppositional exercises
Compression boots are nice but a steam room will work just as well.
It’s not the choreo, it’s the tons of spaces in between you need to really fill out with character choices. Stop just flying through it all mindlessly. Story first and always — what problem are you solving for the character that pushes their development forward?
Start creating now; grab some friends, create and recreate choreo (@guidasilvagreene also emphasis the importance of this. I don’t think I need to be told thrice to get cracking. )
Fill your mind with inspiring things, watch tons of film
Take care of each other. Make each other look good.I n the past there was a lot of butting heads and egos everywhere. That isn’t really where the future of stunts is headed. We uplift ourselves as we uplift others/ vice versa.
Just drink enough water, dang it.
The final two days were spent with eqaually legendary and accomplished stuntmen — Anis Chuerva of team 8711 and Dave Elson. Anis started his career as RINZLER from Tron: Legacy, most recently being Henry Golding’s double for Snake Eyes. Dave famously was the only Spiderman double to work with all three actors being Maguire, Garfield and Holland.
Travis would take a moment — for the first time in my career at JAM — to introduce me to all three classes with who I was and why I was there. The introduction was an honor normarlly bestowed upon intructors and important members of the community who came in to see the intensives in the past.
I knew I had done something right, allowing my passion to put me in a unique place that allowed me to capture a tight nit community that was normally not used to having their story told in such a way. I understood how rare of a chance this was going into my recap with one on one Travis after the week.
We had both recognized the calm and confidence in how I carried myself, the care I put into every single person I met that week no matter if they were a beginner or advanced performer, and the talent I had we were just starting to discover. My shots surprised myself and I knew the past 9 months of non-stop photography were showing where things could go.
Wong would continue to be an unapologetic supporter on, continually teaching me to think outside of the box about ways I could continue navigating the action and movement community while keeping my end goals of unit photography most present.
“I kept dreaming of a world I thought I’d never see, and then one day…I got in”
— Kevin Flynn to Sam Flynn, Tron: Legacy
Chapter 3: Perspective
An Immigrant’s Supehero Origin Story
“I am a Chinese American student here, and seeing you in a Marvel movie made me so proud to be who I am for the first time in my life.”
— anonymous via cue card to Simu Liu
Shang Chi and the Legend of the 10 Rings was the movie that brought phase one — aptly taking inspiration from MARVEL — consisting of the first seven years of my life I felt truly alive from 2016 to 2023 to a close.
The last thing I expected walking into the film was being so moved by Destin Daniel Cretton’s choice to be so unapologetic, taking up space unapologetically of the entire first 10 minutes of the film that was spoken in Mandarin. The broken father and son relationship between Tony Leung and Simu Liu emulated the current lack of a relationship with my own father. The struggles Simu portrayed so truthfully as an Asian American who’s been unable to fit in struck a core that I did not know existed.
Like the anonymous student at CU Boulder, I saw myself on screen and was proud to be who I was for the first time in my knew in my life.
A spontaneous decision in late February of 2022 led me to being in an auditorium with Simu Liu in the flesh, on his press tour for “We Were Dreamers”, his memoir. We had the chance to spend an evening with him — 3 hours of which became the first steps I needed to take the final leap of faith on myself and follow my own dreams.
“My acting career all came out of this rock bottom, losing-it-all moment. It took an absolute catastrophe to get me to realize that I could define success for myself.
So many of us Asian Americans who grew up in this country, grew up feeling invisible or misrepresented — when we turn on the TV and see characters that look like us but weren’t written by us, they felt stereotypical, not real, two-dimensional, one-dimensional or even worse were played by a white guy.
You have to believe in the magic of movies. You have to be optimistic that you can make something that will connect with an audience. You have to find the truth in a story or in a character, a hook that will resonate with people.
That’s the best feeling.”
— Simu Liu
A week later, I would continue on those first steps to Lucasfilm, taking photos of my now mentor Lynne Hale at her retirement ceremony. Impressed by my photagraphy of that and the Chinese New Year Parade I was originally there for, she would offer to take a a five minute call with me. During it, she would be the first to recognize that I had an eye that couldn’t be trained — a recurring theme seen in people’s reaction’s to my images. I would recieve the extremely rare offer of her mentorship to begin my career — our intuition told us unit photography was where my road led and we were right.
The experience was what built the mentality I have around life now — that traveling, living spontaneously, making your money work for you, and not being afraid to ask questions are inherent parts of giving the most to anything you want to see succeed. Everplace you travel to, every person you travel with, and every experience you have is a new data set to download and apply to frame your bigger picture so what’s possible is only limited by your imagination.
Becoming INFJ
Lynne’s choice to support me and the combined qualities I mentioned at the start would lead me to accomplish the impossible for someone of my circumstances.
Like James, I had built my career from nothing. I was diagnosed with genetic disablities as a kid and was never supposted to be able to mixed martial arts. I spent a lifetime overweight, limited by the mental block my brain had put up to be anything but “fat.” My time spent being bullied as a kid destroyed my confidence that I did not really properly re-discover until the last few years on my own.
Still, however despite all of this, there are times where I feel I will never fit in.
My entire life, I’ve struggled to find people who just got me for who I really am. It’s a well known curse of being INFJ. I’ve always floated from group of freinds to group of friends, never really fitting in. Sometimes, social situations and my intuition lets me know that people immediately rub me the wrong way. Sometimes, it’s other people that fear me while others immediately respect me. I’ve never been able to explain why.
Either way, it’s led me to being incredibly mis-understood. and I’ve accepted it’s a part of my life journey that I will always have to navigate.
Meeting Alyssa Leanne So
Every JAM intensive, I’ve been able to identify several people each time that I’ve chosen to add to my network using the best assets in my personality — Intuition and Feeling. Sometimes, it’s a good first impression and conversation, othertimes, it’s someone who goes out of their way to show their apprecation of my work. Often, they’re also an individual with extraordinary ability. Very rarely do they hit everything.
This time around, there was one that stood above.
In February of 2022, Alyssa (pronounce Ah-LEE-Sa) Leanne So was sitting in her family’s home in San Fransisco. She had just submitted her notice to Zillow after five years in software engineering as an Android developer (she doesn’t have a blue bubble when she texts me, oh, sadge). Her Slack account was blowing up with messages like “I’m so proud you’re following dreams!” and “I can say I knew her before she was famous!.”
Everything, Everywhere, All at Once was Alyssa’s “now is my time” as Shang Chi was to me. Her dream — one that she will accomplish, just like mine to shoot unit photography on a project with Cretton and Liu in a shorter timeline than she thinks — is to act on a project for the Daniels.
We’d have eerily similar paths to film, both choosing action and stunts as our home. To just name a few our uncanny similarities:
- born in the same month.
- come from primarily Chinese heritage.
- started as powerlifters (she still does, peep her 335 deadlift)
- have a love for the flying dutchman at In and Out.
- transitioned from well paying jobs to following our passion, taking the long and hard way in the pursuit of true happiness over initial financial success
- have both accomplished the impossible in 9 month journey that started exactly around the same time.
Throughout the week at JAM, I would get to watch Alyssa exceed expecations as an actor taking an advanced class. After another spontaneous decision led to us to spending time together after one day, we would find ourselves in a hilarously awkward situation as a result of our rushed and poor planning. She would take the strides in hilarity, leading us to having a great time anyways with the first of many great conversations.
Like Daeil who I had met in the same timeframe, Alyssa was one of the first Asian Americans that truly saw me for all I was — the positive and the negative, combined with the deep roots that got us both to sitting in the same car cafe eating Acai bowls because we didn’t think to look if the shop had parking, much less a place to sit.
From our first day together, I immediately recognized she was someone special I had put me on a path meeting since before we were both born considering the trials and tribulations our parents took to give us a chance at a better life. Chinese people believe in the concept of red string theory, a concept usually used for romantic relationships but can also be used for friendship as well. Going through our 9 month journey to here, it seemed that every door I had entered now Alyssa was on the other side in some way. For some reason, whether it’s luck, fate, or a red string depending on whatever you believe, we had not met until now.
A short time grew a long list of accolades including landing a set led by 8711 stuntman and fight coordinator Jeremy Marinas and a stint with Wong Fu Production, a house notorious for finding future Asian American stars in their early stages. She had become a part of two stunt teams, one led by upcoming coordinator John Tieng training out of Tempest Freerunning and team XMA that trains out of 87North, 8711’s sister gym founded by Chad Stahelski’s partner in crime David Leitch.
The result? A badass and heck of a person I’m lucky to call a friend.
Oh, and want to guess who else also worked on a Fu short during the same stage of their career?
Simu Liu.
As icing on the cake, I would find out that when Alyssa began her journey she wrote a piece called “So What, You Quit Your Tech Job to Become An Actor — Part 1" that she published the same month I would publish the first episode of “About a Week Ago.”
Coincidence? Luck? A Red String? Only time will tell.
“For many of us, the “Hollywood Dream” doesn’t exist — our careers would have died out a long time ago if it did. It should be called the “Hollywood Journey” despite the cliche that is in itself.
If I could do things differently when I started? Nothing.
You’re here at JAM. That’s already a huge advantage by just showing up. We didn’t have stunt school or much less mats to train on growing up. It was go to a park, fall down and learn the hard way and quit if you thought that was too much.
Set no timelines. If you have them, you’re just setting yourself up for faliure.
If you have nothing you do for fun in your portfolio, I won’t hire you.
Above all else, be a good human. Drama is becoming a thing of the past.
Division only leads to more indifference — less fights on film.
Uplift your friends, make them look good. Things will come in due time.”
-Malay Kim (Fight Team: Shang Chi — Mortal Kombat — The Continental)
Alyssa would be my invite to a weekly class at JAM led by EMC Monkeys fight team founder and stuntman, Malay Kim. The dojo inside JAM allowed me to continuously learn new forms of mixed martial arts, how to translate that to choreography, and just generally a great (painful) 2 and 1/2 hours session with even better people. It reaffirmed that even if it was a longer route to my end goal, stunts was the main community I wanted to continue calling home in film. The friendships formed here through the pain and growth are really like nothing else.
On my first class, I would be re-united with my freind Melanie Rains who I had just returned from Jackie Chan’s stunt team — the first time the legendary group had hosted a seminar in Beijing. We (including her awesome partner and fellow talented photographer whose portraits you see here, Matt Chute) had met earlier in the summer at the intensive I first asked Travis about unit photography and the answer led me to shooting for JAM. Not knowing my main goal was camera, Mel asked me about my training and I mentioned what I was actually here for. It was something that gained immediate respect from her, knowing now that I was here because I wanted to be. In fact, it’s an expectation for camera to be training alongside stunts in China if they want to shoot action. The conversation only confirmed the intuition that got me her — nearly, now a year and a half ago since Lynne and I had that first call together.
Alyssa — I am grateful for you now being in my life, being the first inkling of not being alone on my journey. For so long, I thought I was on my own in this path I was on only to realize that it was setting me up for like all the best things: the right place and right time for us to connect. It’s just a feeling but despite the fact at face value a journey to unit photographer vs action actress may seem very different, where we end up will be the same — with me, behind the camera and you, in front of it. I look forward to many more great conversations, gremlin modes, and continuing to support each other wherever the long and winding road leads down the least traveled path we both chose like our parents that put us here.
And yes — I’ll get to say I knew her before she was famous!
Rescued
[1/2 of November 2022]
Over this period of time, I also had the honor to spend a few days on my second feature film during my time since starting my career in Los Angeles. Although I can’t speak much on this project, I’m grateful for theexperience for several reasons. The film checked off a few interesting bucket lists for me that I didn’t really expect to happen during my first year formally pursuing the role.
It was my first time:
- working with A list talent ( Lindsey Shaw / David Deluise).
- working with a dog.
- working with crew for the first time from one of the shows that’s reponsible getting me out here to LA, codename “Buccaneer” (IFYKY)
Included in the experience was a wonderfully human conversation with Lindsey about her how she dealt with her fame and how it led to her substance abuse and addiction. With her, basically restarting her entire career and me doing similar, it would be a wonderful bonding experience that would unlock a relationship for the rest of the our time together.
David would be equally wonderful to work with and open to discussing his career — what impressed me most was his genuine intention to learn about the crew first over himself. I would also find out we had a funny connection with my Star Wars, stunts, and life mentor in Ardershir Radpour. He would also take my phone and send personal Cameos to my freinds who were freaking out about the fact I was working with him.
This would mark the first time one of my photos got the most calls and texts from friends and family. Apparently, I missed out on my generation growing up on Ned’s DeClassified and Wizards of Waverly Place. That’s what happens when you grow up in an Asian family though, sometimes!
Fin: How Photography Can Get You What You Want
My camera has been catalyst to everything I’ve ever wanted in life. It’s given me my communities I call home, both of my careers, and so much more.
It’s become a running joke in my life that most of my friends outside of the world I’m paid from don’t know what I do for a living — I think to keep it going, we’re going to for the most part, leave it that way.
What you need to know — unlike many people who spent the pandemic lost, it was when I found my passion and purpose in life two times over. I had luckily already accidentally spent several years of being lost before developing a rare set of skills perfectly fit for any industry I want to find myself in blurring the lines between content creation, publicity, and community relations.
Now, I get paid to build global digital communies for brands driven by a love of music, consulting them to understand what makes us human, why relationships are so much more important than initial financial success.
How it started? Photography.
Why it’s important to what’s next? It gives me the singular opportunity to be have the rare combination of comparable financial, time and location freedom to full send unit photography. It taught me the process of how to gain a foothold on an industry through photography and now I’m doing it again — only in half the time it took the last time around.
I know many of my industry friends from both worlds aren’t so lucky. A combination of luck patience and timing got me here, combined with sheer work ethic to create this opportunity.
This is the only shot I will have. I’m full sending it to wherever it leads.
Oh, and I’m going to be hitting the ground running.
“The difference between art and design is while they both use many tools of creativity — art uses them to ask questions; while design uses them to solve them.
Your photography dances between this idea AMAZINGLY! Its not all photography; yours! Your journey has fueled a passion to not just tell a story; but to fuel a viewer to also ask for more. What more can they feel, what more did they NOT see, what else is being told not captured — but also the one behind the lens and emulsion is visually absent yet ever-present.
You’re experiencing so much and more. Its a tale with ups and downs, bringing brightness and testing darknesses; and you’re pulling through so well. And you’re telling it all — the good and the bad, the wins and the losses, for everyone to see.
- A design statement my 501st friend Andrew Lichtenhan sent me after being exposed to my work for the first time through About a Week Ago, describing my journey and a goal in such a succinct way no one has before.
What’s Next?
Ah, always the eternal question that I’m trying to pull myself not from always asking myself. That said, the continued irony in taking a step back from everything has made the future more clear.
In no specific order…
Goals of Phase 2 — the next seven years — are:
Prioritize self care, self worth, and self learning above all else, continuing to repair what’s broken in me and build on my strongest qualities in life to continue taking me to the next level.
- Find the person that’s I’m going to share this journey with — my partner, my rock, my home in life.
- Live life spontaneously with no compromise….as logically possible of course (said no one ever).
- Build my network focusing on my generation and the one coming up behind me, uplifting them and their stories to allow them to find success before I do. If they “make it” as a result of my photography I take of them now, directly or not, it means I will too.
- Travel as much as I can, see the world, meet new people and continue to do things I never thought I would. Life isn’t short, you just gotta do more.
- Continuing my consulting with my three long term clients, only taking on new work when the client matches community needs, my ethical checkboxes, and move the industry forward in some way.
- Finding creative ways to make photography as a top priority, using it lead into new industries I want to have a foothold in. Motorcycles and cars through action photography is next.
Goals of wrapping out phase one— the next three months— are:
- Returning from my break covering Star Wars, it will kick off with Fan Expo San Fransisco, the Hollywood Christmas Parade, and finally my first Los Angeles Comic Con!
- Shooting on my next three short films in December that have me booked till the 9th — one is for UCLA, one is my first paid project I got from a referral, and my next USC Capstone.
- Now fully “in” the world of stunts, expanding my goal to covering the entire community for historical importance. My relationships with JAM and the following stunt teams — EMC Monkeys, XMA, and Team RedPro are my top priorities. It’s only a matter of time before my work leads me to 8711, founded by Chad Stahelski, and 87North, founded by his partner in crime David Leitch.
- Building relationships with incredible people in my life like Daeil and Alyssa, seeing where they lead us!
Driving the point home one more time:
“Don’t wait to get fired from your job to figure out what it is you are truly meant to do.”
— Simu Liu
Xoxo.
-Seb
Thank you to Krystina Whalen for being the first person to read this — proofing and editing for me, I appreciate your time, feedback, and support!
