OBSTACLE OF LOVE, Casting Audition in Los Angeles

Location in Los Angeles

This is a low budget short film and possibly an award-winning script, about 20-40 minutes in length. As long as you are interested and confident in meeting the requirements, we would love to meet you!!! We are devoted to creating art in the form of film and are planning to submit this film to festivals nationwide. We sincerely look forward to meeting people who are passionate about acting and the craft of filmmaking. Please, serious inquiries only.

STORY PLOT
This is a story about love, trust, patience, and persistence between two young married couples.
• Imagine your marriage is not consummated
• Imagine your husband is hiding something from you
• Imagine your online friend, who you share your secrets with, was actually your spouse...
Written and will be directed by Giovanni Chen

INFORMATION & REQUIREMENTS
• Auditions will be held between Dec 26th and 30th, in Los Angeles. Finalized time and location will be informed to all applicants.
• Sides (audition material) will be provided prior audition.
• The film will be shot in January until early February
• DISCIPLINE and RESPONSIBILITY are mandatory for each individual
• We are willing to work out a flexible schedule that works for everyone
• Non-Union gig
• No payment but excellent experience, credits and copies in returns

Do not hesitate to email us at neogiovannismfilms@yahoo.com with the following attachments:
• 2 recent pictures, one close up, one full body shot
• Contact information (Name, phone number, email, etc.)
• Language fluency – Mandarin and Cantonese preferred (Languages other than Chinese are welcomed)
• Ethnic heritage
• Acting history

CASTING
• Actors with strong acting skills who are able to perform realistically, improvise dialogue, and control their emotions/mood (like laugh and cry instantly). New faces are welcomed.
• We prefer Chinese applicants (Mandarin or Cantonese speakers), but we also welcome other Asians.

1. Male / 18-30 yrs. Requires Nudity (Top). This character is a pessimistic and aimless engineer who works in an office. The actor should be comfortable having his shirt unbuttoned.

2. Female / 18-30 yrs. This character is an adorable homemaker. The actress should be skilled in imitating. The ability to write Chinese is a plus.

3. Female / 18-30 yrs. Chinese or Cantonese speakers preferred (not necessary fluent). This character is a college student cum a part time prostitute, cheerful, and laughs easily.

Basil Poledouris the composer of RoboCop

Basil Poledouris (August 21, 1945 - November 8, 2006) was an American film composer.

Born in Kansas City, Missouri, Basil Poledouris credited two influences with guiding him towards music: the first was composer Miklós Rózsa, the second was his Greek Orthodox heritage. Poledouris was raised in the church, and used to sit in services, enthralled with the choir's sound. At age 7 he began piano lessons, and eventually enrolled at the University of Southern California to study both film and music. Several short films to which he contributed still reside in the university's archives. At USC he met directors John Milius and Randal Kleiser, with both of whom the composer would later collaborate. In 1985, he scored Flesh & Blood for director Paul Verhoeven, again establishing another ongoing collaboration.

Poledouris became renowned for his powerfully epic style of orchestral composition and his intricate thematic designs, and garnered attention for his scores to The Blue Lagoon (1980; director: Kleiser), Conan the Barbarian (1982; director: Milius), Conan the Destroyer (1984), Red Dawn (1984; director: Milius), RoboCop (1987; director: Verhoeven), The Hunt for Red October (1990), Free Willy (1993) and its sequels, Starship Troopers (1997; director: Verhoeven) and For Love of the Game (1999).

Poledouris married his wife, Bobbie, in 1969 and had two daughters, Zoë and Alexis. The elder, Zoë Poledouris, is an actress as well as a film composer.

He spent the last four years of his life living on Vashon Island, in Washington State, and died on November 8, 2006 in Los Angeles, California, aged 61, due to complications from cancer.

Basil Poledouris on IMDB
Announcement I received from Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences. Great composer, huge respect!




Recipe out of Nowhere

Three recent Screenings

I went to a few SCL screenings these 2 weeks - Happy Feet, Babel, The Queen. Sorry I’m not talking much about them, coz I should really go back to my work.


Happy Feet
http://www.apple.com/trailers/wb/happyfeet/
Typical hollywood animation... great production thou, but not much surprise if I look at it professionally. Actually, who cares?? I know I’m going to enjoy the film and I truly enjoyed it and came out from the theater with mirth. Isn’t it more valuable?

Penguins a cappella, tap dancing Mumble are simply too charming. ‘Mexican Penguins’ doing Mariachi? hell hilarious! Great music I have to say! John Powell, as usual, had done a stunning score. All vocal music were well arranged and performed! John Powell and the director Geroge Miller were there for Q and A session.


Babel
http://www.apple.com/trailers/paramount_vantage/babel/
From hollywood, no?

Damn... a surprising american film for me!!! for many americans too I’m sure. Perhaps Babel is the best film I’ve watched in these 2 years in LA. How should I put it??? Crash, ya another Crash but much better than Crash.

With 3 different stories happened in 3 different places, 3 different countries, 3 religions, 4 languages, 6 different families... but are somehow connected. I love the way the story is plotted. How Alejandro (or the writer) interlocked those relationships (or the crossover) between strangers, between cultures (it’s so far but at that moment they are close), between close family members (but it’s invisibly so far), etc... damn, he is as good as the real mother fucka!!
Telling you stories - someone appears at the wrong place, a wrong person steps into another existing world, and an a story happens at the wrong time, and.... and just TELLING you stories, no conclusion, no hidden meaning, not intended to build any climax... just naked stories. How you wanna take it, your business. Crash is somehow still an american film, giving you a conclusion indirectly and somehow building the plot although the plot is not linear.

Who should get the credit? Director Alejandro is a HUGE surprise. I haven’t heard his name before. (O... he directed 21 Grams!! But I am still surprised!) Script is good too. Music is good, going along with the stories so well, and not intended to build or dig any hole. However, the music is a little bit disappointing when it comes to the Morocco story. Gustavo used the right sound, and definitely the right instrumentation, but he should study Islamic music more. It sounds western played by different instruments, timbre etc... It’s not that bad, I agree, but Gustavo (Composer of Brokeback Mountain) can definitely play around with the sound far far away the box for the Morocco segment. Other than that, he did a tremendous job. I love all the stuff he created for the Japanese segment.
Composer was there for the Q & A session after the screening.... but Alejandro wasn’t there. :(
Not surprised if this is the best film of the year. I watched Prestige few weeks ago and gave some good comments. But Prestige seems so small compare to this. Shouldn’t say much. GO WATCH!

O ya.... Brad Pitt is much better than Tom Cruise. Acting wise, maybe they are close technically. But in terms of CONTENT, Brad is way much better. Tom Cruise should come out with another film talking about his freaking scientology. How good is Scientology I don’t know, his scientology is just a freak.


The Queen
http://www.apple.com/trailers/miramax/thequeen/
I have no comment! There is a purpose behind the film... and I slept through the 1st half. You can’t use a film to plead a monarchy. You either tell the truth, or don’t make the film. DIU.

Anyway, the queen Helen Mirren is fabulous!!!! She is one of the only two reason why audience got in tears. The other reason is because of those reconstructed footage of the period after Diana’s death until the burial. I got my tears for that, and half of the audiences wept when the screen showed those footage.

Charles is a jerk and he still a jerk. No tolerance for this!


Perhaps, it’s true as what english critics said “NOT FOR FOREIGNERS”. The best film of the year? It’s maybe true but not outside the Great Britain.

The composer Alexandre Desplat was there. Music was great I think, but sorry dude, you scored a wrong film... End!

Looking forward to welcoming a film about Diana, uh??

Finally I spent much longer time than I wanted to... I am really terrible.

Stuff to Share

My New pictures @

http://www.flickr.com/photos/hfken
- Shioko’s boyfriend, Mike’s Birthday
- Pictures from Japan Expo at Convention Center, LA Downtown. I went there last weekend, not so happening compare to other expo around and saw a japanese band. They are not super, but I still put their sites here
http://pinklips69.com/
http://www.myspace.com/pinklips69band


What I’m NOW digging +
Friends @ Myspace.com/hfken
Uri Caine - He is CRAZZZY!!
Oops-asia
Big-bangmusic
Ishkur's Guide to Electronic Music
Samunori



Yasmin Ahmad’s Blogspot and Flickr Photos
http://yasminthestoryteller.blogspot.com/
http://www.flickr.com/photos/49503074700@N01