Chuck on Detroit 187

A shot of me as a suspected hit man on Detroit 187

So recently, the wifey discovered Detroit 187 at our local video store, and decided to rent the first episode and check it out. I had actually worked on the show a few times during the 3rd Year of the Michigan Film Incentives program, but had only watched one of the two episodes I was in. As such, I was keen to get a chance to see the series the whole way through myself. Now that I have, I wished I had watched and supported the show while it was airing. While it wasn't as emotionally riveting as Battlestar Galactica was, it was quite good. Great characters, and stories, etc. Perhaps that was the problem however. I think had this show aired anywhere else but it the states, it probably would have ran for a good long while, but having to compete with shows like Prison Break, Lost, etc, it just didn't quite have the same impact.

Personally though, after the emotional roller-coaster that was Battlestar Galactica, I was happy to see something that was a bit "lighter". As for the two episodes I was in, in the first, I had the chance to play a boxer sparring, and it was really cool, but unfortunately, the scene I was in never made it past the editing room. As for the second episode, I had no idea when it was actually going to air, and as I was cut out of the first episode, I didn't really have the desire to "chase down" the second one. For the second shoot, I was working under one of my favorite actors, Tommy Flanagen, and just that (and the fact that he was such a cool guy) was super cool in and of itself. Having seen him on the bog screen in Brave Heart and the Boondock Saints, it was really an honor to actually get to act with him, and talk to him about his trade. He was quite easy to talk to, and I wish like hell I could have been a Interesting enough though, we were only shooting stills. Basically the idea was that I was supposed to be one of his henchmen, and I was caught in a few surveillance photographs. After it aired, a few different people had said that they saw my picture on the show, so I figured it must've been a pretty clear shot, but it was cool to see that it was as nice of a shot as it was. The episode that it was in turned out to be the very last one of the series. Although I was happy that it ended with a fair amount of resolution, it would have been nice to see how the individual character stories developed. (I.e if there were any twists or turns, etc). It was really a good series, and I wish it could have lasted longer.

The Trip Back to Michigan... and Thoughts on the Michigan Film Incentives Program

Flying into Michigan, the changing of the season is apparent. 

A few weeks ago, I finally had a chance to make a trip back to Michigan to see my Moms. Originally, I wanted to come home for her birthday, but as there was just too much going on at the time, I had to push the trip back to the first week of October (and cut it down to 7 days) instead. After my Pops passed, I'd been speaking to her on the phone regularly and she seemed fine, but even so, I thought it important to take the time out to go there and assess the general "state of things" for myself. Beyond that, I had also heard rumors that the Michigan film incentives program was making a comeback, (and recently I'd been hearing more from my agencies in Michigan as well) and thought this would be a good time to see what the deal is on that front as well.

One of the greatest dangers of going back to Michigan:
Hungry Howie's Butter Crust Pizza. 

One of the other great dietary challenges I face back in the states. 

Overall, it was a really nice trip, although I was shocked at how friggin cold it was. When I left Tokyo, I was in shorts and a tanktop. In Michigan, it was already down in the 30s at night. While this was great in that the fall leaves were beauuuuuutiful, it also meant that I wasn't really dressed for it and was cold most of the time. Between that and the fact that my laziness about sleep regulation on the flight over gave me wicked jet lag, I was in pretty rough shape. (Jetlag is always much worse going west to east than vice versa).

As for Mom, she genuinely seemed fine. I think having a ton of family support around for the first month after made her transition considerably easier, and although she still obviously really misses him (as do I) she also seemed generally uplifted by the fact that she doesn't have to worry about his health or losing him anymore. The fact that my older brother had a baby boy a few days after Dad's passing had to help as well. (Reincarnation perhaps?) While I was there, I also wanted to take some time to help out around the house, and I came to realize just how much my Dad did to maintain it. The fact that he did it all by himself is friggin incredible. Is no wonder he was so busy all the time.

My older brother Kyle's new baby boy, Xavier.
Sweetest kid in the world. 

As for the resurgence of the Michigan film incentives program, that was a bit on the disappointing side. Basically, what happened is that the program started off with tax incentives of around $120 million dollars, making it the most aggressive program in the country. As a function of that, Hollywood came calling with the quickness, and there were a ton of amazing films being cranked out. (Transformers, Real Steel, etc). Unfortunately though, as the program was new and the state was still figuring it out, a few shady producers moved in and took advantage of the state and the program, giving it a bad name early. Beyond that, as there was no experienced staff in the state, at the time, virtually everyone was flown in from other places which meant that local people weren't getting work either.

Within 2 years however, (around the time I came home last time) things were rockin'. Both of the talent agencies I joined and got work through and the photographer who took my headshots (which Im still using), were new businesses that had popped up to cater to the industry. Beyond that, new film studios were popping up and as locals had learned new job skills, they were also getting work both in front of and behind the camera. (In the last film I did before I left, SeTup, about 70% of the people involved in the project were local). At the same time though, by then the political machine to get rid of the Michigan film incentives program already had steam in it's engine, and once Governor Snyder was sworn in (who campaigned on getting rid of it) he made good on his campaign promises and cut the incentives down to $25 million. While I'm not trying to hate on the guy (as his other efforts to balance Michigan's budget did seem to have some positive effect) his cutting this program, more or less killed our new fledgling industry before it really got its feet off the ground. A lot of huge films that were supposed to be shot in Michigan (such as Avengers) lost their incentive for working with us as a state and promptly went elsewhere. I think this cut could have been manageable if 1) it wasn't so steep 2) there weren't a lot of others states doing film incentives programs or 3) if our local industry had grown to the point that we had great facilities and well trained local people. Unfortunately however, we still weren't quite there yet. As such, it just died out like a baby oak tree someone uprooted and left.

In any event while having dinner with one of the producers from Wolverine 2, he mentioned that he heard it was coming back full swing in the next year. I thought that if so, it could be a good time to come back to Michigan, help out with some of the causes my pops cherished, help Moms out with the house, start up a few programs and industry related businesses myself and work in an area with very little competition for experienced industry professionals. Unfortunately however, Governor Snyder is only bumping the incentives up to $50 million or so. Granted that isn't bad, but at the same time, it's still only 40% of what it originally was, and no where near as good as whats offered by a lot of other states (or even countries).

What this means for myself is that at present, I don't think a career in Michigan's film industry is sustainable just yet. If we did have a stronger industry, then not only could I get regular work, I could also start offering seminars and possibly regular programs teaching everything I know. Bringing Mari back, this also meant that she could run her businesses in Michigan as well and we could both be contributors to the Michigan economy. I'm also sure I wouldn't be the only one. Instead of our state's best talents having to do like I did and go elsewhere, they could stay where they are, and do great things in the place they were raised in. Without it though, I don't quite feel the market is strong enough for me to get something going well, and it would mean taking a serious hit in terms of the amount of regular work I am getting as well.

This doesn't in any way however, mean that I am "giving up" on Michigan. I still think there is a fair amount of potential for things that I can do there, and career aside, there were also a lot of things (and causes) that my Pops cared about that I would like to make sure remain taken care of. Regardless of whether my current career course continues to propel me forward here, or whether it takes me to LA, I think continuing on as a part of the community that I come from is going to be a must either way. The question to be answered however is how exactly Im going to make that happen.

Completion of filming for 'Setup'

This past weekend, Setup, a film I was doing in Grand Rapids that starred Bruce Willis and 50 cent, wrapped. I had already worked in two different faculties on the film (driver, and prison inmate) but for the last weekend, I was there acting as 50's stand-in. Although he had had a stand-in for most of the film, near the end, I was told his regular stand-in did something that was considered unprofessional on set (asked if he could leave the set during a down time to go and do some errands) so I was selected to replace him. If that is indeed what happened, his mistake is understandable. People are generally really really polite on set, you have a ton of downtime, and it seems like people don't necessarily need you. As such, it is easy to let yourself get too comfortable and assume that something is okay when in actuality, it isn't. (Even if they only use you for 5 minutes out of 6 hours, they are paying for you to be there for those whole six hours so that they have you exactly when they need you. )

Basically, my job was just to take 50's place when they were setting up the camera, sound and lights, so that he needn't actually be there for that part. Overall, it was no-brainer work, but as it made me a part of the regular staff (and paid me better than other jobs I had done on set), I wasn't complaining. The weather made it a pretty hard shoot though. It was just freezing out, and we were outside for most of the time. When we weren't outside, we were actually filming in a meat processing plant which meant that it wasn't all that much warmer... and it smelled like dead cow. (My first time experiencing it). For a while, I wondered if it was gonna make me wretch, but after the 3rd or 4th hour I had forgotten entirely about the smell and was instead grossed out by all the things I was looking at. When I finished the shoot I wondered if I would ever be able to eat beef again, but to my pleasant surprise, the chili I had for lunch the next day was just as good.

Speaking of meals, Friday's food was excellent (and I'm glad we had it before we went to the meat processing place). King Crab, Oysters, Roast Duck, Fresh Steak, etc, etc, etc. While at the plant, they did have a snack food table set up with all kinds of goodies on it but I just couldn't bring myself to really eat in that environment (well...except for the nachos and guacamole... there's always room for nachos).

That was actually the technical last day of the shoot. On Sunday, it was more or less just a series of small pick-up shots. Still I am glad that I could do the second day though. On Friday, although everyone was nice, they also came off as a bit cold. On my second full day of working with the main cast though, people really began to warm up a lot, and I had a chance to have good real conversations with a lot of the main crew.

I was really happy to find out that about 70% were local Michigan people. One of the PA's (Production Assistants), had said that as more and more of us get experience, he said the number of Michigan people involved in each project he has done has continued to grow larger and larger. I think with the completion of the new film studios in Pontiac, Michigan may very well continue to be a strong player in the film industry for years to come. I, at least, am keeping my fingers crossed ;)

First Appearance on an American TV Drama... sort of

I had a job for the new ABC drama Detroit 187 last week. As there is a scene in an upcoming episode that takes place in a boxing gym, they wanted to take photos of fights for the walls of the gym, and with my background, I was one of the people selected for the photos. Anyway, I was happy to be on the show, even if only as a still image ;)

It actually reminded me of a similar job I did for a Japanese TV drama once. There was a scene where the main character reflected on and recalled his time in Africa, and he had to hand a photo from it over to someone else in the scene to look at. Much like this past shoot, the attention to detail was simply insane. In that shoot, the guy was standing in front of a tank to stop the destruction of an orphanage, and they actually brought in 20 little African (or half-African) kids, 10 'soldiers' (of which I was a part) and an ACTUAL TANK. For the orphanage, they seemd to have painted the walls, put up banners, planted flowers, etc. and then they spent the WHOLE day shooting it from different angles simply to get that one image. This one was similar, although not quite that extreme. (Didn't get to ride a moving tank this time).

In the pictures, I was wearing camoflage trunks (which were actually pretty cool- wish I coulda kept them). They got a few really good shots, but as the person I was 'sparring' with didn't have any action experience, (and as such, didn't know how to 'sell a hit') they seemed the most happy with the shots where I was taking it to the face, so that's what will probably be on the show (unfortunately ;)

Another cool thing about the shoot though was the fact that I got a chance to meet IBF World Boxing Champion, Cornelieus 'K-9' Bundrage. (Also there for the shoot). During the downtime, he gave me a few tips on how to improve my boxing technique, and showed me a REDICULOUSLY SICK jumprope routine (which I can't even begin to copy and wished like he-- I coulda got on tape). After the shoot was completely finished, and we were just hanging out and talking I got a picture with him as well. Very very nice guy. Very modest and a family man. (Notice the size of his fists and forearms though- said he's been doing 1000 push-ups a day since he was 11.) Definately not the kind of arm I want to take a punch from.