LIGHT UP SOMEONE'S LIFE THIS CHRISTMAS.

Ahhhh .....

CHRISTMAS is rolling just round the corner.

Are you madly scrambling for your last-minute festive shopping?

Trudging over the mall, you cannot help but hear the soft, joyous playing of Christmas carols over the public intercom that's enhancing the festive ambience.

CHRISTMAS.

'Tis a season to be MERRY.

Christmas comes but once a year, and when it comes, it brings good cheer.

Frenetic gift exhanges, decorating Christmas trees, cosy familiness, buy, buy, buy till you drop dead.

It's all about spending money, the more money we got, the MORE we spend.

Money is power in this season of COMMERCIALISM.

And it's always MONEY that maketh the world goes round.

Whilst we merry-make this season, let's spare a kind thought for the myriad of homeless people in third world countries who are hungry and destitute.

Life is never equal.

It can never be.

Do we count our blessings?

Perhaps not.

Have we ever experienced what it's like to be impoverished?

So that steak tasted awful and you're going to toss it to the dog?

Bet there're countless hungry kidos out there in the cold who would give an arm and leg to savor edible scraps ...

Remember that song FOOD, GLORIOUS FOOD sung by OLIVER TWIST?

Food, glorious food!

What wouldn't we give for

That extra bit more --

That's all that we live for

Why should we be fated to

Do nothing but brood

On food,

Magical food,

Wonderful food,

Marvellous food,

Fabulous food,

Beautiful food,

GLORIOUS FOOD.

AREN'T WE ALL LUCKY?

When we have, we don't think.

We tend to take good things for granted.

If you have clean water to drink, a warm bed to sleep in, and enough food to eat on a regular basis, then you're more fortunate than a majority of the people in the world.

If you have access to transportation, education, and proper medical care, then consider yourself wealthy beyond measure.

If you find that you have a little something extra left over at the end of each month, then please consider helping someone in a third world country.

There are plenty of organizations out there willing to help these people, but they can't do it alone.

Sigh .....

Didn't I read somewhere that

No act of kindness, no matter how small, is ever wasted?

THIS NEW YEAR, WILL YOU BE STARVING YOURSELF TO A PERFECT FIGURE? LIFE CAN BE SUCH A PARADOX.

My friend,

Do sit back and think "third world".

Then you can really envisage thousands of impoverished people literally dying of starvation.

Think "modern times" and you get a totally different picture.

Most everyone who aspire to look "gorgeous" are going on quickie, quackie yo-yo diets to stave off the unwanted pounds.

LIFE can be such a PARADOX.

We've food, glorious food spread across our tables, fine clothes over our bodies to keep us warm, a steadfast roof over our heads, no less.

Yet we're still mooning and moaning.

To be thin is to be beautiful, right?

Yes, if you want your life to hang on a limbo.

Do we spare a thought for the millions out there who ain't just as lucky, deprived of edible food?

Probably not, because we often take things for granted and are too busy indulging in our self-interests.

Take these GRIM facts:

• In the Asian, African and Latin American countries, over 500 million people are living in absolute poverty.

• Annually, an estimate of 15 million children will die of hunger

• For the price of one missile, a school full of hungry children can eat lunch every day for 5 years.

• One-third of the world is well-fed, one-third is under-fed one-third is starving.

  We are living in a world of paradoxes. Things are seldom as they appear. We witness events or encounter evidence that doesn't make sense, or that seems contradictory, ugly or painful. Think fit and don't toy with health. COUNT YOUR BLESSINGS TODAY.. HAPPY NEW YEAR!

"LIGHTS! CAMERA! ACTION!" Part TWO. REEL or REAL? THERE'S NO BUSINESS LIKE SHOW BUSINESS.

ASIAN CINEMA 2

So there’s no show business like show business.

Oh yeah?

There’s glitz, there’s sleaze, there’s fan adulation, a true blue fusion.

But for how long?

As good as it lasts, it’s a COLOURFUL WORLD out there, for sure.

Plus there’s MONEY aplenty when you make it to the top.

And what if you cannot?

Are you content with playing SECOND FIDDLE in an insignificant role when you know the leading actor has lesser qualities than you have?

Such a shame, really.

Who says that the entertainment industry is fair?

As in every industry, FAVORITISM is prevalent,

It’s all about CHEMISTRY,

It’s either you like that particular artiste or not,

Producers, Management + Paparazzi can be subjective, not impartial -

The pen is mightier than the sword,

The Paparazzi can either build you or crush you,

So tread the line carefully,

Better earn a friend than make a foe, right?

Welcome to a plastic world of make-believe where falsitudes, truths and half-truths prevail.

You may have to rub shoulders, kiss ass.

No? Then you are lucky.

It’s a dog-eat-dog world in your own reality show.

You get thrown into a whirlpool of bitchy and jealous people trying to stay afloat, where the fittest survivor survives.

SMILES are cheap in the Entertainment arena.

Check this one out.

Grab a MENTOR along the way.

You’ll need one with loads of connections to bestow you a head start to put you up on that pedestal you crave.

Got the looks? Then half the job is done.

But looks aren’t everything, my friend.

There must be at least some raw talent in your bones, please.

You’ll also need oodles of luck, like being at the right place at the right time, lots of happy smiles, diligence, humility and the right attitude.

But please, do not preen with your nose up in the air even if you are so gorgeously stunning,

A stuck-up attitude is so cool?

Unless you think you making the million bucks like Brad Pitt or Angelina Jolie,

Are you?

Just remember this – every other day there’s another beautiful hopeful toeing the line, waiting to be discovered.

Pride comes before a fall, and producers do remember your every move.

And do not hog or exaggerate about your credentials as some devious actors do for attention grabbing, because in the end, competent producers can sieve through it all.

Producers connect with one another worldwide, so there!

This is ASIA, you’d really need to achieve a couple of noteworthy merits by the time you hit 30, so you have to start early, in your early 20s.

Asian entertainment places their bet on youth.

So stay as young as you can with lots of exercise, diets and creams.

It sometimes appears that so many REEL LIVES end in poverty, suicides or obscurity,

SHOW BUSINESS IS A STARK BUSINESS

Today when you are famous, you are up and preening,

Tomorrow when you are aged and being eclipsed by a bright young star

You have fallen from your pedastal

You have come to face this brute called REALITY …..

You begin to question your sunshine FRIENDS and FANS.

REALITY BITES HARD, man.

Nothing lasts forever,

Even FAME,

And sooner or later, all good things will come to pass,

What are you going to do then?

Swim with the sharks?

Why not?

Hey, this is the digital age now.

You can start a personal BLOG to propagate your achievements,

Or you can create your own brand and hawk your wares on the internet

when you are no longer celebrated,

There are always young,mindless, unquestioning fans in cyberspace who are bored to tears for no apparent reasons

and are easily incited by the slightest ripple,

The list goes on:

Like they say:

NO VENTURE, NO GAIN.

(crestfallen face here).

So please put your best foot forward.

For all you know, FAME can just be around the corner.

For those whose acting careers are sagging -

There may be the chance of a second wind,

Nobody can tell …..

So good luck!

"LIGHTS! CAMERA! ACTION!" Part ONE. WHAT goes on BEHIND the SCENES? Will we see MORE than just this SMILING FACADE?

THE ASIAN CINEMA

In our line of work as PRODUCERS, we often come across all kinds of ACTORS

the BIG stars, the ASPIRING stars and the forgettable SMALL TIME nobodies.

Funnily enough, the top-of-line actors would have their feet planted on the ground.

As we all know, good wine needs no bush,

So the A-LISTERS are mostly down-to-earth and jolly nice .....

The LESSER actors?

Not even half the rung up the ladder, they are already preening like peacocks in anticipation of the super stardom they hope will come their way soon.

The well behaved ones have our blessings when they finally make it,

We laugh at the pretentious "icy cool" dudes and divas who are trying hard to be "different"

because when they fall flat on their faces

they deserve their just desserts.

Pride comes before a fall, right?

A VERY ESTABLISHED FILM DIRECTOR once lamented to me that most ASIAN ACTORS ARE A PRETENTIOUS LOT.

Going by traits developed from their “tools of the trade”, they are deemed to be.

After all, ACTORS are ACTORS.

Who can really blame them?

They are not as "innocent" as they seem.

They can be first-class manipulators with the survival instinct of a coyote, if they choose.

They are in the business of acting and we have to respect occupational hazards.

Their latent personas are “groomed” from environmental factors, just like each and everyone of us.

ACTORS can be all sugar whenever they are competing for a role.

Aside that, their demeanor can switch gear like a crafty chameleon.

This is how the industry “shape” them, when they are vying for a prime role pitching against scores of other contenders.

This industry is far too competitive and tinsel town is often flooded with fellow hypocrites, green eyed monsters and back-stabbers.

Vile gossip abounds, no less.

WELCOME TO ENTERTAINMENT POLITICS.

Never rely on an actor to recommend you to another actor or to his manager, should you be casting for your film projects.

He will nod his head in acquiescence

but there’s a 90% chance that he will deliberately ignore this favor once your head is turned.

Why should he help you?

It is an unwritten rule, and after all, he is unmistakably an actor in his own right - and to assist a fellow competitor to move ahead of him is really unthinkable.

In ASIAN tinsel town, you’ll be smart if you help yourself first before you help others.

Experience teacheth fools.

You have to be selfish in order to thrive in this dog-eat-dog arena of plastic people.

If you have a mentor or a sugar daddy who’s more than willing to help you, well and good. Stick to him or her.

Connections is about everything YOU NEED to get ahead, to secure you that endorsement deal or role.

But if you do not have a valid back up?

Fending for yourself in this complex entertainment industry is hardly easy.

In fact, far from it.

Right?

AN ACTOR’S LOT IS NEVER SIMPLE, much as you like to think so.

He has to be at the RIGHT place at the RIGHT time.

He must have a MENTOR or MANAGER for prestige and representation if he plans to move ahead.

It does not look good on the actor if he has to sell himself personally as artiste.

He must ALWAYS put on his best front to the PAPARAZZI and garner good MEDIA RELATIONS as press interviews and fashion spreads can put him one rung above the others in terms of publicity.

He must cultivate the RIGHT CONNECTIONS and CONNECTIVITY to rise above the occasion.

The CASTING COUCH SYNDROME?

Maybe, who knows? There are always sleazy people around everywhere, but this exists more in the FILM than the TELEVISION industry, going by industry reports. Skip this one.

When the film director shouts “ACTION!” the ACTOR flashes his mega-watt smile instantaneously.

THIS IS FOR "REEL",

When the film director wraps up the scene with “CUT!”, he continues his bewitching smile for his fans and paparazzi, even when he feels like shit with a thousand tons on his shoulders.

THIS IS FOR "REAL",

After all, acting is a profession and this guy is eking out a living.

THE ASIAN CELLULOID WORLD only recognizes YOUTH and EYE CANDIES.

As long as you possess the dashing looks, you can be positioned as the next PRETTY BOY/GIRL or HUNK/SEXPOT.

Once you pass 35 , you are a withered flower - considered middle aged, way over your prime and deemed too old or to put it rudely, passe.

Then you are relegated to secondary roles such as the uncle or auntie, much to your disdain.

You squirm with disbelief because you think you are STILL the gorgeous SUPERSTAR, but hey, this is ASIA and not HOLLYWOOD.

Everybody grows OLD and LOOKS wane.

Time and tide wait for no man, and no amount of hitting the gym regularly, nor faithfully applying tons of herbal facials or ointments daily, will your skin still retain that youthful glow or elasticity. Oh come on!

GRAVITY PULLS and REALITY BITES.

You cannot place a guarantee on fans’ adulation, and they’d readily switch camp whenever another new star shines in the horizon. We all love virgins, don’t we?

The following scenario best sums up an ACTOR’s lot:

“THE CROWD goes wild,

The FANS all cheer,

As the SHOW is done,

And the WORLD is focused

On YOU alone,

NOBODY else,

YOU alone are the soul of life,

YOU alone are the BEST,

YOU have everything they want,

Until the LIGHT goes DIM.”

This is the price every ACTOR has to pay for FAME.

A trite SAD, but very TRUE.

CHECK THIS OUT, MATE.

So you want to be in the acting profession?

TAKE A CUE .....

MYTH? TRUTH?

You decide .....

TO ALL ASPIRING ACTORS WHO ARE “NOT THERE” YET, GOOD LUCK!