el aye

Darn, my trip to LA was cut short by a few days since I got booked on a couple of print jobs back in NYC.  It was hard turning down Asahi and another Microsoft gig, so back to the Big Apple I had to go.  (Look for the Asahi ad in airports all over the world starting next year!)

My week in LA was amazing.  I left the left coast for the least coast back in 1998 and I've always looked back.  Coming out here was not by choice as, at the time, I was torn between an acting career and going to graduate school.  I chose the latter for safety and moved to Philadelphia to enroll in a Master's program for Physical Therapy (yes, I can give a mean massage.)  While in PT school, after 3 semesters of it (and one summer when I went right back to LA to act), I was cast in a stage production at the Philadelphia Theatre Company, and I decided to take a "leave of absence" from school since the show was a full time thing for 3 months.  I couldn't pass it up.  Plus, I wasn't feelin' school at all.  They'd actually threatened to kick me out, not because of grades, but because during one of my rotations, the instructor didn't pass me.  That's another story for another time.  Anyway, after the show, I decided to make my way up to NYC, and I've been here ever since.

But to LA...I still look back.

All those friends I made, all those places I went, even all that traffic.  I loved every bit of it.

Okay, maybe not the traffic, but there is nowhere else on Earth that's like the Southland.

So I hit LA last week after finishing our short film (which I now have to start editing - not by myself) for some business.  In addition to a software startup geared towards the entertainment industry I'm helping a friend with, I went out there to meet up with filmmakers/friends/and foes to discuss projects and what our company - 408 Films - is up to. 

Tallk about being productive...I got more accomplished in my last week there than I have in a long time.  It's all very exciting, and I'll have to see after the dust settles, what will really transpire, but I'm liking where this is all heading.  I helped found 408 as a vehicle to help produce feature films with an Asian and North American cross-over appeal and we're just scratching the surface.  I hope to have more to blog about on that in the coming weeks/months/years...

The extra treats to being in LA and catching up with old faces and being fulfilled was eating at some awesome joints.  The best food in all the US is in LA, bar none.  Hawaiian stops like Shaka's and Back Home in Lahaina, chinese spots like Savoy's with the Hainan Chicken to die for, and Saketini in Brentwood that Sung Kang runs - do yourself a favor and go to them all whenever you're in the area.  Also, I got to hit the beach in Santa Monica and Manhattan Beach for some nice, sunny, breezy runs.  I mean, c'mon, who the heck could ever get sick of that?!