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China Dolls Go Hollywood
This entry was posted on 10/26/2006 9:16 AM and is filed under uncategorized.
It has been an exhausting
yet exciting week for both Blossom and I. First, we'd like to
apologize to our avid China Dolls blog readers for not posting sooner.
One of the many reasons include spending the past few days
in Tinseltown. We were on the West Coast doing some very, early
publicity and promotion for China Dolls. In addition, we were also
doing some research for our next novel. Usually, the word
"research" sounds tedious and time consuming. However, in the past few
days, I can honestly say I had the best research project-
EVER. Our next book involves our heroine exploring the
the soap opera world. (The next book goes something likes this: our
character aspires to be the next Asian Susan Lucci but with more
Emmy's) And with that thought in mind, we got some research help on
the topic from one of our favorite soap operas "General Hospital". It sounds exciting doesn't it?! It certainly was for me. Here are a few things I jotted down during my trip out there.
Friday, October 20
12:37
PM - We arrive at Burbank Airport. The weather is absolutely marvelous.
Blue skies, 70's, sunny. (Think I would make a good meteorologist?)
Anyhow, even though my first thought off the plane was
finding an Inn-N-Out burger joint (for those of you who have been to
Cali and have not had an Inn-N-Out burger,
you are definitely missing out. I'm all about the animal style!), we
rush and grab our luggage from baggage claim and walk off to pick
up our white, O.J. Simpson-esque Bronco rental car. From
there, we gear up our engines and head onto the freeway to get to
our first appointment of the trip - the set of ABC's "General
Hospital"!!
3:04 PM - Man, the traffic in L.A.
really just sucks but we make it in time to Prospect Studios for our
appointment with GH's casting director Mark Teschner.
Prospect Studios is like a hidden treasure. Its location is tucked away
in residential area far away from the other Hollywood studios. Our huge
Bronco-esque car drives up to the security gate and the security
guard asks for our IDs. He says to me "Are you here to
audition?" I look at Blossom with a puzzled face. I turn and
respond to him, "Um...no". He then says to me in a demanding tone,
"Well, then what are you here for?". I mumble, "Um...I'm here to have a meeting?" He sounds dubious but finally let us in.
3:15 PM - We enter the General
Hospital casting offices and meet Regina, who works with Mark Teschner.
The 2006 Emmy Winner for Outstanding Achievement in Daytime Drama
Casting hears our (probably loud) voices talking to Regina and walks
out from his office to see what all the pandemonium is. He greets and
welcomes us into his spacious, executive office. We chat about how we
are all New York natives and how we are Yankees fans. Finally, we talk
a little soap shop. To be honest, Blossom and I didn't know what to
expect with our meeting with Mark. We were fully prepared to have an
encounter with one of those evil casting directors that you always
hear about - one who gets a bad rep for being curt and well, a
jackass. Mark, on the other hand, was everything BUT that.
I'm not just saying this because he will probably read this. It's the
truth. Right off the bat, we got an excellent vibe when we met him.
He's dashing, genuine, warm, and full of
energy. His laid-back personality bursts with great
humor. (Get the picture?)
Our research exceeds its
expectations. Mark tells us everything we need to know and more. Here's
a suggestion to author Mitch Albom. If he were to ever write
a book called "Five People I Hope To Meet Everyday", I would
nominate Mark as a candidate.
4:45 PM - Mark takes us on a
behind-the-scenes tour of General Hospital. We hop onto the
elevator and head down to the stage area on the second floor. We
are first shown the actors' dressing rooms though.
Once we walk in, we find a large, warehouse-like
room full of clothes which include the wardrobes of the
characters Jason, Sonny, Robin and Lucky. This is so exciting!
5:03 PM - We're in the studio now
and we see all the props for the different scenes being
taped for the day. Among the sets up are the hospital,
Sonny's mansion and...wait! We see Luke (Anthony Geary) taping a
scene at the Quartermaine house. Cut!
5:20 PM - Our tour just about wraps
us as we head to exit the stage area. A handsome, blonde, ray of
beauty stops Mark and says hi to him. Holy soap suds! It's Jax! If you
thought Ingo Rademacher
was hot on television, he's even more attractive in person. Even though
I have interviewed my fair share of handsome, professional sports
celebrities, I was definitely starstruck looking at Ingo.
5:32 PM - Mark introduces us to
Mitch Messinger, the publicity director for GH. He, too, is a complete
sweetheart. We have a nice chat with him about China Dolls and talk
about our next book. He suggests we speak with Minae Noji (Dr. Kelly
Lee) about getting an actress's perspective of the soap opera world.
We're thrilled of the suggestion and are asked to come back again on
Tuesday. What a lovely afternoon!
8:17 PM - After being stuck in
traffic for more than an hour, we finally make it to our hotel. Our
friend Brooke is waiting for us as she is ready to party!! She has a
whole evening planned for us as we head to Manhattan Beach for dinner
and drinks at the chic "Shade" hotel.
Saturday, October 21
9:10 AM - I head to Manhattan Beach
to meet up with some friends. We enjoy brunch by the water as I
excitedly tell everyone about my day at the GH set the day before. They
think I'm a tool and crazy.
2:18 PM - Blossom and I head
downtown to a book trade show at the Millenium hotel. We meet with
our Holtzbrinck Publisher reps and chat with a few people about
China Dolls. It's exciting to see a stack of "China Dolls" in a pile
with some really great books by Holtzbrinck.
6:12 PM - A bunch of us head to
Santa Monica for a friend's bbq party. He lives in one of those fancy,
California apartments with four floors. The living room has a
gi-normous projector for your viewing pleasure and
the roof is designated to ping pong tournaments. The
place makes me think of Kelly and Donna's apartment on "90210". The
residents of the place are two producers and one of them just wrapped
up a travel show called "Valami Hungary". It is probably one of the
most hilarious home videos to view. Check out the hilarious video here:
"Crazy Tamir & Winston".
Sunday, October 22
9:00 AM - 10:00 PM - The whole day
belongs to shopping as I go on a shopping spree at the Santa Monica
Promenade. Hey, a girl needs to shop sometime.
Tuesday, October 24
8:00 AM - It's a busy morning
packed with meetings. We have three meetings in different locations of
L.A. today. Pasadena, West Hollywood and Burbank are our destinations.
Everything is planned back-to-back. Luckily, we make it on time to all
of them. Phew!
2:05 PM - We're back at Prospect
Studios to speak with Minae Noji of General Hospital. She walks into
Mitch's office as we greet her. She is totally gorgeous with a
radiant smile. The three of us sit in an office next to Mitch and begin
chatting. Because our book is about an Asian American actress, it was
smart of Mitch to have us get Minae's take on the acting world.
It's interesting to hear how she feels that the Asian community
still needs to break barriers in the acting world and how unfortunate
it is that there aren't too many support groups. We completely agree.
In the entertainment and media industry, there really aren't enough
Asian Americans breaking ground. There should definitely be more. This
is why when people compare Asians to someone, they always just
pick the most known Asian actors and say "You look like Lucy Lui or Jet
Li" even though they completely don't. Minae also exceeds our research
expectations and tells us plenty about the business.
3:37 PM - Mark passes by Mitch's
office and see us standing there talking to Minae. We love it when we
see Mark! He jokingly asks, "Were you guys planning on coming
to hang out with me?" We laugh and reply, "Of course we
were!" Mark helps us take a lovely photo (above) with Minae. She has to
leave and we thank her profusely for her time and help. We all give
each other a hug. She's as cute as a button! Time to hang out with Mark
again! Yay!
5:04 PM - After sitting in Mark's
office for a few chatting about everything from the New York Giants to
a lady named after one of John Steinbeck's novels and downing a
bunch of cookies he received from a friend, we head out. What a blast
we have had here! It's a good thing we live in New York because
otherwise, we would probably go bug Mark everyday for tea time or
something. There is just never a dull conversation with him.
5:30 PM - Blossom and I walk out of
the building and we see Sonny Corinthos (Maurice Bernard) in the
parking lot. He's in sweatpants getting out of his car but still looks
hot damn great! We are too shy and dorky to say anything so we just
walk away and stare.
8:05 PM - We head to our
friend's pad in Manhattan Beach who is hosting a dinner
party. Our buddy Josh makes a Thanksgiving-esque meal for 10 people. So
nice of him! It was great. Everyone gets to catch up but I feel
myself slowly getting tired. I still have to pack for my trip back.
After a few glasses of wine, we head back to the hotel for lights
out!
I'm back in New York now still recovering. Until next time!
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