CICPA June 6 Concert - English Ad

Here's the English version for everyone who doesn't understand Chinese. The concert is in Music...so you don't have to worry about not understanding....

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CICPA June 6 Concert - Chinese Ad

I've been so busy these last couple weeks and will be too these coming two weeks. Partly it's this concert I'm doing. I made a commercial for the concert that will be airing on one of the local Chinese TV stations. It's a lot of work and hopefully should pay off in the end. Here's the Chinese version of the ad.

I've also booked a major video game too and will be blogging about that soon. It's really exciting!!!

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From the Krystal Epic Library Collection - New Album Artwork

Here's some of the art works from my newest upcoming album From the Krystal Epic Library Collection.

The album is planned to be available on May 30, 2009. I'm very excited about all of this. I am very happy with the progress of the album and looking very forward to getting it in time for my June 6th concert which will have a few pieces from this album performed.

The pictures were taken actually by my Dad. He was kind enough to go out to San Bernardino National Forest to take some pictures for the album. They really did turn out well. I'm definitely excited about it all!

Do make sure you jump the page to see all the other pictures!







Also if you want to know, I use CDbaby to release my CD's to iTunes, Amazon, Rhapsody and all the other online outlets. I use discmakers.com to print my CD's.

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Paul Kwo Piano Improvisation May 09 Improv 3

And my final one of the day.

Enjoy everyone!

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Paul Kwo's Piano Improvisation May 09 Improv 2

Here's the second improv of mine today.

I am really hoping to get better video equipment soon, to get HD stuff and get HD quality here. But that will definitely have to wait until I actually have the money. For now, I'll just settle with what I have.

So here's the second one.
This one is more flowing where I just let my fingers fly in the beginning.

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Paul Kwo's Piano Improv May 09 Improv 1

I've been meaning to get some videos of me playing on youtube, so finally, here's the first one. I have 2 more on the way. I'm hoping to keep getting more and more up here just for kicks.

MUHAHA...part my my plan to over saturate the net with my music!

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Should I panic now? Part II

Original Article - The Panic Button

As I was reading the Actors Access Showfax Forum, which I regularly do, I came across a link to a post by an actor. I decided to actually read this article this morning since I woke up pretty early today and didn't have all that much to do. I am surprised it's still not noon yet and I've done quite a bit this morning.

Nevertheless this article was definitely an interesting read, seeing that so many people are feeling how slow things are going in the industry. As I mentioned in Part I of this post, it's been going this slow since at least March, if not earlier this year. But I was very fortunate to have booked two commercials in February. In fact I only had as I remember 3 auditions that month, and yet I booked 2 of them. And even in the month of January, I booked a small radio commercial. Even better was that in March I was called in to do ADR voices for The Marine 2, and last month, April, I was called in to do ADR voices for 2012. I have definitely been truly blessed by God this year to finally be making some money with my acting.

But I have seen a huge decline in auditions this last two months for sure. It's just as bad, if not worse then the time when the writer's strike happened. Well I think it's around the same. Everything just came to a near grinding halt. Not a whole lot of things are out there for no-name talent. That's the most important thing really in this town is to make a name. Name makes everything. I am certainly still working on that. I am certainly doing whatever I can to get a name built, but of course it's not an easy task, if not just an impossible task.

Right now at the very least, I am not panicking over the whole situation as at least I am getting work. I would like to see even more work and better work, but given the climate of everything, any work is good and I should count my blessings, which I most certainly am. And I do see the positive of it all, that when things finally do pick back up, I will be there ready to work even more, and that I will be called in so often for everything. That's the silver lining for me. And I think it's the only way to function in this industry. One really has to just stay on the positive and keep going. Look on the bright side and know that my day will come, and yes, it most certainly will. It's already on its way here, I'm feeling it, and seeing it happen already.

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Should I panic now? Part I

Alright, this letter circulated around the industry around the end of March this year. I wanted to post it here actually. I forgot to do that earlier. But another article that I read at another actor's blogging site got me back into this subject so I thought I should post this here and then write my respond article to that blog post.

The original letter is after the jump if you want to read it. I think it does give a very good overview of the state of the industry right now. It's a bit scary, but it is what it is.

I have been however very fortunate to have booked a few commercials right before all of this, and I've been getting a few ADR voice over jobs the last two months that made 2009 my best year yet. So I am definitely not complaining. It's still though very important to know what's going on.


We wanted to take a moment and give you a number of important updates....

**The following was written by an Agent from CAA to his clients. He described the situation succinctly.

"I know a lot of your are getting antsy to get out more, and frankly many of you are in a tight financial pinch; as such, I wanted to describe to you all the current climate in LA and the factors influencing the current environment.

-SAG STALEMATE: Since the SAG contract expired on June 30, 2008, there have been few to no STUDIO feature films (this does not include companies such as Lionsgate and the Weinstein Company who are not in AMPTP and as such have completion agreements). Some analysts say there are up to 200 feature films on hold. Around September, we started to see a mass movement of film actors to TV projects. Many of my "name" actors have done one-day guest stars (this is very typical right now), and we are seeing a number of Guest Star level actors doing CO-STAR roles. Remember from November of 2007 to March of 2008, due to the Writer's Strike, again there were no feature films shot. So for the film actor, there has only been 4 months of work in the last 17 months. THE BOTTOM LINE: Due to the lack of studio feature film production, BOTH film and TV actors are now competing for a limited number of jobs in the episodic and pilot environments.

-PILOT SEASON: During the Writer's Strike of 2007-2008, Studios adapted and used the void to eliminate pilot season as we know it. Gone are the days of hundreds of pilots. In fact, this year, there are only 67 pilots to have registered for production - of which only about 35 have been green lit for production.

http://www.variety.com/article/VR1118000479.html?categoryid=3284&cs=1&query=pilots+casting+2009

And this year, due again to a sagging economy, studios and networks believe that by committing named stars to their projects, they will receive more money from this year's up-fronts from ad agencies. They are banking on star power to leverage better buys at the all important UPFRONTS. So, stars and pop-stars like Richard Dreyfuss, Chevy Chase, Brittany Snow, Elle McPherson, Rebecca Romijn, Ashley Simpson, Scott Caan, Skeet Ulrich, and proven TV talents like Kelsey Grammar, Eric McCormick, John McGinley, Joel McHale, Jenna Elfman,
Donald Faison, Maura Tierney, Peter Krauss, Craig T. Nelson, Dax Shepherd, etc.... You do the math, 37 pilots... top stars being sought...

-TV: While TV has been steady, again due to the conflagration of film and named actors doing Guest Starring roles, we have seen a horrible trickle down. Many Guest Stars are now doing Co-stars and Co-stars/Developmental Actors (those with less than 5 primetime credits) frankly are not getting seen much. One CD recently told me that she had over 25 women who would be considered 'working actors' going for a co-star role. BOTTOM LINE: Again, due to the abundance of name and working actors, many less-developed actors are not even being seen right now.

-ECONOMIC IMPACT I - THE EROSION OF QUOTES/RATES: There are really three major impacts to actors during this economic crunch. First, we are seeing the erosion of quotes. Due to the availability of so many talented actors, CD's and Producers are in the driver's seat in negotiations. When they say, "well we got someone else who will do it for less", they ain't kidding. I have spoken to a number of my peers who have confirmed this erosion of pay for their actors. In short, right now, quotes are eroding and for many, the minimum has become the maximum pay.

-ECONOMIC IMPACT II - THE CONCLUSION OF SAG STALEMATE: Many are hoping that with the end
of this stalemate, Hollywood will get back to normal. I have to say, that I am not one who necessarily believes this. First off, due to the economic conditions, most studios have lost their millions of dollars from hedge funds; and European, Asian and Middle Eastern money has dried up. Even Stephen Spielberg has had to beg, borrow and steal to get his company financed .... And it wasn't anywhere near what he originally asked for. I believe that, even after the SAG stalemate is over, there is probably not enough money for 50 Studio Feature Films to be done right out of the gate. BOTTOM LINE: While this will help us move towards normalcy, it will not be the cash cow some people think it will be. One side note, is that I expect that more formulaic projects will be down out the gate as Studios will be less likely to take significant risks since most of these projects will be financed by both the studio and their investors. In short, you will see more Iron
Mans, Animation, and SAWs... they are money in the bank when you factor in ratios, etc.

-ECONOMIC IMPACT III - OVERALL STATEMENT OF ENVIRONMENT: It is important that everyone follow the economic conditions closely. I know it is easy to be skeptical over the studios, networks, cablers, production houses, show runners, etc, losing money, but it is a cold-hard fact right now. These entities are truly in a difficult spot. If you have read much lately, there have been dramatic cut backs at every studio and network, from firings to asking show runners to cut between 2-7% of their budgets (not to mention the 25+% cutback shows like the Sarah Silverman were asked to swallow recently). Furthermore, these networks and studios are largely owned by conglomerates who have lost in the billions over the last 6 months. When I attended
NATPE in January, all the talk was how to get 'thinner.' Everything is getting tight. Budgets, Marketing, Staffing, etc., and this will undoubtedly impact the actor. Also, the foreign sales market (where much of the TV and Film money is made, is being hit hard by the erosion of the US Dollar. So these entities are not able to recoup the costs they were in better days by the one-time explosion of the foreign markets. BOTTOM LINE: The economic conditions are forcing the industry to be as 'thin' as possible.

-COMMERCIALS - INDUSTRY AND ECONOMIC IMPACTS: One analyst said last year, that 2008 was the worst commercial market since maybe 1974. I would not argue with this. Think about it: three of the top products/services for ad agencies are banks, cars and other financial services - all of which were struck down in 2008/early 2009 by this recession. This was confirmed when news struck that even the Super Bowl did not sell out advertising this year. The good news is that the advertising industry tends to be one of the first ones to be negatively impacted by a recession, but one of the first to grow as the recession moves to an end as advertisers of products want to start accumulating market share before the turn of the economy. Another impact relates to the overall conditions of the TV/FILM/PILOT situation. Many strong actors have made enough money on TV/FILM, etc so that they have not had to do commercials in years. Due to the last few years and the lack of work, many top actors are now back in the commercial market; thus again, causing a logjam in casting. BOTTOMLINE: The economic slowdown has caused a dramatic decrease in ad sales and the lack of work has caused more actors to re-enter the commercial market.

THE GOOD NEWS!!

Okay, so that is where we are today. You know me, I try to always call it straight as I see it. So, I am not going to sugar-coat this either. I anticipate that 2009 will be a tough year overall for actors (and agencies). First off, the economy will not likely get straightened out until at least the 3rd to 4th quarter of this year and so all the factors above will remain in place through most, if not all, of 2009. Secondly, until the labor situation gets straightened out, we will not be seeing dramatic amount of film production, and this seems to be dragging along as well (as we enter the 8th month of the stalemate - it was announced today that SAG is thinking now about taking AMPTP to court for anti-trust violations). But again, even if it was finalized, there is not enough investor money to see the film production level normalize and increase for most, if not all, of 2009. Also, since movies cost around $40 for two (tickets, popcorn, etc) - this is not a recession proof field anymore. During our last significant recession, there were few choices for guilty pleasures to get away from the stress of our times - so many people flocked to the theatres. NOT SO THESE DAYS, one can go to the web, TV, cable (not around in 1974, 1982, 1988 much), Video Games, Netflix, RedBox (movie for a $1). So studios are probably not in any big rush to make films - as people cannot afford this once cheap diversion - better to divert for a few bucks to all the many other sources of guilty pleasures. OKAY, so that didn't sound like good news...

-The good news is that there are some paradigm shifts occurring that make 2010 -2012 look like it might be one of the most prolific times in Hollywood history. Due to technological developments, there are more platforms being developed than ever. The internet is driving
millions of new viewers each year. Zillion is going to transform the way we view advertising. For those who don't know, it has recently been unveiled by the maker of Real Player and the 'mouse.' It is a system that makes you watch ads before downloading movies (they already have 14,000 Titles ready for download), TV, other forms of entertainment to your TV Screen. However, the consumer can choose the products they want to see (let's say you go retail clothing and watch a Macy's ad and love the jacket; you can immediately click on the ad/jacket and go directly to their website where you can buy it). Also, you earn points by watching the commercials that you can use towards purchases. Furthermore, SONY and others are now selling TVs that wirelessly connect to your computer, so you can download TV/FILMS at anytime from your computer (websites like Hula, Netflix, etc) directly to your TV. In short, technology is making more platforms which will
require more content than ever. Also, Cablers are all embracing doing scripted shows, some have up to 5 shows this year... again, more content is needed and thus MORE ACTORS!

-BOTTOM LINE: More platforms = more content = more actors! So as long as SAG/AFTRA can protect your rates and jurisdictional issues, there will be more good compensated work than ever in Hollywood by 2010-2012. "

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Blue is now available!

My new album Blue is now available. Though I made some mistakes on the graphics when I wrote in the track list. I had a previous order with an extra track on there versus the current one. I don't know what happened. I thought I corrected it. I also messed up in not getting it polywrapped. I even thought specifically that I made sure of that too. Well that's life. It happens when I'm trying to juggle everything.

Well I'm on my way to releasing Red as well as From the Krystal Epic Library Collection. Both of which are slated to be here by the end of this month so I can start selling in June.

I have a lot of albums planned. I don't really care if I sell many of them right now. I just wanna keep releasing albums. I just want a whole library collection of my own piano music. I just have so much stuff in my head so I really wanna just keep adding more and more. I have no idea where it'll all end up to be, but I am aiming to releasing 10 to 12 albums this year.

So far to date, I have - Ocean of Thoughts and Blue released. I have Red and From the Krystal Epic Library Collection in the wings. I am planning on releasing a Chinese theme album, a Hymn album, a love album and an avant-garde album during the summer time. Which makes a total of 8. Let's see how that goes then.

Anyways, I'm a bit busy lately with the concert coming up and a few auditions and gigs I've picked up. I am looking for a music manager/agent to start looking for music gigs too. That is a very tricky thing to do. But I do really believe in my own music as well as a few people around me who's helping me out. Counting on everyone to help me out to push my music out there.

I was online on google searching piano improv. My website is on the third page which is pretty nice. On the first page, I see this video that has this woman on Oprah that was playing improv piano and I just wanted to vomit. She was totally cheating, and just giving a totally cliche performance. It was just so cheesy I just wanna kick myself and go why aren't I on that show doing real improv. Oh well, I don't care if no one listens. I'm just here to play.

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