Posts

Showing posts from 2012

Peroni Commercial Rome

I have just come back from some of the best 4 days I have ever had with work out in Rome, Italy. Now Italy has always been a place that I have wanted to see more after only previously spent 36 hours in Milan a few years back. When the opportunity to travel comes up with work it is absolutely perfect. And Rome was just absolutely incredible! One of the best cities I have ever been too without a doubt, full of culture, full of history and an utterly breath taking place. I always have to make the most of my trips abroad and spend any down time I get walking around and taking in these places. Rome was no different and very fortunately I got to experience it with some great people as well. Where do I begin??? (from the start I guess ha) This job was very last minute for me, not knowing when or what time I was flying until late on Wednesday. This happens very often with jobs and you need to ensure that you have the flexibility to cope with last minute changes to ensure that you don't

Playing the Waiting Game

It's been a few weeks since my last update (lazy boy I know) and to be honest there hasn't been too much going on at all. This time of year is often very quiet in the build up to Xmas, but it has got even worse this year for some reason. But thats part and parcel of doing what I do, the inconsistencies, the instability and that thought of the unknown. Socially though I have been a lot busier and it has helped make me so much happier. They always say keep yourself busy and it helps make u feel better, its so true. I literally haven't had a spare evening for a long long while. Going out more, meeting new people, its what living life is all about. I went to see a Muay Thai fight night a couple of weeks ago which was amazing! I also to Winter Wonderland in Hyde Park too which was brilliant! If there are a group of you going there I highly recommend it believe me. It's so amazing and so much fun. Now those that know me know that after a few drinks I love a boogie! We were

Opportunities starting to come

I am a bad man aren't I?! No blog post for over 3 weeks! No excuse and my apologies. Makes it hard to try and think back at what I have been up to in that time. But will try my best thats for sure. The main thing to be honest is that I am now living in London, have my total independence back and at feels so good. A huge weight lifted off my shoulders and so much more time on my hands instead of suffering the Essex to London commute. The place is so nice and quiet and already I am feeling very settled. Still needs a woman's touch to decorate my room a bit more, but I like it. MERCEDES SHOOT Out of the blue on a Sunday evening I received a phone call from my agent asking if I was available for a shoot on the Monday morning! Last minute or what, but as soon as she said it was for Mercedes it was a no brainer. YES. Even though I was working until 2am that night, I really didn't care, works work after all. The reason why it was last minute was because another model had worke

POSITIVE MENTAL ATTITUDE - Moving forward and moving to London

Well that last post 2 weeks ago was rather depressing wasn't it?!?! First of all I would just like to thank those who read my post and contacted me about it, much appreciated to know there are so many out there that care and I hope that many know that I am always here to return the favor to anyone in need. Feeling down about things is something that happens to everyone at some point in their life. It happens to people living on the streets, it happens to people who are rich and famous too, it doesn't matter what your life status is, the mind is such a powerful thing, for good and bad. I was in a state of mind that wasn't letting me progress forward and was not letting me get the past out of my head. I was jumping at anything said to me and quite frankly just miserable. I started to believe that every day I was down, when in fact it was just all in my mind. Life is hard yes, but life has such amazing qualities too. These qualities are the ones that makes life so enjoyabl

The Last 2 weeks

Its been an up and down 2 weeks I must admit in so many ways. Works very quiet, and I in myself have been up and down like a yoyo. My mind is constantly running and trying very hard to slow it down, and start taking a breather from everything that life is currently throwing at me. I'm not moaning about my life here one bit believe me, I guess it doesn't matter what job you do at times, or how people perceive your life, its all down to how you feel. Right now its about making decisions and importantly making the right decisions in order to move forward and start achieving what I want in life. I'm 29 in April and certainly not getting younger and its time I need to start getting prepared for what the future could bring. If this means calming down and being sensible then so be it. I need to ensure that I haven't got any distractions because that always seems to be the hardest thing, something that I struggle so much with. WORK There have been so few castings around for

Nivea Commercial

As promised from my last post, I would do one in a bit of detail about the Nivea Commercial which I shot almost 2 weeks ago. Commercials are always more exciting than shoots, and they always require a much bigger crew too and this was no different. THE CASTING Starting from the beginning the casting. Something that all models/actors have to go through the majority of times in order to book a job. I had only just made this casting and was the last person they saw for the job. My role was "the boyfriend" and I had the character of being very fun and playful (I think true to real life....just nod and agree ha). The scene I was in required a water bomb thrown at me and I had to do my reaction to that. Went over this 4 times in the casting and that was it, on my way out the room. Now with commercials, you rarely get the clients in the room, especially on a first casting and with the development of technology now a days, clients don't need to be there. The clients will ge

A crazy 3 weeks!!! In more ways than one!

I have just read back through my last blog update and my oh my how things have changed in 3 weeks. I think the term "what hasn't gone off in my life" is the perfect description for the past few weeks. I really don't even know where to start, from the end? Oh no, thats not right is it, the beginning. My last post was written after I was enjoying a very quiet bank holiday weekend. That next week everything seemed to all happen at once in my life. I will keep it short and sweet about stuff in my private life as I don't like going into it too much. But my relationship ended. So back to being on my own. Changes everything in life it really does, some for the good and some for the bad. Anyways....moing on. I booked a small job in the middle of some shifts at the casino channel and the start of a gruelling 3 weeks in the studio, doing a variety of hours. The job was for a supermarket magazine (who's name will not be mentioned ha). I was for the 2nd time since I c

A Quiet August

I wanted to keep my blog updated a lot over August, but to be honest there wasn't much going on at all so didn't want to bore you too much and talk about what I had for dinner, what TV I watched and how many beers I had the night before. (On that note I only had 2 Corona's last night and drove - which is an absolute rarity but a sign of being sensible) ha ha. August for modeling tends to be very quiet. I have often survived by picking up the odd job going in this month and after my shoot at the start of the month I am happy with it. I have also been back on Smartlive Casino throughout the month, using that time to show my sense of humour, which i found in a box in my room, and to just increase my Live TV experience. Always great for that. Now to be truthful to all of you and at the risk of my agency not being too pleased with me, I have let myself go over the last 6 weeks. Since returning from LA I have been to the gym twice and once was today! I have drank a lot of alc

When castings get cancelled

Having to balance times and jobs is very very difficult and for me is certainly one of the hardest things I face while trying to do both modeling and presenting. Modelling work is something that can come up at any time, whether thats a job or a casting. Without going to the castings I don't get any jobs. So it is vital that I can make as many as I possibly can. Yes it would be amazing to be David Gandy who doesn't ever have to cast anymore, but I am not anywhere near that standard of model. It is very different at this end and I will continue to hustle and bustle to as many castings as possible to improve my chances. On Friday, I received a call about a very good casting from my agency on Monday. The only problem is that I was down to work on Monday for some presenting. Swapping shifts is very difficult to do and often it isn't easy. Often in the past I have just had to give up a shift to ensure I go to a very good casting, something which is hard to do because I am turni

1 month blogging hiatus over! LONDON

First of all I just want to apologise for not updating my blog for a month now. This past month has been very very crazy as I have moved back home from LA and been very busy with work and adjusting since. But I will be on it again, talking about everything that I am experiencing in the entertainment industry, the truths about the modeling world and a whole lot more. The on thing I have always set about when starting this blog was to tell the truth and to really give people a real insight into what exactly gies on in my everyday life and to show you the real side to the industry and not the glitz and glamour that is often portrayed in magazines and on TV. Well what a strange month its been! After spending 7 months living away in LA I have come back home for a bit. I had one of my best friends stag do's a couple of weeks ago which I didnt want to miss and was part of the reason for the timing of my return. Plus I also have 3 weddings to go to in September so prolonging my stay over

HOME IN JUST OVER A WEEK

I have lasted out here for the past 7 months and it has been the longest I have ever been away from home. It's always different moving to a new place and practically starting all over again. It offers up so many challenges, but will always be an incredible experience, either good or bad that I will never forget. I can't say I miss being at home immensely, especially that British weather of course, but there are a lot of aspects I do miss. My family I miss a lot, not being able to see them certainly gets tough, but technology now a days makes it a lot easier to keep in touch. My work back in the UK I miss as I was a lot busier there and was certainly earning more money as well, which is always nice of course. But the one thing I miss the most are my friends. Yes I can skype them and message them still, but to hang out with, go out with, watch sport with and just geuinely socialize with is what I miss the most. That is something that I have failed to do here and that is find a

Blake Stevens - The Dating Guru (My Alias)

If anyone knew me when I was younger and throughout my schooling years, they would know full well that I am certainly not even close to being a "Dating Guru"! To be honest I still think even through my twenties I could never be called that one bit. But it is a role I have taken on when filming this dating concept show. It is honestly like studying a new subject and putting in the time and the effort to really understand the whole concept of dating and to try and put every bit of experience I have into it. This has honestly been one the best experiences of my life, just because of what I am learning and the psychology of it all. I have also been working harder and harder on my hosting throughout the process as well, which will no doubt give me some great experience in the future. There are so many different concepts to dating, and we are analysing and explaining every single part of the process. I honestly think that even if you are experienced in it and feel like you don

In less than 2 weeks most controversial post of my life will appear

I know this is a very different post to my normal and its just a little one to really tell you guys to all look out for. I have prided myself on complete honesty throughout writing this blog and it is something that I certainly hope the people who read it, really do appreciate. This will continue, but I will go to a brand new level very soon and will reveal something regarding my work situation here that quite frankly will shock so many. Yes, this is quite a teaser, but believe me I have things that I must clear up this week before I reveal the true extent of it. All sounds very dramatic I know, but for me, it has made my blood boil more than anything has in my entire life. It is something that i want to share with a lot of people and hopefully start spreading it out to a wider audience as there are warnings that need to be sent out to younger people coming through into this business. Anyways...watch this space....

Callback for a lead role in a Movie - went well

Today I had the callback for the movie role I got put up for a month ago. I have been waiting for this day for a long long time now, and I have been very excited about the prospect of it. I never ever considered myself as an actor before, or even wanted to go for roles, but I really enjoyed this whole process. The learning of the script was a challenge, but one that i welcomed and throughly enjoyed. The role is a Newsreporter who is young, ambitious, slightly cocky and the story involves some strange happenings while reporting from a small town in Arizona. The script was fairly long, 2 monologues and 1 dialogue to memorise. Fortunately it was the same script I had learnt a month previous for the original casting and I had it installed somewhere in brain alongside beers of the world and football teams ;-) ha. I had to wait for an hour today at the casting and saw a number of guys auditioning for the same role as me, all different in their own unique way, but none of them were Englis

Slow week with a good end!

Days have passed by this week with not a great deal to shout about to be honest. I kind of have that low feeling that work was a bit stunted and opportunities seem to have gone all quiet on me. I am also in my mind preparing for a return to the UK. I made my decision to come back on the 11th July, a flight i had booked since I came back out here in December. Always good to get a return flight there ready, which can be moved if necessary in case of an emergency, something I have made sure I have done every stint I have had out here. What its done is probably made me a little complacent this week and taken my mind away from work and on to seeing my friends and family. Miss them like crazy, so I guess its normal to be feeling a huge sense of excitement about the prospect of seeing them. The weather has been its usual good self, something that helps keep me going while I'm out here. It's that constant reminder of how lucky I am to be living in California. A place where the sun sh

A week of work and travels

It's been a busy couple of weeks since my last post, which is always a good sign for me that I haven't had too much time to myself. ha ha. Last week started with some football coaching as per usual which is so much fun out here in the Californian sun. Always makes me feel so lucky to be out here. I've had some good work with a dating show, a trip to Texas and finally a trip to San Francisco!!! Busy and crazy! Just how I like it. The Dating show is something I have spoke previously about. It was some work that I sorted myself here in LA and something which is progressing more and more giving me absolutely vital on camara experience too. It's such an interesting show to do as well, as we break down the whole dating scenario and start guys from the very beginning. It is amazing how many different stages there are to meeting people (girls in this subject). I will pass on some of my wisdom from the show for you all, or just simply give you something to think about ha ha.

Never stop looking for work opportunities - Busy week

Image
I received a lot of comments on my last post, which meant a lot that people are taking the time out to read my blog. It was a tough one to write afterall, but felt good to speak to a lot of people who are going through the same situation and know that I am not on my own. And thank you all for reading my Blog. It was a 4 day week here just gone and a very busy one for me as well. The previous weekend I received a call out of the blue from one of my agencies telling me that I had been requested for a callback for a hosting/presenting job. I was in complete shock and was over the moon that i had this opportunity. This is a great job, chatting about movies and interviewing actors, something that I have dreamed of doing since breaking into the industry. The original casting I really thought I blew, as I got very nervous (which doesn't happen very often to me) and wasn't my usual confident comfortable self. But I must of done something right. So all week I had a script to prepar

The Truth about my time in LA

Image
I thought it was about time I opened up and told the truth about my time living here in LA. So many people think that I am "living the life", "living the dream" am "the luckiest guy in the world". I wish all of that was true I really do. I wish I could constantly tell my friends and family back home what an amazing time I am having in LA and how I feel so settled like it's home. Well that would be a lie. LA is a huge city that has so much going on. It is a city of such great opportunity and that's such a huge attraction to the place for so many people, me included. But with opportunities, comes desperation and comes a great deal of competition. Many people in this town will do absolutely anything to succeed, and will go to such extreme lengths to do so, no matter who they trample over in the mean time. They are completely selfish and will only ever contact you if they need something from you. Friendship is a term that so many in this city fail t

First Commercial in 3 years!!! Finally!

I finally booked my first commercial in 3 years! I will keep the name of the client quiet for now, well until I see it on the TV that is. Confidentiality agreements and all. But certainly I am not going to hold back how happy I am. In my first 20 months working as a model, I booked 5 commercials. It was something that for me became the normal to book jobs on this scale. Then believe me it was a huge shock when that changed and after booking a Nintendo DSI commercial 3 years ago, I had nothing. I still went to numerous commercial auditions, callbacks, some options, but none booked up. Not only does my confidence suffer, but importantly my bank balance does as well. So I am over the moon to have booked this one. More importantly it is my first big job here in the States, which delights not only me and my family, but my agencies too. Their faith in me has been rewarded and their gamble in getting me a visa is certainly now paying off. Without booking anything big, or getting regular w

Finally....some success in LA

Image
The last post on here was published 2 weeks ago and I was talking about my prospects coming up here in LA after a break away. I am pleased to say that 2 of the 3 have come to fruition and I have just completed filming a new dating concept show. It's been a strange experience to be so busy here in LA for the first time! This last 2 wees have been crazy in so many ways, and the easiest way to tell is that my phone battery lasts me all day at the moment because I am hardly on it ha ha. Always a sign of boredom when your on your phone the whole time. Let's start with the dating show. The show is for a company who produce lot's of similar level of shows that appeals to male viewers. Some are risque, some are very entertaining and I was happy to be hosting a dating concept show. The idea of the show is to teach the "Average Joe" ways of improving their chances with men, from going through many "ice breakers" in various situations to meet women and also so

Current Prospects

Image
http://youtu.be/e_5eJS5Jnj0 Copy this link and paste into your browser if you would like to see a little montage from my Red Carpet debut and the event for 'Give Kids the World'. After a lovely vacation (holiday)away to the Bahamas on my first cruise, which was great, I am now back to the graft in Los Angeles. The start of the week means a big email send out to all my contacts that I have made out here in LA. I had a lot of prospects before I went away, so I need to ensure that I have followed everything up. Prospect 1: After searching online on one of many of the job websites, I found a job that was looking for a male host. Following this up I found more details about the show. It is a type of dating show, where guys have a chance to find ways of approaching women. It sounds like a fun show to be a part of, and I am hoping to go in to see the production team this week. Prospect 2: Following up from the Red Carpet event with a brand new production company who are looking at rea

Red Carpet Host Debut

Image
Do I look like a host in this picture? I was dressed to impress that's for certain as I took to the red carpet for the first time and I absolutely loved every minute of it! It felt so natural, so easy, so comfortable and more importantly so much fun to be on there. I can imagine people are wondering how it all came about??? Well as you will know I have been very very quiet of late and I have been making an extra effort to apply for anything that I possibly could, and that includes any hosting opportunities that could improve my reel. That is certainly the key for me at the moment, and also it is great practice for me when new opportunities come up. I scoured the Internet and found on Craig's list a post for red carpet hosts for a charity event. Perfect. I sent my resume and pictures and got an immediate response back to go in on Friday for an interview. A lot of people turned up for the interview, but being my early self, I was the first one there, which is often an advantage a

Time to Create my own fortunes

Image
This month has been extremely quiet in so many ways. The auditions have dried up and the opportunities that were becoming apparent have faded away for the time being. It is times like these that makes it extremely important to stay self motivated and to look outside the box at any possible opportunities that could be around. My last post I was pretty down and since then I have been trying hard to snap myself out of the funk. Well, it hasn't necessarily happened just yet, and I have found myself at the gym near enough every single day this month!!! With nothing to do as a Model it is always important to stay in shape and believe me it is starting to become more difficult too!!! (I don't want to say that word 'age', but...) ha. Some people have asked me recently what exactly do I do to get work myself outside of my agencies. There are lots I can do and here is a list of a couple of them: NETWORK - Vital and key, as discussed in a previous post, to network and to continue