Mentor Day

Saturday kicked off with a quarterly meeting of great Asian-American minds in entertainment, held this time at Visual Communications in Little Tokyo (also home to the East West Players).

I go for the networking, encouragement, and inspiration, but also to see people I've come to consider friends and colleagues. We had a sparkling discussion about Lin-sanity, diversity casting and hiring in television, and why it's so damn hard to break into directing TV.

I also found out an actress friend is 25 weeks pregnant (Congrats K!), talked on a panel with Leo Chu, creator of Supah Ninjas! on Nickelodeon, and spotted yarnbombing on the sidewalk. All in all, an illuminating morning.

In the evening, I met up with MIT undergrad J who reached out to me because he's interested in acting. My first piece of advice? Graduate and get a good job! This acting thing is a marathon, not a sprint - there's plenty of time to figure out acting classes, headshots, and agents. Get a job, an apartment, a good car - then worry about the rest. I guaranteed he'd be happier in the long run than that guy working as a barista to support his acting career.

He was only in town for the weekend, so I suggested meeting at my favorite burger joint in LA - Umami Burger. Sorry, Father's Office, but this place rocks my world. New addition at the La Brea location - each table had a touchscreen unit for viewing pictures of menu items and playing games.

J recognized the tablet immediately because the company who makes them had been recruiting at an MIT Career Fair. Ah, I miss those career fairs - swag galore!

We chatted about acting and what's going on at the ole 'Tute, then headed over to the Kodak Theatre for a glimpse at the Oscars setup. We couldn't see much, but there were a few good spots, including one at the top of the stairs before the entrance to the theater. We used our brass rats to activate our Wonder Twin powers:

How are you spending Oscars Sunday?