Real Stuff with Ming Lo

Ming Lo

So much of today’s conversation is platitudes, bylines, repeats of storylines published elsewhere. Real stuff gets beyond that, to the nitty gritty. Sometimes nuts and bolts, sometimes just straightforward, Real Stuff talks about the things we should talk about, but often don’t. If you prefer the video version of these podcasts, you can find them on youtube here: https://www.youtube.com/@mingtelo and look for ”Real Stuff with Ming Lo” playlist.

Episodes

  1. 03/03/2023

    #7 Dom Magwili, Veteran Actor, Writer, Director and Teacher

    It's always great to talk to a veteran of the industry, there's nothing like the perspective of time and experience.  Dom has been around as long as I can remember.  He is well respected in the arts world, and especially in the Asian acting and theater community.  In our chat, we talk about his early beginnings writing at school, and discovering acting and theater in college.  We also discuss the life of the multi-hypenate artist in LA, as well as teaching at East West Players and acting advice for actors.  Of course, we delve into his latest book, the epic fantasy The Infernal Promise, currently available on Amazon.  Lastly, we touch on his recent foray into the world of audiobook narrating.   To find out more about Dom: https://dmagwili.com/ https://www.facebook.com/dmagwili https://www.amazon.com/Infernal-Promise-Legends-First-Hemisphere-ebook/dp/B09T78KHMJ https://eastwestplayers.coursestorm.com/browse 0:00 Intro 0:50 Started writing in 2nd grade 2:23 Got involved in acting in college after years of debate and speech 6:56 Received a scholarship for summer program at American Conservatory Theater, and ended up staying 2 1/2 years at ACT 9:40 Move to Los Angeles, early days at East West Players 11:00 Being a multi-hyphenate artist 14:10 Teaching acting at East West Players  15:20 Advice for actors 19:18 Dom’s latest book, an epic fantasy, The Infernal Promise 25:50 Getting into audiobook narration 29:57 How to find out more about Dom Magwili

    32 min
  2. 02/18/2023

    #5 Jennifer Aquino - Audiobook Master, Actor, Producer, Director and Entrepreneur

    I don't know how she does it, but Jen is an accomplished actor, voiceover artist, director, producer, entrepreneur, mother and wife.  She must have amazing organizational skills and boundless energy, and I want to know her secrets, lol.   In this episode we talk about how Jen got into acting, and the challenges she faced as a woman and an Asian actor in the industry.  We also chat about forming her own production company and creating her own content.  In recent years, Jen has forged a very successful audio book career, and we dive into how to make the leap to audio books for actors, technical nuts and bolts of the business, and how to get work in the industry.   Fun Fact: Jen is one of the doctors who killed McDreamy on the ABC medical drama "Grey's Anatomy." Jennifer has narrated titles with Penguin Random House, Hachette, HarperCollins, Simon & Schuster, Audible Studios, Blackstone, Podium, Dreamscape Media, and Tantor. Jennifer also directs audiobooks, and is on the directing rosters for Hachette and Macmillan. She is honored to have recently won two Audiofile Earphones Award for narrating the memoir “My Life” by CAPE, and the horror book "A History of Fear" by Luke Dumas, both books produced by Simon & Schuster.   Jen is on FB, Twitter, Instagram, Linkedin, Tiktok Instagram, Twitter and Tiktok: Jennaquino25 Email: Jennifer@jenniferaquino.com   0:00 Intro 0:56 Where are you from, where did you grow up? 1:48 How did you get into acting?  3:21 Husband and daughter - entire family involved in performing arts 4:19 How did your daughter Sydney get become involved in acting?   6:10 What was acting like when you first got started?  What were some of the challenges?  What was Hollywood like for a female Asian actor?   9:14 Starting her own production company, creating your own content and being creative with audiobooks 10:53 What do you wish you had known when you started?   11:47 What kind of projects did you like to produce?  And would you prefer traditional film productions, or social media?   16:01 Recent voice acting / audio book work 17:48 Making the transition from acting to audio book work 21:22 Technical issues - what kind of microphone, building a studio, recording, post processing?  26:04 Are most audio books SAG-AFTRA?   27:19 How do you find work in the audio book industry?    Recommended Class / Coach: Elise Arsenault - The Great Audiobook Adventure Jenn’s Equipment: Jenn’s  Microphone - AKG  C1000s Interface - SSL 2 Pre-Amp - Triton Audio Fethead Phantom Preamp Blanket booth with Producer’s Choice sound blankets Software/DAW (Digital Audio Workstation)- Audacity

    33 min
  3. #4 Sea (Seangthea) Samai - Beauty and Fashion Model

    02/18/2023

    #4 Sea (Seangthea) Samai - Beauty and Fashion Model

    You may have seen Sea Samai recently as the face of Lilly Lashes at your local Costco.     Join us as we get to know the beautiful Sea (short for Seangthea) Samai, as we talk about growing up in Minnesota, moving to Los Angeles, getting started with modeling, and facing the modeling industry's challenges.  In particular, we discuss rejection, training, her view on the Model Experience and the Cocha Rocha Modeling Camp, and next steps in her career.     You can find out more about Sea here: Instagram: @seangthea Tiktok: @misssea   Youtube: @seasamai   Episode Time Log 0:00 Intro  0:40 Where are you from?  Where did you grow up?  2:32 Was it culture shock coming to LA?  How did you adjust?  4:47 Was it difficult to be part of different communities?  6:34 How did you get into modeling?  7:25 Getting into meetups, building a portfolio, submitting to agencies  9:19 How has modeling been so far?  Sea’s first big campaign with Lilly Lashes.   11:49 What kind of challenges did you face as a model?  Sea talks about rejection, how modeling is glamorized.    13:53 How do you get into modeling?   15:11 How to you train to be a model?  Do Fashion Weeks?  The Model Experience?  How was the Coca Rocha Modeling Camp?   19:12 How should models train?  How do you learn to model? 21:31 What would you like to do going forward?  22:53 How many photos for your portfolio could you expect from a shoot?  23:56 Dipping the toes into acting 25:24 What’s your beauty and diet routine like?  27:15 What do you do in your off time?  28:11 How do you learn to be more expressive in front of camera? 30:31 Where can people find out more about you?

    32 min

About

So much of today’s conversation is platitudes, bylines, repeats of storylines published elsewhere. Real stuff gets beyond that, to the nitty gritty. Sometimes nuts and bolts, sometimes just straightforward, Real Stuff talks about the things we should talk about, but often don’t. If you prefer the video version of these podcasts, you can find them on youtube here: https://www.youtube.com/@mingtelo and look for ”Real Stuff with Ming Lo” playlist.