After garnering the first prize Commercial Print Award at the well-known International Model and Talent Association Competition for men between the ages of 18 and 22 in 2013, Steven Van Nguyen went straight to the top of both the American and Canadian entertainment industries as a highly sought after model and actor. The IMTA competition has become a launch pad for the careers of a long list of today's celebrities including international supermodels Grayson Gettys, Branden Rickman, Tyson Ballou, Madeline Kragh and Mariah Watchman, and high-profile actors Katie Holmes, Jessica Biel, Eva Longoria, Elija Wood, Seann William Scott, Ashton Kutcher and Josh Duhamel. With the history of successful talents the competition has already been credited with discovering, Nguyen's rise to stardom comes as no surprise.  The IMTA recently asked Steven to be their spokesmen at the IMTA 2015 convention in New York City where he will talk about the success he has found as an actor and a model since competing in the competition in 2013. The 2015 IMTA convention will be held from July 20-24 at the New York Hilton Midtown Manhattan Hotel.

As an actor Steven Van Nguyen has starred in a long list of productions including the films Checkmate, The White Samurai, Add To Cart, Cheese The Musical, M.E.G.O, Deception and Social Media Critique, as well as the shows The Amazing Gayl Pile, Haphead and UNDERside. A testament to Nguyen's talents as an actor, the series Haphead, in which he plays the leading role of Leicester, was chosen as an Official Selection of the 2015 HollyWeb Fest and Vancouver Web Fest. He was also featured in a video for hip hop artists HOTB,which was directed by Manee Osman, and recently aired nationally in Canada on Globe TV. 

Nguyen is passionate about using his fame to defy global stereotypes surrounding Asian people, with a primary focus on Asian males.  Last year Nguyen was in the documentary film Project Gelb, which aired on Bell Fibe TV and focused on fighting Asian male stereotypes in North America.

Nguyen explains, "I was interviewed about my win on IMTA 2013 in NYC and how that broke a lot of stereotypes on Asian men not being attractive compared to other ethnicities, and I found the experience extremely fulfilling because everything I have done in my life and my career has been the opposite of typical Asian stereotypes, so I was able to debunk a lot of false perceptions and show that we are all human and success is based on the individual not on their ethic origin."

Project Gelb was directed by multi-award winning artist and director Francis Luta, whose work as an artist has appeared in galleries across Germany and Canada, and has garnered him the 2013 IIDEX Silver Innovation Award, the 2010 Bezpala Brown Gallery Jury Award and the Bezpala Brown Gallery People’s Choice Award, the 2010 Motorola Webber Seavey Award, as well as an Advertising Award from the School of Design at George Brown College in 2008. About Nguyen's work in the film, Luta says, "[Steven] was a delight to work with on the documentary Project Gelb with his high energy and an “I’ll do what it takes” type of attitude. He was a key contributor that represented a younger demographic with a fresh point-of-view on the subject matter."

While Steven Van Nguyen has created a reputation for himself as a versatile actor whose capacity for playing roles across various genres ensures that he will never get pigeonholed into playing the same role over and over again, a common pitfall for many of the best actors currently working in the Hollywood entertainment industry, Nguyen admits there are some roles he won't play.  "I won’t play any roles that support Asian stereotypes like the nerd, kung fu master, low life, anti social etc."

In addition to his acting career, Nguyen has had great success as a model as well. After winning the coveted award at the 2013 IMTA Competition Nguyen was featured in a four-page spread in Boss Magazine. The talented young model went on to be featured in a nationwide print ad for the Canadian Aids Society, as well as several campaigns for companies including AskforTask, Arroware Anti-privacy, Maniwonders, Onyx Barber Shop and others. Aside from his spread in Boss Magazine, Nguyen has been featured in FrameInn, Atomic Poison, Jahlmar, as well as several other magazines.

Steven Van Nguyen has also become a highly recognizable face in the Canadian public due to his roles in several television commercials. Some of the advertising productions Nguyen has been featured in include commercials for Emerald City Condos, Clipter, Emoteplay, Voxx Sports and Tim Horton's. While Nguyen's commercial look is the perfect fit for print ads and TV commercials, he is also know for his ability to strut his stuff on the runway. Nguyen has walked in several shows including Moore’s Fashion Show, Niagara Bridal Fashion Show, Hamilton Bridal Fashion Show, Club Roma Fashion Show, Diversity Fashion Show, Culture Shock Fashion Show and others.

If it isn't already clear from his impressive repertoire of work as both an actor and a model that Steven Van Nguyen is one of the most diversely talented individuals working in the Canadian entertainment industry today, his work on the show Health Core, as well as his contributions to various podcasts serve as further proof. Nguyen wrote, produced and starred in the show Health Core, which was broadcast every week online through CIB 24.

He says, "I would educate the viewers on fitness, dieting, sleep and anything dealing with a person's well being. For example, I did an episode where I talked about how eating frozen or canned foods isn’t the same as eating fresh foods due to the high sodium content needed to preserve can food."

As this talented young actor and model continues to defy Asian stereotypes with his unparalleled international success in the entertainment industry, Steven Van Nguyen proves the sky is the limit.

It hasn’t taken long for Danish filmmaker Jacob Lundgaard Andersen to make a name for himself in Hollywood.  Though he credits some of his success with Hollywood’s recent fascination with all things Danish, it seems that sheer talent, and not a Danish passport, has held the key to Andersen’s success.

After completing an education dedicated to filmmaking, first at the European Film College in Denmark, then the prestigious American Film Institute in the U.S., Jacob jumped right into writing and directing short films and music videos, which immediately found acceptance and recognition in festivals and on MTV. Since then he has worked for prominent Danish directors Thomas Vinterberg and Nikolaj Arcel, and has gained international experience filming musicians like 30 Seconds to Mars (fronted by Jared Leto), Raphael Saadiq and Enrique Iglesias on their respective world tours. He is a recipient of the Nordic Film Foundation Scholarship and the Bridges/Larson Grant for socially responsible filmmaking.

Jacob has thus far directed nearly a dozen films, including the multi-award winning Dustland, Maria Bonita, As Long As You Watch My Heart, Sad Animals, Rumspringa, The Unfortunate Turth and Be Here Now, which have won recognition and accolades from film festivals around the world, such as the Saint Petersburg International Film Festival (Russia), the prestigious Rhode Island Film Festival (USA), Kitzbuhel Film Festival (Austria), HollyShorts Film Festival (USA), Filmques (USA), just to name a few. 

I asked Jacob to discuss some of his most memorable productions. Of course this is an unfair question to ask a filmmaker, as each of his productions is the culmination of his blood, sweat and tears, but when pressed, we ended up talking about his films Rumspringa, Sad Animals and Be Here Now.

Be Here Now was Jacob's first independent film. He was deeply inspired by the work of experimental filmmaker Jesper Just, and the early work of Lars Von Trier (Breaking the Waves, Dancer in the Dark, Dogville). Working on Be Here Now, Andersen realized that “film can be completely submersive and even more communicative without being mainstream or Hollywood. It was like becoming aware of abstract art.” Andersen spent about 6 months thoughtfully writing the script, spending a lot of time in the parks of Copenhagen listening to Leonard Cohen and Jeff Buckley. As he created the film early on in his career, he admits it was a challenge making a high quality film with no budget, but he succeeded. “I had to borrow and beg everywhere, like most people making shorts for zero cash, but I think I got extremely lucky with my collaborators, or maybe they just extended an extra courtesy for a young naïve filmmaker.” The film screened at several venues in Copenhagen and participated in the prestigious International Short Film Festival Detmold in 2011.

As someone fascinated by the Amish ritual of Rumspringa, I couldn’t resist asking Jacob about the story, the inspiration, and his experience making the film Rumspringa.  Rumspringa is a rite of passage that many Amish youth take part in whereby they have the option of leaving the strict confines of their insular religious communities to live in the non-Amish world.  After their Rumspringa, they choose whether or not to be baptized and confirmed into the Amish community, or to leave forever and live in the secular world. Rumspringa was Andersen’s first project in Los Angeles, and he explains, “This was my first fiction project in Los Angeles and I wanted to explore some of the more extreme versions of this new world in a fairytale kind of setting. I thought it would be a good place to start and try to get a more well-rounded view of my very naïve look on Los Angeles.” Just as the main characters in the film experience the ups and downs of the world outside their sheltered upbringing for the first time, working on the film in a new country was an eye opening learning experience for Jacob in a lot of ways. 

The next film we talked about was a challenging one-take called Sad Animals, which Jacob both wrote and directed. Sad Animals is a film that takes a comedic look at a suicidal man’s very emotional journey to his own death after discovering he has brain cancer.  If the subject matter weren’t enough to make the film a stand-out, what really makes this film special is that it’s shot as a one-take, which means that the entire film is one continuous shot, with no “cuts”.  He explains that he was “a bit surprised” that it turned in to a comedy.  Jacob explains, “I do not want to make light of the struggle of the people that are actually suffering with suicidal thoughts, but I guess it is a Scandinavian approach to the existential crises.” He cites Roy Andersen as a big inspiration for this film.  “A one-take demands a lot of preparation and perfect timing. Once you say ‘action,’ the film takes on a life of its own, and there is nothing you can do about it. We also had kids and stunts, which are two classic no-go’s.” The film is not only quirky and endearing, but beautifully shot as well.

Jacob Lundgaard Andersen’s is currently working on an upcoming feature comedy, as well as collaborating with musician Rapheal Saadiq. Jacob's work proves that he is one of the most talented Danish additions to join the American entertainment industry in recent years, and we can’t wait to see what he comes up with next!

Check out the trailer for Jacob Lundgaard Anderson's film Rumspringa below!

If you're a follower of the latest technology news, chances are very good you've read something written by Brazilian tech writer and content producer Gisele Góes. For years, Góes has been writing and producing for some of the biggest technology websites around, dedicated to keeping readers up-to-date on the latest news and insights into the tech world.

Although she originally wanted to be a photographer, Góes found at a young age she had a knack for writing. "I found out I could use my passion about photography to pick up cool images and have fun writing at the same time," she explains.

Góes honed her skills with her first blog, "Keep Calm and Blog On," which eventually led to her being discovered by the staff at TechTudo.com -- the largest technology and digital culture news website in Brazil with more than 10 million unique visitors. Góes was invited to write for the site where she covered everything from real-time industry news to tutorials to software and hardware ratings. "Without competent and good qualified writers, TechTudo wouldn’t have good and updated content," she adds.

For Góes, writing about technology was second nature -- her fascination with technology started at a young age and has grown over the years. "I love having access to new information," she says. "More than that I love sharing it with people from all over the world, and that wouldn’t be possible without technology."

With her fascination for learning about the latest technologies, it's no surprise Góes' position eventually led to her being invited in 2013 to take part in a special summer program in the Silicon Valley area of California. As one of 18 participants in the Startup Dream Team program, Góes had the opportunity to participate in workshops and meetings and to learn the steps a start-up or entrepreneur needs to start a new tech-related business, such as a mobile app, service or product.

Speaking of apps, that is another area that is a passion for Góes. She was invited to work on the Mac desktop blogging app Blogo, where she took charge of their communication efforts to help ensure the product had a "human touch." Góes' expertise in app development includes developing all the written content for an app, including messages, notifications, and even the names of features in the settings area. "Everything needs to be as simple as possible, but also promote a good experience to the users," she explains. "Some people think that design is only about graphics, but words count a lot!

And when it comes to promotion, Góes is a pro at "copyhacking" -- copywriting that is focused on results by using the right words to attract users. "Basically it's writing something good that gets results," she adds.

With an already successful tech-writing career under her belt, Góes looks to becoming involved with more projects to help promote them and guarantee their success. " Technology keeps empowering us, and today funding or raising money is just a matter of getting the right people involved and working together to make great ideas happen," she says.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Originally from Oshawa, Ontario, Canada, Rob Teehan had already created an impressive repertoire of work as a musician before embarking on a career as a composer for film, an area in which he has reached incredible success. At age 27, Rob Teehan was nominated for a Juno Award, the Canadian equivalent of a Grammy, for “Classical Composition of the Year” for his composition “Dreams of Flying,” which made him the youngest nominee in the history of the category. The master of several musical instruments and a highly sought after composer for classical music, Teehan received two music degrees from the University of Toronto and Indiana University, before undertaking an apprenticeship with multi-award winning film composer Rob Carli. Carli, who has received three Gemini Awards, is known for his work on over 50 film and television programs including the Canadian hit television series Murdoch Mysteries, Cracked and Unnatural History, as well as the films Survival of the Dead and The Terrorist Next Door.

Teehan’s extraordinary skills as a tuba player led the director of a short film to request him as a composer for his film several years ago, a fated collaboration that would spark Teehan’s interest and later his career as a composer for film. Teehan says, “I didn’t know what I was doing but I jumped into it and we had a lot of fun, it was a really quirky score, and I was nervous trying to do the job but I enjoyed the challenge of it.” Although Teehan had already been playing and composing music professionally for over decade when the opportunity to work in film presented itself, he admits that despite the international success he had achieved as a musician there was still a void, a challenge that was missing. Through his experience composing for film Teehan not only discovered the challenge he was looking for but a career he could dedicate his life to as well.

In 2012 he scored the award-winning documentary The Sugar Bowl, which won Best Documentary and the coveted Festival Prize at the Aesthetica Short Film Festival, and screened as an Official Selection at the Atlanta Film Festival. Shot on an island in the Philippines that once thrived in wealth from a booming sugar industry, the documentary focuses on the aftermath of a now, somewhat agriculturaly baren region, and the decades of famine, despair, and political turmoil that have plagued the island since it’s thriving period.  A beautifully shot film that is poetic from beginning to end, Teehan’s score gives the visual imagery emotional depth and drives home the story in a way that is both powerful and touching.

More recently, Teehan scored the feature documentary The Babushkas of Chernobyl, which is set for release this year.  The film is about hundreds of elderly Ukranian women who dare to live out the rest of their lives in their homeland, despite the fact that it is a high-risk radiation zone due to the Chernobyl nuclear disaster that hit in 1986. The film was directed by Holly Morris, a former National Geographic Adventure columnist and contributor to The New York Times, “O,” and MORE magazine, and Anne Bogart, a television producer and director who’s known for her work on the PBS travel series Globe Trekker. Teehan’s score adds to the film’s unique allure with his inclusion of traditional Ukrainian folk instruments and his own style of dark, ambient, electronics, which illustrate the tension between the vibrant traditional lifestyle and the modern, synthetic world.

Since discovering his true calling as a composer for film, Rob Teehan has become a highly sought after talent in the Canadian film industry. Aside from The Babushkas of Chernobyl and The Sugar Bowl, he has created original scores for the films Tulip, Texas and Us, The Unsinkable Captain John, Hogtown, Joe, The Power of One, Safe Socks, Many Choices, Life as a Coin, Flor De La Mar and others. From his proven track record of success, it is guaranteed that Teehan’s musical talent is one that will continue to impress audiences around the globe.

 

 Those looking to pursue a career as a film editor in Hollywood should take a look at the successful career of editor Andrew Coutts for inspiration.

Hailing from a small town in Ontario, Canada, Coutts realized he had a knack for film editing after writing, shooting and editing a short film in high school. Deciding to make it into a career, he then went on to college to study film. Although Coutts learned about all facets of filmmaking, he says it was there that he realized where his real passion was. "It was picture editing that resonated with me most," he reveals. "It was at this point that I discovered my love for storytelling through filmmaking and specifically through the craft of editing."

From there, Coutts jumped feet first into film editing, learning everything he could about his chosen craft, and making valuable contacts along the way. His hard work paid off as he was hired for his first professional editing job as an assistant picture editor on the TV Series Beastmaster shortly after graduating college. This ultimately led him to what Coutts refers to as his big break -- being named lead editor for Saw VI and Saw 3D: The Final Chapter.

Coutts says having a career in the film industry is all about the experiences you've had and the knowledge you have taken from them, which is why he uses every project as a learning opportunity. For instance, one of Coutts' most recent projects is the horror comedy film Bloodsucking Bastards, starring Fran Kranz (The Cabin in the Woods, Donnie Darko, Training Day) and Pedro Pascal (Game of Thrones, The Adjustment Bureau). Directed by Brian James O'Connell (Angry White Man, The Girls' Room), the film is set to premier at the Slamdance Film Festival in Utah later this month.

As an independent feature film Bloodsucking Bastards did not have a large budget, but Coutts says it gave him a great opportunity to be a one-man show when it came to editing the film. Additionally, the comedy horror genre was a relatively new area for Coutts, an aspect that provided him an opportunity to test out his skills in the genre. He says, "Editing for comedy was a challenge -- finding the right jokes, rhythms and pacing for the film to hit the right balance and make sure we were hitting the comedy beats as strongly as possible."  

Andrew Coutts has a created an incredible reputation for himself as a go to film editor for countless projects including the films The Commandments of Bob, Somba Ke: The Money Place, The Man Who Loved Flowers, The Unspoken Promise, Nurse 3D, Knight of Badassdom, Altergeist and many more. He was also the lead editor on the films Sequence, which won Best of Fest at the 2013 LA Shorts Fest and garnered him a nomination for Best Picture Editing at the Canadian Cinema Editors Awards, The Day, which was an Official Selection at Toronto Film Festival Midnight Madness, and 10:17, which won Best International Short at the Los Angeles First Glance Film Festival and was an Official Selection at the Palm Springs ShortFest.

So what's next for Coutts? He plans to continue doing what he loves, he says, "I hope to keep working on projects that challenge and excite me, to keep working with people whose creativity inspires me, and that I never stop striving to be better and to find new and interesting ways to tell stories."

Multi-talented filmmaker Emeric Le Bars has been making a name for himself in the Hollywood film industry over the last few years. A talented young creative genius, Le Bars has fulfilled several roles in the process of filmmaking including director of photography, camera operator, colorist, producer and others, but what he has come to be most widely recognized for are his exceptional abilities as an editor. 

Originally from Angers, France, Le Bars discovered his passion for film in his youth, and while he majored in communications in college he was careful not to let his passion for filmmaking simmer into a simple hobby. Instead he took a concentration in video production, which accompanied his college degree, while also shooting and editing his own work in his free time.

“I started working as an editor in France as a freelancer. I was mostly working in freelance, shooting some documentaries about local people and editing short movies,” explains Le Bars. “The first time I technically worked with editing software was about 10 years ago when my cousin and I were filming and editing some small budget movies. At the beginning editing was just a hobby, but I loved it so much that I wanted it to be my profession!”

Driven to make his dreams a reality, Emeric Le Bars began working for City Hall in Angers, France, where he shot and edited several videos of the city and honed his skills in the creation of time-lapse videos from start to finish.

Le Bars recalls, “City Hall used the videos to promote the city so my work was broadcasted in different theaters in Angers before the movies, and also in 27 countries on Euro Channel.”

Today Emeric Le Bars is working as the editor of several projects in Los Angeles including the upcoming feature films Perception of Art and Lily’s Light, as well as for Smile TV where he is working on the show LaArt, which airs on PBS, and others. When it comes to Le Bars’ motivation to continue working as an editor he says, “Every project is different, every client is different so even if it seems to be the same thing over and over, it’s not! The only thing that I know now is that I want to keep doing what I am doing, because if you do what you love, you will never have one day of work in your life.”

Although his busy editing schedule currently takes up most of his time, the talented young editor still manages to find time to create his own projects. One of Le Bars’ projects entitled “Unlimited City” serves as proof of his incredible talents as both an editor and a filmmaker. Le Bars says, "I shot the timelapse for Smile TV as stock video footage to use in our productions. Then I created the 'Unlimited City' video from that." A time-lapse video that takes viewers across Los Angeles from sunset and well into the night, Le Bars’ “Unlimited City” was chosen to represent the city of Los Angeles in the 2014 Bordeaux Wine Festival. 

Jane Shim of the Los Angeles Tourism & Convention Board explains, “[Emeric’s] time lapse video, Unlimited City, was an essential addition to the Los Angeles Pavilion at the 2014 Bordeaux Wine Festival. The looped video was projected onto an oblong balloon “screen” which provided some 500,000+ festival visitors with an intriguing visual experience of LA’s cityscape and cultural offerings. We are proud to have presented Emeric’s work as he truly embodies LA’s impetus for beauty and creativity.”

Adding to Emeric Le Bars notoriety, the “Unlimited City” video has also been used by the Staple Center and the Los Angeles Kings, as well as to promote the Budweiser Made in America Festival, which was founded by 19-time Grammy Award winning artist Jay-Z.

An unstoppable creative force in both the French and American entertainment industries, we will definitely be seeing a whole lot more from leading editor Emeric Le Bars for many years to come. Make sure to check out Le Bars' "Unlimited City" below, and if you want to find out more about his exciting work in the world of film and television make sure to stop by his website http://emericlebars.com/