Today was literally one of the best days of my life!! Not only did I get to experience my first on camera set filming, but I was filmed as a small role in the film! How did this happen? On Wednesday, flyers were passed out that a filming of the production of South Bay Surf Club, filmed by 88 Rising would be done on April 7th. It was for a commercial that will be played live at the annual Coachella music festival in August. All businesses were notified of it. When I saw the flyer, a crazy idea formed in my mind. I sneaked out the back door of my snack shop when my mom was working up front and called up Francis Gallupi, the guy in charge. I had to call 3 times before he took me seriously. He sent me to voicemail, then answered the 2nd time, but hung up after I introduced myself. It was only the 3rd time that he started to realize I wasn’t playing games or messing around. I introduced myself again and told him I was interested in watching them film. I even mentioned that if I could help out or if he needed another person, I would be happy to fill in the role. Francis told me to arrive at 4PM on Thursday and that was it. I was super excited. My mom and my aunt agreed because it was a win-win situation. They would work at the snack shop while I was on set.
Today, I arrived at the tents near the fountain and introduced myself to the crew, telling them that I was looking for Francis. When Francis saw me, he was stunned. He really thought I was messing with him. Unfortunately, I am very serious when it comes to anything entertainment career related. I do not mess around, joke, or play games when it comes to acting, singing, or anything of this sort. Well, Francis let me hang out with everyone. The crew ignored me mostly and kept to themselves. Finally, I couldn’t ignore my thirst and asked if I could grab a water bottle. I was told to go ahead and help myself to any of the beverages and snacks on the table in the tent. That didn’t stop me from trying to be involved. However, once they saw how serious and dedicated I was about being involved and watching them film, they let me do small tasking like setting up equipment. Once Francis saw how determined and serious about going into acting, he took me aside privately and told me he was going to add an extra role so that I could be filmed and be in the production. I just had to sign an authorization form. I was so excited and agreed. My role was to walk around the plaza partially starting from Ching Hong Jewelers and ending at the mini fountain near the entrance of the San Gabriel 99 Ranch Market. Surprisingly, the guys and gals actually liked having me around and make small talk with me while waiting for their filming time once they saw how cool I was and really took the acting role seriously. I did an amazing job with my role and walked around the length of the plaza as instructed. After the conclusion of the filming, many people came up to me congratulating me and letting me be a part of the team even though I wasn’t really official yet. When we disbanded, all the guys came up to me and gave me fist bumps, handshakes, and even one guy gave me a man hug! I told Francis to keep in touch and he promised to pass along my info to his casting director.
I believe that this event today was a miracle and that it was fate and destiny that made the filming at the San Gabriel 99 Ranch Market plaza occur. I felt proud of myself because I was able to find on set filming experience all by myself and even get filmed doing a minor role. I am so thrilled to have gotten my first on set filming experience today and I can’t wait for my real acting career to begin this summer. And the most awesome news of all?????? This event today finally opened up my mom’s eyes and allowed her to finally realize that acting is my true love and potential and that I really had a talent and bright future in this field. She was finally able to see that I was dead serious in pursuing an entertainment arts career and was very sorry for being so hard and against my desire and investment. She kept apologizing to me. On the car ride to grab dinner, my mom told me that I really did enjoy myself today and I told her indeed I did! I thanked her profusely for finally believing in me and supporting me. I told her there was no need to apologize. I forgave her. Overall, today was a life-changing day and I look forward to future filming opportunities. I am Aaron Yang, a guy determined in pursuing a career in acting and many forms of entertainment arts.