EP 105: Austin Ku – Award Winning NYC Actor & Model on You Booked It podcast!
EP 105: Austin Ku (autogenerated)
[00:00:00] Dane Reis: [00:00:00] you booked it episode 105.
[00:00:05] All right. Let’s get started. I am excited to introduce my guest today. Austin Ku, are you ready for this Austin?
[00:00:14]All right. Austin is an award winning New York city actor who recently appeared in the star studded Stephen Sondheim, 90th birthday celebration. Take me to the world. New York city and off-Broadway credits include principal roles in David Henry. Wong’s new musical soft power at the public theater and John Doyle’s revival of Pacific overtures. At classic stage company. He has performed internationally and regionally with soft power. Chinglish miss Saigon, the King and I, and more. , he has also been a featured performer at Carnegie hall and the Boston pops. Awards include stage a scene LA Dean Goodman, and why his awards plus a nominations for Barry Moore, Broadway world and Ernie awards, film and TV credits include detective Chinatown, two sleeping with other people. Billions bull Homeland, shades of blue, sneaky Pete younger and more. He also received his training from the Boston conservatory. Austin. That is a quick intro of who you are and what you’ve done, but why don’t you tell us a little bit more about yourself, fill in the gaps and a little bit more about what you do as a professional in the entertainment industry.
[00:01:32]Austin Ku: [00:01:32] Sure. Yeah, that’s sort of the professional resume, low down. Um,Um, I, um, I’m from st. Louis, Missouri. Born and raised. Um, went to school like a couple of different places, um, and ended up at the Boston conservatory for theater, musical theater, and then came to New York. I am. An actor, a performer. I suppose I would call myself primarily an actor. I do theater, TV and film having gone to musical theater school. I also do musicals and like, I think a lot of performers in New York. I also do a lot of other little things like commercial than print modeling and a kind of random thing that I do is hand bottling, which I fell into, which are all sort of things, which. Fill out the bills as it were.
[00:02:17]Dane Reis: [00:02:17] Yeah. Very cool. Yeah. The hand modeling industry is something I don’t know anything about, but once I discovered that it was a thing. then you start paying attention to all these different ads and you’re like, Oh my gosh, there’s so much hand modeling in this planet.
[00:02:32]Austin Ku: [00:02:32] Yeah. Like a lot of technology stuff, a lot of food stuff, jewelry things. A lot of times they don’t necessarily have a face. Um, they just have hands or they have a face, but they also have hands for the closeups of the product. Holding the product.
[00:02:46] Dane Reis: [00:02:46] Yeah,
[00:02:46]Austin Ku: [00:02:46] So, yeah, somehow I fell into that cause I apparently have nice.
[00:02:51] Dane Reis: [00:02:51] Well, Amazing. Good for you.
[00:02:55] Austin Ku: [00:02:55] Yes.
[00:02:56] Dane Reis: [00:02:56] And let’s move on to this next section in Austin. Look, I am a sucker for a good quote. What is your favorite quote? You’d like to share with everyone.
[00:03:06]Austin Ku: [00:03:06] My favorite quote is when I came across in, um, a book from Martha Graham. You may have heard of it. The quote is no. Artist is pleased. There is no satisfaction, whatever. At any time, there is only a queer, divine dissatisfaction. A blessing. That keeps us marching and makes us more alive than the others.
[00:03:27]Dane Reis: [00:03:27] You nailed it. Yes. That’s so true. And I have heard that one before and it’s such a great quote. Can you. Expand on that a little bit on how you’ve applied that or how it’s worked its way into your life and your career.
[00:03:44]Austin Ku: [00:03:44] Yeah. I think part of being a creative person is always sort of searching for more things and discovering new things. And. I always try to, with each show that I do each role that I do. Uh, learn something, try to improve, learn new things, learn new skills. Um, so yeah, I take it to mean that as far as, you know, Not resting on your laurels. Just always time to challenge yourself and learn new things and do new things.
[00:04:13] Dane Reis: [00:04:13] Yeah, not resting on your laurels, the constant growth, right.right. That we always have. And I think us as artists tend to. Do that. Much more frequently than, you know, the muggles of the world. So.
[00:04:27]But it’s so true. That’s what keeps us young and energetic. And. Full of life, I think as a industry, as a whole, because if you’re working, I find from people that I know working, you know, the regular nine to five gigs that you just got to do and you’re paying the bills and that’s fine. And that’s your, that’s what you want to do for life. Cool. But. A lot of people tend to have a little bit less life in them. It seems. And I think a lot of that is because you just get into the pattern of the routine of things. Whereas our industry forces us in a lot of ways, too. Always be adapting, always reshaping and rethinking how we can present ourselves. And what is our new skillset or how do we improve on the skills that we already have? We’re always growing.
[00:05:12]Austin Ku: [00:05:12] Yeah, I think a lot of the nature of our job, especially when you’re involved in theater, um, you know, the gigs are often short and then you’re auditioning, interviewing for the next one. Um, That’s not a TV, unless you’re on like a long running series or something. Even if you’re a movie actor you’re doing one movie and then going on to them, a different movie, it’s a different group of people or different story, a different character. So we, uh, yeah, we learned to sort of. Try different things and explore different things each time.
[00:05:39]Dane Reis: [00:05:39] Yeah, I think it’s one of the best parts about. Being an artist being an actor.
[00:05:44]And let’s move on to this next section here in Austin. Of course you are an entertainer, I’m an entertainer. And I think that you would agree that this industry can be one of the most subjective, brutally, honest, personally, emotional industries in existence. And you know, you know, as well as I, that in order to create and have a successful career in this industry, like you’re having now takes a lot Of dedication and hard work. And while yeah, there is an outrageous amount of fun and excitement doing what we do. There are also our fair share of obstacles, challenges, and failures we experience, and we have to move forward through. So tell us, what is one key challenge, obstacle or failure you’ve experienced in your career and how did you come out the other side better because of it.
[00:06:37]Austin Ku: [00:06:37] I mentioned before in my intro, I went to school a few different places. Um, and that was because it took me a little bit, um, of a roundabout journey to get to this career of being a performer. Because, you know, I came from kind of a very traditional Asian family and like the art is not something that was very encouraged by my family or my culture. So some of the schooling that I went to, I started off. Yeah. As pre-med in college. And, um, then I went to law school and I became a lawyer. These are sort of like hidden things of my background that I don’t talk about that much. Cause they’re not. Yeah, they’re not that relevant these days. Um, so what I’m doing now, But. That was sort of a, a life that I had before. Coming back to performing, which is something I always loved doing growing up, but it was always relegated to a hobby, like something you do on the side, but not as a career because it’s not practical. You know, um, But all those things, um, Being a lawyer and working a nine to five job. Um, But doing something that I wasn’t really in love with was an obstacle that I think I came out on the other side better because of it, because having that life. Sort of is what gave me the internal strength to kind of say like, this is not what I want to be doing with my life. And this is not what brings me happiness and what led me to. Go back to grad school for theater, which is what I always wanted to do to begin with. and sort of strike out. That way, uh, not strike out like baseball, three strikes you’re out, but Out forge ahead with doing what I wanted to do.
[00:08:08]Dane Reis: [00:08:08] Yeah. That’s so good. And you said. That you discovered what you don’t want. And that’s just as important as figuring out what our passions are. In it’s just the reverse engineering side of it. Right. Of okay. Well, I don’t want this, but. And if you know that, for sure. I think in a lot of ways, That is almost a stronger.
[00:08:30] feeling and a stronger internal knowledge to help move yourself to propel yourself forward into what you truly want.
[00:08:38]Austin Ku: [00:08:38] Yeah, I think it’s interesting because now I have friends in the business who. Grew up as child actors and I’ve never done anything else. And. Some of them, especially during this time of quarantine or having burnout or reconsidering what they’ve done with their lives. And Oh, maybe I want to go back and explore something that I never got a chance to do because all I’ve done, my whole life is be a Broadway kid. And then doing shows as an adult. Whereas I already had the reverse and I already know that that’s not really what I want to do. So I’m like, I know I can forge ahead with this. And have this be my focus.
[00:09:13]Dane Reis: [00:09:13] Oh, and to have that as your focus, as such. Such great insight to know that you, you know that, and you’re confident in that. And you can say with 100%, that’s amazing.
[00:09:21]Austin Ku: [00:09:21] Thank you.
[00:09:22] Dane Reis: [00:09:22] Yeah, well, let’s move on to a time that I like to call your spotlight moment. That one moment in time you realized. Yes, I am going to be an entertainer for living or maybe it was, yes, this is what I need to be doing as an entertainer. Tell us about that.
[00:09:47] Austin Ku: [00:09:47] Yeah, I do have a favorite moment in theater. If that qualifies for this. Which is, um, it’s a bit of a circular story, but, uh, when I was in my last year of grad school, I, I came to New York and I saw it. A show on Broadway called Slava snow show. Which was a really cool sort of interactive, um, show kind of, you know, in the style of blue man group, where there’s audience participation and, you know, big, big goings on in the theater that involved the audience. And at the end of the show, spoiler alert. Um, All this, you know, like fake snow blows out into the audience and sort of blankets the whole audience with. Snow. And, and then the show ends, then all the people in the audience of course start playing in the snow and making snowballs with a fake snow and like throwing them at each other. And. Also there’s these big bouncy inflatable balls that were part of the last act of the show that were thrown out in the audience at the end of the show. And everyone in the audience is just like playing like a kid again. And I remember going to that show and thinking, Oh, this is amazing. This is so cool. I’ll all these adults and kids and everything are all just playing in the audience of this show after it’s over. And then I, every week and everyone’s in the aisles and whatever, doing these things. And I looked out into the, to the side of me. And in the middle of the house is Slava. The guy who created it and starred in it, um, who like a clown or whatever, a trained clown. And he’s literally sitting. In the middle of that, of the orchestra house, like perched on the back of a chair. Just like sitting there, just watching, you know, what he created.
[00:11:20] Dane Reis: [00:11:20] Yeah.
[00:11:20] Austin Ku: [00:11:20] that. That’s the first part of the story. Sorry. It’s a little longer. Um,Um, the second part, the second part of the story, and I remember that and the next year or so, um, I had the opportunity to play dr. Franklin further in a production of the Rocky horror show. Which was really cool at the hangar theater. And at the end of that show, we. had a dance party. We had a DJ. Set up in the booth. And at the end of the show, the DJ would start playing and then all the calf had got to the audience and bring the audience on stage. And we just had sort of like a rave dance party and everyone had their bags with like the toilet paper and the things that you have for an interactive Rocky horror show. And. People would be like throwing the things and playing and dancing. And, and I, I had that Slava moment where, you know, we brought all the audience onto the stage and people were throwing things and playing the music and the lights were down and I. I went out into the audience seat and I sat in the middle of the house. And kind of watch there’s like dr. Franklin further, like this is, this is what I created here in this theater. And. That was like my moment of.
[00:12:25]Dane Reis: [00:12:25] Oh, that is so cool. That is so cool. That is. Something that I love about theater and how it can just transport people into different States, you know? And you can make really uptight people, suddenly playing, throwing snowballs. I have you also seen, did you see flares of Bruta? Have you seen that show?
[00:12:47]Austin Ku: [00:12:47] I did. Yes.
[00:12:48] Dane Reis: [00:12:48] Yeah, love that show. So good. I saw it in New York city when they were in a union square. I don’t know if they’re still there or not.
[00:12:58] Austin Ku: [00:12:58] Me too. Yeah.
[00:12:59] Dane Reis: [00:12:59] they brought a production. It called it something slightly different. I can’t remember what it was the name, but it was in Vegas, but it didn’t last very long. It’s a very short run. And I don’t know if that was intentional or it would feel as a financial thing, but got to see it there. And they had purpose built this giant tent. Uh, to put that show on it. It was again so amazing and you know, it’s raining you know, and pouring with water and everyone. It’s just dancing and having fun after this amazing experience. I think it’s shows like that are one in a million and they’re so great. Um, I love that you had that experience. And let’s piggyback on that real quick. And let’s talk about your number one, booked it moment. Walk us through that day, the auditions and call backs. If they happen to be a part of it. What was going on in your life. And what about that moment? It makes it your favorite. Booked it moment.
[00:13:56]Austin Ku: [00:13:56] Sure. Um, yeah, I kind of have a thing for. Circular stories I suppose, and, and call back sort of in life. Fate as it were, um, The one that comes to mind is when I booked the John Doyle’s revival of Pacific overtures off Broadway a couple of years ago. and that was kind of a circular moment for me because. So I grew up playing violin. And doing theater. And when I saw John Doyle’s productions of company and Sweeney Todd. Um, I was like, wow, these are actors and instrumentalist doing them together on stage. And I thought that That’s so amazing. I hope that one day I’ll get to do one of these kinds of productions work with this man. And I remember. I wrote a letter or an email somehow to him through either his agents or, or the, uh, Broadway company. Or whatever and got something back from him. Or where he was like, Oh, you know, congratulations, look forward. Looking forward to crossing paths with you in the future. You know, and then many years later, this was a couple years ago. Uh, I was called in to audition for the revival and getting to meet him. And saying, Oh, I don’t know if you remember, you know, I, I sent you this. Letter when I was a teenager or whatever. And. You know, saying that I played violin and, and. hoping to work with you. And I don’t know if he really remembered. Um, But then getting to do the show. Um, which is I sang, I remember I was like, I’m going to take a big sling and maybe I’ll miss, maybe I won’t, but I think being alive for him. From company. And I was like, this could strike out big, cause obviously he just had directed over Bible of this and maybe he’s not going to like my take on it all. But I, I did it. And, um, that was, I think the first round and. I was actually off to the next week to start rehearsals for a Theresa Rebeck play called the bells and Delaware. And I believe it was, you know, the first. About a week later, we were in rehearsals and, you know, I got. The email that they wanted to see me. Um, For callbacks in New York. and you know, on a break, I went to Theresa and I told her, and I was like, you know, Oh, they want to see me. John Doyle wants to see me for a callback for this revival of Pacific overtures, but I would have to, you know, miss. Rehearsal next Monday or whatever too. Go down there. And she was so wonderful and she was like, she just said, Oh, well you have to go. You’re going to get it. You have to go. And I was like, Oh, okay. Thanks.
[00:16:27] Dane Reis: [00:16:27] That was easy.
[00:16:30] Austin Ku: [00:16:30] And, you know, with that vote of confidence, I, you know, I went back to New York on the bus or whatever that the next week and with the sides and the. The song or whatever from the show. And, um, yeah, and, and, and I got the part.
[00:16:43] Dane Reis: [00:16:43] Oh,
[00:16:43] Austin Ku: [00:16:43] I got to come back and I, and I got the teller. You are right. I booked it. And she was like, see, I told you.
[00:16:49] Dane Reis: [00:16:49] Lovely when it works out that way. And what was the experience working on that show? Can you talk about that a little bit?
[00:16:56]Austin Ku: [00:16:56] Oh, gosh, it was incredible. You mean Pacific overtures, right? Yeah. I mean, the bells was incredible to work with. Teresa was incredible. Um, working with John Doyle. He is amazing and he, hopefully I’m not quoting him out of turn, but when we were in rehearsal, it was just so much a play. Like there was a lot of just exploration letting us try things. He would have us try things. Um, costumes blocking, changing people who said what lines and w. It was that sort of scaled down thing where 11 actors played, you know, 23 parts or however many are in the original whole production. So people were dumped doubled up and. Certain parts were consolidated. So there was a lot of exploration and. And play in the room. And I remember at one point, John said, you know, his favorite, his favorite part of the show. Like he wishes it could just. Be rehearsal forever and never actually have to. Stop and freeze to perform the show because it’s so much fun to be creating something with other artists in the room. So that was the sense of play that he brought into the rehearsal room and. It was just wonderful because each of us got to put our own stamps on our roles and, and the show. And guide, where are our characters went and how the script ultimately I’m the show came together under his guidance.
[00:18:19]That was really cool.
[00:18:20] Dane Reis: [00:18:20] Oh, that sounds amazing. What an incredible experience to have been a part of.
[00:18:25]Austin Ku: [00:18:25] Yeah. And Oh, And so. Another thing of what makes that my favorite sort of book that moment is from a sort of practical standpoint that was sort of the beginning of. Going from being a, you know, a regional out of town. Actor up the ladder to becoming, you know, somebody who’s being seen in New York. Then after that I did, you know, the show with the public and, and things and like, Friends, Kathryn directors, other creatives. Other people in the business could actually come see me as opposed to just seeing on social media. Oh, I’m doing this show out somewhere else and not actually see my work.
[00:18:59]Dane Reis: [00:18:59] Oh, that’s so cool. So cool. Thank you for sharing that. And. Let’s take a moment to talk about the present. What projects are you working on now? What are you looking forward to? And, you know, you know, it’s, uh, uh, Crazy weird time. Right? We are amidst this global pandemic. How do you see the entertainment industry moving forward in the next couple of years?
[00:19:24]Austin Ku: [00:19:24] Oh, That’s that’s a big one. Um, I’ll start with that. The easier ones, which is. Uh, what projects am I working on now? I was working on a couple of cool things before pandemic hit us. like I said, that those show that I did at the public. David Henry Hwang, new musical soft power. Hopefully has some traction. Um, and I did another. new musical. In development called Shanghai Sonata, which is a really cool piece. That I got to be the lead role in, For this presentation of a, um, It tells a story of. Uh, Chinese violinists who. Traveled to Shanghai and stumbles across these magical violins with transport him back in time to Shanghai during world war II. Um, when there was actually like an internment camp for, um, Jewish people who had escaped from, um, The Holocaust. Uh, and we’re there in Shanghai, which is sort of not, uh, uh, uh, hugely known part of the Jewish Holocaust Chinese history is that there was a number of, of Jewish musicians who sheltered in Shanghai during that time. so that’s, uh, another piece that has some traction and it’s cool because I get to play violin in it. So I get to finally have that the John Doyle, the Pacific over just these actually ended up not having. After instrumentalists in it. Um, we had a separate band. So I didn’t get to fulfill that part of that. That dream, but you know, in Shanghai Sonata is I do get to, Be an actor and an instrumentalist onstage in one show. Um, Yeah. Um, and, uh, I had, um, I was doing a recurring role on a Netflix series, which I can’t say more about, but, um, That hopefully will be resuming, you know, at some point and. Yeah, the other shows, hopefully we’ll be continuing as well. Um, As of right right now, um, I. I, I suppose I’m taking a cue from you as far as, I don’t know if, if, if this was sort of the impetus for starting this podcast, where if you had already had this in mind, but, um, I was like, well, what kind of projects can I. Make on my own during this time. Um, and I think I have a couple of ideas that are, that are fledgling and, um, I might. Start moving forward on, um, I really love food and cooking. And so I kind of had this idea of, doing these series of. Cooking videos of my mom’s recipes, which are all in her head. Um, which I think would be kind of cool to put out there and sort of preserved for. Myself, my family, but also other people who might, might want to see the sort of traditional Chinese recipes from. From the Homeland. so that’s sort of an idea that I’m playing around with kind of get started. And then how do I see the entertainment industry? Moving forward in the next couple of years. That is a big question. I do not know. Uh, when it’s going to come back or how it’s going to come back. But I will say that I hope. That this pause. And all of the social unrest that we’ve seen during this time with black lives matter and everything. Um, Give the industry a chance to sort of. Reset and move forward in that regard. As far as we are seeing some changes happening during this quarantine time, some changeover with artistic staff and. Uh, diversity initiatives and policies, as far as online programming and, um, training and things. And I hope, I really hope that that continues and grows as the actual industry comes back in a live experience. Um, that they will begin to not begin to, but continue to. Tap into, uh, the world of. Diversity and representation.
[00:22:49] Dane Reis: [00:22:49] Yeah, I feel like that’s probably going to be happening though in . I mean, I would hope so. It’s been. Well, well, well, past due and. I think this time is being good for that in the sense that we have the time to care. Or to give it attention and focus. Which, you know, most things just get sound byted and they’re onto the next thing. Right. But we’ve actually have proper time now to really let these issues that sink in and live with them for a second. And try to put ourselves in other people’s shoes. So now we can actually take steps forward and change things for the better.
[00:23:25]Austin Ku: [00:23:25] Yeah, that’s sort of been, I think the double edged sword about it. Um, because if it was just a short thing, then it would be. Too easy to gloss over and just go back to the way things were. But this is, you know, this is looking to be an extended period of time of. Of shutdown and reset. So. Um, If, if one thing comes a bit, I hope it’s that it gives us enough time to implement some change coming, coming back and moving forward.
[00:23:51] Dane Reis: [00:23:51] Yes, we can only hope so. And it is time to move on to one of my favorite sections in the interview. I call it the grease lightening round. Ah,
[00:24:05] I am going to ask you a handful of questions. I want you to answer them as quickly and concisely as possible one after another. Are you ready?
[00:24:14]All right. First question. What was the one thing holding you back from committing to a career as an entertainer?
[00:24:22]Austin Ku: [00:24:22] Pressure from my family, from my culture from myself.
[00:24:28] Dane Reis: [00:24:28] Second question. What is the best piece of advice you have ever received?
[00:24:33]Austin Ku: [00:24:33] Be yourself.
[00:24:34]Dane Reis: [00:24:34] Oh, please everybody. Third question. What is something that is working for you now? Or if you’d like to go pre COVID, what was working for you before our industry went on? Pause.
[00:24:48]Austin Ku: [00:24:48] Positive thinking and social media posting. Trying not to gossip or, you know, compare yourself to other people or be jealous of other people or post negative thing.
[00:24:59] Dane Reis: [00:25:00] Yes. I love that you brought that up. I really appreciate that you brought that up. About social media and there’s a lot of negativity that is thrown out there because. Hey, it’s easier. I, for whatever reason for us human beings to throw out negativity than it is to throw out positivity and praise for things. And. On top of that, it is a weird time, right? We have a lot of time, so there’s a lot of social media bingeing and checking it all out and just scrolling and scrolling on that. Never-ending newsfeed. And. There are great things that can come from all of that, but also going down the rabbit holes of, like you said, comparison and getting down on yourself because you’re not doing something that you see you see other people doing. It’s just silly and it’s not helpful in the slightest for your wellbeing.
[00:25:45]Austin Ku: [00:25:45] Exactly. I mean, It may feel good in the short term for whatever. Selfish kind of reason, but ultimately it it’s wasted energy because the negativity doesn’t do anything better for you. So it’s better to try and. Adjust your mindset to think, how can I have something positive out of that? That’s going to help me move forward.
[00:26:06]Dane Reis: [00:26:06] Absolutely. Absolutely agree. And you know what I’ve been doing the last, Oh, I would say three to four weeks, maybe three closer to three is. Gone on a dopamine detox. You can look all this stuff up on YouTube , and I’m very specific now in the last few weeks with my social media usage, particularly. That also includes YouTube. So. If I’m ever on social media, I it’s never for entertainment purposes or for just scrolling to scroll. And if I’m watching YouTube, it’s never for entertainment purposes. It’s only for watching something that is educational or yeah, it’s teaching me something. That I’m interested in. And I got to tell you. It’s. It’s definitely hard. And you have those moments that you’re like, Ooh, I just want to pick my phone up. But those moments. That those urges are becoming less and less and less. And I’m finding more fulfillment and more joy in just staring at a white wall. You know, or not having anything to do. So I find the joy in picking up my book that I’ve been meaning to read for a little while. Or listening to that podcast or. You know, going on that walk it’s, it’s amazing when you kind of get out of your own way.
[00:27:16] Yeah, I
[00:27:17] Austin Ku: [00:27:17] That sounds good.
[00:27:18] Dane Reis: [00:27:18] to anybody.
[00:27:18] Austin Ku: [00:27:18] I said, look that up. Yeah.
[00:27:20] Dane Reis: [00:27:20] it’s pretty cool. And like I said, it’s not fun for a second, but you start seeing the positives to it pretty quickly. It’s pretty great.
[00:27:28]And let’s move on to the fourth question. What is your best resource? Whether that is a book, a movie, a YouTube video, maybe a podcast or a piece of technology that you found is helping your career right now.
[00:27:44]Austin Ku: [00:27:44] Yeah, well, this is more of a general category, but there’s a lot of, um, Like zoom style Q and a things that are very informative that are happening right now. Uh, if you’re a member of sag, the sag foundation. Has the regular sort of zoom Q and A’s with casting directors and, you know, leading actors and creative, um, that you can do. But if not, there’s others like, uh, actors connection. Which is, uh, uh, acting studio in New York. And I think they might have a branch in LA or something. They during quarantine have been having this thing called free at three, which I think on Tuesdays and Thursdays at three o’clock New York time, it’s just like this open a Zune where they’ll have casting directors or actors or whoever, and like how. Like an hour long Q and a with them. And I sat on try to sit on a, on a lot of these, um, sort of zoom Q and A’s with sort of leading people. Um, and gotten a lot of information out of them that I wouldn’t normally have because you don’t normally have access to all these minds, but because of quarantine, people are, you know, willing to share their information. On zoom in, in class format or, you know, free sort of seminar webinar formats. So there’s a lot of them out there.
[00:28:54]Dane Reis: [00:28:54] Yeah, it’s such a great time right now to capitalize on all of this great information that’s coming out, because like you said, A lot of these casting directors and actors, they don’t have the time, usually in their schedules to sit down and do a webinar or a seminar. It’s just not part of, it’s not an option. Right. And right now there’s so much to learn if. You want to learn?
[00:29:18]Austin Ku: [00:29:18] Oh, uh, backstage the slate. Backstage also has a, uh, Program called the slate and they do. Q and a too.
[00:29:25] Dane Reis: [00:29:25] Oh, perfect. And the fifth question, if you had to start your career from scratch, but you still had all the knowledge and experience you’ve collected from your career in this industry. What would you do or not do, would you do anything differently or would you keep it the same?
[00:29:43]Austin Ku: [00:29:43] Oh, this one’s so hard. Um, if I had all the knowledge and experience that I’ve gained, but I could start it over again. I think I would. Skip the squiggle park. Yeah. If I got to keep that knowledge important to that, I gained from having gone through, you know, being a premed and pre law and going to law school and taking the ball are in being a lawyer. Um, those are some.