Larry Lin's Home Page:
List of Stories: My TV Commercial, Coming to America, Life as a Consultant .
Other upcoming stories: Life as a Consultant, Playing Drums, Chinese Student Association, Fraternity, Georgia Tech, Life in Taiwan, buying the house, Lion Dancing
Note: I am sharing this story solely because it is something very unusual, so you may alugh about it. I do not mean to brag anything, and will be careful with my word choices as not to sound prideful.
Intro
I was in a TV commercial! It was one of the most interesting highlight of my life so far.
It took place around spring of 1996, the year of Olympics Games in Atlanta. A filming group had to create a commercial for a bank -- at that time, it was called NationsBank; now it is Bank of America -- and the theme of this commercial is about the 1996 Olympics. So, they came to Atlanta to look for local actors and actresses.
They went to several places to look for possible candidates. When they went to Georgia Tech, they asked the Student Activities department for young, Asian guys and girls who are active. When they went to the Chinese Community Center, they asked for young people who are often in performances, people who have proven stage experience. Well, both places pointed the group to me (among other people that they recommended, not just me.) Georgia Tech said, we know this guys who was the president of the Chinese Student Association; Chinese Community Center said, we have a drummer who plays drums in all of the Dragon Dance performances for new years and TV tapings, many years in a row. So, I got a phone call from them, asking me if I wanted to try out for this role. "Of course!" I said.
The Screening (try-out)
The screening took place in a hotel in the ritzy Buckhead area. It was called Hotel Nikki, a Japanese hotel that no longer exists (sigh...). They asked me to wear shorts, athletic shoes and something active. So, I wore t-shirt, black shorts and white tennis shoes. When I stepped into the hotel room (it made sense -- since they were just in town for a day or two, it was the easiest way to get a temporary working space, so I did not feel worried about fishy business), and some very nice people greeted me.
They quickly took a Polaroid picture of me, wrote my name on the bottom, and asked me what I liked to do! I told them that I love sports, including rowing for Georgia Tech, playing volleyball, basketball, running, weight lifting, etc. They nodded, and said, "you are it! We like you a lot. You can just go home, and most likely we will call you back tomorrow!" I was very thrilled about it!
Sure enough, I got a phone call at work the next day. They said, "Mr. Lin, thank you for coming out to let us meet you. [At this point, I was a little nervous ... frequently people would say after that: "... thanks for your time, but we can't extend you an offer."] We want to tell you that we all really liked your impression, so we want to invite you to consider joining this commercial." I was ecstatic! Of course, I said yes!
Later I found out, they interviewed 30 people. Of those 30, they only picked 4. I was one of the lucky four. ^_^
The Filming, Day One.
For the first day of filming, I went to the location in early afternoon. It was the MARTA (Atlanta's rail system) Chamblee station. They had a trailor waiting in front of the station. So I stepped in, they took my measurements, and then handed me some clothes to wear. You see, our role was the group of athletes from China, so we had to wear red and black. So, I put on the T-shirt and shorts, and followed them to the train platform.
On the platform, there are already several people, lots of equipment, and a lot of actions. We four people met the director, got a quick intro to the quipments there -- including lights, rolling camera, microphone, reflector board (to get natural lights), sound barriers, etc. So we started with several different scenarios.
The first one is for us to "leave home country, step onto the train, and hug mom goodbye." They picked me first as the son, and paired me up with an older mom. I had to give her a good bye hug, and say things like, "I will fight really hard, and bring home to Gold Medal to you all!", and she will say, "don't play too much, don't meet any foreign girlfriends, and eat well sleep well!" It was interesting to create that emotion while camera circles around us, and people walking by stare in admiration and amazement.
We then tried several different scenarios, too. Different actors and actresses all had chances to be the focus of attention. One including that, we actually stepped into the train, and the camera filmed our train leaving the station! Of course, we got off at the next station, and rode back to the stage area. By now, there are more and more people around us, since it was getting close to afternoon traffic hour. So our filming was completed, after about 2 hours.
The Filming, Day Two.
The second day started really early! We had to go to the Georgia World Congress Center (Atlanta's convention hall) parking lot at 6:30am. Needless to say, I was really sleepy, but felt very excited.
We drove to the trailor and changed clothes. Then, a small van drove us around to the front of the convention center (a lot of people are involved! They drove many other people there too.) We started this morning's filming inside of the halls first -- since the tall ceilings and glamorous decorations make it look like an airport. The first few scenes are depicting our "stepping into US territory, feeling confident and prideful". Also, we had a scene where a "greeting staff" tried to communicate with us, while we replied in broken English.
Somtimes the camera will be far away from us; sometime we had to walk into the camera's view. Other extras (small roles' actors) also were involved ... they just walked around us back and forth. This included the Atlanta minor-league professional soccer players (the Rukus, who no longer exist). Final scenes took place outside of the convention center, on the steps. We carried lots of fake luggage, loading and unloading. Once again many people looked at us and thought that we were big-shot actors. Heehee!
By noon time, all the filming ended. The filming crew thanked all of us, took our tax information, and led us to a separate tent where there was catered lunch. We sat there and talked even more with the director, the crews, and other fellow actors. It was a very prefession, very friendly group.
Oh, after the lunch, they asked if any one of us wanted to stay for another small shooting. I volunteered, and they accepted. It was neat too ... not the bank commercial, but something else that I never saw on TV. We walked around, carrying cables and discussed how to link up the heavy equipments.
(p.s., since I was in graduate school at this time, I had a lot of flexible time. My work was the Georgia Tech's graduate work-study program, so it was okay to change my work schedule there, too.)
The Payoff
For a few months, I did not hear from them again. However, I began to receive paychecks from these people! Each time they aired the commercial somewhere, all of us would get a small payment. The paycheck varied in amount, based on how many people the commercial was shown to, and our relative role in that selection. Since eventually the bank picked my personal, solo shot over all other actors', I think I got paid a little more than most of them.
Then, I saw the commercial! Even more amazingly, I saw myself on TV!
The commercial started with an old bus rolling up a dusty hill; the voice says, "They come from all over the world [changes to shots in Europe street, children running in dirt track], thousands of athelets with one dream, [then shots of an airplane touching down] [4 athletes walking confidently into the camera view] [a SOLO SHOT of Larry! Looking up and serious gestures!] in the 1996 Atlanta Olympic Games. One bank has the power to serve everyone with power and strength..."
... and finally, several of my friends told me, "I just saw you on TV!" I just smiled, and told them that it really was nothing.
All in all, the checks came in for about 5 months. The smallest ones were about $40; the largest ones reached $400. After a while, I got tired of keeping track of them. I just routinely took them to the bank, yet I was still thankful that I was granted this opportunity.
The End
Finally, the checks stopped coming in. I felt kind of sad about it. Worse thing is that I never even ordered that tape from the studio, nor did I record it from the television!
However, I did keep the last paycheck; it is still in my safe keeping. Every time I see it, it brings back wonderful memories; memories of a dream fulfilled.
The time was 1983. During that spring, after I graduated from elementary school in Taiwan, I was told by my family members that we need to start packing up and, we are all moving to USA. At first, I was not as surprised about it -- it just did not seem to be true. I actually just received a letter from a youth choir in Taipei (one of the TV stations) about my acceptance into their group, so I was all excited about staying in Taiwan. Plus grandparents already enrolled me into the middle school, and I have already attended the orientation. So, I thought, maybe something will happen and this plan will be cancelled.
Well, the summer came and was almost gone. One day, we really, really packed up everything, and I was with my parents and older sister, going to the airport on a bus, and saying sad good-byes to grand parents from both sides of the family! It was my first time riding the airplane ever, and first time going to the airport. So at that time, I was more thrilled about the new experience than feeling a sense of loss. But as soon as the airplane really tool off ("wow, this is a really powerful, fast machine!") and I saw in the windows the fading images of the Island of Taiwan, suddenly it all became so true -- I would not see my friends and house again for a long time.
The airplane first landed in Tokyo. We had to change to a different airplane, so by that time the language around me (airplane, air stewardess, passengers, airport announcements) was no longer Chinese. Then, the VERY long flight over the Pacific ocean was very boring, in that little seat of mine. We landed in one of the American airports, but we had to wait a very long time until we fly out again. Eventually, we landed at the early morning darkness in Atlanta airport. Our distant relatives came to the airport to pick us up. Everything seem so distant, although they are right in front of me.
The drive to uncle's house was strange. All around us are trees (not high rise buildings like Taipei) and darkness. It was very quiet and very isolated on the highway. As soon as we arrived in Uncle's house, we immediately went to sleep because of the jetlag. I just vaguely remember all of us were so impressed that uncle lives in his own house, with a big yard and 2 cars. We thought, uncle is so rich!
The next few days, we slowly got used to the environment -- walking around, hot Atlanta summer, lots of trees and grass but no people. Uncle and his family live in Dunwoody, which is considered a very nice area in Atlanta. Dad, mom, Carol and I walked around & looked at different houses for sale. We said, "one day, we will move back into this upper-class neighborhood!"
We did some things to make the move to America more enjoyable -- such as doing a picnic in the near-by park (menu was: Chocolate milk, bread & ham), walking over to the large Winn Dixie grocery store to get cheap ice cream, playing baseball with my little cousin in the back yard, and watching American TV programs. But still, it was someone else's house, someone else's country.
That was more than 17 years ago. There are many more stories that I can tell you about what happened afterwards, such as going to the elementary school there, moving into our own apartment, getting the first taste of discrimination, etc. But I will save them for another story.
Story #3: Life as a Consultant .
Ever since I was in college, I always wanted to be a consultant. Why? Because my dad used to be traveling around; because he used to work with an American consultant who traveled to Taipei, and his family was just soooooo wonderful; because being a consultant is the highest point that an engineer can reach.
When I was graduating from college, I tried to interview with one of the big 5 consulting companies. I did not get in -- I was really crushed. I thought after all of the preparations that I went though (co-co program with IBM, president of Chinese Student Association, being an officer in a fraternity) I still did not get the job I dreamed after; I was really disappointed. Things got even worse after I graduated from the masters program -- some of the people around me got into high-paying consulting positions doing information technology work, but I knew for a fact that they knew less than me about computers and Internet. As I felt disappointed and angered, my desire to squeeze into the "upper class" burned even stronger.
My big break came around spring of 1997. One of my co-worker at that time left the company, and as she was leaving, she dragged me into her new company -- a consulting company. I was elated! From then on, I started the life of being a full-time consultant.
What is this lifestyle like?
- I get to choose my own flights. I can go with Delta -- my preferred airline, since they are based out of Atlanta and I can fly ANYWHERE -- or I can choose any other company. I get to pick when I want to leave: late Sunday night, early Monday morning, return time into my own city, or even going to another city during the weekend.
- I get to determine my own work schedule. No longer will I have to sit 9-to-6 to a desk, and no longer will I look over my shoulder to see what my manager
- No manager.
- Live excitingly, live to the limit.
(To be continued later.)