Friday, February 25, 2011

Small Talk

Week six in NYC is upon me, if I was in high school and was unsure of a grade for the six weeks this would surely be a daunting time for me as I would be trying my best to avoid the dreaded event it was to break the news to my parents, ha!  Of course, that Never happened to me as I was a perfect child and am only speculating.  Yeah right.  But thank goodness I had parent's who were(are) loving and cared about my grades.  Thankfully this six weeks has passed and I have nothing but good news to share.

Success: I had a very good shoot with a company called Oak NYC.  They are a website that sell various designers clothing.  It was an extremely good time, the two stylists and photographer at the shoot were great people to work with.  It was about a 5 hour shoot where I wore 30 or 40 looks(after a while it all became a blur) with three looks that are going to be used as an editorial on their homepage.  Some of the images are already up under their Men's: New Items on http://www.oaknyc.com/.  They are currently adding images and taking old one's off their website, I believe.  The last time I checked the site it was "under construction".  The Editorial images on their homepage will show my face but the shots under Men's: New Items only show from my lips down as it's about the clothing not the model.  I'm excited about being on the website and only hope more opportunities such as this one keep rolling in.

Other News:  Justin Hingleton, a friend of mine from North Carolina and fellow Carolina Talent model will be coming to NYC in March after winning a contest with designer "Marcc".  Justin is a good friend of mine so it'll be nice that he's visiting NYC for the shoot.
Louis Galloway, a fellow Fusion Model, has been a hit in NYC since coming here from London(he's also signed with Elite London).  He had a casting call for a Ralph Lauren campaign in the actual offices that Ralph uses.  Louis said the office had an extremely "homey feel with fireplaces and such" and that there were big jars of M&M's everywhere.  I guess Mr. Lauren is a fan of M&M's.  Although I'm not able to tell a first hand account of Ralph Lauren's offices(aka I wish I was up for a Ralph Lauren campaign shoot) it is interesting hearing these things.  Louis is a hardworking fellow so keep your fingers crossed for him and I know it's only a matter of time before I'm in the same boat with him.

If you're ever interested in what's going on in the modeling world, besides what I know, you can always check out thefashionisto.com it's a great site for fashion news.

That's it for now.  Take care all, Thanks for reading and for your continued support.

Austin

Saturday, February 19, 2011

Week 5

Hello everyone,

It's time for a new post and so marks the passing of another week in NYC.  It's hard to believe that I've been up here for over a month! 

First off, I'd like to make a correction to my previous post.  Last week I stated that Berthold, a fellow Fusion model, would be leaving for Tokyo this week when in fact he's off to London for fasion week there and will then by flying to Tokyo sometime in March.  I apologize for the mistake.

This week I honestly don't have many details worth telling.  It was a roller coaster ride of a week weather wise.  Cold weather with a temperature in the 30s accompanied by snow flurries have swooped in on the NYC area after having teased us with a few days with temperatures in the 50s and 60s.  Doesn't Mother Nature have a sense of humor?  The warm weather and blue skies were extremely nice and allowed for me to comfortably explore both Brooklyn and Manhattan for the first time.  Although the hopes for long term warm weather were diminished almost as soon as they came it was a much needed break from the frigid cold we've had here.  During the warm weather one of my roommates, Garrett, and I went for a walk around Brooklyn.  There's a ton of shops and parks to explore in our neighborhood along with a great view of the Manhattan skyline so it's a lot of fun to walk and sight-see.  While on this walk he and I happened upon a couple walking their cat, yes that's right their cat.  A man and woman casually strolled with their cat resting on the man's shoulder.  The cat acted fine for a bit but saw people walking dogs and decided to take hold of the man's shoulder which caused problems.  Pretty funny, eh?  Some other, more morbid, news occured here as well.  A man killed 4 people and injured 4 more with knives earlier this week.  Two of the murder victims were the killers ex-girlfriend and the ex-girlfriend's mother.  The killer has been found and arrested so at least he's off the streets but my heart goes out to the families affected by the murderer's actions. 

In the modeling world things haven't heated up yet, a break from my cold snap has yet to happen but I am sure it will.  I had a minimal amount of casting calls this week but did have a photoshoot with a photographer named Ryan Mikail.  He is a talented young guy around my age that was fun to work with.  We burned through 6 or 7 looks in 3 hours and got some really amazing shots.  He was the type photographer that let the model do their own thing and made small suggestions once in a while as we moved along.  We worked well together as a team and I should have the images in a week to a week and a half so I'll be sure to share them.  I'm also excited about seeing the finished product from the previous two shoots I've done as well as the web commercial/fashion show invitation that I did with Mjolk Homme.  I should have those images and the commercial in a week also(but we'll see).  One more point of possible interest is that my agency, Fusion Model Management, has created their own blog where they'll detail everything that goes on with them and their models.  We(models) have been asked to submit "behind the scene's" images of us on casting calls, jobs we've booked etc.  If you're interested in keeping up with the blog the site is: http://www.fusionmodelsnyc.blogspot.com/

As much as I hate to say it, that's about it.  I know, talk about boring! Ha!  I'll be sure to keep everyone posted as things begin to develope and my career progresses.  Take care and be sure to look for next weeks post.

Austin

Saturday, February 12, 2011

Fast and Fevered Fall

Cue lights,
Cue music,
Cameras Rolling,
Quiet on set, Austin's blog # 4, We're live in 5...4...3...2...1 Action!

Coming to you live from Brooklyn, NY, please welcome your host, Austin K:
Take Camera 1, Roll Music, Bring up lights,
(Crowd applause, Austin runs on set)

Thank you, Thank you and welcome all! We have a great show in store for you today...

Ha! Hello everyone.  I'm writing to you this day on what was promised to be a sunny day in the low 40s but is, in fact, cold, overcast with a lazy snow falling.  Like the snow slowly falling so have my hopes to make an impact on this weeks Fashion Week.  A big flop best sums it all up, not because I wasn't presented with ample opportunity after having casting calls with DKNY, Tommy Hilfiger, Hugo Boss, Perry Ellis and MarcbyMarc(just to name a few).  I was at the same castings with some of the world's top models but the fish didn't take my bait, so to say.  But as every fisherman knows, you have your good days and your bad days and that's why you keep at it and go fishing again with the same rod, reel, bait and even go to the same fishing hole.  One of the models I'm living with, upon noticing my discouragment, broke the situation down to me like this:  A rookie baseball player is brought onto the team in hopes he will make a good fit for the team, come through in some big games and have a positive impact on the team.  But the owners don't bring in the rookie in hopes that he'll carry the team, that's what the savvy 5 and 6 year veterans are for.  Meaning: the guys who are doing well during this fashion week also did well in Paris and Milan's fashion week.  I came into the runway circuit a little late to have a real impact this week and shouldn't be discouraged at the lack of work that I've seen thus far.  I'm being told by fellow models and my agency that I have a very commercial, catalogue look and once we get a little closer to summer then work should start rolling in for me left and right, especially once the industry goes into its summer phase: i.e. beachy, bathing suit type shoots.  Working out 5-7 days a week on top of my All-American look and Southern charm(wink, wink) has its benefits and puts me in a different modeling class than these foreign "chaps" who are extremely skinny with their very nicheable High, High Fashion looks.

Potential work:  I do have some promising news despite the previous, debbie downer of a opening paragraph. I have had two call backs this week, meaning, I went to a casting call for a client, they liked my look and gave me a call back so they could meet with me again.  Not everyone gets a call back so being called back is always promising.  One is for an Allegri fashion show and the other is for a Gilt Clothing fashion show, I await word and hope for the best.  I also went to a casting call for C in 2 Industries where they actually asked me to show off my assets! Aka, they asked me to take off my shirt, as conceited as that may sound.  But when, for over two years, you work out 5-7 days a week, meticulously plan each meal(avoiding the easy route: fast food) to ensure you get the right amount of protein, carbs, vitamins and calories to fuel your body and make it look its best it hardwires you to jump at the opportunity to show off your hardwork.  Thus you get the saying: modeling isn't a job, it's a lifestyle.  I'll stop patting my own back now.  The C in 2 Industries casting call is for a 3 day shoot and is a well paying job so, as usual, keep your fingers crossed for me but tighter this time!

Unfortunately, as funny as this may sound, the other male models in the apartment will start moving out this week and heading back to their various places of living.  I have found their company uplifting and refreshing.  While I'll enjoy the extra space I'll have at the apartment upon their departure I will miss their company, stories, and insight into the modeling world.  One model, Berthold, just signed with an agency in Tokyo and will leave Feb. 16th to live there for a couple months.  Daniel will return home to his gf in Amsterdam while Louise will return to London.  Louise has had his busiest Fashion Week of his modeling career and landed gigs with clients such as Perry Ellis.  Wiley veteran Berthold is busy as ever but never busy enough, his biggest client being Tommy Hilfiger.  Daniel had a busy week but not as busy as he'd hoped for, it seems that he and I share the same boat.  But we'll both find ourselves fishing again real soon.

That's it for now.  I'd like to thank Patty Hurst Shifter and their song Fast and Fevered Fall for fueling my mood while I wrote this blog, they're a great band, I'd look them up if I were you!

Thank you all for reading,

Austin K.
If you Believe you can Achieve then you will Succeed.
It may take time, effort and perserverance but if you don't believe then who else will?

Friday, February 4, 2011

Weekly Update

Hello once again all.

This week has been a bit of a struggle for me as I've been sick most of the week and haven't had much energy.  Nevertheless it was a very busy week and there's never a need to focus on the negatives!

Accomplishments: I was selected to film a web commercial for a designer called Mjolk Homme.  He is a very nice English "chap" that is in his 30s.  He went to school for fashion designing and has been trying to make his mark on the industry since he graduated college.  At first he started out with a bigger, more well-known designing business in London but had to strong of an urge to create his own style to stay with them.  After leaving  the company he moved to NYC to pursue his dream of becoming a world renowned designer.  The Commercial: I'm the "star" of the web commercial that we filmed under the Brooklyn Bridge on Thursday morning, 2/2/11.  I met the film team at 6:30a.m. on the corner of Peck Slip and South St.  We used a local hotel to get ready and to prep me for the shoot then made our way out to the small beach by the Brooklyn Bridge.  It was Extremely cold but so much fun.  There was a crew of 7 people working the shoot and I had to do so many different shots that I can't even begin to list them all.  I had the camera centimeters from my face to standing 50ft away from it on a old dock leg out in the middle of and barely above the freezing cold water!  It was quite an experience to say the least and was also the first sunrise I have witnessed since moving to NYC.  The commercial is suppose to be inspirational, which was quite simple to pull off since I was looking at the sun rise above Brooklyn.  I am very excited to see how everything turns out and will be sure to add it to my website once I have a copy of it.

Other Happenings: I had a ton of castings this week, mostly for upcoming fashion shows for the upcoming fashion week.  The castings I went to ranged from Tommy Hilfiger, MarcbyMarc(Marc Jacobs), Perry Ellis, Simon Spurr and Richard Chai, just to name a few.  Aside from castings, my girlfriend Amanda has come to visit me this weekend, which is so cool.  I love spending every minute with her and having her around to explore the city, not to mention having her here since I've been sick.  She is a very loving and affectionate girlfriend and is a great caretaker.  I don't know what I'd do without her!

Living: We now have 5 guys living in the model housing.  They are all quite cool and I've become close friends with a German fellow named Berthold.  He has been very helpful and answered a ton of questions I've posed to him about how the industry works once you've made it to the international level.  He's been a Fusion model for over a year and has taken part in over 80 fashion shows and numerous campaign shoots, he's becoming one of the top models in the world.  I'm also living with a guy named Garrett from Georgia, Louise from Scotland and Daniel from Sweden.  It's definitely a clash of culture but we find ourselves laughing and sharing memories more so than anything else.  It is amazing to hear some of their stories ranging from childhood to in the here and now.  It is Louise's first visit to NYC, he himself left a family and girlfriend in London so we are basically in the same boat.  He and I have traveled to several castings together and I've helped him figure out the subways a bit.  Speaking of subways, I had a family of four ask ME for directions a few days ago, and I was successfully able to help them, how about that?!  I'm a New Yorker now(but still country at heart), walking everywhere with my head down and at a pace that says I should've been where I'm going yesterday.  I find it hard to believe I've almost lived in the city for close to a month, doesn't time fly?

That's it for now.  I'll be sure to post next week with more exciting news(hopefully).  Take care everyone and be sure to stay in contact.  I miss everyone back home and hope that all of you are doing fine.  Until next time,

Austin