Where to begin! What a year it's been...

Here are some highlights:

• I finished my short film, produced with a grant from the Alberta Foundation for the Arts and shot by world renowned Director of Photography Lisa Fryklund. What a fantastic experience that was, and I got to work with a really talented cast & crew.
• I got an agent in Vancouver - and a great one at that! I'm now represented by the amazing Deborah Harry at Deborah Harry Talent. She's a well known and respected talent agent in Vancouver and a great lady to boot!
• "Brothers TV" got picked up by Novus to air to about 40,000 homes in Metro Vancouver.
• Pitched three new TV series concepts to OUTtv which they've said they are interested in exploring further in the new year.
• Danced during Jerome Mandrake's song at a live competition for Vancouver's next top model, which also aired on OUTtv. I don't have a copy of that, but you can see me dancing for Jerome when he opened for Deborah Cox here. I'm on the left for most of the first song (starting at 1 min) and wearing red for the second song (starting at 4mins).
• Acted in a short film done by Emily Carr students.
• Moved to the West End in Vancouver - downtown and a few blocks from the beach - love it!
• Got offered the role of the wedding singer in Tony N' Tina's Wedding (which I ended up turning down, but it was still nice to get the offer!)
• Took a weekly Ultimate Audition class with a variety of instructors and casting directors.
• Shot some weddings for another wedding video company as well as all kinds of promotional, instructional and web videos through my own company.
• Produced more videos for the Amuse Consulting web site including customer appreciation events, fundraisers, and trade shows.
• Got hired by Canpages to videotape local businesses for ads in their online listings.
• And speaking of my video production work, I renamed my company to VIP Video Inc., got a swanky new flash web site, moved to an office downtown on the top floor of the Scotiabank Dance Centre, and hired a part-time assistant (aka my brother)!
• Joined 3 different networking groups. Looking for any kind of business or service in Vancouver - ask me! I probably know someone who does it.
• Saw George Michael, Donna Summer, Janet Jackson, and Madonna in concert!
• Went to Puerto Vallarta for 11 days and had a fab time.
  
  

News on what's coming up:

• I'll be starting to submit my short film to festivals very soon. Starting with Canadian festivals, but also some American ones and even a few overseas!
• I'll hear back from OUTtv about which concept(s) they may want to move forward on... will keep you posted!
• I've been asked by Novus to create more programming for them, but I would need to find my own sponsors to do so, so that's something that's potentially in the works.
• I've been invited to create occasional sponsored videos for YouTube through an online marketing company so something else that I will likely be doing soon.
• I have my own booth at the Wedding Fair this year and will be meeting with thousands of brides so hopefully 2009 will also be a big year for weddings. I've created a new web site just for wedding videos at www.vipvideoweddings.ca
• I'll be heading off to Arizona again in February with my family for another warm, sunny break.

And otherwise, things seem to change out of nowhere so you never know what'll be happening next! Thanks for checking in and happy holidays!

Josh