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| Oh no, what should I do? |
Now I am supposed to be in Wales filming next week from the 15-18 August. It is not a highly paid job but I am using my Welsh language skills for a Welsh comedy show for S4C. I have been studying Welsh for two years and I accepted this contract way back in June. Now just yesterday, I was offered substantially more money to do a photo shoot for a drink commercial in Hungary - 2 day shoot next week in Budapest (ironically, not for the Hungarian market but for the Middle Eastern market). It was a Middle Eastern drink brand and they needed an 'international montage' of people from all over the world enjoying their beverage - so I would've been the Chinese/Japanese/Korean model representing that part of the world. So no acting involved, just posing with a bottle of the drink for a photo.
I calculated - the drink commercial was paying 8 times more than the Welsh TV job. The money was tempting but I wrestled with the decision and I said no to the shoot in Hungary because I had already signed the contract with the Welsh TV production company back in June and was committed in writing to the project. I could've broken the contract but it would effectively mean me cutting all ties with Welsh TV and my reputation would be in tatters as someone with no honour, dumping the TV show last minute for a better paid job elsewhere.
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| Yup, they wanna pay me a lotta money to pose with their drink like this. |
It is intensely frustrating of course, that I cannot do both - but I decided to do the honourable thing and go with the one I was committed to. Of course, at the back of my mind, it was more the thought of pissing off everyone in Welsh TV, given that it is a very close knit network with only so many people working in Welsh TV - breaking a contract last minute would mean never ever getting any work there again. As a friend told me last night, "Don't think about the money you'll earn in Hungary, think about what your reputation is worth and you don't want to destroy your reputation like this."
A further consideration as well is that a one-off token ethnic face in an ad for a drink product is hardly going to launch a media career for me in Hungary or the Middle East. No, it would be a one-off, it wouldn't lead to anything. It is not like the lead role in a TV programme or a movie which would really raise your profile - modelling is fun and well paid but it is nothing to do with acting. Furthermore, yes I have been to Hungary before so it's not like I am desperate to visit Hungary again. It would literally be, fly in, photo shoot, fly out the next day.
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| I hate having to make difficult decisions like this. |
It was only upon checking the dates, double checking the dates and then triple checking the dates that I realized, I can't be in North Wales and Budapest at the same time next week. Sigh. I then did the honourable thing at 8 pm last night, I turned down the job in Budapest within 1 hour of being offered it and so I'm sure there's another East Asian model somewhere in Europe right now jumping for joy because he will be going to Budapest for a well paid commercial shoot next week - whilst I am going to North Wales.
Well, when I am in North Wales, I will tell them this story and make them realize hey, I am dependable, I am reliable: I did sacrifice a well paid shoot in Hungary to be here so I am not just a pretty face who speaks Welsh, I am also honourable. But ouch ouch ouch. It was PAINFUL to have to give up that chance to do that shoot in Budapest next week.
Did I do the right thing? Comments, thoughts & ideas please my friends, thanks.
Other than "doing the right thing/honouring what you have committed to", the pragmatic consideration would be that if you pissed off the Welsh group, you might not hear from them again for a long, long, long time. No more (semi) regular work. I might be wrong but I get a sense that you are valued more as you (and your skills) in the Welsh circle, than you would be with the shoot in Hungary (where you would be an Asian face essentially). You know, love me for not my (however strikingly awesome) looks ;)
ReplyDeleteBesides, you don't need the money. It's painful.. kinda but not really, right?
Hi, thanks for your message. Yes you're right - once in a while, I will get an offer to be the token ethnic Chinese/Asian face in some European production in a city where there are very few Chinese actor/models and it's always good fun to jump on the plane and go for a shoot somewhere in Europe. But these are usually one-offs, I've done some of them and they never ever lead to any more work - even after I go out of my way to be nice to the people involve and add them on Facebook! It is what it is - a one-off to be the ethnic character on a project.
DeleteI don't really need the money but then again, if the Welsh work was as well paid as the modelling job for that drink ad, then well ... perhaps I am just greedy as I see that I am settling for the lower paid job. Sigh.
Hi, I would have chosen Welsh as well (even if the contract wasnt signed yet) It seems easier to get photoshoots jobs than acting jobs and the latter will be certainly more challenging and (non financially) rewarding for you ;) Have fun there !
ReplyDeleteThanks Yohan. The photoshoot jobs are fairly random and it was not as if I got chosen because I was deemed 'beautiful' or 'sexy' or anything like that, no, I was purely selected on my ethnicity. I'm not dependent on either for a living, it's just really fun when I can get these jobs y'know. I do have a day job and I am not pissing anyone off by turning down the job in Hungary but I would've offended a lot of Welsh TV people had I dumped them last minute.
DeleteOh je viens de lire ton Linkedin profil Yohan - incroyable! Peut-etre on peut se voir pour un cafe la prochaine fois je serai a S'pour, j'aime bien faire du networking avec les talents comme toi :)
DeleteHi LIFT, just for fun, practising my poor French from which I quit in Secondary 3: I think you just said:
Delete"Oh, I went to read your LinkedIn profile Yohan — incredible! Maybe I can meet meet you for a coffee the next time I'm in Singapore, I love to network with talented people like you."
You did the right thing :) You are doing it for the fun anyway!
ReplyDeleteOK LIFT, away with the fun from my above French-translate response.
ReplyDeleteMore seriously, I feel you might want to examine the conflict you feel inside, that of honour versus profit.
Whenever I arrive at such crossroads, in which I strongly want to go in two different directions, I hold council with myself, and decide which best road that all parts of me can continue onward together.
I feel this is crucial, because I don't want to remain splintered within, it feels like damage that prevents me from being the best I can be.
I hope you also eventually come back together, feeling more satisfied as one who can chase profit and uphold honour at the same time, without regrets.
That self-determination would enduringly feel much better, than merely getting opinion, approval and affirmation from friends around you.
Thanks for all your kind words my friends. I knew I had to behave with honour, especially since I had already signed the contract with the Welsh TV people - but it was just painful to give up the higher paid job. Sigh.
ReplyDeleteI do find it useful to talk things through - be it in person or on my blog, so thanks so much everyone! Merci bien :) Or as we say in Wales, diolch yn fawr.