| matthew schulert photography |

i like blue sky.

2009-09-10T12:41:00.002-04:00

it's apparent throughout many of my personal photographs.

life continues.

2009-04-20T19:08:00.002-04:00

where have i been? i'm really not quite sure myself. so much has been going on, it seems yet i haven't really been working all that much.

as for the job hunt, i've been diligently applying for positions in and around my field of interest. i decided earlier today that it's like going fishing in a swimming pool. so many people are out looking for a job, but there are really only a limited number of jobs. anyway, i had some encouraging news today, so thats good. more to come on that (but it involves a second interview, tomorrow.)

as for background work, (extras) i've done a few more shows since my last update. last week thursday night i worked on hbo's entourage all night long. literally. i got to basecamp at 845p, went to set at about 1130 and stood on hollywood blvd posing as a "screaming fan" until 430a. it was an exhausting night, but overall fun to see the huge production of a large budget show.

otherwise, i'm just pushing through. heading back to michigan for a week tomorrow evening, and getting to perform alongside some old and yet to be new friends in a broadway review called STREET SMARTS. definitely looking forward to it.

oh and how could i forget the lovely visit from my parents and littles brother ethan of their spring break and easter. it was a fun time and i really enjoyed being able to show them around my new city!

walking.

2009-03-24T20:23:00.003-04:00

decided to take a walk through my neighborhood today with my camera in hand. i tend to have a hard time doing this sometimes due to peoples reactions to cameras. i'd definitely make a horrible paparazo. then i think about how i would love to start documenting different things i just have to get over that fear of getting in peoples face, but in a nice way :) i was thinking it'd be fun to start taking pictures of the people in my building. there is a very ecclectic group of people who live here and it would be really fun to do both candid and portrait sessions with them. hrm. we will see.

but for now this is what transpired from my walk. i actually saw it yesterday while scooting past and thought it was interesting. i want to know "and what?"

background.

2009-03-20T15:15:00.003-04:00

well as you all know from my last post. i'm busy trying to find a full time job, something i will enjoy, further my career with and make a good living. but since that has yet to happen, i've finally been able to do something i've always thought would be super fun! background work!

An extra, also called a background actor, is a performer in a film, television show, stage, musical, opera or ballet production, who appears in a nonspeaking, nonsinging or nondancing capacity, usually in the background (for example, in an audience or busy street scene). [taken from wikipedia.org]

so i had my first gig on the new nbc series (starts april 9 2009) Southland as a restaurant patron. There were probably about 50-70 other extras as well, so it was a good first experience because i got to meet a few people and get some tips from some of the vetrans.

and then today i'm going to shoot an episode of the fox show Lie To Me. i'm actually playing a 30ish personal photographer for a rap artist who this specific episode is about. i'm really looking forward to this gig, not only do i love this show, but this is more of a featured extra position, not just a crowd member in a restaurant. i'll have more stories about it i'm sure.

someone told me this week to make sure i enjoy this current "freedom" as i'm job hunting, because even though it's not ideal, these situations hopefully don't come to often, so try to find the JOY in them :) and i think i am.

i'll hopefully have air dates for those shows soon.

job hunting.

2009-03-17T00:18:00.002-04:00

well over two weeks ago hannah said "you have a lot to blog about" and i do and i should have been but really i was not in the mood and i didn't want to sit down and write. so here i am finally.

so much has happened since my last post. the biggest of those things being that splashlight closed their LA based offices and are focusing on their other two locations (new york and miami). that being said, i am a casualty of that close. so i am currently unemployed and seeking. let me tell you the hunt is not much fun. and i can't even imagine being someone who has been without a job for months or even years. it's scary right now.

without getting others hopes up as mine tend to on and off, i do have a few resume's out at a few places that i would be happy to work with. i made follow up calls today, one resulted in finding out the person i will hopefully be talking to is out of the office for the week... oh spring break! the second resulted in learning of a hiring freeze, but that there seemed to be some interest in me when the hiring freeze is lifted... but who knows exactly when that will be. lets hope soon shall we.

in other news. my middle brother griffin visited for two weeks. just left to go back home this past saturday evening. it was great having him out here and getting to show him around a bit. it was definitely a good time and i hope he too enjoyed it as much as i.

other than that i'm just plugging along. loving my church and my improv classes. hoping for that next thing to just show its head. join me in prayer if you wish.

creativity to come... i hope :)

improvisation.

2009-02-16T13:35:00.003-05:00

some of you have heard that i'm taking part in a improv workshop once a week for the next two months. i had my second session last night. i've learned a ton already, mainly about myself, but it all relates to the act of improv or acting in general. one of the prevailing themes i'm seeing and learning about myself is that i need to trust myself. i tend if given enough time to second guess myself and my decision. last night it really came through during one scene where i was given a chance to step back after doing a minute or so of improv and watch someone else work with my decision, they did great, but i was already second guessing it and when i had to take back over the scene, i "ruined" it because my mind had decided to dwell on my "bad" choice.

but the best part of all this is : i'm learning! and i'm really enjoying it. i had a few scenes/character developments that i felt went really well, especially for my second time doing improv ever. and i just really really had a great time. the people are great. oh yeah, they all go to my church, so its a great way to meet people of likemindedness.

on a blog note. i am sorry for not writing lately. and i've actually had some fun things to write about, but i'll just start here today and hopefully continue on with a few more blogs this week.

a very disney birthday.

2009-01-28T13:43:00.009-05:00

i turned twenty-nine this past sunday, jan 25th, 2009! i've always loved the fact that i was born on a zero (1980), it makes figuring out how old you are much easier! anyway. i had a great birthday weekend, but i'm going to devote this blog entry to my first disneyland experience.

i really don't have that much to write about it. more just put up some pictures. but thanks to my friends richard, grete and alex for spending the day with me at disneyland. it was a good day to go because the rest of the weekend had been rainy, so i think it kept people from going on sunday because they were afraid of the threat of rain, which we got none of that day! so it was a bit less crowded than most sundays tend to be, or so i was told. but it was a great day, and i got to feel like a little kid for the last twenties birthday of my life :) totally a great experience. thank you disney for giving away free birthday tickets for 2009!

here are pictures (i took a bunch on film too, but haven't finished the roll yet so these are iphone and pictures from alex)

lyle.

2009-01-21T17:10:00.004-05:00

some of you might remember that when lyle was a baby kitten. soon after i brought him home, i woke up one morning and could NOT find him. i was really worried that he had found a way out of the house or was stuck in the basement somewhere. but i figured there wasn't much i could do but hope he came out (after searching for sometime). i am not sure exactly why, maybe to get the tv remote, but i opened the top drawer to the coffee table... and ah! there he was, curled up asleep in a closed drawer. he had figured out how to climbe up through the back as the drawers didn't go all the way to the back of the table. anyway, he would sleep in there as long as he could until he got too big! needless to say, he is a fan of the small spaces.

so the other day i was looking for him, and my current apartment is very small, so there aren't many places for him to really disappear to. i happened to notice the smalles of space open on one of my boxes that are like drawers on my shelving units. annd there he was all 10lbs of him :). now he has decided to get in there quite frequently. i didn't take photos of that first find, but here are a couple from today.

quick update.

2009-01-20T13:20:00.001-05:00

i'm ok. hamstring not pulled just hurt last night. feels fine today :) i'll write more later. still watching the inauguration. good times.

slipped.

2009-01-19T23:21:00.002-05:00

my building has a laundry room, thankfully, across the hall from me. but lately the light in the room hasn't been working, so doing laundry at night is just short of impossible. that and the machines tend to break frequently. its been nice though because this one dryer is just stuck in activation mode, so no money is needed. well finally i got the only working dryer tonight so i go in there to dry my couch blankets and some sheets but because the light is not working i did not notice the HUGE puddle of laundry detergent someone had just spilled. so i step in it in my vans and immediately slip which cause your body to do anything to stay upright and i pulled my hamstring or something in that region... ugh. i hope its just semi pulled and not officially pulled. i'm just finally getting into a rhythm with a new workout schedule and am seeing results. i hope i can get up tomorrow and feel better and ready to get back at it!

anyway. thats the story for tonight.

shooting.

2009-01-17T17:09:00.004-05:00

something i've really been struggling through as of late is how much i DON'T shoot anymore. i mean sure, i take photos of the cat in his new surroundings. i take a lot of photos with my iphone, who doesn't. but i don't shoot what i'm inspired to shoot anymore. part of me understands this as a transition time (it's been 8 months, am i still in transition mode?), but i also know i didn't move out here JUST to tech or work for a company. don't misunderstand me, i'm very happy working at splashlight and the opportunity and training it has to offer, but that by no means means i can't shoot! arri and i actually talked about it yesterday and without me even mentioning how i've been feeling lately, she said "you need to keep shooting." and she is right. even if only once a week or once every two weeks with editing and research the opposing weeks, i need to be shooting and hunting down small gigs to bring in extra money and hopefully start to take off.

that being said, this is the start, its nothing fancy, i didn't even use a reflector, let alone lights, but it puts me in a train of thought, looking at objects as potential subjects again. next, this week, i'm setting something up and shooting. so hold me to that.

matthew.

blogging.

2009-01-16T11:05:00.003-05:00

i'm really not good at this. i thought i would be, but for some reason i always start a blog entry, or have the idea to start one and just don't. maybe it's cause i feel like most people have an understanding of whats going on in my life via facebook and chatting. and i know for sure people have seen most if not all my recent picture posts via facebook. but there is something to actually putting down words with pictures in one place. so here we go again.

the new year has panned out to be a busy one so far. i think i've only had 2 totaly days off since flying back to la after a nice 9 day stint in michigan with the fam. i brought lyle (my kitty) back with me finally. and he's adjusted well. we've had a few rough nights. see living in a studio apartment, there really isn't any place for him to go at night that isn't near me.. and for some reason those kitties like to make lots of racket at night, but i will give him this, there have been a few nights, the past two included, where he's either not woken me up at all or very limited. so i think he's starting to understand :)

this is (obviously) the best weather i've ever experienced in january. i do feel bad for those stuck back in the midwest where the temps are well below zero, but i would be lying if i didn't share how glorious it has been walking and riding my scooter in temperatures reaching the high 80's (87 one day... and yes i was sweating in a tshirt walking to the post office, never thought i'd say that in january).

my first week back i was on set with photographer chris buck. we were working on a financial institution out of canada's campaign. we photographed a live 600lb brown bear. i hope to post a link to the campaign once its finished so you can see the final outcome, i'm looking forward to it.

here's to a great 2009 and more blog posts!!

merry christmas.

2008-12-24T13:54:00.001-05:00

vegas.

2008-11-22T23:30:00.003-05:00

i just flew back from a week in vegas working for jeff davis photography photographing interiors for american woodmark cabinetry company. i had a really great time. it was a LOT of work, many of the days were 12-13 hours long, but it was great to work as a team and of course to make some good money. i didn't have much "play" time but mdk and i did make it to see the fountain show at the bellagio and played some penny slots for about an hour. i played a five dollar bill, and at one point was down to .05! but then i struck it lucky and ended up leaving with 8.62, 3.62 more than i walked in with. score!

met a couple of great people - especially my new friends henry and patti. henry was both the producer and the stylist and patti was his assistant. great people and good times.

now i'm back in la for a few days before i fly to michigan for the holiday. can't wait to see all of you back there. it will be nice to spend a few days relaxing, catching up and yes, going to my 10 year highschool reunion. i canNOT believe it has been that long. but i have been looking forward to it. so much can change (as it has for me) in that many years, it will be fun catching up and just seeing where everyone is.

arrested development.

2008-10-27T09:56:00.002-04:00

who watched (or currently watches) arrested development? i never did. i mean i think i caught an ep here or there, but never in any regularity. i started watching it last night via hulu and i must say, its hilarious. one may ask what sparked my sudden interest. its rather strange to admit, but i only decided to start watching it because of church. church?! well come to find out, i learned a few weeks ago from my friend cristina who used to attend ecclesia (she now attends expression58) that tony hale, the actor who plays buster on ad, not only attends but is an elder of my church. i thought that pretty nifty, but it was slightly more nifty when he happened to sit directly behind me yesterday morning during service! anyway. thats the celeb report for today.

i will for sure be blogging more this week. i have been doing a lot lately and meeting a lot of great people and learning about good opportunities. so keep me in your prayers as me and my career start to grow even more in the next few months!

broken scooters and vistors.

2008-10-16T20:42:00.006-04:00

what is it with blogs. i really like reading them, and i actually like writing them, but for some reason in my life they are the first thing i let slide. and there are many days where i'll be going about my day and somethign will happen, and i'm like wow this is totally blog worthy, but it never gets put down. so now i dont' remember them. and there is no point trying to rehash them now. i'm really going to try. ok enough of that. on to my past week.

joel came to visit this weekend. he got in late last weds night and left on sunday. we had plans to scoot all around town on theScooter, but alas, the scooter had different ideas. it broke down earlier that day when i was heading to trader joes after work. just stopped. i could tell it was electrical, cause the first things i lost were all my guages. after four hours of trouble shooting, i had to give in and have it towed to monterey park (a long ways away) and have it worked on.

well joel and i had a nice leasurily morning the next day and then took the bus out to get the scooter that was supposedly fixed... which it seemed to be... but broke down about 2.5 miles into our ride away... yeah frustrating to say the least. without dragging this story on, it had to go back and it ended up being a faulty switch, but they sadly had to order it so i didn't get the scooter back until yesterday (obviously well after joels visit ended... there went our scooting plans).

we made the weekend work. joel has a few friends in the area, so it was fun meeting them and finding new places for happy hour and food, as well as taking them to some of my favorites (ie: kings road cafe! yumm).

joel and i did a lot of walking and decided it was time to start training for another marathon. i talked him into doing the LA marathon this february. so we are now officially in our first week of training. (i think it was more both of us talking each other into it!) marathons are addicting. this will be the fourth for both of us. third together. :) crazzy times.

anyway. as stated above the scooter is back in business so i'm getting around again. i've had a nice couple of days off -- been able to get a few things done around the apartment and run a few errands, as well as enjoy my mid week runs at whatever time i felt like... though i made the mistake of going at noon today in 90 degree heat... not a good choice.

ok. i'll leave you with a few pictures of joel, all of which i think were at restaurants... we like our food and cafe's!

missed.

2008-09-26T20:02:00.004-04:00

i have been told that people miss my blog. and honestly i miss writing it. i've just been lazy and really have no excuse. i guess i have too many high hopes for my blog that when i don't have time to write a good one or have any good new pictures to show, i just don't blog! anyway. i do have some fun excitement to talk about. yesterday when i was at lunch with my friend travis on robertson at the newsroom we saw about 20 paparazi swarming around hillary duff as she was shopping and walking down the street. one paparazi fell over in the mob and a girl sitting next to us screamd "thats what you deserve" it was funny. you can see it here: http://hollywoodbubble.blip.tv/#1302688

when i see stuff like this i one think "this really happens" and two "i live here!" its wild.

i've been doing a lot of work with tom nelson photo and helping with the production of a disney photo shoot. we shoot monday. its been super fun dealing with casting agents and running the casting for cute little 6 and 7 year old kids.

i'm still working with splashlight as well, so its nice to have my hand in a few things and get a good feeling for the industry out here. more to come i'm sure.

anyway. thats it. maybe i have a picture for fun, let me see...

ok heres one of amandas visit. this is at auntie ems cafe in eagle rock.

scooter ride.

2008-08-30T13:30:00.010-04:00

thanks to my coworker Kat (and Arri, who was driving), there is a picture of me riding the new scooter! whats up with that ridiculous helmet you ask?! well that happens to be the helmet that the private seller gave me with the bike. i hate it, and it will be replaced soon, but its safe. :) today my back hurts because i rode around a lot yesterday and i guess i must use muscles i'm not used to using!

victor garber.

2008-08-18T22:54:00.003-04:00

so of the celebs i've ran into on the street, all have been of some interest to me. such as victor garber, he was my most recent encounter. i was dropping off grip equipment at the weho smashbox studios and he drove up in his prius and strolled up to me and said hello, we traded pleasantries and then he asked if he was in the right place. i had NOTHING to do with his shoot, but knew he was there for the eli stone promo shoot obviously and told him he was and pointed him in the right direction.

i'm guessing at somepoint these encounters will feel less and less exciting, but he was very nice and i really enjoyed how he was down to earth, didn't have an entourage and drove an environmentally friendly vehicle!

anyway. thats it.

honda.

2008-08-08T22:56:00.002-04:00

i'm a few days late in posting this. but weds a film crew took over my block to film a new honda commercial. it was sadly uneventful, but still cool that it was happening on my block.

a small taste of 746 s normandie 107

2008-07-31T19:12:00.003-04:00

many have been asking for pictures of my new place, and i've finally got a few on my computer from the day i signed the lease. this will give a little better taste of what it looks like, but its finally starting to look like my place and when the transformation is complete i will put up a good little slideshow!

i've had some ups and downs with finding good deals on furniture. i got a few things from ikea, but most of the stuff i've been acquiring is from people i know or found on craigslist. which is a great asset, but a lot of work scheduling and picking up etc.

anyway. here are a few pictures. needless to say for those of you who know me well, i am in LOVE with the tile in the bathroom!

earthquakes and kmart.

2008-07-30T17:56:00.005-04:00

yesterday was my first day off after 8 days of straight working. though this weekend was intermitent work, it was nice to look forward to a whole day of not going to the office and just working on organizing my new apartment (pics to come i promise, its just not done yet).

i decided after a nice morning of coffee, life cereal and the today show to head off to kmart, the farmers market, thrift stores and a haircut. at exactly 11:42am i was standing in the basement of kmart (its two levels, one ground and one basement) looking at the nail and screw wall to get hardware to hang pictures etc. when suddenly the wall of nails begins to sway back and forth. i, being a midwesterner and a frequent visitor to chicago and nyc, thought oh it's just a train, but as someone exclaimed and i immediately realized there were no trains in this area, it was indeed an infamous california earthquake. for me, it lasted only seconds, and was surprisingly interesting and slightly entertaining. thankfully it didnt cause any severe damage. i personally had no effects, my apartment was fine, the kmart was fine and the rest of my day went on as normal, except for the multitudes of text messages streaming in asking if i was ok because the quake had made national news moments after its completion. (thank you by the way, all of you care so much for me it really made me smile :) ).

so i survived my first la earthquake (5.4 on the ricter scale) and hope that i do not have to survive the big one as they say. well if we have it, yes i want to survive, but you know what i'm saying! ;)

love you all and miss you.

coworkers.

2008-07-22T23:46:00.002-04:00

a few albums.

2008-06-29T13:50:00.001-04:00

uploaded a few albums to my facebook and wanted to share them with everyone.

enjoy!

Cross Country

Amy's Birthday

Dallas

victoria.

2008-06-25T01:55:00.002-04:00

today was a fun day. work has been crazzy busy this week, in a good way. today i had lots of running around to different agencies, studios etc. one of those places included the chateau marmont a 1920's hotel on sunset. i was there to help wrap up and pack up a shoot. i walk into the penthouse #29 on the second floor where the set is just wrapping and out of the norm the talent is still there at this point finalizing what seemed to be a video blog of sorts. but anyway. i walk in and there stands victoria beckham talking to a small handicam while her son sits on the couch playing with spiderman action figures. so yes i saw posh spice today. it was fun being a part of something of that caliber.

ok. thats all for now. still on the hunt for an apartment.