I hope this blog post finds you all very well. Thank you for all the messages and support – hearing from you always makes my day. Today I want to answer two of questions that I keep getting:
1. Joy, what are you doing these days?
Feature on Joy Chen in the June 2014 issue of Harpers Bazaar Jewelry
2. Joy, what’s it like to be in a fashion shoot?
Q1: Joy, what are you doing these days?
I’m delighted to report that I’ve partnered with Wanda Media to create a romantic comedy called Do Not Marry Before Age 30, the same title as my book, and that I will serve as the lead screenwriter. The movie will feature two lady CEO headhunters who headhunt Mr. Right. It’s a subject that I know intimately since, as you know, I myself worked as a CEO headhunter for seven years, and it is by using professional CEO headhunting techniques that I found my Mr. Right.
I started dating at age 18, and married my soulmate at age 38, so I have two decades of tragic as well as comical experiences to draw from in writing the movie.
The movie Do Not Marry Before Age 30 will be fun and funny, fashionable and deep. I think you will love it!
On to Question #2.
Q2: Joy, what’s it like to be a in a fashion shoot?
Readers often ask me what it’s like to be in a fashion shoot. The short answer: It is so much fun!
Here’s a behind-the scenes peek:
1. The make-up and hair: When the big day arrives, you sleep in late because – hurray – fashion people start work late! When you arrive at the studio, you’re greeted by a brainy and beautiful magazine editor and her team of 20. A supercute make-up artist spends two hours doing your make-up, while your hair is massaged into place by the hair guy from Paris, who doesn’t speak Chinese, but who speaks English gorgeously accented in French, the language of love. Nice!
2. The clothes: After your make-up and hair is done for your first set of photos, the stylists select from the 30 amazing head-to-toe outfits they’ve selected which are all in your size. If on any dress the zipper doesn’t quite pull all the way up even when you’ve sucked in so much air you can’t breathe, well they toss it aside, reassuring you that that happens to everyone, even the movie stars. If only we were so forgiving to ourselves!
3. The jewelry: After you’re dressed, you and the stylists walk to briefcases full of spectacular jewelry. Behind the briefcases stand men in gloves and dark suits. You and the stylists point to the pieces you want, and the men carefully fastens them onto you. Heaven!
4. The camera: Finally, you’re ready for the camera. The world-class photographer clicks away with his high-speed shutter. The key here is to make lots of tiny movements, stopping every fraction of a second for him to click. He says to turn your head left, you stop every centimeter along the way for him to click. He tells you to smile, you give 15 different smiles from small to big. You’re a star!
5. The jewelry, again: As soon as the photographer says he’s finished with this set of photos, the jewelry men rush up and carefully remove each piece of jewelry from your body. Boo hoo!
For each photo in your magazine spread, repeat steps #1-5 above. For large features such as the 8-page Harpers Bazaar Jewelry June 2014 spread shown here, it may be well into the evening by the time you are finished. But you will go home exhausted and happy. Too bad you don’t get to keep the clothes or jewels!
The feature shown here had an especially huge collection of jewelry, with especially stern-looking men guarding them, so I asked someone why the extra security. I was told that, for each of these photos, I wore over USD $2 million worth of jewelry. Wow! That’s more than my house is worth!
Making a movie is better than being in a fashion shoot
So, you see, being in a fashion shoot is pure escapist fantasy. Wherever you look, people say you are beautiful and amazing. Everyone is there to clothe you in spectacular things, and to pamper you, and to make sure you are supremely happy. In other words, being in a fashion shoot for a day is the exact opposite of life as a mother.
I love doing fashion shoots. But the truth is, I love life as a mother. And I love you, my friends and readers. I especially love creating stories to surprise and delight you and millions of other women across China. The gift that you give me, of your glittering sisterhood, is a far greater experience than any day surrounded by even the best clothing and jewels.
So, being in a fashion shoot is really great. But to me, being a writer is even better. Thank you again for your love and support.
Wanda Media and I are hard at work making the best movie we can make for you.
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To read this post in Chinese, click here.
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Joy Chen creates pop culture media for China. A Chinese-American former Deputy Mayor of Los Angeles, Joy is author of the smash China best-seller Do Not Marry Before Age 30, which debunks conventional wisdom that single women are “leftover” by their late 20s, and helps them unlock their potential and realize their dreams. She currently has a movie in development with Wanda Media, and one with Alibaba Pictures. Additionally, she is working on a novel about a female Chinese hacker who comes to the United States and gets caught up in the reelection campaign of a corrupt Los Angeles mayor. Visit Joy at www.joychenyu.com (click ENGLISH).
