We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Emma, Franco, and Pukpik AKA – the @3Skiblings a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.
Emma, Franco, and Pukpik, looking forward to hearing all of your stories today. Learning the craft is often a unique journey from every creative – we’d love to hear about your journey and if knowing what you know now, you would have done anything differently to speed up the learning process.
Emma: I learned by trial and error. My mom helped me as best as she could by finding photographers willing to do trade-for-proofs (TFP). I did catch a huge break when a media company proposed a photo shoot with me in Detroit modeling as a look-alike of Audrey Hepburn. Those photos brought influential modeling people to my Instagram following. I’m young. They are watching to see what I do next. As far as obstacles, I am signed with a talent agency, but not a modeling agency. With a modeling agency, I would get training or development. What I’ve done so far over the last two years is all-natural – it’s just me, the authentic me. And that’s what I think I did right.
Franco: I was playing soccer and noticed auditions for “The Little Mermaid” at my school. I auditioned and got the role of Flounder. I learned many acting skills from my theater teacher; but, more importantly, I learned to love the creative part of myself. I love the art of creation and submersion.
Pukpik: (Laughing) I am not as disciplined as these two. I just press the record button when I’m happy or pranking someone which is mostly when I’m around my friends. My videos might be 5 seconds or 30 seconds but they are happy or funny moments in real-time. I don’t get embarrassed easily. I do have a habit of daydreaming in class as I think about my next creative endeavor. People either accept me or not; but if they do, they must prepare to be co-stars in my videos.
Great, appreciate you sharing that with us. Before we ask you to share more of your insights, can you take a moment to introduce yourself and how you got to where you are today to our readers
Emma: The three of us came together through ASSE, a student exchange program. My family has had exchange students before, but this is the first time we hosted two for the school year. We weren’t actually looking for other creative students. I wanted siblings who liked to cook, like myself. So, we actually came together based on our love of food. After Franco and Pukpik were placed with my family, we met via video and discovered not only our shared love of sushi but also our love of creative expression. We decided to support each other’s craft, and we have been open to trying new things outside of our specialty. For instance, I have never been comfortable doing videos. With Franco and Pukpik’s laid-back approach, it has made me more open to doing video segments for our Skiblings blog. That, in turn, gave me the confidence to apply to be in a commercial. I would have never considered that one month ago. And… I was hired. The commercial is live and on YouTube – https://youtu.be/QRe5pyuT-ew The connections I got with that media company led me to a student filmmaker at Wayne State University. All three of us will now be extras in his film “Gumshoe” later this month.
Franco: After my initial acting role as Flounder, I knew I wanted an acting career. I went on to star as Peter Pan in “Peter Pan” and Mr. Darcy in “Pride and Prejudice.” During the height of the pandemic, I wanted to still hone my skills, so I was able to take online acting classes through college. This helped me tremendously! And then I thought, “What next? Where do I want to go?” That answer was Hollywood. Yet, I knew that I needed to work on my English language skills. As a Mexican national, I have had English courses throughout my educational career. I wanted to immerse myself in the language because I felt that was the best way towards obtaining my goal. I applied through ASSE looking for placement in the United States. I received my placement in Michigan with my host sister Emma and my bonus sister Pukpik from Thailand. I have been very busy working in yearbook and my school’s television courses. I have also been cast in the musical “Charlie Brown” and will also be cast in “Legally Blonde” in the spring. I, too, have been trying out new experiences that I feel will help me with acting. I was in Michigan only 20 hours before having my first photo shoot with Emma and Pukpik. That experience brought Emma’s techniques to her craft to the surface for me to learn lighting and angles and adjusting to a photographer’s direction. It has been a great experience. I am also looking forward to being in a film. I need to create an IMDb account (smiling with his mega-watt, movie star smile) as we will be provided with film credits.
Pukpik: Unlike these two (pointing at Emma and Franco), I don’t know what I want to do for a career. In Thailand, I have a large group of friends who I miss. I am an only child, so coming to the United States and having multiple siblings was new and different but also an unexpected blessing. I can’t imagine my life without these two siblings. I participated in a photo shoot with Emma. (Laughing) I have ruled out modeling as a career. Modeling takes a lot of patience and focus and direction. It focuses more on movement, and I’d rather be talking. Emma asked me if I wanted to apply for a commercial where I would need to say some quotes. Plus, I’d get a free outfit to use in the commercial. I mean, a girl can never have too many clothes, right? Oh, and then, there’s the networking that Emma’s mom does. I think that’s a full-time job (laughing). Now I will be in a film in two weeks. I would have never thought that would happen. Plus, it will give me a little taste of what Franco does. Currently, I work behind the scenes with live and recorded videos for my school’s television crew. Doing this has helped me creatively and provided me with technical skills in video production.
: Is there a particular goal or mission driving your creative journey?
Emma: I’d like to continue modeling, focusing on commercial print. I’m not interested in doing runway; however, I am self-taught and have never learned that skill. If I worked with a mother agency that helped me develop that skill, I would be open to it. This is my second year as a dual-enrolled high school student attending Mott Community College working on obtaining my American Sign Language certification. Even if modeling is not my future, I enjoy literal hands-on activities so sign language is a great option as another career choice.
Franco: Acting is my dream. I’m working on my English which has significantly gotten better in the month I’ve been in the United States. I’d like to continue my schooling with the New York Film Academy or Juilliard. During this U.S. school year, I will continue to seek out creative and learning opportunities and, hopefully, scholarship opportunities to assist me with my goals.
Pukpik: I’m just living in the moment. I don’t have any expectations so each moment, good or bad, can create memories or learning experiences for years to come. With each moment, I might then find my purpose to start my career journey. Like most people, I just hope, well expect, there to be many more happy moments than sad moments. If there are sad moments with my friends then I become the jokester of the group. I want to initiate positive vibes among us!
What’s the most rewarding aspect of being a creative in your experience?
Emma: I love the compliments I get from the photographers I work with, and I am especially thrilled when I can rejoice with a photographer whose work is featured or published. Every photographer I have worked with is so talented. I also am a huge fan of my Instagram followers. I try to respond to every comment I receive. They are so positive and complimentary! They even share photo shoot ideas. They make me want to be better because they believe in me.
Franco: Like Emma, I love to get compliments from my casting director. I work hard learning the material and delivering my lines. When a play is done at the end of a night and the entire cast returns to the stage to take their bow and the audience rises to their feet and applauds, there is no feeling like it… this is what I want to do forever!
Pukpik: I love being able to create the content I want when I want. When I share the content and receive feedback that it made others laugh or happy, it makes it worth it. I just want to create even more.
Contact Info:
- Website: www.MIEmmaB.com
- Instagram: @MIEmmaB @3Skiblings
- Facebook: www.facebook.com/MIEmmaB
- Linkedin: www.linkedin.com/in/miemmab
- Twitter: @MIEmmaB
- Youtube: https://youtube.com/MIEmmaB
- Other: Tiktok: @MIEmmaB and @3Skiblings
Image Credits
@MIEmmaBMom