Well, well, well...that subject line worked pretty well didn't it? 

I've finally got the video online for your viewing pleasure...and I do mean viewing pleasure because the sound is not worth talking about...just turn it up just in case you miss a line or two...

A reminder, just in case you were unaware, this was the 48 hour film project.

Elements given:

- Character: Edwin or Eva Lai, hairdresser
- Prop: Lychee martini
- Line of dialogue: "What's tomorrow's weather going to be?"
- Genre: Buddy Film/Dark Humor

This is Cocktail Definition:



Hope that was bearable...


Keep well.

TLo

So....

Just got the news...

Spontaneous Combustion just won a few awards with our film, "Cocktail Definition"!!

Unfortunately we didn't get any one of the top prizes but did for the following:

**Best Directing**
**Best Acting**
**Best Screenplay**

Not bad for a team with a bunch of first time filmmakers and actors!  This is a great way for us to close the book on a great adventure...a 48 hour one...well, 60-something if include the before and after stuff...

Anyways, congrats to my lovely team!!  And congratulations to the winners of this inaugural year for 48 HFP!  It was a pleasure meeting and competing!!

Keep well.

TLo

As some of you already know, I have been working on my project Love Hurts for a while now and I am happy to announce that we will be beginning our casting process in the coming weeks!!!

Below is the posting for the roles I am looking to fill.  Please have a read through and respond through the following email along with your headshot and resume:

lovehurtscasting@gmail.com

I want to find diamonds in the rough so if you think you have talent but haven't had the opportunity, this is your chance to prove yourself...I welcome all interested parties to come and blow me away with your performance!  I am open to re-writing roles if you show me that you're worth it!

Look forward to seeing you in the audition room!








Jack, a sex addict who fantasizes about his wife all the time, is duped into a threesome with a young colleague of his and her fiancée.  In order to keep his marriage together, Jack sacrifices everything he has to make it up to his love.  He is out to prove to her that their love is powerful enough to keep them together, especially when it hurts.





JACK             (lead) Male, mid-late 30’s, English speaker, Any Race

Not a particularly good or strong looking guy; mild introvert, quirky and energetic. His world revolves only around him and his wife Annie. In his mind, sex is a big part of his relationship with her. Annie finds out about his infidelity and leaves him. But it is his fight and desire to keep his marriage together that defines his value as a husband, and it is his sacrifice that portrays how selfless he is in the face of love. In terms of character, Caveh Zahedi in “I’m a Sex Addict” is comparable, especially with the quirkiness.


ANNIE            (lead) Female, Bi-Racial, Early to mid 30's, Bi-lingual in English and Cantonese

A strong woman, high on values, morals, and routine; anything out of the ordinary of her routine makes her uncomfortable. Possesses a lot of motherly qualities in terms of her relationship with Jack.


ALEXIS            (lead) Female, Asian, 20’s, Bi-lingual in English and Cantonese

Young, attractive, naïve and selfish in nature; adventurous in many ways but more so sexually. Alexis has been spoiled all her life, she can be ignorant of other’s feelings when she wants something. Her personality pales in comparison to her physical attributes.


MARK            (lead) Male, Asian, 20’s, Cantonese Speaker

Young, handsome; a genuine being that is often seen as the quiet guy. Mark is also a passive individual; he makes most of his decisions based on his emotion. But because of his obedient nature, his decisions are often pushed by someone else, hence constantly being pushed around by his girlfriend Alexis.


NATHAN        (supporting) Male, Caucasian, mid-late 30’s, English Speaker

Witty and humorous.  He was roommate of Jack’s in university in the UK, and now is boss in Hong Kong. A very easy going, responsible, and caring person, which he chooses to hide with his sarcasm.


CATHY    (supporting) Female, Asian or Eurasian, 20’s, Bi-lingual in Cantonese and English

A classic good girl, young, and sometimes passive. Cathy is Annie’s cousin on her mother’s side, and a close friend and coworker of Alexis. Her choices and decisions, although logical, are not always considered the right one to make. Through the mistakes she makes, Cathy learn to take her share of responsibility, but not until everything has gone out of control.


GEORGE        (Minor) Male, Caucasian, 50’s-60’s, Bi-lingual in Cantonese and English

A grumpy old man who dislikes his son-in-law.  Has a strained relationship with his daughter, Annie.  He is an educated man who has been working in China his entire professional career and married a Chinese woman, Stella.  Has been living in Shanghai for past several years.


STELLA        (Minor) Female, Asian, 50’s-60’s, Cantonese Speaker

A stereotypical mother who cares more about her child than anything else, including her husband.  She has been a perfect role model for Annie throughout her life and is always supportive no matter the situation.  She keeps the family together.


JACKIE        (Minor) Female, Caucasian, 50’s-60’s, English Speaker

Jack’s mom.  She never stayed in touch with Jack since his first year in university.  She pays a visit when she finds out Jack is in the hospital.


THERAPIST     (Minor) Male, Any race, 40’s-50’s, English Speaker

A marriage and sex therapist who counsels Jack.


DOCTORS (3)    (Minor) Male, Asian, 40’s, Cantonese Speaker

            Doctor #1 – Performs surgery
            Doctor #2 – Physician that Annie visits
            Doctor #3 – Dr. Lau, a doctor at a hospital


WOMAN        (minor) Female, Any race, 20’s, English Speaker

A sexy woman who has a one-night stand with Jack.


EXTRAS        Any race, 20’s-30’s

            Nurse (3) – 2x Performs surgery; 1x Working at clinic
            Jill (30’s-40’s)- Nathan’s wife
            Colleagues (3) – walking into work; one has a line of dialogue
            Waiter
            Club-goers (10-15) – Dancing on the dance floor

Hey people...it's been a long f-ing time since my last blog...and I apologize for that...although it's been for good reasons but I should not neglect my blog for as long as I did...so here goes with the days that have gone by without a word from me...

I have done absolutely nothing. 

I hope you enjoyed that...

Thanks,

Come again.






Okay, seriously, here we go...

For the past month or so, after my big birthday party that my GF threw for me, things have been moving in the right direction.  I've been able to stay busy doing a plethora of things.

Quick hits:

- incorporated i-Kandy productions with a couple of partners
- developed business plan for film
- treatment and script polished and ready for use
- directed two commercials, both for Wellcome and both shown on Roadshow and cable
- played beach volleyball for the first time and was on the WINNING team (yeah, I kick ass!)
- brought two trusted key crew members onto Love Hurts team
- prepping for film; locations, contracts, casting, equipment deals, film stock deals, etc.
- sending out Buck Wild out to film festivals
- playing basketball every week to stay in shape although I still feel round around the edges!
- writing an intro for my work (wowwowtank) to be used in the demo reels that are sent out
- gathering information and designing the website
- watched the Toronto Raptors season opening win over the Cavs, live! (online, of course...)


That's the gist of it...in between I still found time to talk with Momma Lo, who has been going through some tough times back in Toronto, spent time with my lady, forged some friendships along the way, and eat whenever time permitted!

And now, this past weekend, I participated in the 48 hours film project.  And what an experience!

My team consisted of the following lovely people:

- Yung Yung Yu
- Simon Young
- May Lee
- Andrew Lang
- Stephanie Fodor
- Sean Tierney
- Lara Dangerfield
- and ME!

One thing to note here, we had a lot of first time filmmakers on the team:

Yung Yung, first time working behind the scene;

May Lee, first time doing anything in filmmaking;

Andrew Lang, first time acting in a film;

Stephanie Fodor, first time working behind the scene as well;

Sean Tierney, first time acting in a film as well;

and Lara Dangerfield, first time working with any of us (and I'm not sure what her background is but very grateful for her thoughts and opinions throughout the weekend!)

This team really needed the 48 hr-winning experience of Simon and he delivered on his end to the best of his ability.


So we all got together after receiving our package and hashed out a story according to our elements. 

What the 48HFP peeps gave us to work with:

- Genre: Buddy Film
- Prop: Lychee Martini
- Character: Edwin or Eva Lai, Hairdresser
- Line of dialogue: "what's tomorrow's weather going to be?"

Once we got the story down, May got us two locations to work with at last minute since the ones that we did secure prior to the kickoff (one of which was the alivenotdead Halloween party!  Thanks to Patrick, Raffi, and Kate Sullivan for all their support and cooperation!), didn't quite work out since the story didn't call for it.   So anyway, off the team went to my warehouse and started to look for wardrobe and props while I stayed in the office to write the script.  Once that was done, it was about 3am, I think....well, got back with the team and did a quick script read.

After that, we packed our stuff and off we went to our first location.

We finished shooting by 12pm and then off to lunch.  After feeding our aching bellies, we set off to Central to do some landmark shots with the ladies.  When we got the first one, we sent most of the team back to the warehouse (home base) to get some rest.  Simon and I continued on to shoot the next one and then back to home we went...

Once we got back, I saw several bodies laying in every which way possible.  Simon and I started to do the transferring of files from camera to editing system.  Then, time came to shoot the next location in CWB.  I woke everyone up, which was everyone except for me and Simon, and off we went to location #2. 

Things went fairly smooth and that was a wrap!! So we thought...

The band split, the keys went back home and we continued to do the transfer.  5 hours of transferring HD files and converting to SD, we were finding different ways to stay up and stay in tune and have some sense of sanity.  When it was complete, we checked the footage.  And therein laid the problem...

Our location #2 files all had a sound problem, none of the dialogue was audible and we didn't have a sound guy...by this time, it was 10am on delivery day...

The remaining parts that were up, Simon, Yung Yung, Andrew, and myself, started to brainstorm solutions.  We went from dubbing the dialogue, to building a set, to re-writing the scene, to finding another location for a re-shoot, thanks to YY! 

So off we went to re-shoot the scene in Central.  Got it done in 40 minutes, in and out!  Great job by the actors to show up and help us through this tough time because they all thought we were done and they didn't have much rest either so I truly am grateful for their resiliency. 

Back to the editing desk where I started picking out the good takes and lined up the assembly cut.  During this long process my eyes were giving up on me but I pulled myself up long enough to complete and handed it over to Simon to cut the assembly down to the first cut.  He was such a huge help!  I downed my eleventeenth coffee and we were ready to move...

After Simon put the first cut together, it was my turn to do the final cut.  I put the music I selected from rumblefish and also Sean's own music into the film, cut the film down to the required limit of 7 minutes because our first cut was over 3 minutes over the limit. 

I rushed through the credit sequence, Simon played with the audio to make sure that the levels were good and to fix up the ones with really loud background noise. 

By this time, everyone was working on the final paperwork and questionnaires in the other room while SImon and I used whatever fumes we had left in our systems to complete the film to its final form. 

We called for a taxi to wait downstairs as we pushed the eject button from the camera and delivered the mini DV to Central from Chai Wan just in time to beat the deadline...by about two minutes or so...

The final product?  Title: Cocktail Definition  The screening is on Friday and most of us will be attending.  I'm happy with what we ended up with and proud of my team's efforts in making this film so whatever happens on Friday would be icing on the cake. 

In reality, we were actually able to shoot the entire film in 24 hours but because of some equipment problems wihtout a go-to guy to help us, we had to do a re-shoot.  I knew at some point we would be facing adversity but didn't know to what degree...well, we found out and not only did we not panic, we thrived and succeeded under the pressure.  This was a total team effort and thank you to all who were involved as it couldn't have been completed without your input!

I will put up some pictures when I receive them from one of our team members and will link the film if it gets any airtime on 48.tv!

Thank you to all my teammates, phenomenal job, and look forward to working with all of you again!!

I hope that their first time was as good as they had hoped for and I truly wish them all the best! 

Thanks again to the following:

JP Concept Salon, The One bar, Wowwowtank, e.v.e.n.t., alivenotdead, xenter jut, Zuma Restaurant and Bar, Yellow frog media, Ivy Lam, Spencer Douglass, and the rest of the 48HFP family!


Anyway, back to reality and back to my project...my next blog post will be for casting for Love Hurts.  Stay posted!


Keep well.


TLo

Hey guys and gals, people of all ages and races…it’s been a while since my last blog, so many things have happened and not sure where to begin…

Hmm…

Okay, let’s start with a posting on AnD I did about a month or so ago.  I had just finished writing a short film and wanted to direct it but I needed more resources than I had at my disposal so I decided to use this site to find some helpful hands.  But to my chagrin, my posting received approximately three responses from two different people.  I was not impressed, to say the least.

So I did what any other person with a passion would do…persist.

I found another posting that was up prior to mine, looking for actors, directors, producers, and such to come together and do a project together.  It was posted by an aspiring actress Yung Yung Yu, but more importantly, it had about fifty responses from about ten different people.  At that point, I knew it was more appealing to respond to this thread rather than mine…and needless to say, I was jealous…


So I did what any other person with a passion would do…get involved.

And on I went and reluctantly responded to my (silent) enemy’s thread.  And fortunate for her, she was nice…’cause if she wasn’t, oh man, I would’ve terrorized her thread…okay maybe not, but I would’ve written something in her guestbook…something…something that would’ve made a mark on it…like, YO! Or something like that…

So she responded to my message and we had a quick chat about her reasoning behind the thread she posted.  Then I rebutted with my reasoning behind my thread and how it was absolutely ludicrous that I didn’t get as many responses to my thread as she did hers.  Then I calmed myself down, went to the toilet, wiped my bum, popped some pimples, and continued chatting. 

She told me about a meeting she was holding the following weekend with a few of the people that responded to her thread and invited ME to join them. 

So I did what any other person with a passion would do…reject them.

For good reason though, since I had to visit my god-grandmother.  I’m a family kind-a-guy, and not having too many fam clans here, I treasure the opportunity to spend time with those who are related to me. 

I told YY (Yung Yung), that I had scripts I wanted to shoot already and that it would be “awesome” if the group that was meeting up could take a look at a couple of my scripts and see if it was interesting enough to be utilized.  Well, oddly enough, she agreed.

When we spoke again, she asked if I could expand the story of one of the scripts.  I was hesitant but convinced myself that it would be better to have some people interested (like now) than no one wanting to even read my writing (like my thread).  So I agreed.  And I started writing…with some notes of ideas that YY and her group came up with…

And then an epiphany…sort of…I started to tell a story worth telling, and it was getting stronger and stronger with each passing day until I decided it would be worth making this into a feature.

So I did what any other person with a passion would do…pursue.

I did just that and next thing I knew, YY became one of my Producers, along with my Jeanne Hatrman alums, Chung Tsang and Jane Wong.  The four of us teamed to make this thing go…well, kind of…

We’re still in the midst of getting things rolling…

We just held a script-read over the past weekend and MANY THANKS TO THOSE WHO CAME OUT AND GAVE THEIR TWO CENTS!! It went pretty good, had a great discussion afterwards, and best of all, the questionnaires that the participants were asked to fill out, really gave me honest opinions and feedback on what they thought.

Thanks to my team for assembling a group of talented individuals with varying backgrounds to come out and share their thoughts with us.  It really was a great experience…and at an even better location, SPECIAL THANKS TO MY MAN, SPENCER! The bean bag chairs were friggin’ awesome!

Although we came out of that session quite optimistic, there are still things that need to be fixed up.  I’m on a re-write mission at the moment trying to figure things out.  So I’ll get back to that soonish…when my thoughts gather properly…

Besides that, work has been great, just put together a treatment to shoot a six-part documentary series for a local grocery store, so hopefully I get that opportunity to strut my butt, I mean stuff…

Other than my arms and shoulders peeling from too much sun during a recent boat trip, things have been good.  I also had the opportunity to meet some great people including those at the script-read, potential investors, and some that I don’t want to smell again because they smell different…jus sayin’…deodorant is always on sale…that’s all I’m saying…

Alright enough of that…a few last words before I leave, I miss my momma, I miss my home…

So I’m going to do what any other person with passion should do…I am going to bust my ass so I can build a new home and bring my Momma to me…

PLUR (so 90’s, I know…),


TdotLo



**Thanks to Jen Thym for this lovely picture!!



P.S.

Anybody that reads this and wants to know more about the script (synopsis is below) or would like to get involved, feel free to contact me or my team!




SYNOPSIS FOR “LOVE HURTS.”

If you needed to prove to the one you love how far you are willing to go for the sake of your union, would you decide to go so far that it hurts you?  “Love hurts.” explores the intricacies of the power of love in the lives of two couples, who somehow get intertwined together through their own decisions to sacrifice for the one that they love.  This film details several instances of sacrifice and other elements of love in any relationship between man and woman, separated by title in three parts, through Promises, Trust, and Responsibility.  

Mark is on a knee in a fancy restaurant, with a beautiful diamond ring in his palm, in front of his longtime girlfriend, Alexis, proposing to her to spend the rest of their lives together.  But she unexpectedly stops him from putting the ring on her finger unless he can promise her three things.  First, no lies.  Second, lots of sex.  And the last?  To have a threesome with another guy.  Now Mark has to decide whether this is something he can do for the sake of love, to share the one he loves and to commit to her fantasy before committing to her reality.
 
Jack is addicted to sex and has been in therapy to deal with his problem.  His wife, Annie, has been supporting him through his ups and downs, even through his infidelity.  But when Jack makes another mistake, Annie is tempted to end her suffering by leaving the only man she has ever loved.  The trust that she had in him after he began therapy is no longer there and now he has to find a way to save his marriage.  The extent of which he takes to regain her trust is a sacrifice that few men would submit to. 

The aftermath of the decisions that each person makes is a responsibility that they must take on but it’s not always something they are willing to do.  But in dealing with the consequences of their actions, only the true power of love can give them the strength to move on…or succumb to the realization that where there is love, there is usually pain.