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Thursday, Nov 12, 2009 2:49AM / Members only
so, it's been like 800 years since my last post...but here it is...so much has happened since 800 years ago that i have to just do the cliffs notes version here...last year i did a movie called "strangers" with my team "cinehous." it's in final post stages now but i'm very proud of it, proud of our team, for making something i feel is quite beautiful out of so very little money and resources. i'll be writing more about it soon as we start submitting to festivals and so forth...i then was in hong kong and shot my first short film, which was dedicated to my uncle who i miss so much. it was a challenging experience directing for the first time. but it was a good taste and i want to do more in the future. i think the best part was having my mom and my sister there for the screening with me, knowing where the story came from, knowing where i'd come from...we all cried happy sad tears...like i said, i miss my uncle. very much.
so then i went to europe...my first travel alone experience. and it was absolutely wonderful. i've dreamed of going to europe since forever and finally i did it. and altho i was scared i would get mugged, killed, lost there, (yeah, i'm slightly dramatic), i was none of those things, and it was just...everything i wanted it to be...and more. then, by some miracle, during the last 3 days of my stay there, i got a movie, a romantic comedy, "will's diaries" and was able to stay in london to shoot for another month. that was a great experience as well. i was so lucky to get to stay longer in london, and to see other places where we shot, like stratford upon avon, where shakespeare lived...it was all just gorgeous there. the weather happened to be perfect, which, lucky me cuz i fear cold like no tomorrow. i've always wanted to do a romantic comedy, and here i was, in london, playing The Girl, with brit humor...loved it. then i went back to la for a short stint where i got to see michael aki's "sunsets" play in its new recut redux version. you can see how talented he is in the movies he creates..."strangers" will again display that talent combined with the gorgeous cinematography of pryor praczukowski...our cinehous team...and now, i'm back in hong kong, getting ready to shoot dax phelan's "jasmine" with jason tobin. excited for that too. have wanted to work with jason for a while now and here's our chance...there is also a fine arts photo exhibit that will open this saturday, the 14th, with a lovely reception...monique lai, a good friend of mine, and also a very talented photographer shot these of me this past summer here in hong kong...they're personal for both of us...maybe a little too much is exposed in these pics actually! i don't mean nudity wise. i mean emotion...haha. but that's what's so beautiful about them...how raw and revealing they are...so there you go...a little update. hopefully it won't take another 800 years for my next blog...i wish all good things, lots of good times, for everyone...oh my gosh, i almost forgot why i titled this "cockroach." my welcome back to hong kong was a gigantour nastyass cockroach greeting me in the kitchen. nice. gotta love hong kong. there's always someone to welcome you back.
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Sunday, Jan 25, 2009 10:39PM / Members only
i haven't written since forever...and this is just going to be a short one, but i'll write more later...i just wanted to wish everyone a very happy chinese new year! and may everyone experience good times, good friends, good health in this year of the ox! write more soon! take care
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Monday, Aug 25, 2008 10:14PM / Members only
so, it's been a while. we're still working away on our little movie...yesterday, we saw a first edit of a scene we shot the weekend before, and...it looks like our little movie might just be...well, wonderful. i felt so proud of michael, and pryor, and even me! hehe. it feels good to see that what we're struggling to do is looking exactly like what we wanted it to be...the next few weekends will be filled with tough shoots, but that's ok. we're doing good, having fun, working hard...i feel like i could do only these movies forever...no politics, no bull. just...doing what we love to do, the way we want to do it. NOW, of course, getting PAID would be nice, ha. but the payoff right now is greater than money. it's pride. it's happiness. it's peace. when we complete our project and we get to watch our finished baby, we'll all be so very proud of our little movie that could...will try to blog more as the movie gets closer to its unveiling! take care everyone...ciao
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Tuesday, May 27, 2008 12:34AM / Members only
so we're still shooting our passion project, and i guess i'll have to find out if it's ok to say the name of it so that i can spill it, but i can never get quite used to having a gun pointed at me, fake or not. i get angry when it's pointed around me either in play or whatever, yet i realized that once that camera is on, and i'm in character, nothing really phases me...everything is real and fake. does that even make sense? probably not...it's just, i guess, that i'm not bothered...cuz it's supposed to be there, i'm supposed to have it pointed at me...it's weird how i can just transcend into my character and no longer be affected by anything...no pain, no weather, no fear, except the actual fear of being killed that my character is feeling...but then i wrap shooting for the nite, drive home, and i start to come back into reality...feel the pain and see the bruises that i didn't realize i was getting while shooting, feel the cold, the fear...slowly i come back into reality...yet i'm still unable to come down from the highs of shooting...no matter how tired i am, whether it's been 2 hours or 20, i can NOT fall asleep immediately...i usually have to do certain things: i HAVE to eat. i don't care if it's 3am, i'm eating. then i have to watch something totally mindless, like foodnetwork, or some romantic comedy that i've already seen 800 times. or else i do crosswords...now, i'm not talking the ny times sunday crosswords, i'm talking those tiny little easy crosswords, that are literally titled "EASY CROSSWORDS." i'm not doing it to gain brain cells, i'm doing it to come down from the shoot...anyways, i really do love shooting, especially with our own project. sure, there are a lot of stresses, a lot of downs, but there ARE ups...and they're all ours...they're immediate, and they're intimate...even, at gunpoint...
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Monday, Apr 28, 2008 6:33AM / Members only
so we've still been shooting, plugging away...small crew of us, four actually to be exact...perfect...the other nite we shot in a hotel room...transformed it into a lovely set...it's amazing what lighting can do to a comfort inn...the best part of shooting passion projects is the laughing, laughing, laughing...i'm not sure EVERYONE found it entertaining, but two out of four did...and as long as i'm one of the two laughing my ass off like some crazed hyena, it's all good, hehe.
it is freaking HOT in la. hello, what's summer going to be like? there are crazy wildfires just right over there, like a hop, skip, and a long jump from me...it's pretty scary, actually...i guess california isn't THE place to live anymore, what with all the fires everywhere...
hope everyone is healthy and happy and laughing as much as i am...take care!!
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