Remembering Flow

When I was in film school at UCLA from 1993 - 1995, I made a few shorts on 16mm that I stitched together as a feature called Flow. I was so desperate to make a feature before I turned 25. Flow world-premiered at the Vancouver International Film Festival in 1995. There, I met Tony Raynes and many other filmmakers. It was my initiation into the mainstream film festival circuit.

Flow was a handmade project that I practically did everything: writing, directing, producing, editing and even shooting. It also marked my early collaboration with Justin Lin who shot "Fall 1990," the last main short in Flow. Of course, after Flow, Justin and I made Shopping for Fangs and we brought back actors Lela Lee and Radmar Jao from Flow.

It's been over a decade, and I have just made a deal with Pathfinder Home Entertainment ( http://www.pathfinderpictures.com) to release Flow on DVD. As I spent last weekend preparing the deliverables for the release, including cutting the trailer, many memories came back. I remember once I was so idealistic and fearless as an upstart filmmaker:

Video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5GHgIA2_Id8 For the trailer with a better resolution, see the one on Revver.

As I was cutting the trailer and rewatching the feature, I realized I was so green and made so many mistakes. I wish I could go back and recut it... but then... I also realized that I had to stand by my work. What was done was done. It was part of my growth as a filmmaker... kind of like Jame Joyce's A Portrait of the Young Man as an Artist, a book which deeply influenced me.

Here's a clip from the short "Fall 1990" on the web:

Video: http://youtube.com/watch?v=yX7vqxDzRKI[Watch the clip with the better resolution on Revver.](http://www.revver.com/video/628262/fall-1990-flow/)

"Fall 1990" won a Spotlight Award at UCLA, sort of one of the best five UCLA student films of 1996.