I'm hosting a series of screenings at the recently renovated NEW BEVERLY CINEMA in Hollywood from April 9 thru 22. (I'm not there every night tho.) The first screening each night will start at 7:30 and the second at approximately 9:30 (depending on the running time of the first film). Come down and wallow if you're in the neighborhood. Here's the final rundown:

April 9 + 10 MONDO CANE and ZULU

It's hard to imagine today the impact this tawdry but fascinating Italian "shockumentary" had on the world in 1962, when the bizarre customs of people in other lands seemed both exotic and horrifying to Western eyes. Its smash success spawned a whole genre of mostly phony Mondo movies, each outdoing the other for pure sleaze, which lasted into the 80s and paved the way for something much more upsetting: Reality TV.

Cy Enfield's ZULU is simply one of the great historical epics ever--100 stuff-upper-lip British soldiers battle 4000 Zulu warriors in a beautifully staged reenactment of the 1879 Battle of Roarke's Drift. John Barry should have won (but didn't) an Oscar for his brilliant score. The cast, led by producer Stanley Baker, is terrific, but the great Nigel Green steals the show as the consummate side-whiskered, mustached Victorian Sergeant-Major. With Jack Hawkins, James Booth, Patrick Magee and a very young Michael Caine, whose work here got him THE IPCRESS FILE.

April 11 + 12 HOLLYWOOD BOULEVARD and TRUCK TURNER

We called it "Day For Nothing" when we made it (shot in ten days around footage from 12 other movies on a bet with Roger Corman). One of the last of New World Pictures' popular "three girl" drive-in movies where pretty girls doff their duds and chase around non-permitted LA locations. The late great Candice Rialson plays a version of herself as a naive Indiana girl trying to make it in scuzzy 70s Hollywood. Pulled from 42nd Street after two days, it seems to have survived as a cult movie. It's certainly an accurate record of what it was like to make a New World Picture. Producer Jon Davison, co-director Allan Arkush and co-star Dick Miller are scheduled to appear.

TRUCK TURNER, which came out late in the blaxploitation game, got lost in the Hollywood shuffle but it's as dazzling a piece of action filmmaking as the 70s had to offer. Isaac Hayes is a bounty hunter on the trail of a big-time pimp whose vengeful, bitch-slapping squeeze is played by Star Trek's Nichelle Nichols! Along for the violent ride are Yaphet Kotto, Alan Weeks, Scatman Crothers, Sam Laws and Dick Miller. One of the overlooked gems of the decade from director Jonathan Kaplan (HEART LIKE A WHEEL), who will introduce the film.

April 13, 14, 15 THE SADIST and THE PRIVATE FILES OF J EDGAR HOOVER

Fairway-International was a tiny company specializing in grade-C drive-in movies like WILD GUITAR and EEGAH! But from such unlikely soil springs a chilling surprise! James Landis' intense 1963 drive-in classic is based on the same true crime story as BADLANDS-- the serial killing exploits of Charles Starkweather and his underage girlfriend. Brutally unfolding in Real Time over 94 taut minutes, mad killer Arch Hall Jr. terrorizes our small cast in a junkyard -- maybe the best-photographed junkyard ever, courtesy of the great Vilmos Zsigmond, who will appear in person on the 15th.

THE PRIVATE FILES OF J EDGAR HOOVER - Tabloid genius Larry Cohen brings his guerilla style Sam Fuller-lite approach to this 1977 ripped-from-the-headlines pop-culture AIP comic book about the near fifty-year reign of America's "top cop", who dug up the dirt on famous personalities through six turbulent administrations. It's gutsy and disreputable and Broderick Crawford 's finest hour. Eat your heart out, Oliver Stone!
Larry Cohen will be on hand to introduce.

April 16 + 17 THE SECRET INVASION and TOMB OF LIGEIA

This scenic WWII epic, shot in Yugoslavia in 1964, is one of Roger Corman's least-seen yet most accomplished films, with essentially the same plot as THE DIRTY DOZEN -- which wasn't made until three years later! Stewart Granger, Mickey Rooney, Edd Byrnes, Henry Silva and Raf Vallone are felons recruited for a mission to rescue an Italian general from behind enemy lines. Roger used this story idea in his first movie, FIVE GUNS WEST. I haven't seen this since it came out!

TOMB OF LIGEIA was the last of Corman's popular series of Edgar Allan Poe adaptations, but unlike the others it has many beautiful English countryside exteriors and mostly departs from the stylized stage-bound unreality of its forebears. Robert Towne (CHINATOWN) wrote the script in a more romantic vein, thinking Richard Chamberlain would play the lead--but AIP intervened and sure enough, Vincent Price took over.
Roger Corman will elucidate further in person, schedule permitting.

April 18 + 19 WRONG IS RIGHT and Mystery Movie

When Richard Brooks' star-studded adaptation of Charles McCarry's spy novel The Better Angels came out in 1982 it was roundly dismissed as a confused jumble. From the hindsight of 2008, it looks like the STRANGELOVE of its era. So many aspects of this film have come true, it's up there with NETWORK as a predictor of the future, our sorry present. Sean Connery stars as a globe-trotting tv reporter who's tracking a terrorist dealing nuclear weapons in the mideast. Along the way we meet a President who goes to war to boost his ratings, a (Condi-like) Vice President, CIA and FBI figures who are so broadly caricatured they seemed divorced from reality in 1982-- but who closely resemble figures we now see on the news every day! Suffice it to say the climax involves the World Trade Center. One of the all-star ensemble will join us--John Saxon!

Plus another movie in the same vein TBA with guest

April 20 + 21 BLOOD ON SATAN'S CLAW and HORROR EXPRESS

Piers Haggard's atmospheric and beautifully photographed (Dick Bush) entry in the burn-the-witches genre benefits from a prolonged sense of dread, literate dialog and an unusually convincing period flavor -- sort of a Masterpiece Theater horror film. When hairy patches of "satan's skin" start cropping up on the bodies of nubile 17th century teenagers, local judge Patrick Wymark gets to the bottom of things, starting with voluptuous teen temptress Linda Hayden's. Less well known than the same studio's earlier WITCHFINDER GENERAL, but equally effective, with more emphasis on the supernatural. Great score by Marc Wilkinson.

I love train movies. HORROR EXPRESS was made because the producers had access to the train models from NICHOLAS AND ALEXANDRA. One of my very favorite vehicles (get it?) for Christopher Lee and Peter Cushing, this Spanish-made extravaganza (also known as Panic on the Trans-Siberian Express) has it all -- good characters, lots of wry humor, a mad monk, a mysterious countess, a prehistoric fossilized monster alien, eyeballs in a jar, Telly Savalas as a bellicose Cossack (it's 1906) and a surprisingly complex science fiction plot. And I left out the zombies! Seriously, this one of my top favorites of all time.

April 22 THE MOVIE ORGY

This the first, one nite only public showing in many years of my first project. In 1968 when "camp" was king, Jon Davison and I put together a counterculture compendium of 16mm bits and pieces (tv show openings, commercials, parts of features, old serials etc.), physically spliced them in ironic juxtapositions and ran the result at the Philadelphia College of Art interspersed with parts of a Bela Lugosi serial. The reaction was phenomenal. This led to The Movie Orgy, a 7-hour marathon of old movie clips and stuff with a crowd-pleasing anti-war, anti-military, anti-establishment slant that played the Fillmore East and on college campuses all over the country for years -- always the one print, viewed through a haze of beer and controlled substances. We called it a 2001-splice odyssey. We kept adding and subtracting material over time so this, alas, is not the original version-- it's the later cutdown, running a mere 4 hours and 19 minutes! But it's still a pop time capsule that will bring many a nostalgic chuckle from baby boomers and dazed expressions of WTF?! from anyone else.

The MOVIE ORGY is being presented free or charge, so buy plenty of concession stand items at that screening!

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GP: How did working in comics allow you to tell the story differently than working in film?

AMF: 2D is VERY DIFFERENT from 3D... from time-based media. I had to completely rethink the film. I didn't have the sound and music element, and my voice-over, which is such a large part of the film and gives it so much of its colour.

I tried to shift the layout on every pages, so you can explore the information differently, and change it up... I guess it was my way of visually pacing... I added other elements (like Stickgirl, my avatar, the narrator) and I also got to go on more tangential lines which I had to cut down or out in the film. I play with lists and timelines, which is very much how I began to structure my search in the first place.

SECRET IDENTITY: ASIAN AMERICANS IN COMICS
Saturday, July 21, 2:30 pm
The Asia Society
725 Park Avenue (at 70th Street), New York, NY 10021
Tel: (212) 288-6400
Box Office 212-517-ASIA

Asian American comic book creators share their work while discussing Asian representation in comics, the creative process of making comics, and the links between comics and film. Panel includes legendary writer Larry Hama (Wolverine, G.I. Joe), indie sensation Christine Norrie (Hopeless Savages, Breaking Up), comics-editor-turned-film-editor Jennifer Lee, DC Comics editor Pornsak Pichetshote (Vertigo), filmmaker-turned-comics-writer Greg Pak (Incredible Hulk, World War Hulk), and Jeff Yang, editor of the new Asian American comics anthology, "Secret Identities."

JENNIFER LEE is a film editor who spent much of the last decade working in comics, where she collaborated with some of the top talent in the industry. At Marvel Entertainment, she edited a blockbuster run on WOLVERINE, several celebrated story lines in DAREDEVIL, and a sleek noir thriller called BLACK WIDOW. She also edited Marvel's first three illustrated prose novels. At DC Comics' acclaimed Vertigo imprint for mature readers, she worked on properties such as THE SANDMAN, STARDUST, JOHN CONSTANTINE: HELLBLAZER, and 100 BULLETS. Jenny hung up her cape and tights in 2005 to apply her editorial skills to film and television post production. She was the Associate Online Editor for David Kaplan's rotoscope-animated film YEAR OF THE FISH, which premiered at the 2007 Sundance Film Festival and is showing as part of this year's New York Asian American International Film Festival. She was also the Associate Editor for the forthcoming NEAL CASSADY, directed by Noah Buschel and starring Tate Donovan. This summer she will be cutting TRUE ADOLESCENTS, directed by Craig Johnson and produced by Tom Woodrow at Furnace Films.

CHRISTINE NORRIE has worked extensively as an artist and comic illustrator since 2000 with no formal art training. Her most noted works include her original graphic novel Cheat, the Oni Press series Hopeless Savages, and the newly released graphic novel Breaking Up published in 2007 by Scholastic/Graphix. Dubbed "a natural storyteller" by Publisher's Weekly, Norrie has earned two Eisner nominations, A Russ Manning Promising Newcomer Nomination, and a 9th Panel and New York City Comic Book Museum Award.

GREG PAK is a filmmaker turned comic book writer whose comics work includes the Planet Hulk and World War Hulk epics for Marvel and Battlestar Galactica for Dynamite. Pak created Amadeus Cho, aka Mastermind Excello, for Amazing Fantasy (v2 #15)—the character won a Marvel.com fan favorite contest and is now playing a major role in Pak's Incredible Hulk run. In the film world, Pak is best known for his feature film ROBOT STORIES, which won 35 film festival awards, and is now available on DVD from Kino. Pak's award-winning short films include FIGHTING GRANDPA, MOUSE, PO MO KNOCK KNOCK, ALL AMATEUR ECSTASY, and the infamous ASIAN PRIDE PORN. For the full scoop on his comics and films, visit www.pakbuzz.com.

PORNSAK PICHETSHOTE is an associate editor at Vertigo Comics, DC Comics' mature readers imprint. In that capacity, he's worked with such esteemed creators as Darren Aronofsky, Grant Morrison, Peter Milligan, Rick Veitch, and Dave Gibbons, amongst many others. He's also the editor on such books as The Losers, Swamp Thing, and Crossing Midnight. Before getting into comics, he worked as a short story writer and has directed two short films, both of which have gone on to receive awards on the festival circuit. His original feature screenplay, Widescreen, USA, beat out over 7,000 others to make it to Project: Greenlight's Top 250.

JEFF YANG is an author and cultural critic whose writings appear in such venues as Slate, The Washington Post, and The San Francisco Chronicle, for whose website, SFGate.com, he writes the award-winning biweekly column, "Asian Pop." He is also a regular correspondent for New York's NPR station, WNYC. His books include the Asian pop culture encyclopedia "Eastern Standard Time"; "Once Upon a Time in China," a history of Chinese cinema; and the New York Times bestselling "I Am Jackie Chan," the international action icon's autobiography. A longtime comics fan (and collector), he and partners Parry Shen, Keith Chow, and Jerry Ma are currently working on "Secret Identities," the first-ever Asian American superhero comics anthology, to be published by The New Press in 2008.

For more information about the festival, visit http://www.aaiff.org.

if enough people find out about the show, and enough people watch it on Tuesday -- we might post the kind of Nielson ratings that could earn us a seat on that bus for 2007, and earn the next band of insurgent TV pilot trouble-makers a spot on the bus with us.

Additionally, please watch the YouTube clips -- presumably, the more they're viewed, the better in terms of getting the show picked up for a full season:

High School Clip (with Karin Anna Cheung, Di Quon, Autumn Reeser, Amanda Fuller)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4Qk57L6LBPY

Family Clip (with Tamlyn Tomita, Dennis Dunn, Di Quon, Phil Young, and Karin Anna Cheung)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jftiJIqIOL8

"My Life Disoriented" may become the first Asian American television series since Magaret Cho's "All American Girl" over ten years ago. We need the APA community to make their voice heard, and get the kind of ratings that would earn us a full season of episodes either on PBS, or MTV or ABC Family all of whom have expressed interest.

"My Life Disoriented" has been gaining momentum in the last few days before the premiere, with MySpace and YouTube hits exploding (see below), and The Boston Globe, Washington Post, O.C. Register, and L.A. Times all doing stories. But if I could have picked one city we really need to reach it would have been yours.

Greg Pak: What’s the film about and who should go see it?

Georgia Lee: RED DOORS is a dark comedy about the Wongs, a quirky dysfunctional family in New York. As the three daughters each grow up and grow apart from their parents, the family struggles to stay connected with each other. The patriarch, Ed Wong (Tzi Ma), has just retired and plots to escape his mundane life. However, the tumultuous, madcap lives of his three rebellious daughters change his plans.

I hope that EVERYONE will go and see it! But seriously, I do think that audiences of any age, gender, race, socio-economic background, and sexual orientation will relate to the film since it is primarily a film about family and the growing pains that we all experience with our siblings, parents, and children. As the film is about a Chinese-American family and a subplot revolves around a lesbian daughter, we have also found that RED DOORS seems to resonate especially well with the Asian American and LGBT communities as well.

GL: Tzi Ma (the star of the film), John Fiorelli (producer), and I are up in San Francisco this weekend. Tzi and John will be hosting Q&As after all screenings this weekend. I will be joining them through Saturday afternoon and will then be heading down to LA. Jacqueline Kim, Elaine Kao, Freda Foh Shen, and Mia Riverton will be hosting Q&As at most of the screenings in the LA area during the weekend as well. I will be joining them starting Saturday evening in LA for Q&As all through Sunday.

As for parties, the RED DOORS San Francisco after party, co-hosted by The Center for Asian American Media, Frameline, and APICWTC, will be held at Thai Stick (2001 Fillmore Street at Pine) on Friday, September 22 at 9pm. A RED DOORS ticket stub required for admittance.

The Los Angeles after party for RED DOORS, co-hosted by House of Glam, will be held at Garden of Eden (7080 Hollywood Blvd) on Saturday, September 23 at 9:30pm. A RED DOORS ticket stub required for admittance.

Looking forward to seeing everyone at the theaters and parties!!

GP: Congrats on the incredible success of the opening weekend in New York! What contributed to that incredible per-screen average? And what kind of doors has that opened in terms of future theatrical dates in other cities?

GL: Thanks very much!! I was really blown away by our opening numbers in New York. We had a miniscule marketing budget (just enough to buy the tiniest ad in the New York Times) and only our own manpower (womanpower?) to spread the word. So we turned to the web. We started with our own rag-tag website: www.reddoorsthemovie.com where we keep a blog, have downloadable music, photos, podcasts, etc. And then we created a myspace site: www.myspace.com/reddoors.

After creating our two main sites, we then emailed all our friends and families telling them about the film and asking them to please tell their friends and so on and so forth. It was really a case of on-line word-of-mouth.

I think that the web really has the power to inject some life into the indie film scene. Prior to the internet, it was very costly to get the word out to audiences. Now, you can reach people by a click of the mouse.

Also, we wanted to share the wonderful and painful process of making an indie film and then getting it distributed in theaters. There were so many hard-won lessons that we struggled through in making 'Red Doors' that we thought it would be great to save any other aspiring filmmakers from the same pain! So our blogs and our podcasts cover many of the nitty gritty details of pre-production, production, post-production, festival strategy, and distribution process.

We hope that our opening box office performance will help us expand throughout the US. After NY, we have been getting a lot of inquiries from theaters around the country, so hopefully we'll be able to announce more cities soon!

GP: What’s the most exciting, moving, strange, or otherwise memorable encounter or reaction you’ve gotten from an audience member since you’ve been on the road with the film?

GL: At the beginning, we were just so thrilled that folks other than our immediate family actually watched and enjoyed the film! 'Red Doors' is an intensely personal film about my family and close friends. The characters are all based on people I know very well, so I didn't necessarily expect many other people to directly relate to the film.

As we have taken the film around the festival circuit, I have been overwhelmed by how may Asian Americans have come up to me afterwards and said that it reminded them of their own family. It has been so great to know that the film resonates with so many folks, but I was frankly surprised since I always thought that I grew up in a very bizarre and rather unique family. Apparently, my family has not cornered the market on dysfunction!

The most surprising audience response has been that the characters and their relationships seem to have transcended traditional lines of race, class, age, and sexual orientation. One of the most rewarding moments for me was when an elderly Long Island Jewish gentleman came up to me after a screening and said 'I am Ed Wong.' He thanked me for portraying an aging man coping with retirement, loss of purpose, distance from his children, and an existential angst.

GP: A few months ago, we heard that “Red Doors” had been optioned for a television show. Can you tell us about the status of that project?

GL: Last year, CBS bought a pilot script based on RED DOORS. We developed and wrote a pilot script with Paramount TV and CBS. It was a really great learning experience. They didn't end up shooting the pilot last year but still have another year option on the project. So we hope that when they see the interest from the theatrical release, they may consider the TV show again.

Asian American Film: Tell us about "Purity" and who should come see it.

NaRhee Ahn: PURITY is about nineteen year old Grace Kim (Susane E. Lee) who is the gold standard in her small town Korean church, the pride of her Reverend father, and hasn't left the house in months. Grace is mourning the death of her mother and is paralyzed by depression, nightmares and an obsessive need for distraction. Her father, her best friend and her youth minister counselor have been unable to pull her out of the hole she has fallen into and the only one who may be able to help her is the only one no one wants near her: her ex-boyfriend. Matt Kim (Derek Mio) is a survivor of an abusive father, but his decisions and mistakes have not lent themselves to a bright future. Grace and Matt are going through a lot of what life can throw at you. Learning to trust each other again may be the hardest thing either of them will ever have to do.

The most interesting reaction from the Korean American community was during our Chicago screening. We had a lot of first generation Koreans in the audience who were friends of my aunts and uncles. Although I was nervous about their reaction to the content of the film, that actually wasn't a problem at all. They understood the need to see both the positive and negative sides of Korean American Christians and why I took the "dirty laundry" out to dry. In fact, I was asked by one mother how to talk to her daughter about interracial dating! (and it's not even covered in the story) So I think PURITY is one of those rare movies that first and second generation families can go see together and use as a springboard to discuss issues in their own relationships. It's why I made the film and I hope it's given the opportunity for a wider access to audiences.

AAF: You shot "Purity" on a nickel and a prayer in your home town -- tell us a bit about that experience?

NA: PURITY was shot on location in Newark, Delaware. I was given a lot of support by the Korean American community in Delaware, who are all friends of my parents. The house is the house I grew up in, the church is my parent's church and the Korean grocery store is the actual community grocery store! The beautiful outdoor scenery is Ashland Nature Conservatory, a protected sanctuary that I was the first filmmaker ever to be allowed to shoot in. Needless to say, without the locations and the wonderful people of Delaware the film wouldn't have been nearly as authentic and rich as it was.

Just believing in myself enough that I could make a feature film was actually the biggest challenge. I suppose that I was my own worst critic and I never thought I was good enough to put myself and my work out there. But after 9/11, something changed. I realized that life is short and if I don't do what I've been dreaming of doing, I may not be given the chance to do it at all. So I took the leap and quit my job and risked everything I had to make PURITY a reality.

AAF: The film has won an award for its score. Can you tell us about the music in the film and what makes it special?

NA:We were very grateful to win The Gold Medal for Excellence at The Park City Film Music Festival especially since PURITY features an all Asian American soundtrack featuring Kevin So, Alfa, Big Phony, Deborah S. Craig, Florence Yoo, The Ides, Ken Oak, Shaheen, Taiyo, Vudoo Soul and composer George Shaw. This is unfortunately very rare - to have everyone from the composer to needle drop be music from Asian Americans. I've been told from several non-Asians that they couldn't believe the soundtrack was all Asian American because "it was too good!" Which was meant to be well meaning…but ouch! What does that say about the perceptions of APAs in music? It's just as hard to get a song on national radio as it is to get a film in the Cineplex. This is a struggle that I felt a responsibility to highlight and I'm glad that finally things are moving in the right direction.

AAF: On your website, you mention that the film is part of a planned trilogy. Can you give us any hint of where the story goes next?

NA: Since so many Koreans are named Kim, Lee or Park I thought that would be an ideal iconic title for my stories about three different Korean American families that are somehow linked by the themes of PURITY, LIBERTY and UNITY. I've shuffled around the stories and now LIBERTY is the second installment. It's about a seemingly normal KA family in Los Angeles' Koreatown who discover they have a bastard daughter when she shows up to live with them. It's an investigation into how buried secrets breed hatred and the desire for revenge and what it takes to be liberated from a life where you've never had love. UNITY takes place in New York City and Seoul and is about a whitewashed KA reporter who goes to cover reunification and finds herself irresistibly drawn to a militant Korean filmmaker.

AAF: Where does the "Purity" screen next? And what are your plans/hopes for distribution?

NA: Tomorrow night! Friday, August 4, 7:00 pm at The Wang Theater at SUNY Stonybrook, Long Island NY. http://www.stonybrook.edu/sb/wang/aaiffschedule.shtml

Ahh, distribution. Well it's been difficult to say the least. The movie is still on some distributor's desks, but seeing that it's a soft drama, got no movie stars or sensational marketing hooks I've been told to look at alternate ways of getting the story to audiences. If you want to find out what's next, please sign up to be our friend on www.myspace.com/puritymovie

The problem is that the majority of APAs don't go out of their way to support their own artists. I'd say half of us buy, vote and think the same as the white demographic. It's not like that in the black and Latino communities and that's where I think we stand to learn the most.

AAF: And what's next for NaRhee Ahn, the filmmaker?

NA: I'm shooting my first music video! Kiyoshi Graves, a Los Angeles based musician is releasing his first full-length album on jd8 Records and I'm telling you he is a bona fide rock star to be. The video is for CHASE, the name of the album as well as the title track. It's going to be hella fun, a mini action film with an all-Hapa cast. (Kiyoshi is half-Japanese, quarter French quarter German) Check him out at www.kiyoshigraves.com or www.jd8records.com and wish us luck!

This interview has been cross-posted at AsianAmericanFilm.com

Sign up for the Pakbuzz Newsletter now and you’ll have a chance to win a “Robot Stories” DVD or a “Robot Stories” screenplay book. Six names will be chosen at random from the list at the end of July -- three copies of the DVD and three copies of the book will be given away. All prizes will be signed by writer and director Greg Pak. (Please note that the prizes can only be mailed to US addresses.) Visit the sign up page now and enter your email address to subscribe. Good luck!

Greg Pak: Congrats on all the recent success! Tell us a little about what you're doing to prepare for "The Motel" opening this coming Wednesday in New York. What can people do to help?

Karin Chien: Bring as many people as possible to see the film when it opens on June 28 at the Film Forum, and then tell everyone you know how much you love THE MOTEL!!

But, seriously, we are working with Palm Pictures on the marketing campaign, and are also doing a grassroots campaign, which involves spreading the word, via events, posters, parties, merchandise and the internet, throughout the indie film and Asian American communities. If you're part of an organization or school or a very large family, you can invite us to speak to your group, or screen a trailer, or put up posters, or write us up in your blog. Every little bit of extra exposure helps.

KC I think the experience of making "The Motel" was extra special for me. Many of my closest friends and collaborators today came from that set. We had such a good time making this film that everything else that followed -- the awards, the Sundance Film Festival premiere, the acquisition by Palm Pictures -- has been icing on the cake.

GP: I hear there's good news regarding "Undoing," the Chris Chan Lee feature film you produced.

KC: We are very excited to be premiering "Undoing," the second feature film by Chris Chan Lee ("Yellow") at the Los Angeles Film Festival on June 24. Please come out and see the film if you are in LA. We have three screenings scheduled -- June 24, 27, and 30. I guarantee this will be unlike any Asian American film you've seen before -- "Undoing" is a stylish, character-driven neo-noir set on the mean streets of Los Angeles' Koreatown and starring Sung Kang ("The Fast and the Furious 3," "Better Luck Tomorrow") and Kelly Hu ("X-Men 2," "Scorpion King").

GP: So you were a producer on "Robot Stories," directed by yours truly; "The Motel," directed by Michael Kang; and now "Undoing," directed by Chris Chan Lee. How did you end up working with three different Korean American feature filmmakers in a row?

KC: I'm still wondering that myself! Little did I know that once I started working with you, I would soon be introduced to every Asian American filmmaker in the country! "Robot Stories" led me to Michael Kang and to Chris Chan Lee. I think in all three instances, I was won over by the originality of the scripts and the visions of the filmmakers. It just happened that all three directors are Korean American men.

Karin Chien (second from left) on the set of "The Motel"

KC: This is a good question and a hard one to answer in one paragraph. I sometimes wonder what certain producers do too! I'm a very hands-on producer. Which means when I get involved, I get completely involved. So whatever the project needs, I do -- if it's raising money, or making script copies, or roping in a high profile actor, or making sure the crew is happy, or helping to distribute the film (as in the case of "Robot Stories"). It's a big job, which is why it almost always takes more than one producer to make a movie. Bottom line: a producer is someone who is ultimately responsible for the film and the process that went into making the film.

GP: What's the one big thing you wish you could hammer into the head of every film director you've worked with?

KC: Each director is so different, but here is something that I''ve made my mantra, and something that every director should remind themselves of constantly:

Appreciate the people you work with. Work with people you trust and who you know will elevate your own work. Choose your collaborators wisely.

GP:What do you look for in a project? What makes you say "yes" to coming on board?

KC: The script. And the people. I have to feel compelled to want both in my life forever.

GP: What's the biggest challenge you've encountered in producing independent Asian American feature films?

KC: Having to prove there is an audience for them. The only way to finance and sell a movie, and thus get the money to make the movie, is to convince someone that somewhere there is an audience for it. It's an uphill battle for any independent film.

GP: What kinds of challenges do you want to tackle next as a producer?

KC: Producing any film is an ongoing challenge in and of itself! But seriously, I would love to produce films by and about women. Working with foreign-language filmmakers is also a goal of mine - I love Asian, European, Middle Eastern aesthetics of film. I'm looking for permanent producing partners to work and grow with. A more long-term plan is to build a retreat for filmmakers, writers, women, people of color, and all of the above. And of course, keep producing Asian American films.

GP: How did you get involved in filmmaking? What's your background, training, etcetera?

KC: I had started working at a mortgage finance firm and on my second day, had a small epiphany that I wanted to be a film producer. It was a natural place into which my political ideals, love for story, and more practical-minded self could converge. I have no formal training or education in film. I studied English literature and worked in mortage finance for 2 years. And those things gave me a strong foundation in story and in business. Once I earned enough money to stop being broke, I quit my finance job, got a job as an intern on a film production, and worked my way up into producing.

GP: Any advice for someone interested in becoming a producer?

KC: Work with the right people and choose good projects. You'll need a strong base of knowledge in story, business development, and people management skills. It's almost impossible to be a producer if you cannot travel or work your ass off for long periods of time, so the more supportive your friends and family, the better. And mistakes will happen everyday - just make sure to always learn from them.

This interview has been cross-posted at Pakbuzz.com and AsianAmericanFilm.com.

"The Motel" poster

Michael Kang: "The Motel" is about a kid who is growing up in a seedy hourly rate motel owned by his family. It's basically a story about the worst possible place to go through puberty. I think it will act as a healing force for anyone that had a terrible time going through those formative years (which is most likely all of us). It's a dark comedy in the vein of "Welcome to the Dollhouse." It also stars Sung Kang so I think teenage girls will really like it.

GP: Any special events around the opening that people should know about?

MK: In addition to our big premiere party being hosted by ImaginAsian, we are in the planning stages of working with groups like MK on throwing after parties every night. Basically, we think that after people see the movie, they will want to get drunk. The best way to find out about the venues and locations for these are if people sign up on our MySpace account at http://www.myspace.com/themotelfilm. There is also a podcast series of phone conversations I am having with key members of the film being hosted on the Film Forum website. We have a lot of fun stuff planned for the two weeks. Really, the best way to keep up is to sign up on MySpace or on our email list at The Motel website at http://www.themotel-film.com.

MK: It is definitely a challenge with a small indie like ours to get the word out. We have a respectable-sized distributor Palm Pictures, but they are not the machine of a studio. The biggest key is getting people to talk about the film and let their friends know that it isn't one of those boring artsy-fartsy indie films. They don't need to fear being alienated by hyper-intellectual themes; it's about puberty and how much puberty sucks. Also despite it's setting in a sleazy motel inhabited by hookers and johns, the film is actually very sweet and funny.

If people want to get involved, they should write us at pubertysucks@gmail.com

Otherwise, they can check out these sites:

http://www.themotel-film.com
http://www.myspace.com/themotelfilm
http://www.pubertysucks.com

Jeffrey Chyau as Ernest Chin in "The Motel." Photo courtesy of Tom LeGoff.

MK: The key in working with kids is working with the parents. I never hid anything from the parents. Together we would discuss how to approach the subject matter. It was slightly different with each actor. Some of the older kids knew more stuff than I did. Alexis Chang who played Katie (8-years-old) knew nothing and most of the time we didn't explain things she didn't need to know. But with Jeffrey who plays Ernest (12-years-old at the time), he was right at that age where all your friends are giving you lots of misinformation about sex. With him, his mother was glad that I was there to act as a mentor (his father works overseas, so if it wasn't me, she was going to have to tell him stuff). Needless to say, his mother was relieved that I was there to explain masturbation, sex, girls, etc. My answer to Jeffrey's mom was that I was fine with those uncomfortable conversations but that I would never lie to him. If he asked anything, I would tell him the truth no matter how horrifying it is to a 12-year-old mind. I had to build up the trust in our relationship from the get-go and I had to maintain that.

GP: You’re an actor yourself — was there ever a point when you were tempted to cast yourself in a role in “The Motel”?  Whom would you have played?

MK: I learned my lesson with my first short "A Waiter Tomorrow." I vowed I would never act in anything I directed again. I had to that first time because I got to play with guns, but it was way to difficult to focus on both jobs ultimately. I was never tempted to cast myself in "The Motel" for that reason. The story was way more important to me than my own hammy acting needs. Though as an actor, if I heard of another director making "The Motel," I would have killed to play the part of Sam Kim. I'd have to lose about 30 pounds and grow about five inches for the part, but I think it is a really unique character for an Asian American actor to play. That became obvious when it did come time to cast the film too. I had a really strong reaction from actors on both coasts trying to get the part. I think for most Asian American actors, it's rare to get to play a part that isn't "exposition guy" or "gangster #2." The role of Sam Kim was a complex character with many layers. Basically, a three dimensional character. And so much of the role relies on the actor doing a lot of internal work. Because the film is from the perspective of a thirteen-year-old boy, I wanted to shoot the film true to how we perceive the world at that age. A lot of the story had to be told through the eyes and not be overstated because at that age, nothing is ever explained to you.

GP: It’s a big transition to go from working on short films to making a feature.  What was the biggest challenge for you?  The biggest surprise?

MK: The mechanics of shooting a feature are the same. I was glad to have had the training doing shorts to know what the difference between a gaffer and a grip is, but in terms of storytelling, features are completely different beasts. I had never spent more than two-weeks editing any of my shorts. But with The Motel, we really took our time trying to get it right. It was a long editing process for features, but I knew that I only had one chance to do it right. We spent over a year working on it. By the end, I could confidently stand behind every edit and every choice made in the film. With shorts, you can get away with some broad strokes and even some bad choices because the film is over quickly and usually, you're just trying to tell one good joke. The thing I learned from my mentor/producer Miguel Arteta was that if you leave one false moment in the cut, then you will lose the audience completely.

GP: What’s the most memorable experience you’ve had while taking “The Motel” to film festivals?

MK: We've been really fortunate with our festival run. In addition to the
awards, the film has been programmed as opening, closing or centerpiece slots in most. It's been great seeing a lot of the people that have been supportive of me as I was coming up as a short filmmaker. Each one has been uniquely fun and exciting. I would have to say that one of the highlights though was bringing the film to The Pusan International Film Festival. It was like returning to the motherland. And the audiences there are amazing. They are generally younger and seriously hardcore about films. They sleep on the floors at all night saunas just to afford a week of attending the festival and they treat the directors like rock stars. They really love film. And I have to say, they had the most interesting questions at the Q&A's. In America, Q&A's tend to devolve into people asking how much your film cost, what you shot it on and how you raised your financing -- all of which really translates as "how can I get my film made?" In Korea, they were asking really probing questions about characters and themes.

GP: “The Motel” keeps winning awards — what do you think makes the film resonate so strongly with audiences and judges?

MK: I think everyone can identify with the underdog. Ernest Chin is the ultimate underdog. I think also there are no clear cut good and bad guys in the film. I think it reflects life in a refreshing way that you don't normally see on film. When I was at NYU for Dramatic Writing, we would get pounded with this idea of archetypes. In real life, we are all good and bad. I think my desire to show all the characters as fully realized people with faults and virtues is what audiences connect with.

GP: What do you wish you knew back when you were starting work on “The Motel” that you know now?

MK: I don't think there is anything I could have known that I learned while making "The Motel" without having gone through the process. When we finished the film, I felt like Neo in "The Matrix." All of a sudden, I could see all the binary code that the world was made of.

Michael Kang at the front office of "The Motel." Photo courtesy of Tom LeGoff.

MK: I don't know if I am so unabashed about it. I write about things I don't usually get to see and that I'd like to see. Often that incorporates Asian Americans. But it's not solely that as inspiration. I think if it were that limited and didactic, it would fail. Ultimately, I want to tell interesting, entertaining stories. The only way I can gauge that is by how interested and entertained I am by the material. I don' t think "The Motel" relies on race identity politics to be valid as a film. I hate making statements like this, but the story is universal. It's about puberty. Who hasn't gone through puberty?

Often, I feel like there are two major mistakes made by Asian American filmmakers. The first is that they let the politics of their story get in the way of actually telling a story. You could be saying the most important thing, but if you don't say it well, nobody is going to be listening. The other mistake (which is not relegated solely to Asian American filmmakers) is that people often rush to make their films before they are ready or finish too quickly. There is a first-time filmmaker panic to get their film made, but I think that actually hurts them in the end.

GP: You’ve just spent a year in Los Angeles with the ABC / DGA New Talent Directing Program.  Can you tell us a bit about the program and what you’ve learned from doing it?

MK: Basically, I get paid to learn. I bounce around from TV show to TV show observing other directors work. I never have to pick up cable or anything. I get my own headset and usually a chair by the monitors. And most importantly, access to some really great TV directors. I have been on the set of "Lost" where I got to meet Yunjin Kim whose career I've followed since "Shiri." I also got to make a cameo on the Disney Channel show "Hanna Montana" as Billy Ray Cyrus's hip young sound engineer. I was inspired to apply for the program because my mentor Miguel Arteta has made a livelihood over the past few years by directing TV in between his feature films. It takes so long in between feature films to get projects going that working in TV seemed like a perfect opportunity. I can continue to work on my craft and be on set by doing TV and at the same time work on getting my feature films going.

GP: Word on the street is that you’re in pre-production now for your next film. Can you tell us anything about what it’s about and when you’re planning to shoot?

MK: I don't want to jinx it right now. But yes, those ears you have on the pavement have heard rumblings. I have been working with Teddy Zee who produced "Saving Face" and "Hitch" on my next script which is about Flushing Korean gangsters. It's a bit of a departure from "The Motel" stylistically, but I think at the heart of it is a compelling drama about characters we don't normally get to see. And that is always interesting to me.

GP: What advice do you have for filmmakers planning their own first feature films?  

MK: I think I covered this already, but I think it is worth saying again. Make sure your script is ready. I am so bad at citing quotes, but I think it was Orson Welles (or maybe my friend Woody) that said something to the effect of, "You can make a mediocre film from a great script but you can't make a great film from a mediocre script."

GP: Any advice for folks as they head into the film festival/distribution stage of their journey?

MK: Don't compare your experience to anyone else's. Try to surround yourself with good people. It's hard in this industry but not impossible.

GP: Where’s your favorite real-life motel and what makes it so awesome?

MK: It's so hard to choose just one, but I would have to say that I was most impressed by the motels in Pusan, Korea. They have great flat screen TVs with a wide assortment of quality adult entertainment as well these back driveways that have plush velvet curtains to hide your license plate as you pull in.

This interview has been crossposted at AsianAmericanFilm.com and PakBuzz.com.

The Fox Entertainment Group (hereinafter "Fox") announces a new chapter in its campaign to identify and support promising writers from diverse backgrounds. Since 2001, Fox has accepted submission of TV "spec" scripts towards the selection of aspiring writers for a six-week program at Writer's Boot Camp ("WBC") in Los Angeles. As a part of the Boot Camp experience the selected writers have written an additional "spec" script under the supervision of WBC instructors and Fox Diversity executives.

In the 2006 edition of Fox' writers outreach we do not wish to receive "spec" material based on series already on the air. In this new phase of our program, we are soliciting submission of original television pilot scripts.

This shift in focus represents our view that the television industry has at its disposal a large and growing population of diverse writers capable of assuming positions on series writing staffs. We will continue to seek and identify quality episodic writers through other outreach efforts and contact with talent representatives. But, in this new phase we hope to encourage more original thinking, and written product, by diverse writers and/or about diverse themes and characters.

Writers selected for this program will be enrolled in a concentrated course at Writer's Boot Camp where the writer will receive up to six months of instruction and personal guidance from instructors and Fox Diversity executives. During that time our hope will be to guide the writer through drafts of their original pilot towards the goal of a top-quality script that can be submitted to broadcast and cable networks for pilot consideration.

We encourage all diverse writers with a story to tell, or writers of any color with a diverse series lead character in mind, to submit their scripts per the guidelines described below.

This entry crossposted at AsianAmericanFilm.com.

Enter to win a flat screen plasma TV, ipod or a digital camera! And all you gotta do is send us your 15 second video.

V-Clip National Competition
Registration Deadline EXTENDED: June 23

Asian CineVision and Verizon announce the first ever V-Clip National Competition for the annual Asian American International Film Festival (AAIFF). Filmmakers submit their 15-second video clip that highlights the Asian American film experience while creatively incorporating the Verizon logo, a sponsor of the 29th AAIFF. Submissions can be created in any format and can be live action, animation or motion graphics.

10 finalists will have their V-Clips screened at select programs during the festival.
Grand winner and two runner ups will be announced on AAIFF Closing Night.
Prizes for grand winner and runner ups may include flat screen plasma TV; digital camera or an iPod.

Visit http://www.asiancinevision.org/festival.html for complete entry rules and forms.

Greg Pak: Tell us a bit about the film and who should go see it.

Steven E. Mallorca: "Slow Jam King" is an offbeat road comedy about JoJo Enriquez, a Filipino-American wannabe gangsta-pimp who, in his attempts to answer his call to the streets, carjacks Vance, a traveling perfume salesman with an affinity to country music. Stuck along for the ride is JoJo's friend, Devaun, an ex-funkateer and reluctant family man, who tries to talk sense into JoJo and diffuse the situation. The motley trio embark on an escapist roadtrip to Nashville, where they discover truth, love, and the dirty underbelly of the Nashville country music scene. Anyone that's looking for a good time, enjoys genre-bending films, and likes their humor on the irreverent side with a healthy dose of multi-cultural absurdity should come out to check out "Slow Jam King." I sort of equate this film to early '90s Native Tongues hip hop - it's fun and a little absurd, but with a conscious voice to it - like if De La Soul, or Tribe Called Quest were a hip hop movie.... or better yet Prince Paul. So if you're a fan of that kind of hip hop, you'll definitely get into "Slow Jam King." Also, I think that anyone who's a do-it-yourself filmmaker or musician can enjoy the film, too.

SM: Luckily, we've had a nice festival run, with over 15 screenings, and along the way, have made some great fans and spokespeople for the film, which is ideally what you want out of film festivals. Eventually, I met Vince Nebrida with Unico Pictures at the Asian American Int'l Film Festival in New York, and we got to talking, and he asked for a screener of SJK. He really enjoyed the film, and decided to take a chance on us and help our film. Now we're in the midst of our New York run, and after this, we're going to start screening city-by-city, with a very grassroots approach to the marketing that will involve leveraging promotional efforts with a few musical endeavors that I'm involved with - my band, P.I.C, and my record label, Riding Mower Records.

GP: You not only wrote, directed, produced, edited, and co-shot your movie, you also wrote several of the songs. What’s your musical background? Anything autobiographical about the movie?

SM: I grew up heavily involved with music - starting with the obligatory Filipino experience of piano lessons and competitions. I sang in the choir when I was little, and was part of a boy's choir that sang with the Chicago Symphony Orchestra. I think the craziest experience was when I was cast as Tom Sawyer in our grade school musical, Tom Sawyer. I didn't think about it back then, but I laugh at it now that here was this Filipino kid playing all-American boy, Tom Sawyer! From there, I started taking up trumpet in the school band, and that led to playing in a jazz band in high school, where I started to pick up other instruments like guitar and drums.

There are a lot of autobiographical elements to "Slow Jam," but I think one of the most prevalent was that I was actually a traveling perfume salesman in rural Ohio. I was never able to land a normal job - not for lack of trying, but the malls just never would hire me. So one summer job in between semesters at college, I had to hawk fake perfume door to door in anywhere within a 3 hour radius of Cincinnati, Ohio. 3 hours from Cincinnati can take you to Kentucky, West Virginia, Indiana.... lots of small rural towns that someone like me wouldn't feel too comfortable going to by yourself. But I was adventurous and had a lot of fun doing it. And I realized that I had just as many stereotypes of small town folk as I expected them to have of me. That eventually grew into the heart of "Slow Jam King."

GP: One of my favorite actors, Ron Domingo, is one of the stars of your movie. Tell us about how you found Ron and what it was like working with him.

SM: Ron's great. I did a few student films at NYU, and Ron was in two of them, and his first film acting experience was one of my films. I first met him, though, at my band, P.I.C's very first show ever - at a Filipino association event at NYU. Ron went on before us giving a monologue as Jose Rizal on the firing line. We both laugh at how we met and how far we've come from that. This comfort reflects in how we work together. I wrote JoJo for Ron specifically, because I know his humorous side. It's so funny, because I've seen him pull of virtuoso serious roles onstage and on film, but as a person, I know he can be a clown. But with Ron, his approach is very serious, even to comedy. We both agreed that the humor behind JoJo is because he has to take himself seriously and really try to convince himself all the time that he is this crazy pimp.

GP: Can you tell us a bit about how you shot the movie? Format, number of shooting days? Any crazy low-budget nightmares/triumphs you can share?

SM: We shot 50 characters with locations spanning New York, New Jersey, and Pennsylvania on a grueling 31 day schedule with no real off days. The only days cut short were because of the '03 blackout, and we couldn't use our lights, so we called off that night shoot. And we had a second unit shoot a week after we finished principle shooting, where we actually took a roadtrip to Nashville and grabbed all the road footage. I shot on MiniDV on a SONY VX-2000 with a Century Optics anamorphic lens. After locking picture, I onlined and color corrected in an Avid Symphony, and did a 24P transfer using a great program called DV Filmmaker. Nowadays, all this is kind of moot with the advent of inexpensive DV 24P technology, and more high end digital projection in theaters.

We had some crazy shoot stories, but the craziest is that we were actually raided by police in New Jersey. We were doing this crazy escape scene from a gas station, involving Ron Domingo to chase a van, waving around a handgun. I got permission from the location's owner, and he did a great job of telling all his customers that we were filming. But of course, I never notified the police, and some passer-bys probably saw something and called 911. About nine takes later, I was readying the camera inside the minivan, and all of a sudden saw sirens flashing in the viewfinder. Next thing you know, I see a cop, gun drawn in the camera. They made everyone lie face down on the ground while the owner defended us. Ron Domingo, and my AD, Drew Luis, were actually cuffed and put into police cars. At the end, they just told us how stupid we were, but they actually gave the gun back to us and let us finish shooting! To the credit of the cast and crew, they were still very gung ho about finishing the scene, so we did.

GP: How did opening night go? Will you or any of the cast and crew be attending other screenings during the week?

SM: Opening night was great - the place was packed, and folks were sitting in the aisles. A bunch of the cast were there and we did a Q&A, and after that, I performed my songs, as well as other band's songs from the soundtrack with the Slow Jam King Band. I will be at most night screenings this week, in true d-i-y fashion, working our merch table with my co-producer, Cindy Torres. And of course, if anyone has any questions, I'm there to answer!

GP: The film’s been to a bunch of festivals and won the Emerging Director Award at the Asian American International Film Festival here in New York. Any particularly memorable festival experience you’d be willing to share?

SM: I don't have any particular memories that stand out because this past year of festivals has been so fun, and exhausting and exhilarating that I almost feel like I've been in a time warp. Where in the world did '05 go? All the festivals have been great to us - just meeting people who have worked very hard to promote Slow Jam because they believe in it. Obviously winning the Emerging Director Award was one of the highlights - because our film sort of came from nowhere, since I hadn't really been involved with the festival circuit before. Winning that award helped us get into other festivals, I think.

GP: What do you do when you’re not making films? And how did you get into world of filmmaking?

SM: I like to cook for my wife. I like watching Knicks games, although these days, I enjoy ripping their owner and management much more. I'm very involved with music. I write and perform with my band, P.I.C, and we've released 2 albums in the US - hiphopunkfunkmamboska, and Sexy Picnic, and last year, released an album in Japan, Brooklyn Incident. In 2003 we were the house band for Comedy Central's Premium Blend, with Wanda Sykes as the host. So that was really cool, sharing a stage with her and her making fun of us and plugging our album. I also play in a few other bands - a bossa nova band called Blame it on Rio, and the Slow Jam King band has started playing more recently. So I keep myself pretty busy. And that's what draws me to film. I think this interest in doing music, and writing, and business, and photography made film an obvious choice for me. Film really is a multi-medium medium.

GP: Any advice for other independent filmmakers out there?

SM: Getting any d-i-y film to the point of theatrical release is very much a war of attrition. The amount of tenacity needed to constantly push and believe in your film is monstrous and exhausting, because at the end of the day, you're the only one pushing for yourself. For us, I was also the co-producer, so I had to learn a lot about the business side, and the deal-making on the job. To me, making the film was so much easier! But it's essential to know that stuff - know about deliverables, and basically about the more rigid rules that you can't avoid later in the game. With truly independent film, you can fly under the radar for a lot of production, but once you take the film to the point of distribution, you can't make up as many rules any more. So make sure you're covered and you know the business and legal side of things.

GP: What’s next for you?

SM: I'm working on 2 feature screenplays - "Alternate Side" - a comedy about an assortment of characters that alternate side street park in Chinatown, and are brought together with a Prince-type singer and the Chinatown bootleg DVD scene. The other one is another offbeat comedy called "Mayor Mayor," about a Filipino-America father who uproots his family to a small Illinois town so he can fulfill his fantasies of political office.

GP: What are you favorite slow jams of all time?

SM: Curtis Mayfield "The Makings of You"
Prince "How Come You Don't Call Me Anymore"
Stylistics "Betcha By Golly Wow"
D'Angelo "One Mo 'Gin"
Smokie & The Miracles "Ooooh baby baby"
Marvin Gaye "Shadow of Your Smile"
and many more....

This entry has been crossposted at AsianAmericanFilm.com and FilmHelp