Last night I had the opportunity to see one of my heroes Ayaan Hirsi Ali speak about her new book Nomad. A few years ago my dad told me about her, I think he had seen her on an interview, and he was completely blown away by not just how poised, measured and graceful her responses were to even the most domineering of debaters, but by the solid process by which she has come to form her controversial opinions. I bought her book, Infidel, and was immediately struck by the frankness with which she talks about her life and the courage required to publicly face a very dangerous enemy. Born in Somalia and raised a devout Muslim, she has experienced directly the oppressive forces discussed so much and yet understood so little in much of the world today. Later, escaping to the Netherlands to avoid an arranged marriage, she didn’t just begin a new life- she became educated and eventually won a seat in Parliament. You can read more about her accomplishments and life here, and here she is on Bill Maher:

It was everything I hoped it would be. This woman is the purest example of what people need to be striving for- she has experienced bad things in her life, challenged herself to become educated on how and why things have come to be this way, and then formed an inarguable opinion on how we can make a move toward progress. There was one thing in particular she said last night that really stuck with me- instead of defending the rights of the culture we need to defend the rights of the individual. That means it’s not ok to defend a man’s right to killing his daughter in the name of his religion, which seems obvious, but it also means it’s not ok to defend someone’s right to pull their child out of school due to their religion, because that child has a right to an education.

Naturally there were some detractors in the audience who, desperate to catch her less-than-prepared, challenged her to give some answers to the problems instead of just identifying them. Which she did. One of the most important of these is the idea that oppressed people need the opportunity to question the beliefs that are passed down to them. This means education and exposure- a marketplace of ideas. When millions of people cannot read and are told from the moment they are born that questioning anything means only horrific consequences, the notion of objectivity as it relates to their religion becomes nonexistent.

I could go on and on and on about last night, but luckily I don’t have to (because I could never do her justice). We met a wonderful gentleman there who will be posting the audio for all to hear, which I will of course link to. In the mean time, go pickup Infidel and Nomad. I guarantee you’ll have a new hero too by the end of either one of those books.

-Peace-

First off, Happy 2010!!!

I love the sense of excitement and new beginnings that comes with every New Year. Like no other time of year people view even the most stressful aspects of their lives as innocent and temporary. While reality soon sets in that it takes work to change (like every other time of year) it is nice to see even a temporary reprieve from the hopelessness, especially in this economy. However that temporary nature is the reason I don’t really believe in New Years resolutions- why make promises in the bask of the bathing New Years glow that will just leave you disappointed in yourself when the glow fades and you’re left again in the rough reality that is the rest of the year?

That said, I think it is extremely important to take stock of your progress periodically and continually set new goals to stay challenged and happy. The key is to make this a habit year-round, so you have a plan to stick to throughout the ups and downs of the entire year. Now’s a good time to do that. The following is a list of new and continuing goals I have set for myself to help this year see its full potential.

1. Get back in the habit of reading. When I was a kid I was an avid reader. Everywhere I went I had a book in my hand, just waiting for a second of down time to dive back into the pages. I even used to read while walking to school and my mom and sister would tease me that I was going to bump into a pole or walk into traffic. I have built up a pretty good library for myself on topics that interest me. All that knowledge just sitting on my shelves. Time to put it in my head!
2. Dance dance dance! Yep. Every since I stopped dancing hula regularly there has been something seriously missing in my life. I found a really fantastic bellydance teacher and am having a lot of fun with that, but it’s just not scratching the hula itch. I need to find a halau and get back to it as soon as I am financially able.
3. Learn Hawaiian. Samoans speak Samoan. Tongans speak Tongan. Hawaiians speak… English. There’s a huge resurgence of Hawaiian language immersion so kids have started growing up speaking it again, but I need to do my part to perpetuate! And it’s such a beautiful language.
4. Running. *sigh* Not super crazy about this one, but I can’t deny the wonders it has done for my cardio stamina since Chad and I started running regularly.

That’s good for now. No, it’s not a super crazy list, but I just wanted to focus on a few things that will make my quality of life much higher. Also, they might seem pretty general but the most important part of goal-setting is the plan that goes with it, and I have one for each one of these. My next entry is all about business, and my plans and goals for Kulia I Ka Nu‘u, Superfreako Productions, and the brand new Superfreako Designs.

On another note, congratulations to my sister and brother-in-law Megan and Chris Fong on their new baby boy, Noah Loy Fong! He’s perfect.

-Peace-

I just read Outliers by Malcolm Gladwell and it really got me thinking. The point of the book is great- part of it is that there are people in this world who seem born to excel beyond all others. These people (the “outliers”), are not just lucky to have their brains, they have also had numerous instances in their lives where opportunities were presented to them that put them in a position to excel as much as they have. If we start to study these people and pinpoint those moments that gave them their breaks, we can use that knowledge to provide more opportunities for others, raising everyone. This is not to say we would have a generation of Bill Gateses if we replicated his opportunities for all children, because there still needs to be an innate ability to recognize and capitalize on those opportunities, which not everyone does.

I did feel like there was one point missing though. The fact is that every single person’s life is built on these moments. One thing leads to another thing and that leads to something else and so on. I’m not an outlier but I can trace my current activities to plenty of matters of chance- would I be with Chad today (or even have moved to LA for that matter) if I had not decided to leave for the canoe race in San Diego by myself, hours before any of my teammates? Would I be working at the AFM if Keegan and I had not happened to be in the same class at LAFS? Would I have ever met the wonderful ladies of AMediaVision Productions if I hadn’t had so many members of my family working for the Arizona State Senate? These kinds of questions are endless, for every single life.

It might be interesting to examine my life more in-depth to see what situations outside my control may be effecting the path I am currently on (such as, what if I wasn’t trying to launch my career in the middle of a recession?), but unless I can use that to direct my next step, it sounds like a big waste of time. Education, experience and perseverance I think are what the doctor is ordering right now.

So, what is my next step? Love Story is obviously coming up, but I mean bigger. More often than I like, I get this awful sense that I am floating around, depending on lucky opportunities provided by other people to get me to the next level, when I should be creating my own. If I am going to do everything I want to do then I need a plan.

-Peace-

Yeah, I could think of worse places to blog.

I have taken time off from WongDoody this week to work at the American Film Market, which is basically a huge trade show that rolls through Santa Monica every year at about this time. The Loews Hotel is all abuzz with businesspeople, buying and selling their films. Booths are set up everywhere advertising film services (mostly film bureaus from different states and countries luring filmmakers with tax incentives). The luxurious beach-view pool is inundated with serious men in ties and jeans and serious woman in boots and sunglasses making and breaking lots of money (though not quite as much as previous years). And the free trade magazines, oooh the free trade magazines!

Theaters surrounding the Loews have been transformed into non-stop screening venues and of course they need people like me to stand at the doors of said venues and scan badges permitting entry. It’s a smart system they have- everyone has badges indicating who they are, what company they are from and what they do and a barcode. I scan their badge on their way into the movie and later the exhibitor can look online to see who popped in to check out their movie and who among them might be serious about a deal.

No, it’s true, my job is not glamorous. I am posted at the Fairmont Hotel, which has a series of tiny basement conference rooms that have been set up as 30-person screening rooms for the smaller scale, lower budget films. There are no windows in our hallway, we work the longest hours (8am to 8pm) and see the least excitement since we are so comparatively far from the Loews. We can go down there on our lunch breaks to see the flurries of activity, but it’s a 20-minute walk each way, so we really only do that once or twice, emptying our bags before we go so we can fit more free trade magazines to take back with us. We are not allowed to watch the films, and it’s hard not to get a little stir-crazy sitting in that boxcar of a hallway, but we have a good time with it, mostly because the Fairmont crew of 8 (which includes Keegan Uhl, director of Napoleon) are all good, funny people who genuinely like each other.

This is my second year at the AFM, last year having been at the Fairmont as well and despite it’s drawbacks, if for some reason I find myself in a similar station in life this time next year, I will do the same again. Why? Something happens here. I don’t know if it’s the never-ending nature of the days, or maybe the close proximity to the beach, or the person after person marching past that represents a higher point in my career that I would like to reach, but I read and write SO much here. I write and read and write and write. I make more progress on a script here in a few days than I have in months. Creativity flourishes, new ideas emerge, and not just for film projects. I found myself writing a short story the other day that if I can do it correctly, could actually turn out pretty funny. All day long I sit in my seat, writing furiously in my notebook, or standing behind it reading books and practicing shimmies to stay awake, taking my lunch breaks outside on a bench that overlooks the ocean, checking the email on my phone constantly for new developments in the Love Story pre-production. I visualize myself prowling the screening room halls with a badge that says something other than “Theater Staff” and giant posters of my films gracing the Loews balconies. It’s only a matter of time.

-Peace-

Things falling into place are music to a producer’s ears, but while I recognize and appreciate all of the fortunate things in our lives that are making this possible, it is no coincidence that this is always the case with projects I am most excited about. This isn’t because I care more and am willing to work harder (because I will work my ass off on any project bearing my name), but I think speedbumps and setbacks in these projects float right away once they are solved, while the mini victories are lasting. I could look back on Napoleon and recall in horror how my car was towed just as we were about to kick off an insane schedule of equipment pickup the day before shooting began. Or, I can look back triumphantly and remember running full speed the mile and a half to the tow yard while making phone calls adjusting the day’s schedule, finding a new makeup artist, confirming the catering order, fighting with SAG and god knows what else. I got my car back, went on my way, and everything continued to fall into place.

The night before we shot Brennon’s commercials, Brennon and I sat for hours at JL Fisher waiting to pick up the dolly. It wouldn’t have mattered too much if I didn’t need to get out to FilmLA in rush hour traffic to pick up our permits for the following day. They were closing at 6pm and though I took a special shortcut (courtesy of Chad), I got there at 6:01 and the heavy wooden doors were sealed shut. I knocked. And knocked. And knocked and knocked and knocked for close to fifteen minutes, when magically someone who hadn’t yet left for the day answered the door. He took one look at my frazzled face and said “Are you having, like, the worst day of your life?” and I said “Are you kidding me? I’ve been knocking for 15 minutes and someone ACTUALLY ANSWERED THE DOOR!”.

The point is this: I have known quite a few other novice producers and sometimes their mentality is flipped. The frustration, the exhaustion, the lack of external appreciation are the things that stick. I don’t know how long I could do this job if things like that got me down every day. Instead, they are the adventures that invigorate me. It’s about the outcomes- everything else along the way is just stories.

-Peace

Busy busy busy.

Our new short film Love Story is inching closer toward production, with scheduled shoot dates December 5th-7th. We have an amazingly talented team of people we love to work with on board and a fantastic cast, some of whom these parts were actually written for and some of whom we cast especially for this. Our locations are locked down, mostly all in the same apartment building (ours), and the cherry on top is it looks like we will be shooting on the Red!

Chad just wrapped 1^st ADing on the short film Tomorrow, written by, directed and starring our Love Story Cinematographer, Adrian Ursu. He had a blast, met a lot of fantastic people who will be working with us on Love Story, and they shot that on the Red as well so he got some great experience seeing first hand what the camera is capable of.

In the mean time, I have found myself with a full time job as a broadcast production intern for the ad agency WongDoody, of recent ANTM fame. Remember those ads for Gossip Girl that said things like “…every parent’s nightmare…”? That’s them. This is a great place to work. To be surrounded by so much creativity and encouragement and some many awesome people while learning about a side of the business that will make me a more well-rounded producer is an amazing experience!

Chad has also put up the website for Superfreako Productions, which tells a little about us, the work we are doing (and have done) and what’s in the pipeline for the future. You can check that out here: www.superfreakoproductions.com

Look for more updates to www.kuliaikanuu.com in the next few weeks, including videos of past work and projects in development for Kulia I Ka Nu‘u.

Peace

P.S. I have been excusing myself for not posting because of all this craziness. That’s a BS excuse. This is a blog about my life and projects. When it’s nuts I should be posting more, not less!

“Writers,” or people who fancy themselves as such (and aren’t we all really just whatever we fancy to be?), have all kinds of tricks to making themselves write. Some set goals for themselves, or rules that govern their day. Some train themselves with positive reinforcement and treats, others reprimand with negative reinforcement and denying things. But everyone, every single one, even the ones who aren’t very good, recognize that to be a writer you must write. This sounds obvious but look around- isn’t it shocking to see how many people consider themselves to be something and never get off their ass and do it? What does that make them?

This is me doing it.

I don’t consider myself a full-blown “Writer”. “Filmmaker” I guess would be a little more accurate. I concentrated in producing through film school, which seemed to fit my sensibilities most completely, but that’s probably more telling than anything since producers have to wear so many hats if a film is going to be made. Writing is the beginning of the process though and I have stories I want to tell. They’re personal, they’re interesting (if I do say so myself) and sometimes allowing yourself to hand them off to someone else can require much more energy than honing the craft and buckling down. “Control Freak”? Probably. So?

This site will showcase my projects, in every step of the process. They are as varied as my interests because I’ve never been one to stick with one thing for long (unless it’s Peanut Butter Chocolate ice cream at Baskin Robbins). The blog will chronicle my burgeoning career and life, but also my practice as a writer so if it rambles a bit, that’s how it goes. Someone great once said “Anything worth doing is worth doing awkwardly at first”. The key word there is doing.

Stay tuned!