at the laundromat

Here's the update from Vanessa Yee on her kickstarter project:
Update #9 - For backers only
Apr 20, 2013
Picture Locked! The Beginning of the End
Hi Kickstarter family! It's been a while and I apologize, but I finally had a moment to sit down and write out all the exciting things that have been happening in the life of The Laundromat. Here's the link to my reflection on these past couple of months.
And here's a quick breakdown of all the big and small details:
- Had a peer/film community screening to keep refining TLD and it met with success and mainly loving support. Here's the Daily Bruin article that came from that.
- PICTURE LOCKED!!! This means I can no longer keep editing the film (which believe me is a bit of a relief). I'm going to start passing along the film to different vendors to take it all the way to the finish. So...
- Already scoring with a composer! The talented and equally earnest Deborah Lee
- Working with a ridiculously knowledgeable fellow director to coordinate the "Online" process, which includes streamlining all my footage to be the same format, applying color correction, and making sure all the sound sounds AMAZING
- Still working on branding and Kickstarter gifts. Below is an example of a text test.
- Will be speaking at a UCLA-run Asian American mental health panel in May with an organization called Active Minds
So here I am with about a month left in the Post-Production life of this film. Thank you for all your continued support! I'll try to keep these updates coming your way, and feel free to ask me questions about this sprint towards the finish.

The laundry is almost done.
It's been a long journey, but sometime this year, I hope to have the DVD in my hands.
I'll keep you posted...

parkour over here, please!

This
first
photo
is
very
much
a
favorite
of
mine.

Here
is
another,
featuring
the
same
graceful
young
man.

This
third
in
my
series
captures
the
bottom
half
of
a
backflip.


I've tried to be patient.
Truly, I have.
However, it's been a YEAR since I notified Lindsey Marr of the reward I wanted for backing his kickstarter campaign.
A year. Today.
In return for my support of the project, I was to receive an 8" x 10" print of the photograph of my choice. First, he traveled to several different locations, taking the photographs of folks running in the air. He then sent the survey for the backers, including me, to make our choices for the reward prints.
After going to his Flickr page, I was overwhelmed by the incredible photos! I was hard pressed to select just one... so I made several selections and asked that he make the final choice for me. I assured him I would be delighted with any of the ones I had "bookmarked" (see the post from April 17, 2012, "parkour here and there").
Partly, though, the reason I asked him to choose for me was this: in case he had a favorite that was being overlooked by others, I wanted him to feel free to select that photograph for me. I know that, as a blogger, not all posts are works of beauty. There are definitely some I consider jewels and I am always so pleased when anyone else also finds beauty in those words.
I believe all artists have favorites in their portfolio. If Lindsey felt that one of his favorites was being slighted by the public, this was his opportunity to let that one take precedence, to run into the spotlight, so to speak.
Instead, I had no reply from my email to him.
I have had no treat from him in my mailbox.
Drats.
So, I have selected a trio of favorites and shared them above.
Please enjoy.

sunset viewing of the sunset starlet

Tonight
- or should I say last night? -
I was finally able to take a little time to watch
"The Curse of the Sunset Starlet", my latest kickstarter reward.
I received it a few weeks ago, but school was in full-tilt boogie, pre-midterm, mode, so my head needed time to get past that rush.
The delay was a good move on my part.
I really did need a little time to reacquaint myself with Lori Precious and her lovely butterfly-wing portraits and the backstory to this film.
After all, it's been more than a year since the project began.
The listing of my name on the page of thanks has been about that long, too.
Filming was completed during a one-week rush last June, then began the arduous task of editing, with a change of personnel along the way.
Time just went rolling along while the magic happened.
It has all been worth the wait, because magic has been imbued into this finished product. Sally Kirkland and Kathleen Wilhoite were fabulous as the footloose mother-starlet, Gigi, and her grown daughter, Zarianne. Zarianne is a divorced mother of two teens, trying to bring in some extra money through her art. She is to have a show in two weeks, but only if she has at least eight butterfly-wing portraits for the gallery. She is trying to finish just one more when who should appear to her wondering eyes?
No, not Santa Claus. Her dying mother, out of money and out of places to go. The last time her mom appeared, the children had not yet been born.
Estranged is definitely an apt description of their relationship.
The daughter, giving in to her children's wishes, allows Gigi to stay.
Along the way, the daughter learns that maybe she can have a relationship, as an adult, with her mom. Even though there is no substance to their bond, perhaps it can be something they both agree upon.
As Zarianne says of the sunset moth, its brilliant wings have no pigment, but the broad range of hues are the result of optical interference, a matter in which "the light and the eye agree on a color."
Definitely a different perspective on love, but appropriate for two people bound together by genetics alone.
The "COTSS", as Ms. Precious abbreviates it, is now going the rounds of the film festival circuit. It has already screened at the Charlie Chaplin Theatre in Hollywood! Here's that news:

Update #41
Jan 29 2013
Screening
1 comment

Hi All

I screened Curse of the Sunset Starlet at the Charlie Chaplin Theater in Hollywood across the street from Paramount Studios. It was a full house of about 175 cast, crew and contributors. I'm happy to report that it was a huge success! Cloris Leachman was at the screening and she stood up after it was over and said "it was perfect from beginning to end" and joked that the only way it would have been better would be if she had been in it. WOW coming from an actress who has won more (9!!) Emmy's than any other actor (plus an Oscar) I was thrilled.

Sally loved it---it was her first time seeing it. She said the fake murder scene was one of her favorite scenes from her 53 years of acting.

Some of the other comments:

"a real movie with lyrical power. "Poetic" seldom defines a film, but it's the perfect description for yours"

"you've produced something very compelling and distinctive"

"it's a really special little film with a strong point of view"

On to submitting to festivals! Im hoping to send out DVDs next week.

Thanks for all your help getting us to the finish line!

Lori Precious

My response had been:
fliss on February 13, 2013
Lori, what fabulous responses to your work! I know that must be so very gratifying after such a struggle to get the film completed, with you having to learn so much along the way.
Very good! I am so proud of you!!

I do wish it much success - break a leg, y'all!
See you at the Academy Awards!

five-year francophone

Last year, I added my two-cents worth of support to a film festival I've been enjoying for some few years. I then put the matter aside and went on with other projects.
This past week, I was reminded.
My name was listed in the credits for the Francophone Film Festival. Nice!
But, what made this even sweeter for me was this: the French Club's event celebrated its fifth annual presentation of the festival this year.
That's right: five years.
Amazing.

I well recall the the first Francophone Film Festival in 2009. Sparsely attended, those of us present for opening night were treated to a fabulous feast of French fare, catered by the local French restaurant. The films that year were very good, though I cannot currently recall their names. I do recall that it was an event my ex would not have cared to attend.
Every year saw the festival increase in size and attendance. That's not to say the films are SRO even today, but the word of mouth has definitely worked in its favor.
I'm glad to have anteed up my two cents toward this year's three-day festival.
I've even thrown in another two cents for next year's festival.
Francophones, unite!

adventure in physics

In September of 2011, I first became aware of this short film, The Flight. The goal was ambitious: a film with a lead character who was not only curious, desirous of change, smart, and capable, and... lesbian. That's right. Her sexual orientation was simply another of her attributes, like her curiosity.
How refreshing: a film about a smart young woman, not a film about a young woman questioning her sexuality.
It was also about a young woman on a quest to find what more there was to life than the small island on which she lived. According to the elders, that bit of land was the only land still on the planet, all the rest had been destroyed by the sins of humanity.
Ah! That last bit caught your attention, didn't it? The world had been drowned because people were bad - yet, on this sole remaining landmass, homosexuality still existed. No, that's not quite right. It's not that homosexuality still existed that is the important point here. Homosexuality is simply not distinguished as a sin; it is an accepted way of being, just like heterosexuality.
Like I said, pretty ambitious for a student short film.
I backed it heavily on its kickstarter campaign, but to no avail. The project did not meet its funding goal of $4000.
That time.
The next September, it was back for another run at funding.
My finances had been used for other projects, making a far lesser amount available. But, I did provide funding again for the film, as I still believed it to be a remarkable piece.
After all, the young woman manages to build a set of flying wings simply by the reading of a banned book. What a marvelous combination of science literacy and spunk!
This time around, she succeeded! Moreover, I was able to view the film on the large screen at the Trustees Theatre, too, when the student showcase was opened to the public. Very nice to see "The Flight" in such a setting!
And now I have my very own copy, to view whenever I like.
I should consider having a screening at my house sometime in the future, to share these works with a larger audience. After all, my goal is to broaden the horizons of those I know, not to let them stay on their own isolated islands.

buzzing bees a-plenty!

Laugh out loud!
These stickers are fabulous!
Who else would have made a grumpy bee
but Jana Kinsman?
What a grand idea!
I would not have expected
such a thing when I backed this
kickstarter project almost a year ago.

Now, I have her fanciful stickers and my very own bee!
As you can see,
her name is Martha
and she's quite a cheerful
little honey
as she flits from
one hawthorne flower
to another,
making sure those buds
will become red berries
for songbirds!

Faustina,
Thank you for supporting Bike-A-Bee on kickstarter. It meant a lot! It was a long and hot summer in Chicago but the bees fared well. Now let's hope for a reasonable winter! Have a lovely holiday season!
<3 Jana K.
Hip-hip-hooray for bees!
Now, what to do with these sweet rewards?
Well, she did say she had gone to an intensive program on beekeeping at the University of Minnesota Bee Lab - and I have family up in that state - so maybe Nikolas and Lillian will get these! We have a responsibility to the next generation to pass along the education!
Bees forever!

boom bats in the house of z

I wish I could say I understood this show.
I do not.
Or is it, I donut?
Here's what I do know: that Z is one odd fellow and "Cthulhu's House of Z" is one odd show.

As Cthulhu, Z has endeavored to look the part, with misshapen face and with straggly hair and beard giving a tentacle-like appearance.

The neon-green sunglasses (just like mine!!!) keep him from being too creepy.

The neon-pink underwear below the trenchcoat and above the high-heeled shoes add that creep factor right back in, a la Dr. Frank N. Furter.
His show features three skits, or, as he calls them "scenarios." All feature donuts.
You heard me correctly: donuts.
Donuts being cut by saws.
Donuts being fresh and warm.
Donuts being smashed.
Donuts being eaten.
Interspersed between the skits are jokes and dances.
Overall, a rather entertaining show in the dark, emceed with a halting tongue and a soothing voice that encourages you to stay, enjoy, make yourself comfortable.
It's all PG, too, so your middle-schoolers could titter about it afterward.
(smile)
But understand it?
Not I.
Even though I was glad to support this kickstarter project.
BOOM BAT GESTURE pushed my comfort zone a bit... and that is good.