My ASIAN STORIES Premiere/Afterparty.

Last Friday ASIAN STORIES, had it's theatrical opening. I was at opening night along with other cast/crew. It was really exciting, this is the first film I've worked on that has had a theatrical release in North America.

The poster and I just outside the theater.

The screening went well, aside from a technical problem that made the picture look really awful, it was dark, fuzzy, and flickering in some places. Had something to do with an HD camera and only having an S-video cable...but the music sounded great in the theater. The music was even louder in some places than I expected to be...I've gotten so used to not hearing music in big Hollywood movies b/c of all the huge sound fx. And the audience was laughing a lot, it's definitely the kind of movie that's best to experience with a group of people.

Afterwards, I got to go up for a Q/A with the people that worked on the movie. Ron the director, absolutely praised me in front of everyone, mentioning how I came in just weeks before the release to write half an hour of original music with the deadline ticking down. He claims I did it in 10 days, but it was more like 2 1/2 weeks to write, record, and mix the score. And I couldn't have done it with out the help of my 2 amazing guitarists: Eugene Huang ( http://www.myspace.com/eugenehuang) and Bo Han ( http://www.myspace.com/bohanmusic). They recorded all the guitar parts, and sent me the final tracks that I only had to drop into my sequencer and mix with my own drums/synth parts. And fortunately I didn't have to score the entire film, as they had some really great songs from the band Thomas' Apartment ( http://www.myspace.com/thomasapartment). I really dig their songs, and have been listening to them ever since!

My friend NaRhee Ahn, who directed a Korean American romantic drama that I scored ( PURITY), mentioned later that she's never heard a director ever give so much praise to a composer. On a side note, 2 years ago, PURITY and ASIAN STORIES both premiered at the same time in adjacent theaters at the LA Asian Pacific Film Festival. That's when I met Katz Ueno, the associate producer on ASIAN STORIES, in the lobby prior to the screenings and handed him a CD of my music, and hence how I became involved with the film.

The funniest behind-the-scenes story of the night, was about how one of the crew members found a book in the director's car, and it was some type of dummies guide to directing. Apparently Ron (the director) and his producer Kris, learned all about filmmaking by going to Barnes and Noble and hanging out there and reading all the books on filmmaking. There were even moments in the shoot where Ron would open up his directing book and point at a picture and tell the cinematographer he wanted the shot to "look like that."

Ron is such a funny guy, and I can't wait to see his next film!

Cast & Crew from L-R: I didn't catch the name of the first guy...Ronald Oda (short guy in front), behind him is Kirt Kishita, Me, Wendy Ho, Kathy Uyen, James Kyson Lee, & Gabriel Lozano.The afterparty took place at Blue Dahlia, a really cool wine bar with a chill and relaxing outdoor ambience. Kathy Uyen organized it, and I had a great time hanging out with friends and people who came to see the movie. A lot of people came up to me to tell me what a great job I did with the music, and it was so nice to get wonderful compliments from people in person. I do so much of my work alone in my studio, that it's wonderful to meet and connect with a real live audience!