Lots of big things for me in the next month: DVD release of 600 + Drowning together onto One DVD! Here are the near-final DVD covers for both films, I will combine both DVD front covers for the duo-film DVD release:


Almost done, just need to add some credits on back cover!

Need to add a quote on front cover plus credits on the back and good to go!

New website JamesFeng.com will launch soon as well (hopefully in a week?? *crosses fingers*), and then another episode of KRON 4's Pacific Fusion TV episode spot interview for Drowning. Right now I just want to focus on making this DVD release a successful one, I don't really care if people buy it or not. My whole goal is to have a finished product out so that I can have some closure to these two projects that I've been working on since two years. If anything, it'll be nice gifts to hand out to friends and industry cats.

Looking back, 600 definitely surprised me as it's gotten into 9 film festivals, plus the others we haven't heard from. To be honest I thought American audiences wouldn't connect with the film as much since it was written for ex-pats who live abroad. I'm a little nervous at the moment because Drowning's expectations will be higher since it's my 2nd film, but I don't WANT to expect anything. But at the same time, I'll be lying to you if I say I'll be ok if it doesn't do well. Both films had virtually no budget, yet somehow we got them done! (I have no idea how we pulled it off) Not me, but WE! I am proud of my crew on both films and all the wonderful people that have both participated and supported these two projects. Although there are things I wish I could have done better in both films, I am proud that we even finished both projects. We did all we could, and everyone gave all they had, hustled, bled, cried, laughed, and the most important thing: showed up, and for that, I will always be grateful for everyone who ever gave a care to help make my dream come true. These two films will always have a very dear place in my heart no matter how many more films I go on to make. As filmmakers we never know if we'll have a chance to make a film again, if I had to stop film making, I won't have any regrets having done these two films. I don't know where 2009 will take me, and for the moment, just trying to stay focused on my goals and let God decide what happens next. Happy Holidays and bring it on 2009!  

If you are in New York on January 2nd or Beijing in March 2009, please checkout the following film festivals! 600 will be showing at both film festivals, please go out and support if your in the area, thanks! I really wish I can go, but I have to save $$$ to use on my current project. 

Beijing International Film Festival Week - March 2009

New York Newfilmmakers Film Festival - January 2nd 2009 (Friday, 8:15pm)

     Just finished crewing on a new indie film titled Raspberry Magic, written & directed by Leena Pendharkar, produced by Megha Kadakia(both nice and warm people, ya'll reading this? lol), and shot by my friend Jeffrey Chu with THE RED! For the past 20 days, we shot 12+ hours for 6 day straight with one free day every Tuesday. A feature film shot in 20 shooting days is quite the daunting task. And it definitely brought back memories from the China production days.
     The best part about working on this film? Let's see... the awesome people, great food catered by the coolest caterer Jesse Rivas, cracking jokes/talking smack definitely made the long hours a lot shorter. It only took the first few days for everyone to get comfortable with each other and get to know what everyone is like. We got to know all the crazy personalities on set and there definitely was a buttload of gossiping and some drama; it felt like high school all over again. I definitely had a lot of fun in this production in midst of all the hard work and long hours.
    For this film, I took on the role of the 2nd AC(I slate for camera, snatch lenses, and move/carry a lot of stuff; basically PA working for the DP and 1st AC). I definitely learned a lot about the camera department and how they operate through these last 3 weeks. Sadly, this first time experience in the camera department will also be my last. I got what I wanted from this experience and will add it to my repertoire. Important lessons: knowing what your DP is capable of, what his/her style and tendancies are, learning how to communicate and get the best out of your DP. Every DP has their own style and certain things they like to do. By now I have a pretty good grasp on what Jeffrey's style is and what projects fit him. All these little things will help me in the long run when I pick and choose the DP I'll work with on feature projects.
     And doing a little acting on this film was a nice surprise as I got to do a short scene with the wonderful actor Ravi Kapoor. Doing improv w/Ravi for 1/2 hour before our scene was lit made me realize how much I missed acting. I've been working so hard on my own 2 projects the past year that I haven't touched acting. When I say acting, I mean acting in a real scene with real talented actors and directed by someone other than myself; like acting class where I'm not worried about the technicalites of filmmaking. Oh boy, I definitely miss it. Talking with Ravi, who is a regular on TV, about the glass ceiling for Asian-American actors was both inspiring as well as depressing. We both acknowledge we have to do our own stuff and continue to work hard to get it out there. I told him of my plans and gave him a copy of 600 and Drowning's roughcut. It'd be nice to work w/actors such as Ravi and his wife Meera who are dedicated to the craft and are tremendously focused on preparation; real actors.
     Speaking of which, Drowning is 95% done(Sending to JD next week for sound)! I can't wait to finally be relieved of it and move on to All Pain No Glory. DVDs will come out early January =) Sound/music, plus DVD authoring, and also need to get poster and DVD jacket designed and BAM! It'll be out! It's coming!
     Now that I am officially free(almost...), I will do some pre for the doc, party it up rest of December and then put to some SERIOUS work in January. I think I've studied enough from both experience(my own and others) and text(books are the bomb!) despite not attending film school and am ready for the challenge! No more short films for a while. Right now I feel like I'm in a RPG game leveling up with each film festival acception, new projects I complete, new experience from working on production, and the great things I learn from other people. Even though Raspberry Magic came at a bad time, I'm glad I accepted. It was good to help Jeffrey and get on this project despite having to push my own project back a month; I think it was definitely worth it. I hope Raspberry Magic goes on to do well because this project is for sure filled with passion and done by good people, love & peace ya'll, until next time.

I use to enjoy helping people, I guess when I was younger, the thought of an opportunity to do the world some good plus building a stronger bond with another person was the most awesome idea... Now it seems like everybody that you don't know who ask for help are just about using you to get what they want. And then when you see other people get burned and situations where helping someone can get you into trouble, you start being guarded and questioning if you should help them at all... and then you ask yourself "what ever happened to the goodness you had in you before?" It was all good before... when we never questioned motives and selfishness, and it sucks that we question it now... but we have to; to protect ourselves and survive. *shrug* nothing we can do about that. But I still go on my instincts and help those I believe need it, and if I got to lose a few, so what, in life, you win some, and you lose some... just don't expect to win them all, and live humble.

     I'm sitting here wondering what's going on. Every single detail of everything that I want to accomplish... clouding my mind so that I can't remember what I was suppose to focus on. Finish Drowning, finish showreel, work on documentary, get ready for Raspberry Magic which is shooting in a week, I tell myself : "just a little more, a little bit more effort and your there." I'm burned, mind is frying from all the small things i have to accomplish in order to finish the big one. It's 3am again and I am still awake, trying to finish something, trying to think of new ideas, trying to be better than the next guy by a little bit, trying to improve myself a little more... I feel the chill now, alcohol's kicking in, thank goodness. Now I can finally think while my mind unwinds and takes a break from the thousands of synapses. I start thinking about people, how we survive, how we look at the world, and I see that the older we get, the better we get at manipulating ourselves. We manipulate ourselves so that we don't go insane; so that we may live in this world through all the good, bad, and not kill ourselves.
     And many times we manipulate ourselves into believing in ourself, because we know that if we don't, then no one else will. One of man's biggest fear is failure; I'd like to put it as "losing the will to succeed". No matter how big or small our goals are, if one day you stopped believing in what you are selling, your done. This is what impresses me about the older salesman who have been doing sales for decades and still believe in their product. I find it so hard that after so many years that they can still maintain that type of belief, even if it's feigned. How tough would that be, selling cars for 20-30 years, during the good, bad, mediocre times, and all this time believing that you'll sell the next one and being genuine to everyone that walks through your door; they are the best actors. What if they stopped believing? What would happen? I ask myself "what if I stopped believing? what would happen to me?" *shrug*. I'm not big on drinking alone, but I needed the buzz tonight, so that my mind can slow down and forget all the tasks on hand. It's hard to maintain focus on your main goal when the small things get at you and take all of your time and effort. I think the hardest part about making a film is remembering the very first inspiration that gave you the idea to make the film, and never losing that essence throughout the hectic process of making the film.
     If this was in Shanghai, I wouldn't be sitting at home contemplating, I'd be walking the streets looking for answers walking in the midst of the night's breeze. And for some reason, I usually find the answers to my questions during this process. I usually bring my mp3 player and just walk to where ever, or I'd get on a bus and ride to the end stop and roam around some more, at times not knowing where I am, but never caring, I'm in my other world, walking without thinking about walking while subconsciously entering a different dimension, my mind gets in a zone and I can focus clearly on my thoughts while blurts of images enter my brain. Some people call that inspiration, I don't know what I call it, it feels like I'm absorbing the soul of the city, the soul of where ever I am, a spiritual journey. Everything I see becomes inspiration... people may call that a natural high, the way my eyes see things, everything comes alive, from the little boy with one arm begging for change on the subway, to the Filipino female singer singing English songs at a local pub, the sensitivity in my brain is magnified and I begin seeing things, imagining stories, feeling the life of that boy with one arm, everyday, getting on the same subway, begging for change, looking into the faces of strangers with no compassion who avoid my eye contact for fear of guilt, getting on my knees and waving around a cup in front of the person I think may spare some change for me, feeling his life, and then I start seeing his life unfold in visual images: the kid jumping the entrance and exits of subways so he doesn't have to pay the fare, eating noodles at the closest Xinjiang noodle place for 5rmb, and enjoying those noodles with tiny bits of lamb pieces, and thinking to himself "i wish there was more lamb meat... heck, what do you expect for 5 rmb? maybe one day if i am rich, I will order a bowl of noodles and tell the boss to add extra meat and tell him I will pay extra, that'd be the day", sleeping at the subway station with a blanket, in the middle of the night, before he sleeps, he asks if there is a God in this world, if anyone can see and feel his pain, if anyone loves him.
     And that Filipino female singer, how she must feel after every show singing to a crowd who really aren't there for her singing, and asking herself "what am I doing here at age 32 singing English songs at a bar in Shanghai?", this girl who once had aspirations to be a pop star, now singing at local pubs in a different country where she doesn't even understand the local language. How her husband is back home in the Philippines working  his butt off and taking care of their daughter. She calls home twice a week, so that she remembers she has a family; something to sing for. No longer holding onto her dream, she now sings to live, to support her family, her daughter, so that she may one day have a shot at a better life than hers. Once filled with optimism, once a queen in her own right, now reduced to a mercenary singer.  
     These journeys have no ends, and I am allowed into these worlds that are not my own. I'd like to get back into this world, and see the stories that occur there and bring it back with me to our world and put it on a movie screen for people to see, to share it with the world.
      However, the BS of life takes away a lot of this luxury I call it " the other world". Every story I see, I hope to grab onto it and never let go... so that I won't forget it. At times I write it down and try to tell myself "don't let this one go, this could be a great! People will love it!" And at times, I lose them. I wish these images and stories would slow down so that I may record the, and stay in my brain a little longer, just a little bit more for me to understand it... so that I may be able to paint it on a canvas and show it to the world. I ask too much of myself, trying to accomplish too much, and I am so hard on myself that I don't give myself a break It's all taking a toll and I'm losing my focus. I can't wait for my film to be done, I can't wait for my website to done, I can't wait for a lot of things, but I have to. I have no choice. I have to wait and let time take its course. I don't want to. But I must.  Ok, I think I'm drunk, my eyes are getting watery for some reason, and my head is throbing now, time to sleep. Tomorrow I will awake and go on finishing the tasks I must accomplish tho I wish I didn't have to. And all this time, manipulating myself with "you will get there! keep at it, your hard work will pay off, I promise you, just a little bit more, you can do it..." I'm tired... but i must go on, when i go to bed in a few minutes, I will be thinking of how to structure my showreel, how to structure my doc, oh boy... it's 3:20am and I need to get up for a meeting in a few hours. I sleep now, and hope i have a good dream and can forget about the realities of life. I'll test my luck and see what happens... buzz wearing off, time to get between the sheets. Peace ya'll.