Filing 1099-Misc

It's the end of the year, so it's time to get all of the tax documents in order. I have hired a few contractors this year, like a DP and a web designer, so I have to file some 1099 Misc. It is actually pretty easy to do, you just have to request for the forms through the IRS website. It takes about one to two weeks for them to be delivered. You can also get an instruction sheet that helps you fill them out properly if it is your first time.http://www.irs.gov/businesses/page/0,,id=23108,00.html

The deadline this year to get copies to your non-employees is February 1, 2011 and the deadline to get them to the IRS is March 1, 2010 or March 31, 2011 if you are filing electronically. So there is still plenty of time to get it done.

Photo by JD Hancock: http://www.flickr.com/photos/jdhancock/3446025121/

Happy Holidays! Silent Night / Po La`ie

Happy Holidays, Merry Christmas, Happy Hanukkah!

As an aside, why am I the only Hawaiian that can't sing?

Eye-Land: My New Homeless Friend Kapi`i

I went to Inglewood today to talk about a youth media program that I am developing with the Tongan Community Service Center http://tonganla.net/ I was taking the Blue Line Metro back to LA when a middle aged man with a bright green longboard got on at the 103rd Street stop in Watts. He had a Maui sticker on the back of his black helmet, so I slid across the aisle to take a picture of the back of his head. Then I noticed that written in broad black permanent marker was "Maoli Nō!" ( which translates to Hawaiian Indeed!) It was hard to see against the black background of his helmet.

It took a couple of seconds to work up the courage to tap him on the shoulder and ask if he was indeed Hawaiian. He said yes and told me his name was Kapi`i. I told him my Hawaiian name. He told me just about everything about himself. He had been living in the Watts area for about five years. He told me that he missed fishing in his boat in Hilo and showed me a picture he had of himself holding up two large Ono.

He also showed me the large scar he had across his elbow, which he said he got for being "too kolohe (crazy) and hanging out with the wrong kind of people". He said that he was staying in a shelter somewhere in Watts and kinda laughed. Looking with sincere directness at me he said "Well, you know how it is for us in Hawai`i we just all stay on the beach. Being on the street isn't so bad, here though it's good to stay in the shelter." He went on "But you know there is always a way off the street."

He was on his way to go to a business class near USC so he got off just one stop before mine, he is studying so that when his father passes away he will be able to go back to Hilo and continue on his family's fishing business.


The Maui sticker that started the conversation.

Radio Show Download: Violent Crisis on Rapa Nui Island

As I mentioned on the blog last week here is the download link to the Indigenous Politics: From Native New England and Beyond episode on the events taking place in Rapanui.

http://indigenouspolitics.mypodcast.com/2010/12/The_Violent_Crisis_on_Rapa_Nui_Island-335489.html

Host J. Kehaulani Kauanui focuses on a dire situation that's been unfolding on the island of Rapa Nui. Where the indigenous Ma`ohi people are reclaiming traditional ancestral lands that the Chilean government seized for private development. We will hear from Susana Hito who is following the situation carefully through her husband Santi Hitorangi (Ma`ohi) who is currently on the island and who is directly involved with his extended family. He was shot during the weekend while filming a clash with the Chilean police opened fire on unarmed Rapanui civilians. Santi Hitorani is a filmmaker, artist and Rapa Nui representative of people to the United Nations Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues. He and Susana make up Te Pito Productions. Original air-sate: 12-07-10.

Moai photo by: http://www.flickr.com/people/pretamal/

THE ANIMATED ADVENTURES OF JUDO GIRL

This is a really cute documentary that is in Production at Making Waves Films http://makingwavesfilms.com/. Director Kimberlee Bassford has recently completed a fundraising trailer for the film, which is included just above in this post. Kimberlee and her camera were with Teshya and her younger sister Teniya in October when they both swept their divisions and won gold at the Infantil Pan American Judo Championships in Panama City, Panama. It was their first international tournament and first time competing on the USA National Team. Teshya and the film project were even featured in an TeamUSA.org article, the official website of the United States Olympic Committee.

Kimberlee wil continue to film Teshya and her family over the next two years as she prepares for the 2012 Judo World Championships. It's bound to be an animated adventure!

Free Screenings of film featuring an inspirational Samoan Minister

Free screenings of a great new film called "The Calling" which features a brilliant young Samoan American minister will be held in:

Long Beach, CA - Tuesday, December 28, 2010 6:00PM Location: Long Beach Public Library (see attached flier for more info)
Oakland, CA - Thursday, December 16, 2010 Doors Open @ 6:00pm Oakland Asian Cultural Center (see attached flier for more info)
San Francisco, CA - Wednesday, December 15, 2010 Doors Open @ 5:15pm San Francisco Main Public Library, Koret Auditorium (see attached flier for more info)

Here is a little more detail about the film:

Rob Pene, a Samoan, is busy studying at the Haggard School of Theology at Azusa Pacific University, working with a Presbyterian Minister in an upper-middle-class Los Angeles church, and mentoring poor teenage boys. All this is on top of a budding career as a Christian rapper, which he sees as his tool to minister to young people. Rob recently launched a new business focused on serving ministries, small businesses, schools, and mission-minded individuals.

Rob is just one of four characters (of different religious denominations) in the film on a path to the robe. The film follows Rob back to American Samoa during a difficult time, and speaks volumes to the unique, oftentimes difficult Pacific Islander experience in America when confronted with issues of identity, cultural preservation, and family. I really think that Rob’s role in this film will strike a chord in islanders living in the Los Angeles and Bay Area.

The film's website is: http://www.itvs.org/films/calling

Please forward on to anyone you think may be interested in watching and I hope some of you are able to get out see this film and show that Pacific Islanders are interested in seeing more of their stories in motion.

To Download Flyers for San Francisco go to: http://www.scribd.com/doc/45239426/Calling-FlyerSF

To Download Flyers for Oakland go to: http://www.scribd.com/doc/45239389/Calling-FlyerOAK

To Download Flyers for Long Beach go to: http://www.scribd.com/doc/45239465/LONG-BEACH-Large-Flier

Eye-Land: Conan Says Hawaiian

Conan says Hawaiian is part of a group of videos called Eye-land, which is kind of a dumb name for a collection of clips that mention Pacific Islanders. As Pacific Islanders sometimes we think we aren't in the public consciousness. So here's to showing that we're out their for better or worse. What do you think this clip says about being Native Hawaiian or Pacific Islander? Does it matter?

Maybe later I will figure out some kind of project to do with my collection.

Sharing New Media Tricks with Non-Profits

As I mentioned last week I was hired as a new media consultant for the Asian Pacific Policy and Planning Council www.a3pcon.org. I worked really hard on putting together what I had hoped would be a useful primer on basic communication strategies and how those can be extended into social or "new media" strategies.

I am hopeful that A3PCON has a budding successful new media strategy. Part of my recommendation moving forward is that they identify a short list of goals to pursue that they can attach actions to and easily quantify their progress.



These are two suggestions I have for quantifiable A3PCON goals:

1. To increase membership
2. To involve Asian and Pacific Islander individuals doing community work in non-Asian or Pacific organizations.

Based on the discussion I also thought these were two goals in terms of communication objectives, but they are a little harder to quantify.

3. To mobilize the Asian and Pacific Islander community
4. To define the first impression of A3PCON's work

As promised last week, below is the slideshow that I used with my presentation. Feel free to pass it around and let me know what you think of it. If you were an attendee at the retreat definitely leave some comments for me below. Thanks!

New media for non profits is easy (I promise)

View more presentations from Christen Marquez.

Powerpoint Tips That Will Save Your Ass

YOU SUCK AT POWERPOINT!

View more presentations from @JESSEDEE.

My friend Alisi sent me this really great Powerpoint presentation about how to give really great Powerpoint presentations. This was an extremely timely bit of wisdom seeing as I am giving a big powerpoint presentation on communication and new media this Friday for a non-profit called the Asian Pacific Planning and Policy Council (A3PCON) www.a3pcon.com. This presentation helped me kick up my slideshow and I am confident that it is going to be a good one. I put a lot of time into getting it together and I can't wait to let you know how the day goes with the A3PCON board and share my slideshow presentation as well. It is called "Non-Profits Can Do Social Media (I Promise)". Hope you like it!

Violence Erupts in Rapanui When Indigenous People Assert Their Rights

(AP Photo/Prensa Pueblo Rapa Nui)

Over the past few months the indigenous people of Rapanui have been attempting to assert their right to self governance in their ancestral homeland also known as Easter Island. At the core of this week's flair up is an occupation that has lasted for over one hundred years. Recently the Rapanui population on the island, which is about half of the total population of the island, has been staging non-violent protests on the island. These protests have been uncomfortable for the tourism industry on the island and embarrassing for the government of Chile. A few days ago police shot activists and journalists with rubber bullets.

To learn more about this conflict you read this short article on Yahoo news: http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20101204/ap_on_re_la_am_ca/lt_easter_island_riots

I also know that Kehaulani Kauanui of Indigenous Politics for Native New England and Beyond http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=61557912273 will be having a special podcast about this issue. I will post an update with a link to that podcast as soon as it has become available online.

Thoughts from Cambodian Student Activists after The Golden Voice Screening

A few weeks ago I attended the Khmer Student Coalition Conference at the University of Berkeley in California to begin getting the word out about Two Shadows, which is a feature film that I am producing with Director Greg Cahill. Nearly 200 student activists from the Khmer community came together under the theme of “Reflections from a Shattered Past”. I helped the organizers to program two films to kick-off the opening night of the three day conference. On the first evening of the event we screened The Golden Voice which is a short narrative film about Ros Sereysothea, a Cambodian rock singer who was killed during the Khmer Rouge. The main feature film that was screened is a wonderful documentary made in 2003 that I saw for the first time this year called The Flute Player. It follows a musician named Arn Chorn-Pond who survived the Pol Pot regime and continues to fight to preserve traditional Khmer music and culture as a way to cope with the genocide. I wrote a more detailed blog post about this film after I saw it which you can read here:

It was a wonderful experience to see so many young people thinking about how to empower their community. I was able to capture some of their words on video and I have posted them on YouTube.

New Logo For Paradocs Productions

Finally after about a year and a half of dreaming about a website and branding overhaul for Paradocs Productions I have been able to invest a little bit into the online presence for the company. I am working with Victor Pascual of Digital Navajo dnvjostudio.com a small but powerful design company. He is helping me put together a brand new website which will be up by early next year. For now he has developed this awesome new logo for me which I think is really cool. I hope that everyone likes it as much as I do.

2010 - 2011 Scholarship Directory for Pacific Islander and Asian Students

This is a great directory of scholarships available for the Asian and Pacific American students. You can download the directory here: http://www.scribd.com/doc/42700899/Asian-Pacific-Islander-Scholarship-Directory

Reading: Spotlight on New Media in Harvard Business Review

I headed to O`ahu the day before Thanksgiving to see my Mom, Auntie Linda, and her husband Uncle Chuck. One of my favorite things about flying is getting the chance to buy and read a whole bunch of magazines. Yes, young people still read magazines at least when I am on a plane I do. Hudson News is a great place to kill twenty or thirty minutes sifting through the racks and picking out a few eye catching periodicals. Usually the Harvard Business Review hbr.org/magazine does not make it with me to the check out counter with its $16 price tag, but the December 2010 issue boasted an eye-catching cover spotlighting “Social Media and the New Rules of Branding”. Given that I am doing leading a board retreat for a non-profit group early next month called the Asian Pacific Policy and Planning Council a3pcon.org, which I will be posting more about next month, I felt the cost was justifiable.

The spotlight section in the magazine consisted of four articles on the subject, and there was one additional article in the front of the magazine by Brian J. Dunn, CEO twitter.com/BBYCEO of electronics retailer Best Buy and how he has learned to love social media.

The articles in the spotlight section were thought provoking and full of case studies and examples of how social media plays into branding and communications in for profit businesses. However, the article I will be recommending to my non-profit clients is that of the Best Buy CEO, because his article chronicles how he has worked through many of the things that make many non-profits and other social media newbies uneasy. He has been using social media for the last five years and as the public social media voice for Best Buy he has seen it all from getting hacked to drama over a profanity laced employee created video but ultimately he concludes “The reality is that social media are where the national conversation are taking place today – and either you're a part of that conversation or not. “

Recommended Reading: How I Did It: Best Buy’s CEO on Learning to Love Social Media

Awesome Hawaiian Spoken Word Artist Performing in SoCal December 4th

I must confess that spoken word is not necessarily my favorite medium of artistic expression. Bad spoken word is one of the most unfortunate and avoidable forms of pain that can be inflicted on an individual. However, good spoken word is a rare but exhilarating experience. Cleaver and passionate monologue is one of the purest forms of communication. At it's best spoken word is as raw as it gets, and a good poetry performer is amazing to watch because that performer shows a powerful contradictory combination of vulnerability and strength. Jamaica Osorio is a precious talent whose work honors her heritage as a Native Hawaiian.



If you are in Southern California on December 4th you absolutely have to go to her performance. There will be many talented Pacific Islander artists at the event. For more information about the event and to purchase tickets go to: http://www.pieam.org/spokenword Here is the flyer:

Doc Talk: Surfwise

I watched a really great doc on the "first family of surf" the Paskowitz's last night, after coming upon the website and webisodes online. I was hooked, so I guess that campaign did it's job.

Even though this family is incredible they also reminded me in some ways of my own experiences growing up with my Father. He raised my brothers and myself as a single father starting from when I was eight years old. There were a lot of struggles disagreement and insanity, but in the long run I think we are all stronger for it.

It was funny though because it did spark a bit of debate between my boyfriend, Ryan http://ryangraber.com/, and I. After the film he said that he was glad that he wasn't raised like that because it seemed like there were so many opportunities that were cut off for the Paskowitz children because they had never received a formal education. This is true, and some amount of bitterness around this does come up in the film. However, I think it is a little more complex than that. It seems like for some of the opportunities that were closed off to the family, there were also many unique opportunities that came to the Paskowitz clan. Ultimately, I think it is very hard to compare the value of the upbringing of these people with anyone else in the world, since these nine people are an extremely unique group case.

Personally I believe your family is your family and for the most part people love their families no matter what. Given that, I would rather have an interesting family than a boring one.


(A picture of my Dad, me, and my youngest brother Will from a few years back. Looking as imperfect as we are. Ha ha)

I Got A Job With the Witness Protection Program

Well sort of, I've been doing some research about interactive and new media projects for the ITVS Project 360 initiative. So I am looking at examples of different types of online and multi-platform media. I have just been playing with one which is an audience engagement tool for a USA network show called In Plain Sight which is a crime drama following Mary Shannon, a U.S. Marshal attached to the highly secretive Federal Witness Protection Program (WITSEC). Your role in the game is the rookie Marshall at the WITSEC.


(screen shot of the game)


The new media component is found at http://www.witsecconfidential.com/ It is a story game something like (and I am about to date myself right now) Where in the World is Carmen Sandiego.

Toward the more hipster side of the spectrum is the music video for Arcade Fire's single The Wilderness Downtown. The video incorporates google street view images of your childhood home into the music video, and cool live animated typing kind of tool.

There are different video clips that are housed in a series of pop-up windows. It is really cool. Just don't try to resize or move the windows when they start popping up like I did at first ha ha! You can input your own address and get a customized video experience at http://www.thewildernessdowntown.com/ The video works best in the Google Chrome Browser.


(my desktop while playing the new Arcade Fire Video)

First Event USC - "PULE"

November first this month was the first event for USC's cleverly acronymed "PULE" Pacific Islander student group. I know that pule in the Hawaiian language means to pray. I think also Sāmoans and Tongans use the same or a similar word. Anyhow the group name stands for Promoting Unity, Liberation, and Education. The groups mission is to focus on Pacific Islander community-building and cross-cultural engagement.

The event was a panel discussion with Pacific Islander leaders from various fields. Including architect Faleomavaego Falanai Ala, a medical researcher Dr. Ray Samoa, mentor and educator David Ga'oupu Palaita. Also to my surprise there was another hapa kanaka woman filmmaker there as well named Jennifer Akana Sturla. I have just watched her film Kamea on Vimeo http://vimeo.com/13382244 and it is amazing.

David Palaita is doing awesome work in the Bay Area starting the first ever Pacific Islander studies program. Which is a totally historic and ground breaking accomplishment. Right now it is just starting up, but you can track the progress at their blog: http://www.ccsfpacificstudies.org/

It was a really cool night and I was glad that I went.


Pacific Islander film crew. From left to right Jennifer Akana Sturla, me, and Danny Ve'evalu

Fellow Native Arts and Cultures Awardees

This is the second spotlight on Native American talent that I am doing for the blog in honor of Native Heritage Month. I was recently awarded a grant from the Native Arts and Cultures Foundation http://nativeartsandcultures.com as part of the Artistic Innovation – Through the Soul of an Artist initiative. I decided that this week I will highlight just a few of the other individual artists who were also awarded this honor in 2010. This year eight artists were selected, below are just a few. To read more about all the artists from this year's cycle go to http://nativeartsandcultures.com/innovation It is such an honor to be included with this group of amazing talent.


Emily Johnson (Yup'ik)
Emily Johnson is dancer and choreographer whose work often functions as an “installation performance” that combines dance, storytelling vignettes, props, and theater sets. Funding for this project will assist the artist in the development of new work centered on movement, story, and sound housed within an installation of hand-made fish skin lanterns. The project will reach the stage after continued ripening of the piece. You can learn more about her and her work at: http://www.catalystdance.com/





Sonya Kelliher-Combs
Sonya Kelliher-Combs is a visual artist whose work is rooted in painting but is interwoven and influenced by traditional skin sewing and sculptural elements using animal parts. Funding for this project will support work with a master printer and the development of an exhibit. The project will culminate in a retrospective solo exhibit at the International Gallery of Contemporary Native Art in Anchorage. She is also on the board of the Alaska Native Arts Foundation: www.alaskanativearts.org



Ricardo Mendoza

Ricardo Mendoza is a seasoned muralist who follows in the tradition of the great Mexican muralists of the 20th century and the Chicano mural movements of California. Funding for this project will support the development of a large scale portable mural depicting the life of fabled Chemehuevi tribal member popularly known as “Willie Boy”. The project will culminate in the presentation of the mural in Yucca Valley, CA.

Martini Shorts Film Festival

I am going to this film and music event in Longbeach on Friday. I like it because it is Pacific Islander run, but it might not necessarily be obvious at first glance. You can check out the facebook event page here: http://www.facebook.com/event.php?eid=121983141193221 I am curious to see what the mix of the crowd is going to be like, but it is being put together by a really talented Sāmoan / Tahitian filmmaker named Hagoth Aiono http://www.hagothaiono.com/

Washington DC - Haku Inoa Screening

I know the Smithsonian screening at the National Museum of the Native American was a while ago now, but truthfully I moved and I misplaced the disk with the pictures from the Q&A. I was being stubborn and I did not want to put up this post without the picture. So now that I have found it, here we go! The screening was really great. I thought that the programming was intelligently crafted by Melissa Bisagni she paired Haku Inoa with Heart of the Sea which is the documentary bio-pic about surf legend Rell Sunn. My film lead really wonderfully into Heart of the Sea because that film begins with the explanation of Rell's Hawaiian name which is Kapolikaehukai which essentially translates to Heart of the Sea. The beginning of the film shows very briefly shows how important a name is to Hawaiians. In some sense the rest of the film is really an illustration of all the different ways that Rell fulfills the meaning of her name.

As a part of screening at the Smithsonian I was able to have a personal tour with a cultural interpreter, she was basically a guide to the museum. My guide was named Zandra it was really fun to get to know her and check out the museum. She knew so much about all aspects of the museum. Including the architecture, which was really interesting to me because my father is an architect

Overall I really enjoyed DC and the museum. I can't wait to go back again.

Take A Picture with a Real Indian

In celebration of Native American heritage month I will be highlighting the work one Native American artist each week during November. This week's artist is conceptual multimedia installation and performance artist James Luna of Payomkawichum (Luiseño) and Mexican American heritage. The first time I saw his work was when I was in high-school, he had a window installation at 911 Media Arts Center in Seattle, Wa. called Futuristic Native Outfits for Night Raids (and other paraphernalia). It was quite awhile ago, so I don't know if what I remember of the installation is real or just my memory twisting it up, but what I do remember was most certainly my first exposure to contemporary Native American art.

Here is a performance piece by Mr. Luna in observance of Columbus day from a few years ago.

Tech Stuff: Creating Droplets in Apple Compressor

On my most recent project for the California Immigrant Policy Center on the California Budget www.caimmigrant.org I am mixing footage from the Canon 7D camera and a Panasonic HVX200. It is really easy to combine these two formats into one sequence in Final Cut Pro. I was skeptical, but my DP Topher Osborn www.topherosborn.com assured me that it wouldn't be a problem.

With a little research online using the keywords (transcode, canon 7D, FCP) I was able to find a good work flow using the program Compressor to turn the 7D files into ProRes files. I even picked up a little trick for making droplets with Compressor from this video tutorial.

Research Findings on the Justice System’s Impact on Native Hawaiians

The Office of Hawaiian Affairs (OHA) has just released a study of how the justice system impacts Native Hawaiians. The findings of the report show need for improvement in how the system works with Native Hawaiians.

Here are a few of the most compelling pieces of information from the fact sheet:

Native Hawaiians make up the highest percentage of people incarcerated in out-of-state facilities.

In 2005, of the 6,092 people who were under the custody of the Public Safety Department, which includes people in jails, 29 percent (1,780) were in facilities operated by other states or private companies on behalf of states. Of the people in out-of-state facilities, 41 percent are Native Hawaiians.

Native Hawaiians receive longer prison sentences than most other racial or ethnic groups.

Controlling for severity of charge, age at arrest and gender of the person charged, Native Hawaiians are sentenced to 119 days more in prison than Tongans, 73 more days than Native Americans, 68 days more than Hispanics, and 11 days more than Whites.

Hawai`i has the largest proportion of its population of women in prison, with Native Hawaiian women comprising a disproportionate number of women in the prison.

While Native Hawaiian men and women are both disproportionately represented in Hawai`i’s criminal justice system, the disparity is greater for women. Forty-four percent of the women incarcerated under the jurisdiction of the state of Hawai‘i are Native Hawaiian. Comparatively, 19.8 percent of the general population of women in Hawai`i identify as Native Hawaiian or part Native Hawaiian.

To read the entire report, download fact sheets, and learn more about the study you can vising OHA's web page on the Criminal Justice System here: www.oha.org/disparatetreatment/

Webcasting for Rapanui Fundraising Event

I have been going crazy this week trying to figure out how to use Ustream with my MacBook Pro for next week's Being Rapanui fund raising event. I would definitely recommend against attempting this. The details are a little tech-y and not very interesting unless you are trying to figure out webcasting for yourself. If you are interested you can send me a message and I will tell you all about it. Ultimately I scrapped using a Mac and went to a PC.

The good thing is that since everything seems to be in working order the panel discussion from the event will be broadcast live over the Internet at this channel: http://www.ustream.tv/channel/being-rapanui

The "Save Rapa Nui" event will be an evening of film, music, art, food, and discussion of the indigenous people of Rapanui also know as Easter Island and their current struggle for sovereignty.

The event will be next Thursday October 28th, 2010 at the Barnsdall Art Theater in Los Angeles. The program will being at 6pm. Tickets and more information can be found at www.saverapanui.org

We will be showing the film Being Rapanui - but this will not be screening over the webcast, so if you are local to the Los Angeles area you have to buy a ticket and come out. But if you are outside the Los Angeles area please do tune in to the panel discussion.

Tanya Joshua of the White House Initiative on Asian American and Pacific Islanders

Last month I was part of a town hall style meeting of Pacific Islanders in Southern California who met with Tanya Harris Joshua. Tanya provides support for Pacific Islander outreach and Environment / Veteran's Affairs issues. She is a staff member of the new White House Initiative on Asian Americans, Native Hawaiians, and Pacific Islanders. She joined the Initiative from the U.S. Department of the Interior's Office of Insular Affairs (OIA).

The meeting began with an awesome meal where dishes from each of the island groups represented was served. Ono!

Afterward community members were given a chance to speak about their most pressing community concerns. The video about is just a small slice of what happened that evening.

I have forwarded this video on to Tanya who is passing it on to others. I hope that it can be helpful in raising the profile of Pacific Islander people and the challenges faced by the community.

Here is snippet of a reaction from congressional staffer Jed Bullock "I hope progress and results in the area of health data for AAPI populations and the territories will be yielded from the leadership and focus of IGIA (Interagency Group on Insular Areas). I know there once existed – if it does not still exist – an IGIA subgroup or task force on health data collection. The Delegates and Governors have repeatedly called for it over the years at the IGIA plenary sessions as you know, and the Chamorro gentleman as well as the Marshallese community leader captured on the video meeting with you touched on the need for a comprehensive cancer study/registry and diabetes survey among data. I hope these needs can be priorities within the Administration and through IGIA and the WHIAAPI."

ID Film Fest

Next weekend is the ID Film Fest ( www.idfilmfest.com ) which is a festival by filmmakers and for filmmakers who create Asian American content and/or of Asian descent. The festival runs for three days next weekend October 8th - 10th. The film I am most interested in seeing is Air Doll by Hirokazu Koreeda, the film premiered at the Cannes Film Festival in 2009 and is having its LA premiere screening at 10pm on October 9th.

"The movie is about a middle-aged man whose closest friend is a life-sized doll. This isn’t just any sex doll though; it was made with a heart. So when the man goes to work during the day, the doll goes out and explores the world. This film portrays the loneliness and lack of human connection in not only Japan but all industrialized big cities around the world." — Koji Steven Sakai

For all filmmakers interested in getting some free insight into the business there is going to be a Filmmaker Crash Course on Sunday from 10am - 2pm. Which will be a rapid fire pandemonium of short seven to ten minute presentations on everything you need to know about filmmaking from development to marketing.

I will be participating in the Asian American (and secretly Pacific) Independent Feature Conference. I will be there meeting people and developing more interest in the feature film I am working on with Greg Cahill called Two Shadows. I will let you all know how things went after next weekend.

All events will be taking place at the Los Angeles' National Center for the Preservation of Democracy, 111 N. Central Ave.

Girls to the Front - History of the Riot Grrl Movement

I was just sent a link to a project called "Girls to the Front" by a woman that I used to work with as a Camera Assistant in New York City Mary Billyou. The project is a online collection of videos, like the one above, of women speaking about their experiences with the Riot Grrl movement. The videos are an online accompaniment to a book written by Sara Marcus, who is also the woman in the video above. Her book is a history of the movement.

Check out what Vainity Fair has to say about the book -

"Sara Marcus’s Girls to the Front is not only a historical rockument of the revolutionary 90s counterculture Riot Grrrl movement, which birthed the DIY feminist punk scene, but also a rousing inspiration for a new generation of empowered rebel girls to strap on guitars and stick it to The Man." — Vanity Fair

3 tips from New Media Bootcamp - week one

Thank you very much to Pacific Islanders in Communications who sponsored me to attend the two week New Media bootcamp being put together by Los Angeles non-profit LAANE and the Liberty Hill Foundation.

There was a whole host of incredible speakers including Philip Holmes, L.A. Director, Blue State Digital (the group that ran the new media for Barack Obama's presidential election campaign) and Rob Kramer of Campaign Live which is an easy to use low cost tool for fundraising and awareness widgets. It was a packed day but there were some useful concepts that I came away with. Here are the top five.

"A/B Testing"

How will you know if your messaging is maximized for your audience? You should use A/B testing. For example when you send out your email blast to your mailing list split it in half. It is a great way to find out what your audience responds to. For example on your donate button does "join the movement" or "support the cause" work better. If you send both of the phrases out you will have a better idea of what works for you.

Be Consistent

I have to admit that this is a big problem for me with my work. I am so busy running around shooting, writing grants, or just general hustling that I have a hard time getting things like blog posts together. But really posting at least two to three times a week is a requirement. I know this is hard to hear and even harder to follow through with.

Listen

Communication online is not a one way street. The beauty of social media is being about to talk directly to your audience and ask for their ideas and opinions. What better way to be able to cater directly to your audience than to find out straight from them the kind of content they most want to see?

Mauna Kea: Temple Under Siege Screening

This past Saturday I organized a screening of a documentary film called Mauna Kea: Temple Under Siege. It was held in the Asian Pacific American Legal Center's 1st Floor Community Room. This film was finished in 2006 ago but it is a great video to set the stage to discuss the current new telescope developments happening on Mauna Kea and Haleakala. At the screening I presented a slide show on the issues by KAHEA - The Hawaiian Environmental Alliance. I would suggest visiting both the KAHEA and Mauna Kea film websites I have linked here to learn more about the issues facing the precious summits of Hawai'i.

Around twenty people came, and we collected 17 signatures to protect the summits. This was the first screening of this type that I have organized, and I look forward to organizing more.

You can also stream the entire film at Asia Pacific Films

Here is a excerpt of the Mauna Kea Film for you to check out:

I'm a typical Pacific Islander Lady

So according to some demographics work done by the venerable institution of Okcupid.com I am evidently a fairly typical PI Woman being that hula and kickboxing are in the top five things that Pacific Islander women like. However it is atypical evidently that I do not like Michael Buble.

Good to know...

It's not Hollywood or Bollywood, it's Nollywood!

The poster for Reggae Boys, which stars two of Nollywood's most famous stars.

The Nigerian movie industry also known as Nollywood produces about 2,500 movies a year. Which is about two and a half times as many films as Bollywood and over five times as many as Hollywood. The average Nollywood film costs between $17,000 and $25,000 US. The Nigerian film scene is fiercely low budget and DIY, but what makes it extremely interesting is the authenticity of the movies. This authenticity and proud African point of view is explored in depth in the documentary "Nollywood Babylon". This doc is one of the best written that I have seen in a long time.

Foxes! Dare to do What Others Dream Of

I went to a really fun event last week at the The Cinefamily the venue is also known as "the silent movie theater". I hope that most of you in L.A. know about this great place.

The night sleepover party themed. The main event was a double feature of a film released in 1980 called Foxes. Which stars Jodie Foster and features a teenage skateboarding Scott Baio, and a creepy cradle robbing Randy Quaid.

There was complimentary wine provided by Bear Flag Winery and delicious gelato from Paciugo

This trailer does not do justice at all to the insane campy brilliance of this film's dialog.

Trailer:

If your parents bought you cigarettes as a teenager. If you ever got mixed up with a tranny named Burt. If you have ever gone toe-to-toe with a pimp on the boulevard. If you love Donna Summers or if you love the movie "Nowhere" by Gregg Araki even half as much as I do. This movie is a must.

Emerging Hawaiian Filmmaker

A fellow filmmaker Hagoth Aiono brought to my attention. It's really pretty stuff.

Armed with a Camera

Visual Communications annual armed with a camera fellowship is accepting applications again from now until October 2010.

The information on the website is out of date. So you can check out generally what the requirements are here: http://www.vconline.org/artistops/awc.html

The person to send it to is different (Kennedy Kabasares) so if you have any other questions just email her at her contact below.

How to Apply

Please send the following:

Information Cover Sheet (Go to www.vconline.org to download)

Letter of intent
Resume
Project Treatment (2 page maximum)
Project Timeline (All projects must begin in November 2010 and must be completed by March 30, 2011)
Budget (if proposed budget exceeds $500, you must show/explain other sources of funding; budget items may include artist stipend, equipment, supplies, location fee, food, etc.)
Sample work cued to five minutes
Self-addressed stamped envelope for return of sample work

DEADLINE: Received by 5PM, October 1, 2010. For any questions or concerns, please feel free to call Kennedy Kabasares at (213) 680-4462 x32 or by email.

Email to: kennedy@vconline.org
Fax: (213) 687-4848

Mail to:

Visual Communications, 120 Judge John Aiso St., Basement Level, Los Angeles, CA 90012

Stories from the 2010 SoCal 'Ohana Retreat

Here are a some short videos that I helped Uncle Victor and Auntie Jane Pang get online. Some interesting Hawaiian stories and legends as well as how to put an imu pit together. Enjoy!

New York Smithsonian Screening - Haku Inoa

Sorry for the late update here on the East Coast Smithsonian Screenings. Both of the screenings were really fantastic for two main reasons. Number one to have my first museum screenings at two different Smithsonian museums is an amazing privilege. Secondly, it is inspiring to see the work of other Pacific Islander Filmmakers and learn about other indigenous cultures from all around the world.

First a short update on New York. Shortly I will get up an entry about DC, because the DC screening and trip was really amazing and deserves its own post!!!



The team from the Film and Video Center in New York were lovely. I was happy to be able to attend the artist reception on Wednesday before the Pasifika Showcase began. I had a chance to speak with Nancy Brunning who is in a wonderful Maori film called The Strength of Water. You can see the trailer here. Unfortunately, to be honest, the trailer doesn't do the film justice.

The Strength of Water is paced like a comforting drift of a lazy river. However, this underlying ease is upset by the trauma of the sudden accidental death of a young Maori girl named Melody. The entire village mourns her loss bitterly, but none more so than her twin brother Kimi. The film explores grief through magical realism brought to life through the love and loss of a young child.

Haku Inoa screened on a Saturday afternoon with a collection of other short films. A few hula sisters from New York and film school friends came by, and the Q&A after the films was fairly lively. There were maybe 50 or so folks at the screening, but that is not too surprising since it was a sunny Saturday afternoon in New York.

Two Shadows: A Fresh Cambodian-American Film, Now Casting Small Parts

Los Angeles Production of the exciting new feature film by Greg Cahil (Director of The Golden Voice) begins next week and we still looking to cast a few small roles for a scene that will be shot in Echo Park from 10am - 6pm on June 16th. We are looking for two "groupies", three guys or girls for "bandmates", a "bartender" someone with a greaser kind of look is preferred, and four or more "bar patrons".

Two Shadows is about Sovanna (Sophea Pel) a Long Beach hipster wannabe who receives a cryptic letter from Cambodia claiming that her two long-lost siblings are still alive. Ditching her dead-end lifestyle and alcoholic father, Sovanna travels to her birthplace alone to seek out her brother and sister who disappeared during the civil war 20 years earlier. With guidance from a quirky motorbike driver named Munny (Polo Doot), Sovanna launches her search into the dark corners of Cambodia. Upon discovering a girl who may or may not be her real sister (Lida Lang), Sovanna is ensnared into an increasingly dangerous situation, pitting her in a tug-of-war between her own personal safety, and her hopeful compassion for a stranger.

If you are interested please email Christen at 2shadowscasting@gmail.com with a picture of yourself and the role you are interested in.

One Voice: This is No Ordinary High School Musical

I am lucky enough to have Director of One Voice Lisette Maire Flanary (Lehua Films) a writing mentor, so before writing this entry I met up with Lisette at IHOP in downtown LA (my suggestion) to ask "Would it offend you if I described your documentary as Spellbound meets Native Hawaiian soul?". Her eyebrow raised and she shot up straight in the booth "No way! That's exactly how we pitched it."

One Voice follows a group of teenage chorus directors as they compete for the honor of their young lifetime. To represent their class and compete to take home the grand prize trophy in the Kamehameha Schools song contest. The contest is a unique amalgam of Hawaiian language songs, intense vocal arrangements, with a healthy pinch of band geek. Which, is totally hot now thanks to Glee.

This is Lisette's third film destined for public television broadcast, and is her most emotionally gripping documentary to date. While watching One Voice at the Los Angeles Asian Pacific Film Festival the audience in the Director's Guild Theater, completed absorbed in the action, applauded enthusiastically along with the proud onscreen parents after the song performances.

One Voice will be airing next year on Public Television, until then the film will be screening at film festivals domestically and internationally. You can see the trailer a www.onevoicemovie.com

Inciting Incidents

I have be struggling with finding a launching point for the 2,500th revision of this treatment I am doing. The major sticking point seems to be finding a inciting incident that really begins the quest for my name. I haven't found it yet, but I feel like I am getting a little bit closer at least thanks to this awesome blog entry from on the New Doc Editing website called "Launching the Protagonist's Quest"

Short Film: The Lychee Thieves

ENCORE PRESENTATION TONIGHT THURSDAY MAY 6TH AT THE LA ASIAN PACIFIC FILM FEST: http://asianfilmfestla.org/2010/encore-screening-of-big-island-films-short-program-56/

I saw The Lychee Thieves as part of the "Big Island Films" program at the L.A. Asian Pacific Film Festival. This charming short film was shot last year on my home island of O'ahu. Beautiful cinematography by Anne Misawa (Treeless Mountain)helps the film stand apart from others in the program. But what I enjoyed most was the film's ability to distill complex cultural conflicts unique to islands into a cohesive and moving film under 30 minutes.

I spoke with Executive Producer Stephen Gyllenhaal at the Q&A after the screening. He told me Lychee Thieves is one of three short films that will eventually become a larger feature film called called Cosmopolitan. I am excited to see it once it all comes together.

For more information on screenings of Lychee Thieves take a look at: www.lycheethieves.com

Paid Summer Arts Internships

AVAILABLE THROUGH

LOS ANGELES COUNTY ARTS INTERNSHIP PROGRAM


Job opportunities and descriptions posted April 28


Students should apply as soon as possible -- Internship positions close as soon as they are filled during
the April 28 to May 31 application period.


Los Angeles County, through its Arts Commission, has given grants totaling $250,000 to arts organizations throughout Los Angeles County to support paid internships for college undergraduates in summer 2010. Descriptions of and contacts for the internship positions will be posted on the Arts Commission’s Web site from April 28 to May 31, 2010. Go to www.lacountyarts.org, click on “Internships,” then “2010 Internship Positions.”


Interested students should apply as soon as possible as positions are closed as soon as they are filled. Students apply directly to the organization offering the internship, not the Arts Commission.


Qualifications: Graduating seniors who complete their undergraduate degrees by September 1, 2010 are eligible, as well as undergraduates. Applicants must have completed at least one semester of college by June 2010 and be currently enrolled (full-time) in a community college or a four-year university. Applicants must be a resident of and/or attending school in Los Angeles County.


Job Descriptions: Interns work for 10 consecutive weeks starting between May 31 and June 11, 2010 and ending between August 6 and August 20, 2010. They are paid $350 per week, for 40 hours a week, and take part in educational and arts networking activities. Through the program, interns gain a deeper understanding of the work involved in nonprofit arts administration and the role of the arts in a community and develop business skills that can be put to use in their future careers. Internship host organizations help mold and shape potential new arts leaders who may go on to hold positions on staffs, boards or as volunteers.


Students who are residents of County Supervisor Gloria Molina’s district may contact Rosamaria Marquez, (323) 881-7048 or ramarquez@lacbos.org.


Job Descriptions / Zip Codes:
Administrative Intern
Artist Department Intern
Assistant to Executive Director
Community Database Coordinator
Concert Database Coordinator
Development and Marketing Associate
Development Intern
Institute for Educators Intern
Junior Program Coordinator
Marketing & Communications Associate
Marketing & Development Intern
Marketing Intern
Theatre Intern
Theatrical Production Intern

What if Annie Leibovitz was a psyhic caught in a slasher pic?

You would get "Eyes of Laura Mars" (1978)Set in late 70's New York City, Laura Mars is tense, outragously stylish murder mystery starring Faye Dunaway and Tommy Lee Jones. Fashion photographer Laura Mars (Dunaway)is the rising star of chic. Growing in infamy and notoriety for her sexualized depictions of violence.

Mars' glamorous world of double popped collars and pouty fuchsia lips collides suddenly with savagery. When her increasingly vivid artistic visions begin to fortell the murders of her dearest friends. She struggles to understand what she is forced to see through a killers eyes -- before it is too late.

Love it!!!

Check out the opening song. Sung by Barbara Streisand, and it can't hurt that it features photography by Helmut Newton and is the first studio feature written by John Carpenter.

Happy MLK Day

“Nonviolence is a powerful and just weapon. It is a sword that heals. [It] cuts without wounding and ennobles the man who wields it.”
- Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.

Asian and Pacific Islander Networking

APA-UCLA

STUDENT CAREER

NETWORKING

CONFERENCE

THURSDAY, JANUARY 14, 2010

6:00 PM - 9:00 PM

Apa-ucla Student Career Networking Conference

Tour De Nez - 2010

Here is a promotional video for the cycling race Tour De Nez (pronounced Nay, you know like French for nose). I was one of the motorcycle camera operators for the show that was on Versus in 2009. It was pretty fun. It's good to know they are back on for 2010. Some of the footage I shot last year is used in the promo for this year.