SDAFF or bust

On Saturday we took the scenic route to San Diego, where I was scheduled to moderate a panel for the San Diego Asian Film Festival on Sunday. First we had to swing by Culver City to check out Ai Yamaguchi's show at Roberts and Tilton, which was opening that night.


Ai was being interviewed by Cosmo when we arrived, but her husband Singo was present with the person we really wanted to see--their son Rei.


Rei has great hair, Ai makes amazing art, and we were glad to see everyone--if even for just a little bit.


We were running way too late to visit my brother, so we decided to take our time and pull over in Solano Beach to give Eloise a snack and check out the sunset.


Eloise had never been to the beach and was fairly mesmerized by the whole scene. She was also amped about the swings, but you'll have to visit her blog to see those pics.


Part of me wanted to stop at a 'Bertos, but Rubio's was probably a better introduction to San Diego Mexican food for Eloise. She dug the beans, the avocadoes, and the aquarium.


The Town & Country was pretty swanky resort with a '60s tiki vibe.


When we checked in at the hospitality suite the next morning, we bumped into the grand poobah of the SDAFF: Lee Ann Kim. Wendy and I marvelled at how she holds down a gig as a news anchor, oversees the festival, and raises two awesome kids and a husband.


The panel itself went really well. There were probably 50-60 people in attendance to hear Jim Lee and Greg Pak's discussion on Hollywood and Comics. After they gave brief rundowns on how they started and what they're up to, we addressed topics including panels vs. storyboards, good bad adaptations from the '70s, why this is a golden age of comics, whether or not comics is really a sausage party, how Hollywood helps comics and isn't sucking it dry, what it's like to work for The Man, and how well the Korean American comic creators would do in a comics survivor.


Even thought there were only two panelists, I was a bit apprehensive about moderating them since they work for arch-enemy companies Marvel and DC. But they were great. I think it was Jim who said, "But we're both Korean!" The SDAFF isn't over yet, so it's not too late to Google the scheduel. And when it is over, the programming goes to Riverside. That means Jeff Soto and members of the BellRays can see Dirty Hands, Chocolate, and all the other great movies in their own backyard.