Once upon a time… I used to make films

Yeah, it was a long time ago, in a galaxy far, far away. I made film. That’s me with the shorter hair, in the back row, that’s my cousin Mike next to me with the shortest hair in 1997. Our film Sunsets played the festival in SF, and I think that’s where this shot was taken.

That’s Chris Chan Lee on the left. He just came out with Undoing and made Yellow. Justin Lin next to him who made Shopping for Fangs and as you know many other films, including Fast and Furious 3, Rea Tajiri smiling – she made Strawberry Fields and lives on the east coast. Quentin Lee who co-made Shopping for Fangs on the bottom right. He’s still trucking along in cinema. Cousin Mike Idemoto was the lead in Charlotte Sometimes, and is slowly working on film projects. You can imdb search all of these folks to see what’s going on in their lives. It was a great time in 1997 – 11 years ago… I’m proud to say I was there, and it was the genesis of the current “wave” of Asian American films. Sunsets is all but forgotten now, the kids who are turning out feature projects on hi-def video have no idea what sound sync 16mm is all about. The BS we went through is still around for sure, but it’s a little bit better for everyone, I’m glad to have a part in that.

Here’s where that link exists.