Thanks to everyone who came out to INTERPRETATIONS: So You Really Want To Make Films?, our sold-out filmmaking panel on May 2 during the Los Angeles Asian Pacific Film Festival. This is a new program created by director Justin Lin (Better Luck Tomorrow, Fast & Furious) and his fellow Offenders/bloggers at YOMYOMF.com (including yours truly) to support and nurture our community of aspiring filmmakers (thanks to KoreAm for being one of our sponsors). If you want to make films, we want you to get involved.
Go to our brand-new website devoted to this initiative at interpretationsfilm.com. There, you’ll find all the information about how you can take part. But basically this is what what you need to do to participate:
Make a film of no more than 3 minutes using the script we provide which consists of the following four lines:
It’s not something I’d do.
Well?
It’s not what I expected.
You sure?
That’s right. Everyone will make a film using only those four lines of dialogue, but be as creative as you can in how you “interpret” this script. We’ve collected a jury of distinguished industry professionals (with more to be added later) to review all the entries so this is your opportunity to show us what you can do (check out the current list of jurors here). Five finalists will also each get $3,000 toward their next project and a one-year subscription to the WGA’s Written By magazine. You can start uploading your films starting May 15 and the deadline is September 1. Again, go to our Interpretations site for all the info.
One Script, Endless Possibilities…
We really hope you’ll consider participating in Interpretations by making and submitting your own film. If you’re not a filmmaker, help us spread the word to those who might be interested. Nothing would make us happier then to discover an aspiring director with talent and vision who otherwise would have no way of getting their foot in the door.
If you visit the Interpretations site, you’ll notice some short films already on the homepage. We commissioned eight of our filmmaker friends to make their own shorts using our script to help us launch the initiative. These “sample” shorts will give you an idea of how other people approached this exercise and I’m sure you’ll be surprised by the diversity and quality of the work. A few of the shorts are up now with more to come so visit often. The eight films are:
I Felt My Life In Both Hands
By Kenneth Bi (Hong Kong-based director of The Drummer, Sundance Fest Critics’ Pick by Hollywood Reporter)
Good Shot
By David Chan (visual effects artist, Fast & Furious)
Far East Futura
By Evan Leong (Short form, music video and documentary director)
Cambodian American
By Spencer Nakasako (Emmy Award winning director, Refugee)
Blowout Sale
By Danny Pudi (star of NBC’s Community) with his filmmaking team of Timothy Kendall and Chris Marrs
Orient Express
By Wong Fu Productions (indie production company with over 15 million views online)
Canvas
By Mora Stephens (Independent Spirits Awards’ John Cassavettes Award-winning director, Conventioneers)
Represent
By Iris Yamashita (Oscar nominated writer, Letters From Iwo Jima)
For those who weren’t at our panel, you can read my live-blog here.
Looking forward to seeing all your films!
Thanks to Toyota, our title sponsor, and our additional sponsors: Audrey Magazine, FOX, KoreAm Journal, Universal Studios and the Writers Guild of America, West.
