STRANGER NOW PREMIERE

The short debuted at the Los Angeles Asian Pacific Film Festival on Tuesday, May 3rd to a packed audience inside the CGV theater in Korea Town. The cast, crew, and the supporters really enjoyed the whole experience from the photo call to the hanging out afterwards. 

ETTV, a global Chinese news outlet interviewed me and Cody, the boy actor, on the red carpet. We discussed the film in the context of the homelessness problem and the economic recession. I also spoke about the wonderful collaboration with Collin, who was filming in China and couldn't attend.

Abe, the co-director of the Festival & a true friend of filmmakers, conducted the post-screening Q&A. He asked some very thoughtful questions, and I thought, "Man, I better step up to the plate."

Many people stayed afterwards to chat. Here I'm with my collaborators, some of them couldn't make it for the photo call. Honestly, it was a hectic evening for me. Wave after wave of people approached me to talk. At the same time, seeing the big smile on everyone's faces made this a night impossible to forget.

Best,

Ignatius Lin

p.s. Shout out to Loïc for becoming #100 fan on my Facebook page. The page is full of breaking news, insightful analysis, updates about my adventure in filmmaking. 

STRANGER NOW PREMIERES TONIGHT

97 Facebook shares, 5-star rating on the festival page.

STRANGER NOW (sponsored by NBC-Uni & FIND, starring Collin Chou) PREMIERES IN 12 HOURS at the LA Asian Pacific Film Festival. It is a story about an unlikely friendship between a boy and a homeless man.

We are very fortunate to be receiving international press coverage for this movie. Here are links to some of the articles, if you're interested: Ovation, SingTao, and World Journal.

Tickets are still available. We love to see you there and truly appreciate your help to spread the words. And please consider following my FB page, twitter feed, or this blog - if you aren't signed up already.

Launch Party - Los Angeles Asian Pacific Film Festival

Had a GREAT time attending the festival's launch party at the swanky Solair's Sky Deck in Koreatown, courtesy of the festival.

My short, Stranger Now, is premiering at the festival on Tuesday, May 3rd, 9pm. I feel very honored. Invitations to parties are one of the perks. My wife, my friend (Joseph), the producer/writer (Paul) and I had a blast. DJ setting the right mood. Open bar. Free appetizers. I had a Kirin, and we ate crab cakes and sweet pork buns (my fav. at the party).

The best thing was I got to hang out with my wife, my friends, and some AMAZING filmmakers. People come up with creative names for their projects, like Kosher Pig and Confession of a Nice Guy.

Next week, I'll be doing some press interviews for the film. Very excited and a little nervous. Wish me luck, and I look forward to "talking" to you again.   

For more info about the Stranger Now screening, including ticketing, please click here.

I'll be blogging, facebooking, and tweeting during the festival. You can follow me via twitter or facebook.

(with Joseph, who just finished working on the Green Lantern)

(screen shot of Stranger Now playing as a part of the festival official trailer)

(with Erin, who also has a short in the fest)

(with Paul, actor/producer/writer - triple threat)

Stranger Now Featured on Actor Access Mobile's Preview Page

I feel so blessed to receive such cool exposure on Actors Access, one of the biggest casting services in North America. I found out about this last week from my actor friend, Tiger Sheu.

I have received an outpouring of support from many friends and family members regarding this news and the film, which has made this unexpected exposure that much sweeter. I have received impassioned online messages from a family friend and a fellow filmmaker! When I found out that a HS classmate of mine recommended Stranger Now to her friends, I allowed myself to enjoy a sense of accomplishment. This is one of the highest form of compliments an artist can receive. I'm thinking about my fellow filmmakers and supporters who helped make this film happen. I am filled with joy.

If you're interested, the movie is now available on Vimeo (http://vimeo.com/13828287). Here is the official FB page.

By the way, I hope to join Tiger at the SXSW premier of his film, Blacktino, produced by producer of Spy Kids and Sin City (by Robert Rodriguez) and starring Danny Trejo and Jeff Fahey. Big CONGRATS to Tiger!

(app's preview page)

The Spirit of Independence: Oscar-nominated Indie Films

A very cool event going down this Wednesday night. Directors from the Oscar-nominated The Kids Are All Right, Winter's Bone, and Rabbit Hole will speak candidly about their crafts.

Here's a glimpse of the talk 2 weeks ago given by the Oscar-winning director of The Exorcist and The French Connection.

Sundance, Slamdance Orientation at Film Independent

 
Three qualified speakers shared many insights about these 2 major festivals that are applicable to filmmakers, film lovers, or just casual film goers.

Javier Fuentes-León - Director of Undertow, winner of the Audience Award at 2010 Sundance & Project:Involve Alumnus

Drea Clark - Executive Director, Slamdance & MV programmer LAFF

Nguyen Tran - Producer's Rep


General Matters
-What you want to get out of festival?
-How do you want to come across?
-Come up w/ a wish list (priority list).
-Befriend the staff. Interact with them. Inspire good will.
-Ask nicely for film to be shown the first 5 days of festival.
-People are approachable at the festivals, more than seeing them in LA.
-Make individual connection with everyone you encounter.
-People will go bat for you if they love your film.
-Know your collaborators: their experience, their tastes, their comfort
-Who are there? Distributors, producers, reps.

Publicity
-Check in w/ the festival publicist.
-Know who's the press. Get festival's press list.
-Remember you are a client to your publicist. You should have a rapport with them, know who they speak with during the fest. Make sure they are visible to you and in the festival.

Producer's Rep
-Know your product. What's the goal? Empower the rep to sell your film because it's a long, hard process.
-The rep checks the expectations of their clients. On the same page?

Marketing/Audience
-Target the locals in advance w/ radio ads. They are bodies who blog, do social network.
-Creative promotions: chocolate hearts for romance movie, zombie performers, "dead strong" wrist band for a movie about zombie's rights.

If you don't have a film but has a script
-Have your one-line
-But people like to feel they make a connection. Not things thrust on them. Make good, fun connection. Come across you have something fun in your back pocket.
-Get a card and send script after Sundance.

If you have film
-Talk about the strength in your film and how you plan to follow up. Put yourself into the flow of things.
-They maybe not have bought your film, but they want to partner with you on your next project. People want to be first in line for the new talent.

Parties
-Everywhere but your hotel rooms. Some hard-to-get-in-party, once you get in, it's disappointing. Spend every waking moments meeting people.
-Relax, enjoy people you went there with.

Resources
Indiewire
Screen Daily
Nikki Finke 
Sundance
Slamdance

*Special thanks to Paul from FIND for organizing this amazing event.

Nic Cage Losing His Sh*t!!

This is freaking craaaazzy!!! Had to stop myself from finish watching it, or else there's no way I can have a good night's sleep!



Thanks to Josh Welsh from Film Independent for sharing this mind-bending piece of I-don't-know-what-you-call-this.

An Introduction to Production Sound | Film Independent

I am attending a sound class tonight, courtesy of Francisco from Film Independent! Sound is half of the movie, as they say, but it's surprising to see how many filmmakers neglect sound recording when they shoot and pay for it in post. I have worked with some awesome sound people and developed a great respect for this aspect of filmmaking. I'm looking forward to learning a lot from this class, taught by Arran Murphy (The Wheeler Boys, Hollywood je t'ame).

Film Independent offers this and many other wonderful classes. The Art of Editing class is excellent. I've included the link below if you like to know more about Film Independent and their educational resources.

An Introduction to Production Sound | Film Independent

Lionsgate's Joe Drake: 'You can’t just have a dream, you have to have a plan'

Complete transcript of the keynote speech by Liongate's COO.

Blew my mind. Inspiring! Insightful! Pragmatic!

Toolkit | Lionsgate's Joe Drake: 'You can’t just have a dream, you have to have a plan' - indieWIRE

Sylvester Stallone @ the Los Angeles Film Festival - Definitely NOT Expendable

Stallone was treated like a ROCK STAR at this special event where he spoke about the highs and lows of his career, analyzed his own work, and showed sneak preview clips of The Expendables.

The people in the audience idolized him. The type of questions he got during Q & A was "Mr. Stallone, you are such an inspiration to all of us. What is the secret of your success?" People cheered, and women screamed! A little girl and her dad equally excited seeing their idol! I understood what is star power, what is a loyal fan base.

               (The insightful Elvis Mitchell w/ the star Stallone)

Stallone is supreme at cultivating his hero-myth. He'd have you think that he IS Rock, he IS Rambo. That he understand the soul of underdogs, ordinary folks vying for a chance to prove their worth. "To succeed or fail on their own terms" was the way he put it. He worked the crowd with his charm, wit, intelligence, and most importantly sense of hope. Even I got swept up in the fervor in this auditorium on this night.  

World Journal Interview Part 2

Here are additional excerpts from my recent interview with World Journal, the largest Chinese-language newspaper in North America:

"Ignatius Lin has reached many creative breakthroughs with his outstanding talent and ideas. If his latest short film, Stranger's Now, wins at the Austin Film Festival, it will become eligible for an Oscar nomination. That would be a proud achievement for the Chinese-American community.

At the age of 12, Ignatius immigrated to Los Angeles with his family. He wrote, directed, and acted in many plays from junior high through high school. Unlike many people, he didn't think attending film school is a prerequisite to making movies. Instead he graduated from Amherst College with a degree in economics. He said both filmmaking and economics deal with observations of human beings and have tremendous influences on people's lives. At the same time, an economics degree helps him with the business aspect of movie-making...

                                                                          (Amherst College)

For someone whose film career appears to be progressing rather smoothly, Ignatius actually encountered many setbacks. At first, he only focused on expressing his own ideas and neglected his audience. "What are you trying to say?" were many of his audience's feedback. Suffering these disappointments helped him realize that the most important thing is the exchange that takes place between the filmmakers and their audience... 

He came to understand that a director is a leader. The most special quality director must possess is the ability to harness the talent around him/her to tell a good story. Therefore, he is very open to hearing his collaborators' inputs. A good director must know how to inspire his/her actors rather than showing them how to act... Director is like a shepherd, ensuring that the actors stay on the right course and protecting them from external distractions."

World Journal Interview

World Journal is the largest Chinese-language newspaper in North America. The article talked about my recent short film, Stranger Now, sponsored by NBC-Universal and Film Independent. It also profiled my background. 

Here is a small excerpt:
"Born in Taiwan, Ignatius relocated with his family to Hong Kong when he was 10. He went to the cinema very often with his mother and brother, which spurred his tremendous interest in movies. When he saw Wong Kar-wai's Days of Being Wild at the age of 11, he decided he wanted to become a filmmaker and began writing his first screenplay."

More to come...

LA Film Festival: Roger Corman

 (Peter Fonda, Peter Bogdanovich, Joe Dante, Julie Corman, Roger Corman, Curtis Hanson)

As a director/writer fellow for Film Independent, I received a free pass to the LA Film Festival in downtown LA. It was incredible!! I met so many passionate filmmakers and film lovers and attended many cool screenings and panels.

For me the highlight of the festival was probably the Corman tribute. It took place at an intimate venue inside the Grammy museum. Roger Corman, a legendary American independent producer, was to be honored by those whose careers he launched or helped develop. Beforehand, I knew that Corman would be there and Curtis Hanson (director of LA Confidential, 8 Miles, Wonder Boys) would moderate.

When I arrived at the venue, I could feel a buzz in the air. I sat about 5 rows from the stage. During the introduction by the festival director, Rebecca Yeldham, I looked over to the corridor behind me. My heart almost lept out of my chest. I saw Roger Corman (cool but no surprise). Then I saw PETER FONDA and PETER BOGDANOVICH!!! These are movie gods. I become really excited.

When these men were joined on the stage by Joe Dante (director of Gremlins) and Julie Corman (wife and producing partner), everyone in the audience knew this was going to be a special evening.

To be cont.

Project:Involve Showcase | Film Independent

Showcase of short films by some of the best indie filmmakers today. It takes place this Thursday at the magnificent Disney Concert Hall (REDCAT). And it's FREE! 

It is sponsored by my fellowship, Project:Involve. For more info:

Project:Involve Showcase | Film Independent

Directing Assignment sponsored by NBC-Universal and Film Independent

I got selected to direct a short sponsored by NBC-Universal and Film Independent! The story is about a homeless man who is building a beautiful model home. When the "home" is accidentally damaged, he is forced to seek help from a teenage boy, new to homelessness, who has the tools to fix the home.

Homeless is a widespread problem, especially severe in LA. I hope to address this subject matter in an authentic, heartfelt manner. The movie I want to reference is Jason Reitman's Up in the Air -- for its social consciousness, compassion for the characters, and focus on how people relate and change each other.

Film Independent will provide cash stipend for the shoot, and NBC-Universal will provide equipments and props.

If you like to receive more detailed updates, please become a "follower" directly on my blog.

Independent Spirit Awards - Tonight - in LA and on IFC

The Independent Spirit is... from Independent Spirit Awards

FIND Director's Close-up: Comedy

I learnt that a woman, Amy Heckerling, directed Fast Time at Ridgemont High -- just another example of how our biases can limit our mind.

FIND Director's Close-up: John Lee Hancock

Director Hancock (The Blindside), his casting director, and actors gave a revealing and interesting talk about casting and directing actors tonight. Jason Patric had many insightful things to say about acting.

Directors Close-up Kicks off with Jason Reitman

Jason Reitman, the Oscar-nominated director of Up in the Air, and his creative team pulled back the curtain and revealed the inner workings of an Best Picture Oscar-nominated movie.

The following directors and/or directors will speak at the subsequent Directors Close-up events, and I highly recommend you check them out:

Marc Webb ((500) Days of Summer, upcoming Spider Man movie)
John August (Big Fish, Charlie and the Chocolate Factory)
Ruben Fleischer (Zombieland)
Mark Waters (Mean Girls)
Mike White (The School of Rock)
Neil Labute (Lakeview Terrace, In the Company of Men)
Michael Hoffman (The Last Station)


Directors Close-up Schedule | Film Independent

(I’m in high school,) what should I be doing right now (to be a filmmaker)?

DO IT NOW LIST:
1. Research: Everything about all the Shopping Festivals. Get to know the staff, go to screenings, follow what films they pick up all the way to their release, and meet as many filmmakers as you can.
2. Make films: It's important that you always have product of some kind or another, so if you're a filmmaker you should constantly be making films. When you finish one, start another. And so on and so on.
3. Write stuff: Even if you're a director and not a writer, it's important to use down time to write and come up with concepts. Writers always need to have fresh material and lots of scripts; well, so do directors.

More

(Article courtesy of Film Independent and Heidi Van Lier)