One of Biggest Snub of the Oscar: Justin Timberlake in The Social Network

Alright, I have been waiting for people to say something about this for months now, but no one has stepped forward. So here I am to state: it is a SHAME that Justin Timberlake has been overlooked in this award season.

I am not a big fan of his, but when I walked out of the theater after the screening, I said to my family and friends his performance is exhilarating. He IS the character Sean Parker, and he spits out every line of the dialogues that no doubt makes Aaron Sorkin proud. He breathes life into this role and compels the audience to believe that the story could not have unfolded in any other way!

I cannot wait for Timberlake to sink his teeth into another meaty role in the near future. He has propelled himself to the ranks of the most exciting young actors today. 

The Social Network: The Sound Show

My friend, Scott, posted this invite, which I'm reposting here. Seems like an awesome opportunity to learn about sound, which is after all half of the picture as they say. Plus, this movie is absolutely one of the best of the year. 

You and your friends are invited to hear the story of the sound of the critically acclaimed movie about the creation of Facebook.

Special clips will be presented by key sonic artisans offering a rare chance to hear some of the discrete audio elements that were connected into a network of aural information.

AND this unique presentation will be made at the ArcLight Cinemas in Hollywood, a venue that prides itself on offering the best in sight and sound technology.

Want to know what’s better than a million bits of digital sound? 

A BILLION bits of digital sound presented by the people who helped make them!

Sharing their craft and experience will be supervising sound editor/sound designer Ren Klyce, re-recording mixers David Parker and Michael Semanick, picture editors Kirk Baxter and Angus Wall, and producer Scott Rudin.

One night only!  And Free!  Friday, January 7, at 7:30 pm at the ArcLight Hollywood, 6360 West Sunset Boulevard.

RSVP to mail@mpse.org or call 818/506-7731.

Please provide your full name and any industry or school affiliation.   Seating is limited.

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."

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

Terminator Salvation Producer: Dan Lin

Dan Lin is an up-and-coming Hollywood producer who has a special knack for shepherding blockbuster projects through the studio system.

He helped reboot the Terminator franchise and is working on the finishing touches of the action-oriented Sherlock Holmes. He spoke about these movies and the new Lara Croft prequel at the premier of Terminator here.

After graduating from Harvard Business School, he rose to become a creative executive at Warner Brother's. He later decided to strike out on his own "to be more entrepreneurial." He spent his childhood in Taiwan and Hong Kong before moving to the States, which mirrors my own childhood.

Dan is perhaps the most active and powerful Taiwanese-American producer in Hollywood. He comes across as articulate and intelligent in his interview. Tracking this "pioneer's" career will be interesting from both an artistic and cultural stand point. Along with Ang Lee winning the Oscars and Justin Lin directing the wildly successful Fast and Furious franchise (to name a few other examples), it signals that Chinese and Taiwanese people's passion for cinema is beginning to bear fruits on the American-global stage.

For Variety's profile on Dan Lin here