The Filmmaker

So, I’ve been writing scripts again lately. If you know me, may have heard of my unfinished zombie film in 2016 that recently screened the Hammer Museum. If you really know me you know about my short comedies in college. And if you’re just now hearing about me, then you probably know I’ve been casting and writing a lot of horror with all-Asian-American casts (Like my zombie film).

Since I don’t have a short or a film public that showcases my vision as a writer/director. I wanted to write about my influences.

First of all, I am very unprofessional. I don’t care about the Hollywood standards a lot filmmakers adhere to. To me, the industry doesn’t care about us, so why care about it.

2nd of all, I’m not influenced by a lot of mainstream stuff. I like it. I enjoy it very much, but I am partial to artsy stuff like Bela Tarr’s Satanago or Werckmeister Harmonies or Turin Horse. I’m also into the amatuer-style filmmaking like that of Harmony Korine’s “Kids” where he used non-actors.

Right now I have a few scripts finished and a few in mind. The closest one to getting started is a camping horror film. Which will be shot in early spring. The next that is finished is a serial killer film. Then, I was planning on doing some ambitious projects like a period piece, the Chinese Massacre that happened in Los Angeles. As well as another out of my league remake of the 70’s horror film “Death Ship”.

My one stipulation is I’m casting Asian-Americans in the lead roles, and getting people to believe in my vision and want to work with me, when I have nothing to show them, is challenging. So, I started writing a short cannibal film with a female lead Asian-American actress. I’m hoping to make it 20-45 minutes in duration. If it comes out the way I’m imagining it, I hope it compels more actors/actresses to be in my upcoming films. If I had the budget and the clout, Charlyne Yi would be my first pick as a female serial killer.

IMDB https://www.imdb.com/title/tt6203926/

Trailer for Zombie film https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3E_MRgYEe5I

charlene yi

 

My Leadership Skills

Imagine if Dr. Dre made his solo album in the 90’s and like most artists decided he only wanted people as big or bigger than him on it. The album would probably feature Ice-T, DJ Quik, MC Eight, MC Ren, Too Short, etc. Instead he chose to put completely unknowns on his albums. No one complained about their lack of popularity or social media followers, we simply listened and indulged. That’s good leadership. That’s contributing. And that’s why I book/record with anyone who wants to book/record with me and invite a wide variety of artists in my history of recording from noise experimentalists to hardcore hip-hoppers to party-ass sex rap. So, if you have an issue with me booking or recording with LGBT musicians or people who sound like mainstream shit, that’s your legacy. I want to bring to people together, that’s my legacy.

An Abnormality I Was Discovered With

I was born November 12th and abandoned by the Delta river for almost a month with no warmth, nourishment or human contact. When I was discovered and brought to the New Haven Nursery on December 16th I had Bilateral otitis perforations. In other words, I was born with ears that weren’t normal and to this day I am partially deaf in my left ear. However, I make music and I love what I make, it just comes to me. Most would say I have an aural handicap. I like to think I was born with a gift due to a medical condition. And Conspiracy Theorists like to think some entity intervened and gave me the power to make music. People who don’t enjoy my music think ear damage is exactly why I can’t rap or make music. You decide what you want, my decision was made in 1992 when is started making music. When you listen to me, you’re listening to the music of a half deaf person.

2019: The Year I Return To Film

I started rapping in 92, and recording in 95. Then I quit in 96. I started college and majored in Film. I got a full-time job at a production company editing/splicing old film reels, and moved on to shooting parades, plays, etc. During this time I made a few comedies with friends in my dorms. When I went to parties and got drunk, I rapped at parties surprising everyone who saw me as a filmmaker. A few friends convinced me I was wasting my talent and pushed me back into the studios to record. I’ve dedicated over two decades of my youth to hip-hop with little to no interest. I am accepted that and continued record for my own mental health and listening pleasure. In 2016, I wet my feet in film for the first time since 1999 with my all Asian lead cast Zombie Horror Short, “They’re Coming Back Alive”. It didn’t turn out to be the film I envisioned and no one wanted to screen it (And I don’t blame them). So I went back to music.
 
October 2018, I became inspired to write another film. This time a sci-fi/horror based on the Dyotlov Pass Incident. The script is not a direct take on their story, nor is it based in Russia, but instead based on their horrors that night. If whatever entity that caused their fatal deaths existed here and happened now, how would one story unfold I asked myself and started writing. It took me one day to start and finish it.
 
Since that day I’ve been inspired to write more and the ideas have just been flooding in. I already know the topics for my next three films I want to write, if this goes the way I hope.
 
Music will take a backseat, but I am not quitting it. I still have the unreleased “Cannibal” album I recorded and finished in December of 2017. And I still have all the lyrics and beats for “Swimming To Cambodia 2” waiting for me to record.
 
My goal in film is to make a movie of every sub-genre in horror. You already have a taste of the zombie genre, I’d like to return to and complete someday. A sci-fi/horror in the pre-production that we’re shooting in December 2018. And in 2019, hopefully, my take on a Vietnamese serial killer based on a true story will be next.

Screen Shot 2018-10-14 at 8.45.31 PMhttps://www.imdb.com/title/tt6203926/?ref_=nm_flmg_act_6