One Year of DIY Commitment

Happy Production Birthday
It's officially been a year since Shiro's Head went into its production phase. To some, a year may seem like an inflated amount of time needed to produce a no-budget movie, I know it was to me - at least initially. But then I think back on the journey and remind myself that this was a two-man, no-holds barred, do-it-yourself team. No budget, no special industry pull...just two guys with an idea and acting on it.

Just Do It
I'm reminded at how quickly Don and I began shooting on location and all of the uncertainties that we faced, not knowing if the production would actually materialize or fizzle. Not knowing if we'd find a cast, much less a committed one. But we took the chance - and it paid off.

Because of the production, we found the coolest, most talented and committed group that we could've ever asked for. We were so grateful! Even under the circumstances of a small, DIY project, these folks wanted to be a part of it and committed themselves every single day. Some would think that such a thing would be impossible on such a small project. But I'm glad to say that it's true. Tons of people lent a helping hand in the production one way or the other and the support is just mindblowing. Although Don and I put in a lot of hard work on the production of Shiro's Head, sometimes the stars were aligned and we just got lucky.

Land Hoooooo!
Fast forward a year later and the movie is chugging along. However, the 12 hour shoot days, the sugar-free "Rockstar" breaks and expensive phone cards have been replaced with 12 hour editing days, countless foley sessions and score. Since wrapping production and entering post production, Don and I have been at the helm everyday since; trying our best to move this vessel forward towards its destination.

We're almost there.

So to all the cast and those that have helped behind the scenes... Si Yu'us Ma'ase! The best is yet to come.

2008 SAG Award Winners

In a time when the movies that are being released are more story-based (There Will be Blood, No Country for Old Men, Little Miss Sunshine, Atonement, Juno, etc.), vs. CGI FX based (LOTR, King Kong, Harry Potter, Spider-Man, etc.), it's refreshing to see that specific level of talent has emerged and in some cases re-emerged (Josh Brolin, Daniel Day-Lewis) onto the movie scene.

You can view the complete list of the 2008 SAG winners here and listen to sound bites from acceptance speeches here.

Thank You - Shiro's Head Teaser Launch

On Friday we launched the official Shiro's Head teaser and I am very humbled by all of the positive response from those that have left comments on the Shiro's Head MySpace page, signed up for updates or just sent an email through our contact page just to say hi.

It's a great feeling to receive such support and encouragement from people everywhere interested about the movie. Rest assured, Don and I are doing our best to take it to the next phase and to have it ready to go on schedule for everyone. Sometimes it can get tough for an indie project to keep pushing forward, but your comments really do help our morale, so please keep it coming or just drop a line to say hi!

Thank you all again - very much.

Heath Ledger

At the moment, I was working on a test animation for Shiro's Head when Don told me about the news. One of the few actors whose work I really respected and truly one of the younger actors whose work I was looking forward to seeing in later years. Just a sad situation. It seemed to have made everyone stop to think. Even the president.

The Coen Bros. Foreshadow "No Country"

Just browsing the net and came upon this old 1991 article of the Coen Bros. interview by Jim Emerson of Cinepad.com. The interivew seems to eerily foreshadow a command performance that over a decade later would surface under the name "No Country for Old Men". It seems to (help) clarify their unique approach to moviemaking. Read the article.

Guam Primetime Media

Guam makes its way into primetime twice in less than a month. In this episode of "Psych" which originally aired on the USA network last Friday, January 18th, Guam gets its second hit show coverage. The earlier was on ER. Here, Psych trumps ER since this has been the first time that I've heard not just 'Guam' mentioned on a show, but with it a mention of an actual village! And the best part? I don't know if was the fact that Shawn (James Roday) doesn't say it with a haole accent or that Gus (Dule Hill) was given the name Nik-Nak.




The writer for this episode, entitled "The Old and the Restless" is Anupam Nigam. She must've stayed on island at some point. Cheers!

Movie Market: It's Starting

Here's an article from msnbc.com talking about how the writer's strike could be changing the indie film industry tide towards a powerful independent buying market at Sundance - as I mentioned on Tuesday earlier this week. Read the article