New 56-min Rough Cut in Progress
I've been editing for the past week with Linda Hattendorf, the producer/director/editor of The Cats of Mirikitani (thecatsofmirikitani.com). She has put together a nearly hour long rough cut for submission to our next grant submission for post production funding. She has been terrific, working long hours in order to meet our deadline of April 1. The Cats of Mirikitani won numerous awards in the festival circuit, The Audience Award at Tribeca. I was very touched by her film when I first saw it at the Cinema Village in NYC a few years ago. So naturally when a friend of a friend recommended her to me as an editor, I seized the opportunity. (Though initially I had searched for a Vietnamese/English bilingual editor, I was not able to find someone in NYC with experience I needed.) The film was one of the most heartwarming stories that I have seen in years and has the power to soften the most cynical of souls. It's like a non-pharmaceutical anti-depressant, sure to lift one's spirit. The story of how they bond and how Jimmy reconciles parts of his traumatic past are poignant.
After much discussion, research, restructuring and contemplation, we are putting together a rough cut at least 56 mins long. She seems to think that the film may work as a feature film and has said that the film is very important in showing how Asian American families deal with mental illness. It is so good to have her as an ally and advocate. Now a few director of an Asian American Institute has expressed an interest in sponsoring a talk or screening because Linda has told them about the film. I am so fortunate to have her working by my side this week and so happy to have met her. Because my film also touches upon the Consumer Movement which, to my knowledge, has not been shown previously in documentary films, it may be a first for PBS. And now I am in the process of scheduling a rough cut screening through New York Women in Film and Television, a professional association of women. The viewers will all be professional film people whose judgment will tell me whether it should be a short or feature.
Like so many other indy filmmakers, I also have mounting debts and no income-generating work. Luckily for me, I have had many successful and profitable years working as an artist and have marketable skills that will enable me to sustain myself once this project is over. The only thing I want more than money is sleep right now, but I am too wired after spending a day looking at footage and combing through nearly 600 pages of transcripts for clips to put into my cut. It's been a difficult day. I learned that Can is finally returning home to Dayton, OH for a week after a year away from his family. Can has been living in Stockbridge, MA serving as a personal care assistant for his friend, John Aldam, who is disabled from his spinal tumor. So now on top of writing the grant due April 1, I also have to do pre production for the shoot in April 6, for which I have no money. Oh there is so much to do without the funding to do it all. To be continued... in my next post.
After much discussion, research, restructuring and contemplation, we are putting together a rough cut at least 56 mins long. She seems to think that the film may work as a feature film and has said that the film is very important in showing how Asian American families deal with mental illness. It is so good to have her as an ally and advocate. Now a few director of an Asian American Institute has expressed an interest in sponsoring a talk or screening because Linda has told them about the film. I am so fortunate to have her working by my side this week and so happy to have met her. Because my film also touches upon the Consumer Movement which, to my knowledge, has not been shown previously in documentary films, it may be a first for PBS. And now I am in the process of scheduling a rough cut screening through New York Women in Film and Television, a professional association of women. The viewers will all be professional film people whose judgment will tell me whether it should be a short or feature.
Like so many other indy filmmakers, I also have mounting debts and no income-generating work. Luckily for me, I have had many successful and profitable years working as an artist and have marketable skills that will enable me to sustain myself once this project is over. The only thing I want more than money is sleep right now, but I am too wired after spending a day looking at footage and combing through nearly 600 pages of transcripts for clips to put into my cut. It's been a difficult day. I learned that Can is finally returning home to Dayton, OH for a week after a year away from his family. Can has been living in Stockbridge, MA serving as a personal care assistant for his friend, John Aldam, who is disabled from his spinal tumor. So now on top of writing the grant due April 1, I also have to do pre production for the shoot in April 6, for which I have no money. Oh there is so much to do without the funding to do it all. To be continued... in my next post.
posted by Pearl Ji-hyon Park at
2:55 AM
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