Monday, September 23, 2013

Reflecting on the Past, Preparing for the Future

Today is the first day of the last week of my Entertainment Business Graduate program at Full Sail University and I can't help but feel very reflecty. Yes, "reflecty" is a word that I just made up for the purposes of this blog post. How else do I describe my mental and emotional state after one of the hardest years of my adult life.

In May 2012, I was laid off of the best non-film job I ever had. I had two of the best bosses I have ever had. Before being laid off, I was really happy even though I wasn't doing film work. Since I have worked everyday of my life since I was 17 years old, I didn't know how to be unemployed. I ended up taken the first part time office job that came my way. On the surface it was a good job at a nice place, but I never felt so degraded as an employee before. I had to find a way to get myself back into film. No more working for working sake. But I was 34 years old and graduated film school 9 years before. How do I break back in? How about following one of my other dreams, getting my masters.

I was the first person in my family to go to college and graduate with a B.A. But I always wanted to get my Masters degree. I didn't think after years of being an adult, having a husband, and a mortgage that I could go back to school, so I didn't. But after the lay off, and working at this part time job I felt unappreciated at, I said "that's it, I'm going back to school." I chose Full Sail because it was well known for entertainment, had a convenient online program, and it was accelerated. I could get through it in a year. There were times it was hard to balance but I stuck with it, kept my grades high, and even while my personal life was being neglected and nearly fell apart, I stuck through it. I can't say how happy I am that I did. I started my first class on September 24th, today is September 23rd a year later and I am days away from having a Masters degree. How awesome is that?

As I wrap up my final assignments for school my head is turning towards Director mode. On Saturday, I go into production on my short film Origins, which I have talked about a few times on this blog. This has been a project 5 months in the making and I cannot wait to get started. My producing partner Chris Tobiaz, and I have marketed this short film like it was a feature. We have gained a lot of attention in New England, and we hope, after it is finishes to gain a lot of attention on the festival circuit as well. Since our film is gotten some attention, we have been contacted by several people to jump on their films. Which is pretty exciting because after I finish Origins, I may have some real film opportunities.

The goal is to not return to an office job, unless it is at a production company. I will spend the next year freelancing to see if I can make a living at it. If it becomes too difficult, I will find a flexible day job such as substitute teaching that will allow me to take the time I need to work on my films. Either way, I have learned that it is important to follow your dreams, even if it makes life uncomfortable for a period of time. Taking the risk to return to school after a decade and learn more about the film industry was important. I can already seeing benefits from going back. Now it is time to build a career starting with my own short film.

Saturday, September 14, 2013

Running a Successful Kickstarter Campaign for your Short Film

Financing a film, short or feature-length, is difficult. When you set out to make a film, there is no guarantee the film will be successful. Even anticipated blockbuster studio films, may not do well at times. So, finding investors is a challenge. Luckily, there are websites such as Kickstarter and Indiegogo, where people can go to donate money to help people make their films, publish their books, and even support a charitable organization. That is how I choose to fund my film and as of 10:24 AM EST on Friday, September 13th, 2013; mine was 1 of the 48,537 successfully funded projects on Kickstarter.

How did I do it?

 My producer Chris Tobiaz and I keep getting emails from random people impressed with our success and asking what we did. In fact, here is an actual message we received on our FB page, the author of the message is withheld of course,

 "Hey, Tell me what you guys did to be successful on Kickstarter, thanks."

 No introduction, no congratulations, just a "hey you did something I want to do, tell me how so I don't have to figure it out on my own" kind of situation. Honestly, we have been flooded with these kinds of comments. It is my natural reaction to say that we worked hard, busted our asses, and it paid off. I am not really inclined to give random strangers that avoid even the basic niceties in an email any tips. But what I actually respond with is this "Good luck on your project, Kickstarter has great resources to help you get started." I don't wish to be rude but I also don't think these one line emails are the most polite way of asking for my secret either. The fact of the matter is, there is no secret. Running a successful Kickstarter campaign is hard work. It is a full time job, literally. I am currently an online graduate student, I have no other job just school and pre-production of this film (that I won't get paid for cause it is mine). As such, I spent large portions of the day trying to find donors for my project and doing homework at night. My producer Chris, does work full time but he would spend his nights doing the same thing I did all day. It was non-stop work and both of us had to be thinking about it on a constant basis. But it wasn't just the 30 days of the campaign either, this has been going on for months. Chris and I have been talking with people about the film, posting on the film's Facebook and Twitter, and reaching out to friends and family warning them that we would be begging for money soon. We were preparing people for the inevitable barrage of "give us money" related contacts we were going to have once the Kickstarter began. Within 9 days, we hit our minimum goal of $4,000. THIS my friends is not common for many projects .

This $4,000 was not all we needed to make the film, it was just the minimum it would take to get us through production. Kickstarter recommends that you don't over reach for your goals. Make them reasonable then promote stretch goals after you hit the main goal. So far the success rate for Kickstarter projects is only around 43%, so not everyone with a dream will meet their goal. (Kickstarter, 2013). You must be confident that you can to even launch the project and then you have to work-work-work to hit that goal. It is very rare for a short film without a trailer to do as well as we did in our first Kickstarter, to a certain degree we were very lucky. But it wasn't luck that people found us and donated, it was just lucky to be amongst the successful campaigns. Chris and I were so active in our promotion of the campaign, we never let one day go by that we were trying to connect with someone even if only for $1 donation.

Now I mentioned that we hit our goal in 9 days and then I went off on a tangent so let's get back on track. What do you do for the next 21 days of the campaign once you hit your goal? Do you pop the champagne and say "our work here is done!"? Do you just hang back and wait for the money to come in? NO! You have to keep reminding people what you are doing so they don't pull their donations. You have to post interesting content to show people you are committed to the project and their money won't go to waste. You have to keep looking for new people to contribute so that you can hit your ultimate funding goal. And once you hit your minimum goal, it is a lot harder to convince people you still need money. For us, it took 9 days to make $4,000 but it took 21 days to make the additional $1,152. Holding on to the $5,152 was work. Admittedly, we lost a couple donations on the last day totaling around $24. They either felt we had enough or they couldn't afford the donations they promised but it wasn't as bad as it could have been. I have seen projects drop thousands of dollars near the end. You have to keep working, keeping pushing, and let people see how passionate you are so they know that their investment was not in vain.

Hopefully, from this post you can see that there is no magic secret to hitting your goal on Kickstarter. No guaranteed method. It is just a lot of hard work. Even Spike Lee, who is rich and has rich friends, didn't hit his $2 million Kickstarter goal until just days before his campaign ended. I will leave you with the video that made me start to plan my Kickstarter months before I actually launched it. This is Griffin Hammond from Youtube's Indy Mogul channel, a great resource for indie filmmakers and film geeks alike. Here Griffin talks about his project that actually hit his goal in 8 hours (again this is not typical but their YT channel is famous) and breaks down the difference between Kickstarter and Indiegogo, enjoy.



References:

Indy Mogul. Youtube. How to Launch a Successful Kickstarter. Retrieved from http://youtu.be/MXKEccRiMeQ

Kickstarter Stats. (2013) Retrieved from http://www.kickstarter.com/help/stats

Wednesday, August 28, 2013

What is the Plan for my Short Film, Origins?

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In my most recent post, I highlighted the importance of having a business plan for independent filmmakers. Though it is not related to the main topic of this blog, as a filmmaker myself, I believe it is important to be knowledgeable about all aspects of the industry (not just the creative). I am currently in pre-production on a short film called ‘Origins.’ This is a short film based on three feature length films I am currently writing. My goal with this short is to highlight my skills as a writer/director and present the film both through the film festival circuit and to independent investors, in the hopes that I can raise the necessary funds to make the subsequent feature length films. This is an extremely ambitious project on my part and the only chance of being successful is to show investors that I know what I am doing both on the filmmaking and the business sides.

The two business plan experts I reviewed in my last post Kevin Geiger and Nicole Williams, made points that any person attempting a business venture would find useful. Luckily for me, I discovered them right as I was beginning the process of creating business plans for my film. Kevin Geiger talked about the importance of creating a plan that will govern all aspects of the film from creative to business. Meaning, don’t just make a plan to fund the film but make a plan to fund the film and set up a film company to govern production at the same time. I think every filmmaker hopes to have the Kevin Smith experience. In 1994, he showed his first independent film at Sundance and the film was picked up by Miramax. He has since had a filmmaking career that has spanned nearly 20 years. But that is not a likely scenario for every independent film. While I would LOVE to have that chance, I also want an active hand in making my films and hope that by building a business plan that establishes a film company as well, I will be able to continue making movies beyond the initial one.

For the short, my producer Chris Tobiaz and I went the Kickstarter fundraising route. On August 14th, 2013, we launched our Kickstarter with a $4,000 goal. We were lucky enough to have achieved our goal in 9 days! We are now pushing to raise $6,000, as there are a lot of special effects in our vampire/witch film and the additional funds will go a long way in helping us achieve a realistic look to our magic scenes. This has been an exciting and also educational experience.  We have learned a number of different ways to market a film that has not been made in order to entice people to contribute. While a business plan has not been used in this portion of the filmmaking process, it does lay the ground work for our future films.

Nicole Williams suggested in the video I posted last week, that you offer multiple levels of expectation for your investors to consider. For my trilogy, this would be very helpful because I could provide the independent film level (under $100,000) as well as the independent studio level (under $3 Million), such as Lions Gate or Dimension Films. This would show that I am willing to make the film at either level and I am not afraid to aim high for the studio level.  She says that the investors will pay more attention to the bottom line than the creative areas of your business. I agree with this. It is good to show a sample of your work to prove your abilities, in my case the completed short will accompany the business plan. There are some investors out there that just want to invest in film, though may not have any knowledge about the creative aspect. But ultimately, the investors will want to know how they will get their money back and with how much profit. Showing a realistic investment and return structure will help investors in the decision to support your film.  


Wednesday, August 7, 2013

Film Business Plans: What The Experts Say

     Today, I am going to step outside of my normal "Mixed-Race in media" post to focus on an aspect of filmmaking that many of us creative types fail to think about when our big dreams of making a moving picture creep up, the business plan. Many people get into the film business with creative aspirations and are not always prepared for the amount of organization, research, planning, and financial knowledge we will need to successfully make our films or break into the business.
     I recently watched a Youtube video lecture from Kevin Geiger, an expert not just on the film business but how to write a business plan for a film related business. In this lecture, he explained how filmmakers should approach their film as a business venture and create an organization that will govern all aspects of the film from creative to business. Geiger's main participation in the film industry was as a visual effects artist for such films as Reign of Fire and Chicken Little. He branched off towards teaching the business side of film and I would like to discuss some of his very helpful tips. Geiger explains that the creative and the business must go hand in hand. You may have the best creative idea in the universe but if you do not have a strong business plan to accompany it, no one will invest. Financiers need to know up front how they will get their money back. You can find his 4 part lecture from the AnimationsOptions channel on Youtube, but you can see part 1 below.


     I also discovered this video "Ask an Expert - All about Business Plans," produced by LinkedIn with business expert, Nicole Williams. Williams is a bestselling author of career related books including Earn What You're Worth: A Widely Sophisticated Approach to Investing In Your Career-and Yourself.  She founded WORKS by Nicole Williams, a resource company for career minded women. She is also LinkedIn's current career expert. In her video, she breaks down in a very concise manner the necessary components of a business plan. Though her focus is on building women careers, her tips are helpful to anyone that is interested in starting a company of furthering your career in your chosen field. She emphasizes how important a clear Executive Summary, Competitive Research, and the Financial Model. A business plan is not a fixed document, you must be willing to mold your business plan based off feedback you get from potential investors to make the business plan the strongest it can be. Think  about your business in terms of providing something that people need or want, and are willing to pay for. Provide details for low, moderate, and blue sky (or unlimited) expectations. Ultimately the bottom line is what investors care about. Williams says that you must have clearly defined goals for your business, regardless of what the business is but if you cannot back it up with strong financials investors will pass you by. You can see videos from Nicole on the YouTube channel for LinkedIn, please check out the "Ask an Expert" video below.




References:

Geiger, K. (N.D.) Kevin Geiger IMDB Profile Page.  Retrieved from http://www.imdb.com/name/nm1819623/

Williams, N. (N.D.) Nicole Williams Bio. Retrieved from http://www.imediaconnection.com/profiles/iMedia_PC_Bio.aspx?ID=52131

Sunday, July 14, 2013

Biracial Cheerios Ad Sparks Old Timey Racism Online

Today, I offer you, dear audience, a Mixed girl rant. I apologize in advance but occasionally a Mixed person can be a little shocked by the lack of Mixed-race representation in the media, and since I created this blog to promoted Mixed-race people in the media I feel like the occasional rant will be an issue from time to time. 

About a month ago, Cheerios released a commercial which showed a little girl, concerned about her father's health, asking her mother if it was true that Cheerios was good for the heart.  The commercial ended with the father waking up from a nap to discover a pile full of Cheerios over his heart. When I first saw this commercial I teared up. For those of you that do not know me, I give off a hard, slightly less then emotional persona, but nothing will drive me to tears quicker than a sweet father-daughter relationship. Partly because I did not have a good relationship with my own father, but partly because I think dad's get a bad wrap in the media generally and not all deserve it. So, yes, when I saw the commercial, I teared up at the sweetness of the little girl's gesture to save her father. There was nothing controversial or ugly about it, it was just a thoughtful family oriented TV spot about cereal... or so I thought. This sweet little commercial ended up sparking a shocking controversy that showed how far we may not have come in this country. Before I go on, check out this sweet yet "controversial" commercial.



After watching that commercial you might be asking yourself what the controversy was about. If you have that reaction, then like me you saw a sweet family commercial. Unfortunately, this commercial sparked some good ol' fashioned racism because the family portrayed was interracial. Several extremely racist comments were posted on General Mills Youtube page in response to the commercial. As a result, General Mills (GM) disabled the comments section on their page. Camille Gibson Vice President for Marketing for General Mills stated that many of the comments were not family-friendly and this made it an easy decision to remove comments. General Mills has seen more positive reaction to the spot then negative but the fact that there was such a strong reaction to seeing an interracial family in a cereal commercial in 2013 baffles me. Even as a person on Mixed-Race that has clamoured for more representation of Mixed-Race people in the media my whole life, the fact that this family was Mixed was lost on me. I, Sharmane Franklin Johnson, the girl with the Mixed-Race in media blog some how MISSED that she got to see a commercial with a Mixed-Race family in it. All I saw was a sweet family commercial about cereal. Isn't that where we should be in America in 2013? 50 years after the civil rights movement, shouldn't we all "miss" that the family in this commercial was interracial? For me the only answer is "yes." We shouldn't have to disable racist comments to a harmless commercial. We shouldn't even have to applaud a company for putting an interracial family in a commercial. We should just have people of all races, ethnicity's, sexual orientations, and genders in commercials and be perfectly comfortable with what ever combination of people are in them. The more interracial families and kids seen on TV and in movies, the sooner our culture will catch up to the normalcy of interracial families. Everywhere I turn, I see interracial families, it should not be shocking that people marry or have babies outside of their race.

It took me awhile to post my thoughts about this commercial because it took some time for me to digest the fact that it had such a crazy response. I thought we had come a lot farther in terms of race in this country. I thought my generations big fight was for equal rights for homosexuals, not whether or not it was okay to have a Black daddy and a White mommy portrayed in a cereal commercial. Didn't my grandparents generation take care of that fight for us in the 60's? It was a painful wake up call, one that shows me it is even more important for people of Mixed-Race to put themselves in the Entertainment industry, to tell stories of Mixed heritage so that it does become our normal. Even though I don't believe we should HAVE to applaud a company for exhibiting interracial families in commercials, I do applaud General Mills for not taking down the spot and to push the idea of tolerance and pride in Mixed families. It was a fearless and humanist move to make, and I am grateful they made it. Keep up the good work GM!

Cheney, A., (June 3, 2013). General Mills Blocks Racist Comments on Youtube Ad. Retrieved from http://blogs.wsj.com/speakeasy/2013/06/03/general-mills-blocks-racist-comments-on-youtube-cheerios-ad/

Sultan, A., (June 23, 2013). Cheerios commercial with interracial family stirred faux controversy. Retrieved from http://www.stltoday.com/lifestyles/relationships-and-special-occasions/parenting/aisha-sultan/cheerios-commercial-with-interracial-family-stirred-faux-controversy/article_92a4c186-4d56-5c02-a458-640fe55a6305.html

General Mills. (2013). Cheerios "Just Checking" Ad. Retrieved from http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kYofm5d5Xdw



Friday, June 21, 2013

Self Distribution Options for Filmmakers

In pre-production, filmmakers really should be considering what is going to happen to their film beyond production. First thought for independent filmmakers is of course film festivals, but what about after the festival circuit ends? If your film is not picked up for distribution where does your film continue it's life? The Internet gives us a variety of options to avoid the film graveyard. We can upload to sites like Youtube, distribute using a Print on Demand service, and sell on various websites. It is a great time for self-distribution.

There are also services that allow you to provide you film as a digital download or a video on demand rental. Sites such as Createspace.com (an Amazon company) and filmbaby.com (a MoPix company) allow filmmakers to upload their videos to be sold or rented online. Each service has it pluses and minuses of course but there are options available to filmmakers to continue the life of the film.

While planning for my short film Origins, which I will be shooting this summer, I am considering what will happen to my film after, and if, it gets into film festivals. Origins, is a short film based on a feature length script I am writing. It is basically the prequel to the events that take place in the feature. I hope to use Origins to find funding to produce the feature and create a fan-base for the world I am creating. I don't want Origins to die after the festival circuit. I recently discovered that the video hosting website Vimeo, has offered a new professional hosting package called Vimeo on Demand that allows filmmakers and business to post videos for commercial use. For a membership fee of $199/year, Vimeo provides 50GB of storage and up to 250,000 views of your videos. The cost for the service is 10% of every rental or purchase. Right now, there is no other service that offers a 90/10 split for distribution of film. After Origins finishes the festival circuit and hopefully after it helps raise funding for the feature film, I will plan on hosting it on Vimeo on Demand so that fans (and probably all my relatives) can rent or buy the short film.



Thursday, June 13, 2013

Finally! Making My Own Film!

A couple months ago, I went to L.A. for a work-caytion. I was going to the HapaJapan Festival to meet and blog about one of the films being showcased. The trip was great. I met with friends in the industry, toured the studio lots like I did when I was a kid, and visualized my life back in L.A. working in the industry. When I returned home, I found myself without a day job, half way through my entertainment business graduate program, and reaching itching to get back into working in film. I applied to a few AD and PA jobs, and spoke with a producer that was looking for a crew that could help teach these two friends how to make their first movie. These guys had written a script for a short horror film but didn't know anything about filmmaking. What started out an AD position turned into a co-producing role by the end of the conversation.

I came into the project a few months later than the rest of the team, the only person that really had any experience in film. I read the script and with gentle critique ripped it apart. While at the auditions, the first meeting I had with the writing/directing team, I explained how every script must have a three-act structure and particular format, character development, etc. They were so precious about the work, believing it was perfect in their first draft that by the end of the day I said I would continue to help if they wanted but I wouldn't want my name on the project. It was a sad start to my re-entry into film, but I couldn't in good conscious tell these two their film would work with the script they had at that moment. The next day I got a call from the producer saying he loved the suggestions I made to the guys and wanted to know if he could make MY movie. My movie? Um, sure, yes let's do it!

The producer was pretty focused on making a horror, so I got to work on a script about the first vampire. Over the last two months, I have been tightening the story, having industry friends critique the script, and planning for a Kickstarter campaign to raise fund. My script is almost ready for production and I am very excited. When I graduated from film school in 2003, I had big hopes of being the female Francis Ford Coppola. How I was going to get there, I had no idea. What ended up happening is that I had to get a "real" job and I have worked as an Office Manager, Operations Manager, or an Event Planner ever since. Sometimes I would get a short gig on a film, or work for a festival, but like many college graduates I didn't end up doing what I loved. When I decided to return to school for my masters in Entertainment Business, I decided that even though it would be a financial drain to my husband and myself that I HAD to do it this time. Upon my return home from L.A. I was fired without cause. And incident that occurred at my work place while I was not there lead to my boss letting me go on the phone at 10:45 PM the night before I was suppose to return to work. While I hate that I was fired, especially for something I wasn't present for, I was unhappy in my position and being fired gave me the excuse and motivation to finally start pushing towards my dream of working in film. I didn't think it would take me to directing my own short only a few months later.

The film, Origins, is about the creation of both the first vampire and the first witch 4,000 years ago. It jumps back and forth between modern day and the day of their creation. My producer and I will be launching a Kickstarter campaign in the next few weeks and filming will begin in August. I may veer off course in this blog for the next few months from talking about exclusive Mixed-Race in Media issues, and talk a bit more about this film (self promotion ;P) so please don't lose interest. The goal of Mixed Girl Moving Pictures is to get films made by Mixed-Race filmmakers. Even though my film doesn't deal wit Mixed issues, I hope that it opens up a world with which more stories, including Mixed stories, could be told. Stay tuned for more updates on Origins.

Sunday, April 28, 2013

What Are You Anyways?


I am always looking for new films, shorts, music, comics, anything created for Mixed-Race people, by Mixed-Race people. My passion for the promotion of Mixed-Race people in the media comes from my own enjoyment of being a person of Mixed-Race and growing up without representation in film and TV. In my quest to find filmmakers and artist of Mixed-Race, I came across an animated short by filmmaker Jeff Chiba Stearns called "What Are You Anyway?"

Jeff Chiba Stearns, is an independent animation and documentation filmmaker from Canada, who is of Japanese and European Caucasian descent. The short, "What Are You Anyways?" is an autobiographical tale about Stearns's personal examination of his coming to terms with his Mixed-Race heritage. After years of feeling like an outsider in his hometown of Kelowna, British Columbia, he meets and falls in love with a girl with the same half Japanese- half Caucasian heritage. The girl, Jenny, is proud of her heritage and had a totally different, non-racist experience growing up. He says that he struggled with being Mixed because he was always made to feel different and that struggle prevented him from embracing his own diversity. This new relationship, with someone similar to himself, taught him that it was okay to be proud of being Hapa.

People of Mixed-Race are asked the question, "So, what are you anyways?" probably as often as most people are asked "Are you hungry?" If you are not easily identified as Black, White, Asian, Latin, Arabic, etc. by first glance than people seem to feel they have to right to ask what you are. This is a frustrating part of being Mixed-Race because on the one hand you want to respond, "What business is it of yours?" and on the other you are proud of what you are and wouldn't mind sharing. Also, you don't want to get a reputation of being sensitive because of your Mixed-Race heritage. If you don't want to be defined by your race or what you look like, it can feel like a lose, lose situation. I have personally allowed being Mixed-Race to become a major part of my persona from as early as I could understand what being Mixed meant. My brother, on the other hand,  is not as comfortable in his Mixed-Race skin and rarely ever talks about it even to me. It is odd that we could have grown up together and had such different perspectives on what it means to be Mixed-Race.

I imagine most Mixed-Race kids go through the "What am I?" stage as they grow up. People's reactions to us, makes us feel different when there isn't anyone, any race, or any group that can truly claim to be the standard that makes everyone else different. When you are growing up, you don't realize this and as a Mixed kid, you might allow people to make you feel like an "other." Stearns's experience, is a common one, and I think it is wonderful of him to share his personal journey towards self acceptance with the world through his animation.

"What Are You Anyways?" has been included in 40 International Film Festivals and won 7  awards including the Best Animated Short Subject from the Canadian Electronic & Animated Arts festival and Best Animation from Los Angeles ARPA International Film Festival. Jeff Stearns travels the world teaches animation at various workshops and speaks conferences on behalf of Mixed-Race and Hapa people in film and animation.


If you would like to see the animated short film, it is available here on Film Annex. Also, swing by Jeff's production website, Meditating Bunny for more on this Hapa-ning Filmmaker.



Sunday, April 14, 2013

The Hapa Experience: My trip to L.A. to see the Hafu Film

Last week, I traveled back to my home state, the beautiful and sunny California, for a Mixed-Race Japanese festival called HapaJapan. This was a unique experience for me because while I am of Japanese heritage, I have never been in the company of other Mixed-Japanese (that I wasn't related to) before. It was amazing, for most of my life I felt like my brother and four of my cousins on my dad's side were the only Black, Japanese, White kids on the planet. I discovered that not only are there other mixed people of Black, Japanese, and White descent, WE DON'T LOOK ALIKE!


Though my hair and skin color are closer to Japanese, my facial features are Black, and usually a Black person can tell I am Black from a mile away (though a Japanese person never can). I have never once surprised a Black person by telling them I'm part Black. But imagine my surprise to find that there are people mixed with Black, that even I wasn't able to tell.  It was amazing, we were all different shades of yellow or brown and for one of the very few times in my life I didn't feel like I wasn't part of the group. Strange too, because no one spoke to me at this festival, I was in the minority of people that attended by themselves. I didn't make any new friends and no came up to me to say "what are you?" But I still felt a sense of community unlike any of my life.

But I am way off topic...

The reason for this post is to discuss a film that I have been anticipating for several months. In fact, this film was the reason I spent my holiday bonus from work and part of my tax return to fly out to L.A for a week. The film is called Hafu, it is a documentary film about 5 different Mixed-Japanese people and their experience living in Japan. When I discovered this film's website online a few months ago I was floored. This was the documentary my cousin and I have been talking about making (talking not doing mind you) for years. It was going to be our excuse to get to Japan but alas we have not done anything related to this dream documentary yet. Fortunately, filmmakers Megumi Nishikura and Lara Perez Takagi have. I stumbled on the trailer of this film back in November of 2012 and emailed the filmmakers immediately to express my gratitude that someone has told the Mixed-Japanese story and to offer my support if there was something I could do from my home office outside of Boston. To my surprise I was contacted by Megumi Nishikura. The film was finished but she suggested that I come out to L.A., if I could, because this festival would be a great experience for me personally. She was right.

Not only was the film a really great start in the dialogue for Mixed-Japanese living in Japan, but the experience of being surround by other Mixed-Japanese in a room screening this film was something most of us would never have experience otherwise. In general, Japanese are very mono-ethnically oriented and have a reputation for not welcoming outsiders easily, let alone accepting Mixed-Race people. But as time progresses, more and more foreigners are finding their way into Japan to live and work. As a result, there are more than just the post-WWII mixed babies living there. According to the film, 1 in every 49 babies are now born Mixed-Race in Japan.


David Yano (pictured above) is one such Mixed-Japanese living in Japan and featured in Hafu. David was born in Ghana to a Ghanaian mother and Japanese father. When he was very young his family moved to Japan. His parents later separated and David and his brother's were forced to live in an orphanage while his mother return to Ghana and his father lived alone nearby. While he clearly looks Mixed-Race, the films shows how he surprises Japanese people with his fluent language and Japanese mannerisms. It was one of 5 beautiful portraits of the Mixed-Japanese experience in Japan.

What I appreciated most about this film was that each profile was carefully selected to give a broad perspective on Mixed-Japanese. In addition to David's story, there was a story about one Australian-Japanese woman who moved to Japan to get in touch with the half of her heritage she had little knowledge or experience of. A family of Mexican-Japanese mix with two children, one struggling to fit in at school and balance three languages at home (Japanese, Spanish, English). An activist for Mixed-Race acceptance and community of Venezuelan and Japanese descent. Finally, a Japanese-Korean woman, that did not know of her mixed heritage until she was a teenager. Each story from a different perspective, each perspective important for Japan and the world to be aware of.

What this film does not do is try to preach to the audience or the country that it is profiling. It is simply sharing the information, hoping that progress in acceptance of these Mixed-Race families grows organically.

This film has inspired me both to make the effort to reach out to more people of Mixed-Japan descent (and beef up my Japanese) and to work on my own film about being Mixed-Race because it is the reason I am back in school in the first place.

And on a freakish side note, when I finally met Megumi Nishikura in person, it turned out that she was friends with the friend I was staying with in L.A. The world felt very small that night.

To learn more about Hafu, please visit www.hafufilm.com/en.

Sunday, March 10, 2013

Chico Colvard on Negotiation


I wrote about documentary filmmaker Chico Colvard in one of my early blog posts on Mixed Girl Moving Pictures. I briefly met him at a Film Distribution seminar in December 2013. I was interested in learning more about this filmmaker because, like me, he is a person of Mixed-Race that had a troubled and abusive upbringing. He seemed passionate about getting his films distributed while also maintaining ownership at every step of the process.


His first documentary film, Family Affair, released in 2010, is a painfully personal examination of his family's history of physical and sexual abuse of his sisters by their father. The film opens with a story about 10 year old Chico Colvard accidentally shooting his sister in the leg with one of many guns his father had laying around the house. The shooting revealed the dark truth that their father had been raping all three of his daughters through out their childhood. Their father went to prison for only 1 year and the family was separated. Years later, Chico attempts to understand what happened and why his sisters have continued a relationship with their father after everything that he had done to them. The film does not hold anything back, and at times can be very hard to listen to as his sisters recount what happened to them or talk about how much affection they have for their father. Chico agreed to allow me to interview him on the topic of negotiation for the purposes of this blog post, but we spent quite a bit of time talking about his film and comparing our stories of abuse and being Mixed-Race. I would like to share with you all what I learned about negotiating film deals from him.

 Before entering into a negotiation the first and most important thing to know is that "it is about the story." While the film business is a business, it is still a business of art, passion, talent, and creation. We cannot lose sight of the importance of the story. Colvard would like filmmakers to remember that when entering into negotiation for funding or distribution, you have to show that you are passionate about your story so that there is a purpose to helping you with funding or distribution. Approaching each film project solely as a business venture doesn't justify the importance of your project for investors or distributors. 

Colvard comes from a law background, so he is well verse in the art of negotiation and aware of all the tactics and strategies that come with negotiation but as an artist he tends to not want to use those tactics for his work.  I asked if he felt a filmmaker should enter a deal with a bottom line or a "walk away" point already in their heads. He thinks that it is more important to be honest and upfront about your expectations rather than plan for the worst. You've probably heard before that in negotiation it is best to keep your information close tot he chest while trying to cox your negotiation opponent to reveal their information. But Chico is not comfortable with that. He believes there is no harm in saying "this is what I want/would like to get." People tend to be afraid of offending the other party or turning them away too soon by stating what they want to get out of the deal, but that is starting from a place of thinking your project doesn't deserve what you are requesting. First and foremost, Colvard recommends you do your homework. Research like projects, industry standards, and make sure that before you decide what you want to get out of the deal, that you make the effort to find out what is a reasonable expectation. Your first documentary about your family, may not garner $1 million dollars out the gate. But you could possible expect industry standards to be $5,000 - $20,000 upfront with a distribution deal that allows for a 40/60 split. So, instead of walking in and saying "I want $150,000 upfront and 75% of the distribution " and getting nowhere. You could say, "I think it is reasonable to get $20,000 upfront with a 40/60 split on distribution and a broadcast license of 1 year. If you approach your negotiation reasonably, no matter how personal the project is to you, there is no reason why you should wait to deliver the news after negotiations have begun. 

Being new to this world of film negotiation, I didn't really know what to expect. I choose Chico Colvard to interview because I knew he came from a legal background and could shed light both from the perspective of an artist and a lawyer. It was great to see his ability to work within the two realms for the great benefit. To approach a negotiation without guile or schemes in your pocket, but just being yourself the artist who has done your homework so that you can be a partner in the negotiation rather than a bystander of the negation is the key lesson I will take away from our talk. I am very grateful to Chico for taking the time to speak with me and I hope this information will be helpful to you reader as you approach your next negotiation. 

Saturday, February 23, 2013

"Born a Crime," South Africa's Comedian Trevor Noah on Being Mixed-Race

Today, I am happy to highlight a Mixed-Race comedian I recently discovered online, a man from Southern Africa called Trevor Noah. When you think of where some of the funniest comedians come from, you probably don't think South Africa. Noah is the product of a Caucasian, Swiss father and Black, South African mother during apartheid. He jokes that he was “born a crime” as it was illegal for Whites and Blacks to associate during apartheid. He was born in a time when it was illegal for him to live with his father or be seen holding his mother's hand on the street without fear his parents would be arrested. A lot of successful comedians are known for turning their personal difficulties in life into something to laugh about. With Noah, much of his comedy is based on his Mixed-Race upbringing.

In 2012, Trevor was the first African comedian to ever be on The Tonight Show with Jay Leno. In his 7 minute set (unfortunately the video quality is bad for the first 3 mins) he “KILLED” talking about the difference between Black Americans and Black Africans and his Mixed-Race upbringing.  I am so happy to see  Trevor Noah gain some attention around the world, especially in the U.S. I make no secret in my blog how important it is to me that  people of Mixed-Race in the entertainment business gain attention not just for their craft but also for their Mixed-Race heritage. To help encourage and inspire other Mixed-Race people to achieve their dreams.

Here is a brief clip from “You Laugh But It’s True” a feature length documentary on Trevor Noah and what it was like growing up during apartheid. Check him on on http://www.trevornoah.com/.

Saturday, February 9, 2013

Racially Lopsided Superheroes - WE GOT SPIDERMAN NOW!

First of all I need to state that I am late to this news. I can't believe it has taken me more than a year to discover this change. I am usually so focused on Mixed-Race issues that I feel like I should have caught it by now. But, we Mixed-Folks have a Mixed-Race superhero to be proud of.  Miles Morales, a half Black/half Latino teenaged Spiderman.

I am well established geek. I am a film geek, a tech geek (mostly Apple tech), a camera geek, and after 13 years of being in a relationship with a Star Wars geek, I am also one of those too. One area of common geekery that I have only dabbled in from time to time though is comics.

As a kid I was really interested in the X-men, something about the way the mutants had to hide who they were from the rest of the world to be accepted really spoke to a little Mixed-Girl that had to be Japanese on one side of the family or Black while in school. These characters were mutants of course, not necessarily racially diverse but their plight spoke to mine. Every now and then you hear a debate about why there aren't more races and ethnicity represented in the mainstream comic world. Even in the 20-teens, we still see mostly Caucasian superheroes. But, as I mentioned above, I have recently discovered that there was a Multi-Racial reboot of Spiderman in 2011, with a Half Black, Half Latino kid named Miles Morales.


Miles Morales was designed to replace Peter Parker after his death in June of 2010. He follows the basic Spiderman canon by having been bit by a radioactive spider, has an alliterative name, and seems to have all of the basic spidey-fighting skills. There are differences of course, and over time he will exhibit new skills that may or may not be related to his ethnicity such as muscle strength and speed improvements due to fast twitch muscle fibers that are seen most often in Black athletes.

As a person of Mixed-Race, I am ecstatic to find out that there is a Mixed-Race version to an iconic character. I will admit that I would be more excited if a new Mixed-Race character with its own canon could have been created and gotten as famous as Spidey but HEY! It is progress, I am happy with the possible opportunities that could be born of this reboot.

While the race of a superhero may not seem significant in the grand scheme of things, when you only see Caucasian characters with superpowers it can been damaging to people of color on a unconscious level. As a child, I didn't know how to describe what I was feeling. I just remember never seeing a family on TV that looked like mine. But think of the possibilities with this new Mixed-Race character. There was a recent reboot of Spider Man in films in 2012. We could very likely see a Mixed-Race Spiderman franchise. There could be a little Mixed boy or girl watching the Mixed-Race Spiderman movie and thinking "I could be a superhero!"


Wednesday, January 30, 2013

The Independent Filmmaker Project: Championing Independents

When I first went to community college in 1996, I knew I wanted to be in the entertainment industry but I didn't think it would be possible for me at that time. I took a few video production classes because that is all my cow-town of a city had to offer but there was no access, no community available to me. This was before everyone had computers and Internet access at home. You would have to hunt down or happen upon someone of similar interest in those days. Nowadays, any 7 year old can make a movie on his mom's iPhone, edit it in iMovie, post it to Youtube, and potentially go viral. In some cases the community comes to you now.

One such film community organization that I have come to enjoy is the Independent Filmmaker Project (IFP). The IFP is a non-profit organization designed to support independent filmmakers. Through assisting with productions, workshops, screenings, networking, and more, they promote independent films and filmmaking. Since it's creation in 1979,  the IFP has had a major impact on independent filmmaking. They have provided resources and supported over 7,000 productions and 20,000 filmmakers. The help spotlight films for a cause as well as regular films.

I am inspired by the work that IFP has done on the overall independent filmmaking community. In my quest to build a network of Mixed-Race films and filmmakers, I believe I could take a few tips from IFP. Above all, I want to create a safe haven for filmmakers of Mixed-Race to tell their stories. Like IFP has done for independent filmmakers in general. Be it on film or in books or even a stand up act, it is important for Mixed-Race artist to have a voice. Offering filmmaking labs, a platform for screenings (perhaps an online film festival?), connections with producers/distributors/agents in the industry is the main focus of this Mixed Girl Moving Pictures blog. I am nowhere near where I want to be to get started but I am working on getting there.


Thursday, January 24, 2013

Expectations with Bobby McFerrin

I had taken some time off from blogging to enjoy the holidays but just as I was ready to get back into it, I somehow managed to get myself massively over extended over the month of January. Between work, school, screenwriting, and a few extracurricular projects I didn't know how to get back on track. Luckily for me, my school requires that I blog a few times a month and so now the time to blog has come again.

In searching for my next blog topic on Ted.com I stumbled upon a short video that was so sweet and inspiring that I had to share it with you. It is not geared towards Mixed-Race cinema as the rest of my posts are but it is fantastic and needs to be shared.  I stopped at this video because my husband and I have been fans of Bobby McFerrin's classical style music for many years. I was curious what this artist was doing at a science festival. Bobby McFerrin was at the 2009 World Science Festival "playing" an audience like a keyboard. 

 

This 3 minute clip shows how Bobby McFerrin, with very little instruction to the audience, manages to get a whole audience to sing "Baaaaaaa" sounds at different pitches as he steps across the stage. He only shows the audience two notes, but as he moves the audience anticipates what is required of them and they sing higher or lower pitches as he moves. He even begins freestyle singing his own notes over the audiences but they stay on track. Is such a small thing, but for some reason it really touched me. The intent of the exercise was to show how the human brain anticipates expectations and can usually fall in line with very little prompting.

Once he is finished, he explained that it doesn't matter where in the world he attempts this exercise, the audiences always "get it." I am curious to figure out how I might be able to apply this "playing the audience" technique in my own career path in the entertainment industry. Not necessarily jumping around on a stage to the sounds of "baaaaa" from the audience but creating the participation from the audience. At this moment, I am not certain. What I have learned is that it may take going outside of my knowledge base to trigger such a response in an audience. Bobby McFerrin is a musician, who is using his music to teach a science focused audience about how the brain works in such a simple and beautiful way.