Behind the Scenes of Census 2010: Write in “Taiwanese” | Passion Project
It's been a week since the Census 2010: Write in "Taiwanese" video debuted on YouTube, and it's already garnered over 120,000 views. Produced by Slideshow Pictures in conjunction with at least seven Taiwanese American organizations, the public service announcement is part of a larger campaign to get Taiwanese Americans to self-identify on the US Census by checking "Other Asian" and writing in "Taiwanese."
If you know me well, you may know that I love being behind the scenes of all sorts of projects and productions. So I was very lucky to find myself a last-minute addition to this project. Five days beforehand, we worked it out for me to fly down to Los Angeles for a day and a half, just to help out a tiny bit. Let's be honest-- I basically had an very fun day just hanging out with the various cast and crew members, but my official capacity was to serve as the behind-the-scenes photographer on set of the video production. Later, I pulled my own weight by designing the accompanying website for the video campaign (http://taiwaneseamerican.org/census2010). But now I get to bring you behind the scenes with me!
We got an early start on the day, rolling out of bed around 6am and heading over to the studio in Alhambra.
Three Slideshow Pictures producers and a makeup artist relaxing a bit before shooting begins: Jon Lee (CEO, Slideshow Pictures), makeup artist Yuriko Bondies, Alex Yang (Slideshow Picture), and Howard Chen (Slideshow Pictures). Jon has been working in Hollywood for a couple years now. He was an associate producer on Formosa Betrayed. So between him and director Karen Lin, they were able to make this a first-class production with sound, photography, and editing professionals up and down the production chain.
Byron Werner and his crew sets up the backdrop, lighting, and camera.
They test the setup on Howard. Looking good in both frames.
Jon Lee with Alex Wen, owner of KCW studios.
The famous "Taiwanese" Census 2010 shirts. Order yours today from TACL!
Harrison and Haley are third generation hapa Taiwanese Americans. Adorable! Harrison just kept on munching away at his fruit while he was waiting, and Haley was a natural star, delivering lines flawlessly!
Love the giant pencil. Love.
Politician and lawyer Ted Lieu gets some pointers from director Karen Lin.
Two sets of sisters! We had a few really great families who came to the shoot. On the left are Japanese-Taiwanese American Muramoto sisters. On the right, Agnes Hsiao and Elena Ling.
If you've been following me or Taiwanese American news, you might recognize these two as the killers from Formosa Betrayed: actors Henry M. Chu and Adam Wang (links to previous shoots with me). Keep an eye out. You'll be seeing them more in the near future!
You may recognize actress Michelle Krusiec from Saving Face, amongst other projects. And on the right, a 96-year-old a-ma, Mrs. Ray-Yun Tsai Huang.
There were many, many more interesting people who participated in the video, but I don't have space to show all of them here, so head on over to the Census 2010: Write in "Taiwanese" website to meet all of the other cast and crew members.
Singer-songwriter Alice Tong fills out some information for me-- my other job that day was to collect bio information from everyone.
Director Karen Lin wraps the shoot at the end of the day-- 8am to 5pm. A full day's work.
Alex works on the giant pencil.
Breaking everything down-- the scene outside.
A wider view of KCW studio.
I don't know what they're thinking! You tell me.
Lastly, a word about the campaign-- I could launch into an argument about history and politics validating a Taiwanese identity. But for me, it's also about upholding the right to identify ourselves rather than be defined by others.
So share the YouTube video and the website. Tweet this. Go after one of the many other ways to take action. And tell every Taiwanese American person in the United States about the campaign.
But as Ho Chie says, no matter how you identify, whether Taiwanese or not, be sure to represent your own identity and community. This is important for all of us as Americans, and this is our only chance this decade.
Be Counted. Be Recognized.
Above, my latest web creation. Their bios display on hover! You can also learn more about the campaign and ways to help by visiting the website.
3 Shoots in 3 Cities in 3 Days | Bay Area, Los Angeles Photographer
Miles driven by others: 37
Miles flown: 390
Miles driven by myself: 150
____________________________________
=577 miles traveled, and that's just today.
Sometimes exhaustion is the most gratifying feeling in the world. In that moment when you finally sit down and have a chance to rest, you can feel the very essence of gravity as it pulls your every muscle down toward the Earth. The soreness in your bones and the slight dizzyness in your head are almost overwhelming, but somehow, none of it is worrisome. Instead, the feelings are reassuring. Because when you've put yourself that wholeheartedly and whole-bodily into your work, the tiredness is not a feeling of emptiness and depletion, but your body's evidence of what you've done and what you can do, and it's all the more encouragement to recharge yourself to do it again.
I couldn't think of a more gratifying way to close out January 2010.
Before I describe my weekend, I'll give the disclaimer that this might make my life seem much more glamorous and exciting than it really is. My life is not like this all the time. My bed is often my favorite place to be. But because I want to remember these adventures, I will capture what I can in a quick summary. Ready? Start.
Friday morning I had a great session with the members of the San Francisco Guitar Quartet. Right after work, I took off for the Oakland airport. After landing in Long Beach (thanks JetBlue!) I was driven back up to Los Angeles by my friend Vince. Saturday was the big film shoot-- the reason I flew down-- for the "Taiwanese American" 2010 Census Public Service Announcement. We arrived in the Alhambra studio by 7:30 am. Ten hours, several celebrities, an Olympic athlete, and a California State Assemblyman (amongst others) later, we wrapped on shooting, had a celebratory dinner, and eventually called it a day. By the next morning at 9am, I had gone back through Long Beach and arrived back home in Oakland, but only briefly, as I then drove up another 70 miles to Sebastopol for an engagement shoot at an amazingly cute family farm.
You'll have to come back and visit again to see the fruits of all these labors. But for now, I leave you with this picture:
Long Beach Airport, the tiniest airport I've ever flown through. This one building is the entire terminal, with four airlines from beginning to end. This came in handy when I almost missed my flight but discovered it only takes 5 minutes to get from front door to airplane seat and thus made it with time to spare.
And now, it's time to sleep.
Good night, world!
Ang Lee
ang lee defies categorization and baffles critics. the taiwanese/american filmmaker has created movies as divergent as sense and sensibility, eat drink man woman, the ice storm, and crouching tiger, hidden dragon, but he's probably best known as the academy award-winning director of brokeback mountain.
yesterday, i got to see ang lee in person as part of a special screening & talk at berkeley. it was co-presented by taiwaneseamerican.org, TAP-SF, and the SF international asian american film festival.
first, after a great introduction by berkeley academic linda williams, we got to view ang lee's latest film, lust, caution. unfortunately, the film earned itself an NC-17 rating because of its graphic, extended sex scenes. i say unfortunately because an NC-17 rating is "the commercial kiss of death," as williams put it. the film had a typical art house run, but never had wide distribution. it's a pity, because the film is captivating across all 2.5+ hours. and it's the kind of film that lingers long after its close.
i was so excited to see ang lee that i would have been happy even if the movie was terrible and the talk was superficial. but my shoddy expectations were blown away. actually, the most impressive part of the night was ang lee's talk. how many times have i heard artists give their evasive and superficial responses-- 'oh, it is whatever you think it is'? to the contrary, ang lee was candid, open, passionate, and revealing with his depth of thought behind his film.
some highlights:
lee described the film as his thesis on the performing arts and his work as a filmmaker. 'sometimes i have more faith in fake things, like movies, than i have in real things.' in the film, a young woman puts her performance to the test as she seduces a man she's trying to help her friends assassinate.
'excuse my language, but i think this may be the most profound question: 'does she come?''
ang lee characterized shooting the sex scenes as tremendously frightening-- like being in hell. he described himself going kind of crazy, as he got to a point during shooting where he began shaking all over, and lead actor tony leung had to come over and comfort him: 'we're just actors baring our skin. we'll be fine. you have to take care of yourself.'
during the q & a session, taiwanese american author shawna yang ryan lined up to ask ang lee, 'clearly, you don't shy away from provocative subjects...' 'when do you plan to bring the story of taiwan to the screen?' his answer was simply that when he found the right story, he would film it. he added, 'i hope i don't disappoint you.'
well, we'll keep right on waiting.
go check out other films and events in the SF international asian american film festival.
Published
my photo of will tiao has been published in liberty times.
http://www.libertytimes.com.tw/2009/new/mar/8/today-fo5-2.htm
if you happen to read chinese, you can even read what it says.
of course, it's not actually credited to me, but still, pretty cool.
Formosa Betrayed
my conversation with will tiao, producer of formosa betrayed, last week at duke:
will: so, what are you doing next weekend?
me: oh nothing.
will: want to come be a second photographer for the premiere?
me. uh, YES.
and that's how i made my way to the exclusive cast-crew-investors-only screening of the newly finished film.
click to read ho chie & shawna's awesome spotlight article on the event at taiwaneseamerican.org.
here's my photographic rendition of how the night went down:
ho chie shows off his invite to the exclusive weekend of investors' events. investors dinner, red carpet, screening, reception, afterparty, brunch. i got to tag along to all of it.
saturday, 228. after picking up the movie reels, we arrive early to the WGA theater, just in time for the red carpet setup.
i decide to sneak a preview as they run the reels to make sure the whole film will play properly. i love the feel of an empty pre-show venue.
raul and i fired some test shots, and then people started trickling in through our red carpet entrance. by around 7, the cast members are making appearances. pictured, leslie hope and wendy crewson.
wendy and james van der beek, the movie leads, greet each other
a very excited audience gets settled in the theater.
james van der beek, with wendy crewson in the background.
rapt.
this one took a bit of convincing and a lot of patience, trying to corral a bunch of movie stars over to the same wall for a photo.
by 11:30, i finally hitch a ride with will tiao over to the afterparty at the aptly named formosa cafe.
wrapping up the night with producer will tiao, director adam kane, and of course, dawson.
for more on the movie, visit formosathemovie.com.
and again, check out the awesome spotlight article at taiwaneseamerican.org.