Ok, so I was wrong. There aren’t 11 finalists…there are 14. Although I found out there were over 150 entries to this fest this year. Making the final 14 is pretty damn good.

Peep the CUNUFF website. It’s pretty cool that CM is the first one you see. Guess whose bio is first up. Awwe yeah!

Pretty cool, man.

So I got this today:

Dear Filmmakers,

Congratulations! We are pleased to inform you that your film has been selected as a finalist for Columbia University ’s National Undergraduate Film Festival of 2007. As such, your film will join a small group of similarly exceptional films that stood out among an overwhelming number of submissions that we have received. Your film will be screened from 6PM-9PM on Saturday, March 31st at the Roone Arledge Cinema of Columbia University’s Lerner Hall where it will be judged by a panel of film industry celebrities/professionals and be eligible to win an award in any of the following nine categories:
· The Soundtrack Award (for best use of music & sound)
· Best Screenplay
· Best Editing
· Best Cinematography
· Best Acting
· The Frontiers Award (for most original film)
· The Outreach Award (for an outstanding film dedicated to community service)
· The Concord Award (for best film voted by the audience)
· Best Directed
· Best Picture

We strongly encourage you to attend the festival, if convenient. Lerner Hall is located at:

Columbia University
115th Street and Broadway Avenue
New York, NY 10027

The Roone Arledge Cinema is accessible from the 2nd Floor of Lerner Hall.

Sure, it’s not quite as big a spectacle as the LA Asian Pacific Film Festival (at least I don’t think it is), but still pretty cool, right? On the email, I only saw eleven (11) addresses, which suggests that CM was one of the eleven chosen. And there also happens to be eleven awards. If we snag one, does that mean I can say that Cereal Monogamy is an award-winning short? Methinks it does!

Since I can’t make it, does anyone in NYC want to go? They say I get five (5) free admissions. Guest list closes next Thursday.

Sometimes, there are moments when you realize you’re in over your head. I guess today could’ve been one of those times. See, today I attended this panel and heard first-hand of the bleak outlook of the current state of commercial Asian-American cinema. I know what you’re thinking — commercial and Asian-American don’t quite fit, right? After about 90 minutes of discussion, we were left with a very discouraging fact – Asian-American films do not make money. And until Asian-American filmmakers can consistently deliver numbers – the way BLT did – it is highly unlikely that films with Asian-American themes and/or actors would ever get produced or picked up for theatrical distribution.

That’s pretty sad. The panelists talked about the lack of support from the Asian community. They simply do not go out to movies. The bootlegging phenomenon was brought up and it makes me wonder if the habit is programmed in our subconscious. I had a conversation with my aunt in Cebu the other day. She mentioned how most people (with the exception of couples on dates) would rather pick up a bootlegged DVD of a new theatrical release and watch it at home theainstead of shelling out double or triple the cost to sit in a grimy theater. I guess it’s our “bargain-hunting” nature.

I have some friends and family who have told me they’ll wait to watch Cereal Monogamy when they get a copy of the DVD or when it shows up on YouTube. And for me, that’s really okay. As an aspiring filmmaker, you really don’t care how people see your stuff, you just want it seen. (plus, I’ll never put it on YouTube) Asian-American cinema just won’t grow in Hollywood’s eyes without the numbers. And if this behavior doesn’t change, it will be difficult to create a demand for movies made by someone like me.

But I never considered myself as an ethnic filmmaker. I’d like to think the stories I would tell deal with universal interpersonal relationship issues. And I’m sure that because I’m Filipino, my outlook on relationships may differ from others’, but I won’t hit you over the head with my Filipino-ness.

So it’ll probably mean I’ll have to think about doing one or all of these three things:

1) Seek alternate distribution solutions – if you can’t book a theater, where else do you look? Netflix? Cable (or other subscription programming)? The World Wide Inter-web? (that was my For Your Consideration shout out)
2) Make a movie that crosses over – a story that can please your core market, yet appeal to a much broader audience. The example the panelists used was My Big Fat Greek Wedding.
3) (probably most important of all) Cast white actors.

so this evening i returned home and discovered a 4″x5.5″ envelope with a return address that read:

Visual Communications
120 Judge John Aiso St, The Basement
Los Angeles, CA 90012

ok, so about 3 months ago, i submitted a rough cut of Cereal Monogamy to be considered for the 2007 installment of the VC Filmfest, LA’s Asian-American film festival. in the back of my mind, i knew i would be hearing from them soon, but you never really think much of what it would be like once the envelope is staring you in the face. see, i never got accepted to college. (ok, i got accepted to Cogswell and De Anza, but they take anybody) i applied to one college my senior year (Cal Poly SLO for Architecture) and vividly remember being crushed when that stupid skinny envelope came. size shoudn’t matter, but we all know it did..at least for that.

seeing this envelope brought me back to that day. okay, so it’s not a skinny envelope, but it’s also not one of those super huge ones either. i felt the thickness and there appeared to be several sheets in there. that’s a good sign right? only one way to find out.

i don’t remember ripping it open – looking at the envelope now, it seems like i was pretty calm cuz there aren’t signs of excessive forced entry. releasing the adhesive has displaced some small pieces of brown paper. so anyway, i reach in and see about six 8.5″x11″ sheets folded in half. it was folded outward so the contents of the letter were readable without having to unfold completely. i immediately began reading. the first word: “Congratulations!” shit…they wouldn’t say congratulations if you weren’t in, right? so i kept reading and it wasn’t until the very end of the second line that my eyes lit up.

it read, “Cereal Monogamy is invited to participate in…”

YES! we’re in! i quickly read through that first paragraph just to confirm everything was in order. there was a bunch of other stuf toward the bottom that talked about all the promotional material i had to submit. then i quickly flipped through the other pages – blah, blah, blah!

so then i called Eric, my DP and editor. “We’re in!” i said.

“Shut up, for reals?” he retorts. at this point, i think it gets a little hazy. i just remember being SO excited about everything that my hands were shaking, my voice was quivering, and my speech was likely incoherent. Eric asked me to read him some of the letter (which i did) and he also requested for a copy of the letter (which i’ll do tomorrow).

so then i continued with the major players of the crew and cast – message for Albert, james was stoked, message for Chuck, Nicole was stoked, message for Annalisa, message for Julie, then Chuck called back and he was stoked! then came Rich who sounded just as excited and floored as i was.

it felt great to tell everyone the wonderful news. all the hard work could now be validated. sure, it’s one thing to see it on a 14′x9′ screen at an art gallery in downtown SJ, but it’ll be another thing to see this thing on a huge 30+ ft. screen. and at a legit film festival in L-freakin’-A, no less! c’mon…how insanely rad is that!?

[an interesting side note: last night, i actually had a dream that i was buying tickets to a film festival that i submitted CM to. since i hadn't received any response from the said festival's committee, i thought that i didn't get in. however, i purchased a ticket and when looking at the program, i noticed a picture of James (who plays Frank in CM) with a heading that said "Cereal Monogamy". it was accepted to the fest! i ended up sitting in the theater feeling like the king of he world. then i woke up and was like "damn it!" -- this IS a true story, and it could be said that i literally dreamed that CM would get accepted to a film festival]

so i’ll be running around like a mad man in the next few days putting together all the required promotional material. it’s due on the 16th. (dude…they even want a headshot of me – wtf is that?) i guess there could be worse problems, though.

Cereal Monogamy – official selection, VC Filmfest 2007 – a major asian-american film festival in one of the largest markets in the country…i don’t think that could ever sound bad, could it?

so the fest is scheduled for May 3-10, but the official program schedule should be up sometime in April. road trip anyone?