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Written by Ben
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Thursday, 14 February 2008 |
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It's less than 2 weeks before the 80th Annual Academy Awards, and the nominations are thick with great movies.
The coveted "Best Motion Picture of the Year" category stacks contenders No Country for Old Men, Atonement, Juno, Michael Clayton, and There Will Be Blood. All eyes will be also on the Best Actor and Best Actress nominees including Daniel Day Lewis, George Clooney, Johnny Depp, Ellen Page, Cate Blanchett, and others. In lesser known categories, Walt Disney's Enchanted has three nominations in "Achievement in music written for motion pictures (Original Song)" and Transformers is nominated for Achievement in visual effects. There Will Be Blood is also nominated for Achievement in Cinematography Achievement in Art Direction, and Achievement in Directing. It's also great to see Michael Moore's Sicko nominated for Best Documentary Feature.
The show's producer, Gil Cates, and production designer Roy Christopher revealed the set design for the February 24 Oscar presentation. Christopher took his inspiration from a centuries-old etching of a grand space rendered by the Italian artist Piranesi, then translated that inspiration into contemporary architectural terms utilizing “Streamline Moderne” elements.
The 80th Academy Awards will be presented on Sunday, February 24, 2008, at the Kodak Theatre at Hollywood & Highland Center®, and televised live by ABC beginning at 5 p.m. PT, beginning with a half-hour arrivals segment. For a complete list of nominees and events, you can go to www.oscars.org.
So what are your predictions? Who will be the winners?
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Written by Ben
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Wednesday, 06 February 2008 |
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Well, the Year of the Rat is upon us. It's been quick...the Year of the Pig was a blur, wasn't it? From everyone at VAN, Chuc Mung Nam Moi to all of you, and may this year bring you good health, good fortunes, and some pleasant adventures.
If you have any announcements to make for 2008, let us know and we can post it here. What good is art if you don't share it with the world? What good is having a voice if we don't use it? Now, let's all get busy and create!!
Leave your footprint...you are not a robot. Cheers...
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Written by Nathan Pham
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Wednesday, 06 February 2008 |
Hi Vietnamese-American filmmakers, screenwriters, actors, actresses, etc... please do whatever you can to bring a (good) chick flick to the screen.
Go ahead...lead the way.
Thanks.
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Three hours conversation with Jade Kira... |
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Written by Nathan Pham
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Tuesday, 22 January 2008 |
And it wasn't enough.
 Before I get into the details of the conversation, I would like to say Los Angeles traffic sucks ass! I'd like to apologize to Jade for my tardiness. Next time, whenever I drive in LA, I must multiply the calculated time by 3 to make sure I'll be on time. It's crazy! Each freeway has 6, 7 lanes and there is traffic. WTF? The mayor needs to do something about the population. ;O) Anyhow...here goes the story.
Normally, before I do an interview for VAN, I'd spend some time to search around on the internet and MySpace to find the person that I'm interested in talking to. He/she doesn't have to be well known. As long as I find that person and their work are in parallel with my personal beliefs and interests, then I'll try to engage and hopefully she or he will make time for me. However, this time was different. Back in December, when I was busy (like everyone else) with all holidays errands; before I got the chance to search, I saw a bulletin post from Jade,
 "Hello Friends,
As the holiday season is nearing, the weather is dropping, so it is time for me to provide blankets to the homeless for the chilling nights. At this time, I am asking friends to donate whatever you can, and everything is appreciated. I will be purchasing blankets by the second week of December (hopefully sooner, if I can get a sizable amount in donations) and distribute the blankets by mid December. If you have blankets or comforters that you can spare, then that would also be greatly appreciated.
To all of my close friends, you know how to contact me, and your thoughts mean a lot.
Again, thank you.
Jade Kira"
 I thought it was very neat and volunteered to contribute. From that, I started reading up on her from her site, www.jadekira.com, and met up with her for coffee while I was in LA last weekend. This time I decided to do the interview differently as well. I came to Java Groove in Van Nuys without any questions prepared. I just wanted to go with the flow. And here are the highlights that I made sure to remember to write about.
A little history on Jade Kira:
 Growing up in the bay area, Jade is the oldest in the family of 4, 2 sisters and 1 brother. Without her father around (he passed away when she was a few months old), she had to take on the role and help her single mom to raise her siblings. Her only purpose then was to make sure her siblings stay out of trouble and stay focused in school. Throughout high school and college, her passion for entertainment (especially film) was buried deep under all the school work, house errands, cooking, and part-time jobs. Although she did start modeling at the age of 13, here and there, but the thought of taking that career path crossed her mind only once in awhile, before she went to bed at night. All that changed in the summer of 2006. Her sisters and brother all graduated high school and left for college. She was lost. She needed to figure out what's the next purpose. Find a stable 9-5 job? Or...
VAN: So how did it all started again?
Jade: I had some savings and flew myself to HK to pursue acting representation. I thought I'd have a better chance in HK because of the Asian market and I am mixed, Vietnamese, Chinese, Cambodian, Russian, and French. I was wrong. When I had the meeting with the Talent Agency there, they look at my photos and said, "We don't know what to do with you. We can do a lot with someone that is mix such as White with Asian features. You are mix but Asian with White features."
VAN: That's interesting!
 Jade: I was really shocked. So that didn't go through. I was disappointed and sad, and flew back to the states. Then, a good friend suggested I do something that confirmed my belief. She talked me into going to see a fortuneteller. Believe it or not, I went. And the lady basically said that I need to move away from my family to be successful with my passion and desire. I knew I had to move to LA as my next and only option, but I never imagined myself actually doing it; being in LALA land. But after hearing her day that, I knew she was right. I had to leave my family to truly focus on myself, because as ling as I’m home, I stay handicapped. I live for them, work for them and provide for them, and I would never know if my life was meant for something more. So here I am in LA, pursuing film and television.
VAN: So...how did your mom take it when you told her that you want to move to LA to pursue film and television?
Jade: I had actually wanted to move to LA, but hadn't really pulled the trigger. The fortune telling thing was more like a [secondary motivation]. So when I decided to make the move, I nervously sat my mom down. I had mentally prepared myself with all the reasons to over her objection. Then I was caught by surprise when she said she had always known I would end up choosing this path. I was just speechless. I mean...I had all these things to say if she was going to say no. I didn't need to use any of it. And now I am here, doing what I’m meant to do.
VAN: That's pretty awesome. I'm glad that it worked out for you. Otherwise we wouldn't be sitting here and having this chat. [So thanks to the fortune teller]
Some highlights of Jade's projects:
 Jade have actually done quite a variety of work from modeling, commercials, ads campaigns, music videos, acting, etc... Some of the more recognized work in the past are ads and commercials for brand like Palm Pilot, Intel, and Heneiken PSA for Italy. She also did a couple music videos for MTV. To get a full list of all her previous work, you can visit her site and check out her resume.
Although her previous work involved a lot of modeling, her deepest passion is actually writing and producing screenplays.
VAN: So what's cooking?
Jade: Well, I actually just finished my screenplay, Snap. It is about the rawness of social issues such as child molestation and drug abuse. It is a dark drama type of genre.
VAN: Awesome! Are you planning to shoot it?
Jade: There are a few Independent Filmmakers that want to shoot it, but I am not in a rush. I want to find the right crew with the right vision.
VAN: I know exactly what you mean. It's hard to work on a project with people that don't share the same vision. The results won't be satisfying.
 Jade: Plus, I'd like to stay focus on a new screenplay that I'm working on.
VAN: OH??? What is it about? Please do share. I promise I won't write about it.
Jade: OK, you promise? It's a romantic comedy, about people in Vietnam having the wrong idea of the American dream. It'll show the irony of how the "Viet Kieu" know that and still try to live up to those expectations.... and..
OK... I really promised that I can only say that much. However, let me tell ya, it is darn GOOOD! I really like the idea. It’s fresh! And I’d imagine almost all Vietnamese and Vietnamese American will be able to relate, especially the ones that are familiar with both cultures. I have yet to see a Vietnamese-American film that is similar to this idea. (Although Saigon Love Story made an attempt, in my opinion, it failed miserably.) OH! And the ending twist is quite clever. Sorry, I don't mean to tease, but once Jade is done and have the camera rolling, I'll be writing about the details. Stay tune!
VAN: So beside the screenplays, anything else that is cool and worth mentioning?
 Jade: I am also working with VHN (Direct TV channel 2073) to produce a show called, Monkey Bridge ("Cau Khi"). On the show, I will be do interviews to cover interesting and edgy topics such as beauty pageants, generation gap, and successful your talents from our generation. One of the interviews I'm dying to do is to sit down with that one girl who participate more than one pageant contests per year. I want to find out what goes on inside. I also want to interview the girl's parents as well. It intrigues me even just thinking about it.
VAN: OH, don't even get me started on that topic. I can tell you this. For sure, you'll have at least 6 audiences because my friends and I are dying to find out as well. It's ridiculous. ;o)
And then we started went off on all stuff that we find ridiculous that will need changes. However, I really think Monkey Bridge will be a good show too. It is scheduled to air in Feb./Mar. Hopefully it'll go through. We'll also keep you posted on it. Overall I really enjoyed the conversation with Jade. She is really cool, raw and honest, confident and knows exactly what she needs to get done to execute her vision. We had a lot more ideas and topics to discuss and exchange, but time was running out. Thank you, Jade, for taking the time to meet and share your views and experience.
For all you cool people and artists out there, if you have a story to tell, a complaint to make, a thing to teach, please email me,
This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it
I can always make time for a cup of Java Groove.
Until next time...Stay alive! Stay creative!
np.
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