Independent Features Film Festival 2008 - RECAP!

"I love New York in June, how 'bout you?"

Well - how about July, actually? We've finally made it back from the weekend hijinks that the Independent Features Film (IFF) Festival brought to our laps. First and foremost, "That Asian Thing" would like to thank everyone that made our trip possible and fantastic - from the online voters, friends & family, the Independent Features Film Festival Staff, the ooVoo staff, the myspace/facebook/friendster armies, the Asian-American organizations, magazines, blogs, and other communicative outlets in our grassroot efforts. THANK YOU!



Next, it was great to meet the IFF people. Speaking to Phillip Nelson (President) and Jose Ruiz (Vice-President) in person was very good for me personally because I'm currently working with the Chicago Filipino-American Film Festival (http://www.cfaff.org) this year and they gave great advice on running a festival. These two guys started with their own indie feature and then took it to the next level by creating a festival catered toward the hardships they faced. And now they're one of the premiere festivals that puts the power in the hands of the audience by online viewing and voting. Not only that, but to hold it at the acclaimed Tribeca Cinemas theater in New York City..."well, that's just buttah, baby!" Congrats to these gentlemen and their helpful & friendly staff members for putting on a great festival.



Now, "That Asian Thing" screened on Sunday at 12:30 pm in Theater One. We were very fortunate enough to sell out online and have the theater packed 5 minutes before screening time. With introduction to the film and people in their seats, I must admit that not having watched the movie in about a month helped my nerves. I think the last couple of screenings that we've had, I was a bit nervous because I had watched the film over and over so many times prior that it made me question myself. But this time around, I was a bit more relaxed and actually wanted to watch the movie since I haven't it seen it in awhile.

Thus we proceeded to Q&A with the Director. Through the advancement of the web, ooVoo (http://www.oovoo.com) was able to broadcast our Q&A session to parties keeping track of the Independent Features Film Festival online. They also recorded greetings, VIP accessed moments, and other segments of the festival.

A couple of hours after our screening and massive late lunch eating (which was moved to Hop Kee in Chinatown, not far from Joe's Shanghai Restaurant since it was so packed), the IFF Fest held their awards ceremony.



After all was said and done, "That Asian Thing" won the Audience Choice Award for Best Documentary at the Independent Features Film Festival of 2008!



Thankfully I scribbled a few notes before going to the stage ("just in case..."). I was able to thank everyone that made it possible, but I made a point to thank all the Asian-American artists involved with this project and urged the people to go to our website and find out more info on them. This was important to me because really, I wouldn't have a movie without these people. And I just hope I did them proud...

Moving on to a personal note, this was great but we gotta keep on going! So if you're part of an Asian-American organization and you're interested in having our docmentary screened at a spot near you, please send an inquiry to asianthing@gmail.com. Don't hesitate to inquire and we'll try our best to help out in anyway. We'd like to take this on the road and get more air time at colleges, universities, movie theaters, film festivals, etc. etc.

SPECIAL THANKS TO:

Filteany Productions (http://filteany.wordpress.com) for covering our Premiere Screening at Tribeca. It was a pleasure to work with this dynamic duo who took the time to interview people at our screening, as well as myself. They also taped a portion of our Q&A, which now that I've seen it, makes me think I should practice my oration skills a bit. (Sorry...I'm more of a writer...eek!) Please check out their Youtube Channel (http://youtube.com/user/filteany) and website. Here's the segment:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BDZcKpaisKo

THANKS GUYS! THIS ROCKS! And keep writing, Hazel - your innervoice will shine through paper no matter what. Just keep writing!

IN CLOSING:

Wow - that was fun! Let's do it again! Here's your recap in 3 minutes:

http://youtube.com/watch?v=3tXT8i7ZLCM

THANK YOU AGAIN! Let's rock and roll, baby - can't stop now....

WE SOLD OUT AT TRIBECA!

Sorry - I can't hook up any tickets if you weren't able to get them in time. I apologize, but do insist that if you really want in, email the Independent Features Film Festival or Tribeca to see if they have seats hidden on the side (wink, wink).

SEE YOU ON SUNDAY!
~Jonald

THIS SUNDAY!

PLUGS:

When next time you get Korean food (store or restaurant) or if you're active in the Korean/Korean-American community or if you want to read a great newspaper that talks about the Asian-American/Korean-American community, I strongly suggest picking up Korean Quarterly (http://www.koreanquarterly.org/Home.html). Not only for all the fine wines of articles, reviews, and event postings, but because there is a feature article written up about "That Asian Thing" by Ms. Martha Vickery (thanks Martha!). Here's the .pdf of the article, but you should still pick up the newspaper! Enjoy:

[This story was reprinted with permission from Korean Quarterly, an independent non-profit volunteer newspaper of the Korean American community of the Minneapolis-St. Paul area and the Upper Midwest. Korean Quarterly's website is: www.koreanquarterly.org]

http://www.geocities.com/mrbrown19/korean-quarterly.pdf

Next on our list are the great blog posting done by the ever popular, Angry Asian Man and Slant Eye for the Round Eye. Check these out and return to them on a daily basis for your Asian-American updates! Thanks guys!

http://www.angryasianman.com/2008/07/that-asian-thing-screening-at-tribeca.html

http://www.slanteyefortheroundeye.com/2008/07/film-that-asian-thing-lands-at-tribeca.html

And last but not least, our good friends at Asiance Magazine has given us a plug under their Daily section. Please check out their website as they focus on the Asian-American women in our society today. (Thanks Jaymie!)

http://asiancemagazine.com/news/2008/07/11/that_asian_thing_screening

Thanks to everyone for thier great support and mention! We are completely, utterly, absolutely, and thoroughly gracious for your words and hope to continue this ride with future projects. Thanks again!

THIS SUNDAY:

Gametime is at 12:30 pm at Theater Uno @ the acclaimed Tribeca. Be there! Get your tickets now (as we're in Limited status):

https://tickets.tribecafilm.com/online/default.asp?brand=cinemas

And stick around for your Director's Q&A. Then if you're hungry for some fine Chinatown eats, we'll be meeting at Joe's Shanghai Restaurant at around 3 pm:

http://www.joeshanghairestaurants.com/

No reservations taken, so just show up and wait in line if need be. We can talk outside too.

This is your captain's log. The truth is still out there....(uh...been watching a couple of episodes of X-Files and Star Trek...sorry). Hope to see y'all this Sunday!

LIMITED STATUS!

Aloha mi amigos -

Floating on Cloud 9 on the way to the Independent Features Film Festival - it'll actually be a return back home for me (Jonald Reyes). If you haven't read up on my bio from our main website (http://www.thatasianthing.com), I grew up in Jersey and going to Tribeca Cinemas is like a dream. What I'm looking forward to is catching up with old friends and families while being able to show them what I've been working on for the last 3 years.

Yes - it's been almost a full 3 years since the conception of "That Asian Thing." If you check our blog archives, it's been quite a journey and I still can't believe we've gotten to show our stuff at Tribeca. AND YES - thanks to all of you, you awesome people you!!

However, I wanted to say the few things -

LIMITED STATUS:

If you haven't gotten your tickets yet, buy them now!! We're on "limited status" according to the Tribeca Cinemas online ticket sales. Therefore, go to here:

https://tickets.tribecafilm.com/online/default.asp?brand=cinemas

Get you and your friends their tickets, and I'll see your coolness at the door. Werd.

AFTER SCREENING MEAL:

Okay - this took a long time to figure out, but the end result is us just bombarding a restaurant that doesn't take reservation. Therefore, after the glimtz and glamour of our screening at Tribeca, we will all go to:

JOE'S SHANGHAI RESTAURANT:

http://www.joeshanghairestaurants.com/

Most likely we'll all meet up there at 3 pm. I suggest carpooling or figuring out how you'll get there after the Q&A and aftermath. Remember - we have NO RESERVATIONS!! Just go afterwards! It's not very far and here's the Citysearch review:

http://newyork.citysearch.com/profile/7113307/new_york_ny/joe_s_shanghai.html

It's the one on Pell Street!! There are 3 other Joe's Shanghai Restaurants - don't get lost or else I won't see you. booo!

Alrighty - this is all for now, boys & gals. Get your tickets, come out to the show, and eat some dumplings with me!!

Do your ticket buying dance!! WOo Ha!!

Howdy boys and gals -

YES! SO WE'VE MADE IT INTO THE INDEPENDENT FEATURES FILM FESTIVAL!!




"But Jonald, all my friends and I want to know how to go about getting tickets?"

Well, no fret, my pretties! Here's your link straight to purchasing tix:

https://tickets.tribecafilm.com/online/default.asp?brand=cinemas

BUY NOW!! Find "That Asian Thing" under the Sunday, July 27th Screenings (12:30 pm) and click on the BUY TICKETS!

I can't hold tickets for anyone, I apologize in advance. I have no power over our ticket sales. If miracles show that we sell out, then email the Independent Features Film Festival and let them know to have another viewing. haha! Let's have'em know "That Asian Thing" is high in demand! YES!

I'm also in the works of possibly setting up an after screening late lunch get together. Planning is being worked on and should be solidified this week. Check here later on for any details. Please come out and play!

Thanks everyone!

WHO'S COMING WITH ME?!?!

Hi Jonald,

Congratulations, we are very happy to inform you that your film “That Asian Thing” is an official selection to the 2008 Independent Features Film Festival! Your film will screen July 27th at 12:30PM at the Tribeca Cinemas Theater 1. Tickets will go on sale at the Tribeca Cinemas box office (www.tribecacinemas.com) July 7th. Just like promoting your film online, it is highly suggested that you promote your screening. The more buzz you can build around your film the better! .....

Again we would like to say congratulations and we hope to see you at the 2008 Independent Features Film Festival!

Sincerely,

Philip J. Nelson
President
Independent Features Film Festival

WOO HOO!!! THANK YOU EVERYONE FOR YOUR VOTES!! Thank you to everyone that has helped out in anyway possible. All the little things did count including posting numerous bulletins on myspace & facebook, people changing their profile pic to "That Asian Thing" logos, email forwards, word of mouth, and just getting your votes in. Special thanks to the big time contributors like the Paunch Stevenson Show, Asiance Magazine, Slant Eye for the Round Eye, and obviously the people at Independent Features Film Festival. If there's anyone I missed - THANK YOU, THANK YOU!

Now we're in the 2nd phase which is: COME OUT TO THE SCREENING!! Not only how we blew up the voting online, but now we need as many people and more to come out to the viewing at NYC! I'm working on attending myself, but either way, we need the Asian-American community to represent in a strong way. Emails, blog posts, myspace/facebook bulletins, etc., etc., will be rolled out again (...just a warning for Jonald spam). If you live out on the East Coast around the New York/New Jersey area, please try to come out that day. It'll be a beautiful day for a movie in lovely NYC!

This really rocks everyone! Let's make this even bigger now!