Helldriver

Sorry to start off with the weather, but, damn, it's hot out!

So when did summer start exactly? I hadn't even noticed. It's like, one day I'm hanging up my winter coat and the next I'm sponging sweat from my brow. The kicker is, summer doesn't really take hold in Japan until the cicada begin their horrid, scratchy cackle. We're still weeks away from that.

Things have been moving along since my last entry. For starters, I've had several articles published, in-print and on-line. Two were in the last issue of Fangoria (#295). One was (finally) my DEATH KAPPA set visit. The other was a look at Nikkatsu Studio's new Sushi Typhoon label and Yoshinori Chiba, the producer who started it. I'd say the article is more about Chiba than it is Sushi Typhoon, as the label is a manifestation of his filmmaking philosophies.

What I mean is, I suppose I could have done a piece focusing on the growing catalogue of Sushi Typhoon pieces – giving plot synopsis, cast / crew lists, and gushing over how there have never been films like this in the history of cinema - but I felt Chiba's story had more human interest in it and, thus, was the one more worth telling. Besides, Chiba's a good guy. He laughs at my jokes. People who laugh at my jokes are OK by me. 

I'm also happy to report that the movie HELLDRIVER has finally been officially announced. Another in the Sushi Typhoon line, this one is a zombie epic directed by Yoshihiro Nishimura (director of TOKYO GORE POLICE and co-director on VAMPIRE GIRL VS. VAMPIRE GIRL). I did a piece on HELLDRIVER for the Fangoria website. Well, two pieces technically, but the second was only a collection of set photos I took.

Here's a link to the articles:

First story with photos:

Fangoria Helldriver Story 1

Second story, photos only:

Fangoria Helldriver Story 2

And something at Twitch I did:

Twitch Helldriver

I spent several days on the set of HELLDRIVER. It was the kind of fun I've come to expect when on a Nishimura set. However, there were times when it rivaled the toughest set experiences I've ever had. Let me tell you, if anyone makes claims that making film is lots of fun, they either don't know what they are talking about or they have been to a set and done nothing but sit on the sidelines. It's some of the hardest work known to man. Especially when the budgets are what they are in Japan.

I went the first day of shooting, traveling in a location bus all the way down to Choshi in Chiba. While the area there is picturesque with lots of quaint wood and porcelain roofed homes this being a Nishimura film meant that if there was a dung infested hole to be found, find it we would. And find it we did!

Sure enough, my jaw dropped to the floor of the minibus when we pulled into a stinky looking, dilapidated factory that I was told was now an illegal dump yard. It was f*king gross. There were huge cubes of compressed garbage wrapped in black plastic all about the place. Many were splitting at the edges. And the inside of the place was just so much rusted machinery.

Still, it was a great day and filled with the insanity and blood letting that only Nishimura can conjure up. Hell, I even got to do an acting part with some dialogue that I think came out pretty good.

But the really tough days were over by Mt Fuji. Two days cursed by a torrential downpour. Imagine being up in the woods, around you are 30 people made up as zombies, as many crew, and it's pelting rain like small rocks with no shelter to be had anywhere. If that's not enough the ground had turned to mud, like something out of an army movie, and the lightening equipment was just standing in the mud. If one of those things were to fall over, I wondered how many, if not all of us, would have died.  To make matters worse, I had been told shooting would start at 11am. It started at 7pm. I had been up since 4am. Standing there, my sneakers wet like two soak sponges, I'm ready to collapse, and looking at my watch I see it's still only 1:40am. Shooting wasn't going to end until 6am.

But that night was pretty amazing. Lots of blood and guts. I got tons of great photos. And it ended weirder than I could have imagined. Back at the ryokan (Japanese inn) I had to get into the shower with all the male zombie extras. Me, naked, with 15 Japanese men in zombie makeup. I slept like a rock for the entire four hours they allowed us to sleep. The next day too was a load of fun. A cameo by a famous director I've known for years. Also, Cay Izumi was doing some pole dancing, which they shot against "Good Times Bad Times" by Led Zeppelin. And, man, if that didn't rock!

My last day on the set was a lot of fun too and I got in my actor interviews and tied up all the little odds and ends I need to get for my articles before the set vanishes forever. More great photos too! I love taking set photos!

In sad news, voice actor / director Peter Fernandez passed away this month. I met Peter at a fan event in LA back in 1999. But, it turned out that this wasn't the first time we'd met. I, and several other writers, wrote a little tribute to Peter for the website Sci-Fi Japan:

Peter Fernandez Remembered

On an unfortunate similar note, Reiko Inoue, the wife of Godzilla art director Yasuyuki Inoue, passed away a few days ago. I'm very sad to hear this. Just the day before I was told she was expected to live a few more weeks and I was planning to pay her a visit. When I was filming my documentary, Bringing Godzilla Down to Size, Reiko really took care of all of us klutzy men. She always had big smiles and gave off nothing but warmth and affection. Like her husband, Reiko was an accomplished artist and I enjoyed her sculptures scattered about their home in Ebina. Reiko will be missed. I’m planning to attend the funeral this weekend.

Until the next entry...

Mutant Girls Squad

I continue to be tied up with work and all sorts of fun things. Well, mostly work things. But I like to work - so it's all fun!

I recently completed a subtitle gig for the Nikkatsu film "Mutant Girls Squad," which is part of their Sushi Typhoon label. I had a blast working with Shinako from Nikkatsu and Sasaki from Mahara-Mothra. We finished things off the other day in the studio, where we really fine tuned the subs.

As can be expected from filmmakers such as Iguchi and Nishimura, they've come up with moments in the dialogue that have no equivalent in English. Luckily for me, I was given carte blanche by the directors to apply my own bent view of things based on my knowledge of Japan, the west, and my long time relationship with the directors. After all was said and done, I really do feel that the subs are above average for this kind of film and that they will offer non-Japanese speakers greater insight into the blood splattered insanity of the film. I also owe a big round of thanks to my partner, Kenichiro Shimbo.

It's come to my attention that this subtitled version of Mutant Girls Squad will be playing at Theater N from this Saturday until June 18th. Here's a link to the announcement on the MGS blog.

MGS BLOG

One of the recent Nikkatsu films whose set I spent some time on has been officially announced. It's the movie version of the 70s TV show "Denjin Zaborgar," which is the original "transforming" robot TV show. I was going to report on it for Fangoria, since director Noboru Iguchi has made some rather Fangoria styled gore films, but the movie seems to be more action than splatter, so I sent some of my photos from the set over to the Twitch website along with a quote I worked out of Iguchi between takes. Here's the link to that:

TWITCH WEBSITE

In addition, I spent several long days on the set of Yoshihiro Nishimura's latest opus. As this hasn't been officially announced I can't comment on it. But I do want to say that it was one of the most intense films sets I've been to. It was tough, emotionally and physically, but I rate it high on my life experience list. I'll be writing about the film for Fangoria. I will say this, it's a film that has the potential to be one of the most explosive genre films ever to come out of Japan. I even got a couple of lines of dialogue in the film too! (But it should be good despite this...)

A short film that I wrote the script for, "Once More," will have its premiere at the Tokyo Short Shorts film festival this weekend. It was directed by Hiroo Takaoka, who was the cameraman on my films "The iDol," and "Bringing Godzilla Down to Size." Here's the link to the page at Short Shorts:

http://www.shortshorts.org/2010/en/official/a-e.html

Not sure if this will work, but Hiroo put the trailer up on Facebook. Here's the link to that:

http://www.facebook.com/?ref=home#!/video/video.php?v=453346989347&ref=mf

I notice that the Short Shorts page lists it as a "drama" film. Idiots! I guess this is because genre films get little respect at Japanese film festivals.

It was a fun script to write and I'm interested to see how it's turned out. It's the first time something I wrote wasn't shot by me. The story is basically science fiction but I strove to keep the human element strong.

Finally, my next movie is moving along. Not as fast as I'd like, but these things take time. I have a film company in Japan working on the production with me, although at this early point we're still raising capital.

Hopefully I'll have some good news about my newest project - like an official announcement - in the coming weeks.

Until then...

Full Steam Ahead!

I don't know if this is a blog or simply a list of things I've done between time point A and time point B. I wouldn't mind writing more often and in more detail, if only time permitted. Not even sure where to begin...

Well, since my last entry, I attended two screenings at Imagica. The first was "Death Kappa," an upcoming giant monster film by director Tomoo Haraguchi. It was the premiere screening of the film and attended by the staff and cast. I was there finishing up my story on the film for Fangoria magazine.

I love watching films at Imagica. Nice, large, cushiony seats, a bright clear screen and some booming audio. As "Death Kappa" isn't a major release it was screened in the smaller theater on the lot, but even that's not bad. Still, the large theater is my favorite screen in Japan and I've seen a number of big films there over the years.

Everyone went to a nearby Izakaya to celebrate after the preview. I spent the night wedged between the producers and cast. One thing I find amusing about these staff parties is how everyone separates themselves. At one table was the art department and VFX people, at another, the camera and sound crew, and at another, the director, producers and actors.

In any case, the night was great fun. Haraguchi and I go back to the set of "Gamera 3", and he even put a cameo in my first film, "The iDol." Haraguchi loves teasing me about this (among other things), leaving me in a position where all I can do is down as much alcohol as possible and tease him back.

It was only my second time to meet the film's leads, so I was still in the introductory stage of my meeting with them. You know, polite speech and lots of praising back and forth (so different from Haraguchi). However, two of the actors I've known for awhile. Hiroko Sakurai is always a sweetheart, and seems to have a smile permanently plastered on her face. The other actor, Ryuki Kitaoka (guess he changed his name), I've known since 1999 when I met him at some low-rent "giant monster" festival in LA.

Two weeks later, I went over to Haraguchi's home where, amidst wild props from his various productions and his incredible still and movie poster, we conducted an interview about his work and intentions for the "Death Kappa" film. It was basically a follow up interview to the one I did with him during shooting.

Also during April was the premiere of the film "Natural Woman 2010," which I did subtitles for earlier in the month of April. While not a major release, it was a quite an enjoyable job. The premiere at Image Forum in Shibuya was a blast. All of the film's actresses were on hand, along with director Seiichi Nomura, a well known photographer in Japan who came up with the idea of running photos of pretty girls at the head of Japanese manga, an idea that could be said to have become culturally significant. The premiere featured a talk on stage with the director and the films four main actresses.

I dragged my friend Shusuke Kaneko to the screening (which made a stir backstage). After the screening, Kaneko, myself, Yamazaki (assistant producer), her sister and Ayano, the lead of "Natural Woman," went to a small restaurant around the corner and spent about 5 hours talking and basically just laughing it up. 

The following week saw another "Natural Woman" event, this time attended by the two leads, Ayano and Shiomi, and director Nomura. It was also my birthday, and, coincidently, assistant producer Yamazaki's too. After the screening, Excellent Films president Ito-san took us out for an excellent birthday dinner! (Get it? Excellent films. Excellent dinner... Ah, forget it!)

I spent the night getting to know Shimoi and getting to know Ayano better. Shiomi works mostly as a model and was the face for a line of cosmetics for cosmetic giant Kanebo. She had some interesting stories about modeling trips to Spain. Ayano, on the other hand, was a film student and it seems she's become an actress only because she happens to be entirely cute. The food was fantastic, and desert was a big dish of different pastries with Yamazaki's and my name written across it in chocolate syrup.

The Dawn of the Dead Box Set I worked on came out a day or two before my birthday, and the company sent me a copy, which is great as the 20,000 yen price tag is a bit steep. I don't know if I'd call the cover 'exciting,' more like 'sophisticated,' but the set gets my approval.  In addition to the various versions of the film, there are lots of nifty bits on the extras disc, too many to mention here. As I announced in a previous blog, I wrote a couple of pages for the 64page pamphlet. Writing about my favorite film of all time and getting paid for it is one of my greatest joys! There's nothing like money made from doing what you like doing.

Between blogs I also did subtitles for a film called "Mutant Girls Squad," which is an upcoming film from Nikkatsu Studio on their new Sushi Typhoon label. Directed by three men – Nishimura, Iguchi, Sakaguchi – MGS is a totally over the top gore fest with some decent action scenes and a good sense of humor from start to finish. Writing the subs was challenging, as some of the sections have no English equivalent. One reason I got the job is because director Nishimura insisted that I do it. I've known Nishimura for years now and I know how he thinks and where his sensibility lies. I also did subs for his "Vampire Girl vs. Frankenstein Girl" film last year and those came out well.

As if this wasn't enough, I also spent several days on the set of two new Nikkatsu films, but as these remain officially unannounced, I guess I shouldn't mention them in any detail yet. Hopefully by the time I find a moment to update this blog it will be OK for me to talk about them.

Until then...

Yubari Final and other Stuff

Wanted to do a more detailed blog on my time at Yubari - as per the last entry - but since getting home from Hokkaido I've hit the ground running and been bogged down with work. So, that kind of entry is no longer possible. But the work I've been busy with is good. No complaints.

One of these jobs - and one I just completed today - was doing subtitles for an upcoming film in Japan called "Natural Woman 2010." It was a fun gig. I enjoyed the performances of the two lead women, actresses Ayano and Yukari Shiomi.

Not counting my own films, this is my third subtitling job. (To date, I've done the indie kaiju film "G" and "Vampire Girl vs. Frankenstein Girl.") I like subtitling and find it stimulating coming up with equivalent English phrases and expressions that will allow non-Japanese speaking people the opportunity to join in on Japanese cinema. It also offers me a terrific outlet in which to express my understanding of Japanese culture and to do so in the medium of film, which is my art form of choice. I've got an offer now to sub a major release in Japan and will announce that here if I secure the job. Should find out over the next month. Looking good though.

I also had a great gig last Saturday night at Theater N in Shibuya, where they were screening a remasted HD print of DAWN OF THE DEAD, my all-time favorite movie. When I get into my Yubari recap later on in this blog, I'll write about a similar job I did of hosting a DAWN show there, which is what led to the screening in Shibuya last weekend.

Back in the early 1980s I made several trips to the Monroeville Mall, the location for much of DAWN OF THE DEAD. Although the Mall still stands today, almost every store seen in the film has shut down. I took several rolls of film back then when it was still very similar to how it looked during shooting. For my talk show, I ran through a slide presentation of the best of these shots, comparing them to frames from the film, and related stories of being at the mall, what the place is like, and my experience of working with director George Romero eleven years ago on the Biohazard II TV commercial.

One of the highlights of the Theater N show was when I pulled out an actual piece of Mall marble I picked up from the loading dock of the mall 25 years ago. The audience gasped, surprised to see such an insane item as this. With it held firmly in both hands, I marched the small slab through the center isle of the theater, inviting people in the audience to touch it. It was a funny moment, and terrific for me to see so many people with wide smiles plastered across their faces as they reached out to give my marble a few hard rubs.

One more thing about this night: For sale in the theater were a bunch of DAWN t-shirts. Some were cool, others were whatever... But there was one that simply blew my mind! It didn't even say DAWN OF THE DEAD anywhere on it. I mean, leave it to the Japanese to come up with as insane an 'otaku' items as this. What I'm talking about is that there was a shirt with the words "Bach's Arco Pitcairn" printed on the back! 

What?!?
You don't get it? OK... Let me explain:

There's a scene in DAWN where a zombie with a baseball glove sits down in front of Fran, the female lead, and the two stare at each other through a pane of glass. Well, some nut heads in Japan went to the trouble of making an exact copy of the shirt the zombie was wearing! Thus, the words, "Bach's Arco Pitcairn." Man... What could I do other than get one for myself! I suppose this means that I still have some otaku left in me after all. It's now my favorite shirt of all-time and space!

Well, I do want to wrap up my Yubari report. Guess I'll present it in what bits stand out in my mind...a whirlwind blur in my mind.

First and foremost was the screening of my movie, IT'S ALL GOOD, my main reason for traveling up to the cold wastelands of Hokkaido. It was shown the morning of the first full day of the festival. There were three other films on the bill, with mine up first.  The directors from the other films and I, along with Yoshihiro Nishimura, who worked on all three films, gathered off stage where we got mentally ready for the screenings.

My favorite moment came when they ran the introductory video that was shown before each (and every) screening at Yubari. Among them was a commercial for Yubari ski resorts and featured a bit with four children standing in a line rocking side to side, their heads poking out from behind the one in front. It is a hysterically charming commercial. As it played for the audience the four of us, who had gathered in a circle off in a dark space to the right side of the screen, starting swaying our bodies around like the kids in the video. We were all giggling hard when they called us on stage.

It's important to watch your film with an audience. It allows you to see things with fresh eyes. I'm happy to report that, other than the fact that the film was still missing some of its CG work, I couldn't find much to fault in it. That is, it had reached the point of being as good as it was going to get.

After the screening, I took the stage to talk about the film. I enjoy this kind of thing. I rattled off some production stories and talked about the film's inspirations. My friend and writing partner Mie was hosting the show. As my actors couldn't join me at Yubari, having Mie there was the next best thing.
I got a lot of great comments after the screening (and throughout the show). My favorite was from someone who said that every Japanese should see my film. I'm for that!

Later that night I met up with my friends: directors Shusuke Kaneko and Takeshi Yagi, writers Jiro Kaneko, actor Takashi Nishina and  and "Bakamono" producer Okimoto. We all went to an Izakaya to pig out.  At the table next to us was the Nishimura / Iguchi clan and across from them was the Shun Oguri / Mata Yamamoto group. I was able to catch up with Ryohei Suzuki, one of the starts of Oguri's film, and introduced him to Nishimura and Kaneko. Lots of drinking, talking about film, production stories, etc etc. All in all, a really fun night.

The next day I spent in and out of film screenings, sitting around talking to people and / or taking quiet walks through the Yubari snow. It's an interesting town. It used to have money, but that has dried up along with the young population. Most of the people there seem on average 60 years old.

Despite it being the middle of winter and cold as all hell, Yubari holds an outdoor barbeque for the festival. The specialty this year was deer. Ugh... Sure... I'll eat deer. I eat cow, so why not deer?

One of the people I spent a lot of time with at the show was Nakoshi, who if you don't know, I'm not even going to bother explaining. She's beyond explanation. I simultaneously loathe her and love her. I'm the first to admit that being around her is a dangerous endeavor. She is prone to causing people physical pain if she so decides. If you've ever seen any of Nishimura's films, you've seen Nakoshi. She's in "Tokyo Gore Police" as one of the exotic, mutant dancers, and is the dethroned wrist cut champion in "Vampire Girl vs Frankenstein Girl."

At the barbecue Nakoshi and I went around to the many outdoor hotplates, gathering up food and then joined my friends where we ate huddled around an outdoor stove. My only complaint here is that there weren't enough hotplates and the food would be gone about 3 seconds after it was done. So, I can't really say I filled up on Bambi meat like I would like to say.

That night was the midnight screening of DAWN OF THE DEAD. It featured a dubbed version of the film in Japanese, which I had never seen before. I, along with Egia Hi-Ho writer Yoshida, hosted the show.

First off, I have to admit it: I drank a lot beforehand. But, in my defense, I think everyone at the show was drinking heavily. And since I was drinking throughout the whole show, it was one of those drunken moments where you're just sort of maintaining a buzz and not wasted.

With that said, OK, yeah, I admit it, I was drunk when I took the stage with Yoshida. In fact, before the screening, I was confronting members of the audience, going up to them as they took their seats asking, "Hey, have you seen DAWN OF THE DEAD?" If they answered "Yes" I would "allow" them to stay. If they dared utter "No," they were struck bewildered by me yelling, "Get the hell out of here!" It was all done in jest, of course.

As that blasted promotion video of the Yubari ski resort was playing before DAWN, I saw this as my chance to have a little fun. When the 4 children in the ski video were standing in a row, swaying back and forth, I ran out on stage and, with the screen behind me, acted as if I was in the film with them. The audience roared with approving laughter as I rocked from side to side. I think that by this point everyone was sick of seeing that video.

Like I was to do later on in Shibuya, I projected photos I had taken at the mall and told stories about the DAWN location. I was so full of enthusiasm and energy that I managed to fall off the stage when I ran up to point out something on the screen. Kind of messed up my right leg...

The viewing of the film, probably my 240th time (I stopped counting at 210) was great. And my date for the show was Nakoshi.  It was her first time to see the film. I love seeing DAWN with first timers, especially cute girls. And as odd as Nakoshi is, she always has some interesting thing to say later on.

The next morning was the obligatory guest photo session. In a light snowfall, we were whisked by bus to a wide, open area where we took spots along a long platform. In front of us were dozens and dozens of reporters snapping our photos. It would have been more fun if it weren't so blasted cold!

That night was the closing party of the festival in the hall of one of the hotels. Lots of food and lots of people to talk to. Again, I hung out with the Kaneko clan and Nakoshi.

Oh, let me illustrate the kind of person Nakoshi is. There was a film she starred in playing in this year's competition, one I went to see that day. It was kind of a mixed bag. Nakoshi is good, but some of the direction was muddled, the shooting visionless, and the audio awful. I only mentioned this to her since she asked for my honest opinion and since she said she hated the film anyway. After telling her what I thought, she told me to hold on. A moment later she returned with the director, a young guy probably not more than 23. Nakoshi said, "Norman, tell him all the film's bad points like you just told me." Nakoshi is the type that likes to put people in compromised, embarrassing positions.

After the party, a group of us went across the street to an Izakaya. This was probably the most enjoyable moment of the whole show. Everyone was drinking, talking film and just having a good time in general. Having had enough of Nakoshi, I sat with Yui, who stars in director Iguchi's "Robo Geisha"'s spinoff. I did bring Nakoshi along as Nishimura had returned to Tokyo. Unfortunately, she wasn't on best behavior and tore some chest hair off of Shusuke Kaneko and shoved a fork up another guy's nose.

Yagi got an idea to shoot a film, so we all went out into the cold where he directed a silent flick about a gang that attacks the wife of one of the guys in our group. I got knocked down into the snow when her husband came to rescue her. Freaking cold! But, ah, I love snow! Wish we had just a little more in Tokyo. I should also mention that my buddy Benny was there too. He's a great guy and always turns up in Nishimura films.

The following day the festival ended with a screening of Shusuke Kaneko's upcoming film "Bakamono." I guess the English title would be "The Idiots". It's about a young man who meets a slightly older woman and how she corrupts him before leaving him. He then turns to heavy drinking and destroys all the relationships in his life. From there comes the rebuilding process, until he meets her again ten years later where it seems likely that it might start all over again.

This was my second time to see the film. It's a really great movie, kind of a throwback to Japanese films of the 60s and 70s, and Kaneko tells the tale well. I saw the film at a staff screening and loved it so much I recommended it to the Yubari people. They liked it too and included it in the show. As I thought, there wasn't a dry eye in the house when the film finished. The screening was followed by the farewell party where we have to listen to several boring speeches and are served food made by the locals. At least the beer was free...

From there came the odious task of returning to Tokyo. It's a two hours bus ride to Chitose Airport, and then the flight back. At least this time we weren't grounded for hours and hours. After getting back to Tokyo, Kaneko and I rode the trains back into Setagaya, talking about the festival and what's next on our agendas.

Well, all in all, another successful screening of another film of mine. After returning home I received the viewer feedback reports and my film averaged 4 out of 5 stars. I supposed that's a testament to my drive and ability. Once I get the film's final footage and finish it properly, I plan to show it at more festivals around the word.

But then, I also have some new films I'm working on. Including one with Nakoshi... I take my life in my hands...

Yubari Film Festival 2010: Day One

Hooray! I survived the 20th Yubari International Fantastic Film Festival. I'll be updating the blog over the next week to relate my experience at the show.

Day 1:

Things started off shaky. Rushed off early to Haneda airport only to find that there were severe fog conditions up in Hokkaido and that all flights to Japan's northern region were grounded. Luckily I was traveling with one of my staff members, Mie Kurokawa, and so had someone to pass the wait with. A pain, for sure, and the airport got insanely crowded, but it was no ones fault. Four hours later we were airborne and headed for the Northern part of Japan.

Even though the flight from Tokyo to Hokkaido takes about 1 hour and 15 minutes, the bus from the airport to the small town of Yubari takes about 2 hours. Nothing to do but look out at snow covered landscapes or sleep. I did a little of both.

We guests arrived at Yubari hours late and so were rushed to the opening ceremony where there was a long line of non-guests waving to us as our bus pulled in. Stepping off the bus, we were greeted by a row of old ladies handing out potato balls and warm milk. As actor Ryo Ishibashi noted later on: The milk was amazing!

The first order of the Yubari Film Fest is the ceremony, which is held in the town's lone movie theater. A bit run down with seats fitted for Japanese of a previous generation, the theater isn't the best around, but it has a certain flavor. One by one, each film was spotlighted on the screen while the guest(s) connected to it were introduced. When my film, "It's All Good," was announced, Mie and I stood and waved around the place.

This was my second time at Yubari. I was there in 2008 when my film, The iDol, was in the competition. This time my film was just enjoying a normal screening. I prefer this as I hate competitions. All in all, the ceremony was the usual Yubari fare. First up were some people playing shamisens. Then the town's mayor made a speech. Then the judges of the competition made speeches. Then other people made speeches. I grew sleepy--and hungry! Why do Japanese love speeches so?

Following this was the premiere of the film "Someday Surely." I have to say that this was one of the worst films I have ever seen. Sometimes it's just a matter of taste whether one likes something or not. Make no mistake about it, there was no choice in the matter here - this was crappy filmmaking at its highest level! I couldn't agree with ANY choices the director made! As Mie said later, all film students should watch this as an example of everything one should NOT do when making film. It was directed by 28-year idol actor Shun Oguri who, along with the film's actors, attended the screening.

It turned out that I'm friends with one of the main actors. However, due to the outlandish "star" clothes all the actors came in, I didn't recognize him. It was Mie who said, "Isn't that guy your friend?" Sure enough it was Ryohei Suzuki. Ryohei, who was just as surprised to see me at the show, and I had a good laugh over this the next day.

Following the film Mie and I went to the hotel to check in. She was bunking with two press people and I had my own room (thank god!). After dumping my bags I rushed downstairs to the opening party on the second floor.

I walked in and although only 10 minutes late, the place was already jam-packed. As I hadn't eaten all day, I was famished. I went from table to table, but all the food was gone! I couldn't even find clean chopsticks! I made my way to the table at the base of the stage and there I spotted some pizza and salad on a tray. I dove for the food, managing to get my grubby hands on a couple of slices, but I still lacked chopsticks for the salad. I started to grumble when someone handed me chopsticks. I looked up to see it was the mayor of Yubari! He went into service mode, dishing me salad and noodles. Then he grabbed a beer and poured me a cup. As he did, the town's elite watched and laughed. It was kind of a funny moment.

After the party I went to the screening of Vampire Girl vs. Frankenstein Girl. But I only stayed to watch the opening (directors Nishimura and Iguchi going at it) and to show Mie a bit of the film. Despite being 1/30th the budget of the festival's opening film, it is 100 times better made.

Following this I caught up with some film friends and then went home to call it a night. My film was playing the next morning and I wanted to get some sleep.

Yubari Film Fest is a go!

The first order of this blog entry is to announce that my newest film, "It's All Good," will premiere at the Yubari International Fantastic Film Festival in Hokkaido at the end of the month. The film will also play on Skyperfect TV, which is a major cable network in Japan.

Skyperfect, a sponsor of Yubari, selects a few entries from the program in order to let those unable to make their way to the festival join in the fun and see some of the works by independent filmmakers in Japan today. It's a terrific opportunity and helps justify the many long hours I and others on the staff put in to make the film.

Unfortunately, the film was not completed when the TV deadline came around last month. What this means is that a few shots, mainly effect / composite shots, are missing or incomplete. It doesn't thrill me, but the core of the film remains and the story is in no way affected.

This will mark my second trip to Yubari, a town located in Japan's northern region. The first time I went was in 2008 when my film, "The iDol," was screened. I'm looking forward to the trip as Yubari is so unlike Tokyo. And it's sure to be knee deep in snow, which I like (in moderation). The town seems to be populated by nothing but old ladies too, who are constantly trying to feed the eccentric filmmakers from Tokyo the 'unique' local dishes. On my last trip we had a big dinner outdoors one night where they served boiled bear!

Yubari is different from most film festivals as the majority of people going are filmmakers. This makes it a good place to meet people. For example, I met Shogen, the male lead of my film, at Yubari in 2008. I also met Mariko, who played the ghost in my film FEED ME, at Yubari. As well as Mie Kurokawa, who has worked on three of my films as an assistant and, more importantly, as scriptwriter for the Japanese versions of my scripts. I'm excited to meet more filmmakers this time around.

I'm also supposed to run the midnight screening of "Dawn of the Dead," but I'm thinking to pass as I'm feeling a bit spread thin at the moment. I'll decide next week.

For scheduling information on the film festival, here are some links:

Yubari International Film Festival:

http://yubarifanta.com/index_pc.php

Direct link to the schedule PDF:

http://yubarifanta.com/2010/chirashi_0203-g.pdf

Link to Skyperfect TV Yubari Page:

http://www.skyperfectv.co.jp/special/yubari10/list.html

California and Beyond

Took a trip to the US this past holiday season to catch up with family, meet friends, and just get away from things Japan. Seeing family is always a mixed bag, especially when I'm so insanely busy. Lots of odd happenings and bizarre turn of events made for a - if nothing else - memorable vacation.

I started things off on my first night back with dinner in San Francisco with area buddies Bob, Butch, Kevin and Kari. Also on hand were artists Bob Eggleton and his wife Marianne who were in the city on a stopover before flying down to Australia. The following day, Bob, Marianne and myself walked around San Francisco, none of us really knowing where we were going but having a hell of a good time in any case.

Dove down 101 to LA with my mother. That's a fun, somewhat scenic ride that we used to do as a family when my dad was alive. The long ride gave me a chance to catch up with my mom, who, at 76 years of age, is still going strong, teaching dance at a college in the Santa Cruz area.

In LA, I put much time in with my friend Richard P, who was kind enough to take me to a plethora of old movie locations. Thanks to Richard I got to geek out on the location where the Lone Ranger reared his mighty steed Silver and yelled the immortal "Hi-Ho Silver!" as seen on the TV show in the 1950s. Richard even braved Hollywood BLVD so I could do some film book shopping. Richard and I also caught "Avatar" on my last day in LA. I really enjoyed the film, almost as much as I now enjoy reading fanboy comments on where they feel the film falters. The only thing better than armchair quarterbacking is armchair directing.

When in San Jose I took in a Star Trek exhibit at the city's science museum. While I was greatly impressed with the city (other than its human trash infested bus / train terminal), the exhibit was a let down. Sure, being with friends makes almost anything worthwhile, but this was an extreme rip-off with more than half the props being "reproductions" and, to add insult, you couldn't even take photos. Oh, of course the people there would take photos of you, say, sitting on Captain Kirk's chair (a repro, natch) or in a Next Gen transporter, hurrying you through the process and then charging a ton for a computer print out. I have to say, as a guy who was on the forefront of the "Bring Back Star Trek" campaign in the 1970s, and Paramount Pictures convinced then that Star Trek would lose them money, to see them overcharging like this 30 years later has to be a prime example of the best tasting dish of crow in human entertainment history. Hats off to Paramount...

Back in Japan, I've been spending time between finishing up my film "It's All Good" and hanging out with my good friends Ed and Steve who are in Japan conducting tons of interviews for a book on director Ishiro Honda they are writing in partnership with Ryuji Honda, the son of the director. Somehow I was conned into joining them last week to Super Festival, one of those Japanese toy collecting geek fest gatherings. One of the guests there was Akira Takarada, who starred in the original Godzilla and was also featured in my documentary "Bringing Godzilla Down to Size." Takarada is a really fun guy and I enjoy his actor's presence and gentleman aura. He made a big deal out of Ed, Steve and I being there, which was somewhat embarrassing yet ultimately flattering. I was also able to catch up with a few old friends, and actress Yuriko Hishimi, who despite nearing 70, is still as lovely as ever.

In any case, it's back to work time for me. Down to the last three weeks of the "It's All Good" production. Can't wait to finish, and can't wait to get working on the next film!

Death Kappa

Keeping up with this blog is a lot tougher than I thought it would be. Or maybe it's just because I'm at one of the busiest points in recent memory.

First things first: My film "It's All Good" is moving along. A little slower than hoped, but everyday sees some kind of progress. I recently completed all the ADR. That is such

a chore and one of my least liked phases of the filmmaking process. Especially when an actor has to match their lips to a close up. It's precision work that's hard for them and hard on me. And it's not until I'm working with the audio clips later on if I really know whether it's working or not. But, it went well and I'm happy to put that behind me.

The premiere of the film has been decided and when all the details are finalized I'll announce it officially. But for now, the word is that it's going to premiere at one of Japan's largest film festivals two months from now. As you can imagine, I, along with the rest of the staff that worked so hard on the film, am very pleased with this, the film's first screening.

I recently made the set of "Death Kappa," a film directed by my friend Tomoo Haraguchi. I've known Haraguchi for over ten years, meeting him first on the set of "Gamera 3." Haraguchi also put in a performance in my first film, "The iDol," playing the character Boss Goro. Good filmmaker, good sense of humor, good guy, good friend.

The first day of my "Death Kappa" visit was a lot of fun. I went over with one of the producers of the film, who works for Media Blasters and who I've known since their "Machine Girl" production. We piled into a staff van one early morning and road out of Shibuya and over to somewhere around Mt Fuji.

The film was being shot in some kind of converted boiler room in a seemingly abandoned and entirely dilapidating building. Fairly dusty and not a lot of room to move around within, the boiler room was dressed with some war era equipment, a human-sized X to which the main actress spent most of the day strapped to, several "gill men," half-man / half-fish things in WWII solider outfits, the mummified remains of mad scientist, a large mural of the same guy with eyes that would glow and move around the room, and, finally, a large Hinomaru flag hanging behind the whole scene.

The stars of the film, Misato Hirata and Yukiko, were in the day's scene, so I was able to chat them up and share some set laughs. That's always fun. On hand too was one of Japan's more famous directors putting in a cameo performance. Sorry, but as of this writing I'm not allowed to divulge the film's secret guests.

A couple of days later I journeyed over to Yokohama where the giant monster battles where being shot. It was right on the bay, across from the large Ferris wheel. I think the last time I was here was in 2007 when I was a guest at World Con for a panel talk on – what else? – Godzilla.

I've been on more miniature sets than I can remember. I've seen the whole gamut of production scales from top dog Godzilla down to shoestring budget "G." Death Kappa falls somewhere in between. Fortunately for the film (and me) the art director for the DK monster scenes was Isao Takahashi, who's been doing this sort of work since Godzilla 85. I first met Isao on the set of "Godzilla 2000", but it wasn't until the GMK production, when I visiting the set daily that we got to be buddies.

During the shooting of "GxMG" and "Tokyo SOS" I spent the production in Toho's studio 9 with my desk space right next to his. We used to argue long and hard on philosophical and social issues, the ways of filmmaking at Toho Studios and, better yet, would take photos of the other if one of us had fallen asleep or done something on the more idiotic side. I'd often come into Toho in the morning only to find some large 8X10 photo of myself from the day before showing me asleep with my face pressed hard against the desks of the art department and dribble spilling from my mouth. In turn, I'd get shots of Isao eyeing photos of scantly clad women in magazines such as Friday or Weekly Playboy. So, I was thrilled to find Isao was in charge of the miniature work on "Death Kappa." Other than bumping into him here and there, the last time I saw him at work was on the set of Godzilla: Final Wars where I had to listen to his non-stop complaints about the script and the production as a whole.

I would say it's been four or more years since I shot stills of giant monster's battling it out. I'm happy to report that it's like riding a bike. As soon as I found my place on set squeezed in between the official set still photographer and the camera crew, and with the monster suit actors positioned on stage and action called, it was as if I had never left. I mean, the smell of the set, the banter of film set Japanese, the smell of the "fog," the gathering around to check playback, the stock of buildings stacked off the side, the boxes of miniature paraphernalia, the suit actors waiting between shots half in / half out of their monster suits... I love being on these sets!

I'll be doing a feature piece on "Death Kappa" for Fangoria magazine, but next week I'll have a teaser piece up on the Fango website.

As soon as it's up, I'll update the blog with the link.

It's Saturday afternoon here in Tokyo. Last day of my favorite month, October. Trying to take a breather in between the huge work load that I have.

I finished the ADR on my "It's All Good" film. That was a lot of fun. Both my actors (Shogen & Stephanie) are so much fun to work with and both are eager to do what it takes to finish the film. What more can a filmmaker ask of his actors? The film is reaching the 90% completion point. Pretty soon I'll have some fantastic news to update here about the movie.

My horror short, "Feed Me" played at the Bay Area Film Event as part of their Halloween show in Oakland, California. Wish I could have attended, but it's kind of far, you know. Much thanks to Bob Johnson for booking it, despite its low-budget trappings.

Lazy October...

Fall, my favorite time of year, has finally descended on Tokyo. There was a fairly strong typhoon the other day, which caused pounding on my window all night and made my apartment building shake about like a bean in a maraca. The next day the roads were littered with brown and gold leaves, as if autumn had been dropped on us all at once. The upside to this is that after a typhoon the air is scrubbed clean, and the view of the city the day after was crisp and clear.

Well, I wouldn't call my life very exciting since the last blog entry. I've spent most of the time holed up at home writing a new script and fine-tuning the edit on my film "It's All Good." The edit is going well, but it's taking a lot longer than hoped. However, I have everything just about how I want it. After I get the FX shots in then comes the real fine-tuning. I'll be starting the ADR session on it within two-weeks. Can't wait! I love working with my actors Stephanie and Shogen.

I finished the first draft of a new film script entitled "The Blue House." It's a hard story to describe. It's about a young woman with a somewhat off-kilter relationship with the world and how she comes to terms with the whole of humanity. It didn't really occur to me, but I was told it's a love story, but not of the kind one thinks when hearing "love story." It's a love story between a woman and humankind.

Of course there is a science fiction element to the story. Wouldn't be me without it. I guess it's safe to say that I'm fairly bored by the limitations of the "real" world. Even so, my interest lies within the framework of the individual's relationship with the world. Despite my love of the unreal external and the true-to-life internal, I think it's possible to explore these inner workings of humanity within a science fiction setting without compromising the legitimacy of that exploration. "The Blue House" is the latest in a series of pieces I've written where I just let my sensibilities guide me along. Hard work, but enjoyable. The lead actress is a super woman with just the right sensibility to get into the pathos of the piece. Can't wait to shoot it.

This week some friends from the US west cost – Bob, Barrie, Butch, and Kevin – flew in to Japan. Barrie's been to Japan a bunch of times, but it's the first time for the others. I made the time to hook up with them and our first day saw a trip to Nakano and Akihabara. As you can no doubt surmise, these guys are into otaku stuff, although Butch is quick to separate himself from the anime scene.

We also put in a day at Toho Studios. I made a call and arranged for us to get in so they could fulfill a dream of walking around Japan's leading film studio. For me, going to Toho is no biggie anymore as I've been there over 200 times, so the best part was that my friend Shimizu took us around. Shimizu was an assistant director when I first met on the set of CROSS FIRE in 2000, and then umpteen times on the Godzilla sets as he was AD on all of the "Millennium Series" until FINAL WARS when he jumped ship and worked as AD for Shinji Higuchi on the film LORELEI. In fact, it was Shimizu who asked me to be in the opening scene in LORELEI.

Shimizu is one of the best ADs I've seen: First on set, last to leave; never a frown, always on top of things with a calm enthusiasm. His wife is an actress and she had a part in GMK and one of the Tezuka Godzilla films. Shimizu is also a kaiju fan, and often during shooting he would be tapped for hardcore info by the directors.

As I've been to Toho more times than I can recall going with first timers is fun. It's like rediscovering Christmas through the eyes of one's children. And Toho has changed so much over the past few years. I now try to work exclusively on my own film projects so don't visit sets as much as I used to. I think the last film set at Toho I was on was either THE GURDGE 2 or Hideo Nakatta's KAIDAN. But I have been there since the Big Pool was torn down... My memory is fuzzy in this way.

Anyway, so many new stages have been erected over the past four years. It's almost like a different place. My friends were lucky though, because Stage 1 and 2, built in the early 30s, are still standing. Shimizu gave the shocking news that they are earmarked for destruction next year. Everything has been shot in them, including the original Godzilla, Rodan, Mothra, etc. Stage 1 was where I saw my first Godzilla shooting too. That was back in 1999 and was the final scene of "Godzilla Millennium" when the main actors were on the roof watching Godzilla fight Ogura. It was also the stage for the first day of shooting on GMK. My first experience with Studio 2 was a week during GMK for the underwater battle between Godzilla and Ghidorah. With the studio filled with smoke (to simulate the murkiness of water), everyone had to wear protective masks including myself. Unhealthy, but fun.

Shimizu was kind enough to drag out some old props for us. The day before Butch had been asking if we could see the Oxygen Destroyer from the 1954 Godzilla. I told him that that wouldn't happen. Well, it was nice to be proven wrong when Shimizu dragged it out of a locked closet. Later we were taken to another room with some leftover suits. I was astonished to see one of the GMK suits rotting away. Not one of the two full-sized suit, but the full sized, hand operated one. I remember the day this was brought on set. It was stunning looking! But now! Rubber is peeling away and some of its teeth are missing. But then again, GMK was shot 8 years ago!

Where does the time go?