JONIZZLE

As the new year begins, I have much to look forward to. Beginning this month, I will start working for Formosa Films with Will Tiao on a feature film which some of you may have heard about entitled Formosa Betrayed. For the first few months, I will be working as an assistant to Will, who is the Executive Producer of the project. And hopefully if I prove myself to be competent enough, I'll be even more involved when production (as in filming) begins. I am actually very excited for this job. I look at it as an immensely satisfying opportunity to do what I want to do and staying true to myself while being paid for it and hopefully keeping the parents happy.

While working on commercials in Hollywood has been a great experience, the final product of my work lacks the positive impact on humankind that I wish my work to have. A few weeks ago this began taking its toll and I forgot some of the reasons why I came out to LA in the first place. I was actually thinking about going back to Illinois in the springtime, just to hang out with friends for a month. But while I dearly miss the people there, it's not for me right now. Luckily, I remembered that one night and promptly wrote a post-it note on my desktop saying, "stay in california until formosa betrayed gets made." And as fortune would have it, I ran into Will at a Taiwanese event that weekend, and we spoke about the possibility of me helping the project, and here I am now.

I feel that my life experiences really make me qualified to help this film out. First and most obvious is my Taiwanese background and identity. My parents have always had very strong Taiwanese identities, and that has passed on to me through them and fostered through TAF. A heavy majority of my closest relationships are with TAFers or people met through TAFers. So needless to say, my life would be VERY different if I wasn't Taiwanese or had never gone to TAF, and even that I feel, is an understatement. My college major showed how films and media can impact our society and bring attention to issues that are commonly held as afterthoughts to the general public. This definitly lets me grasp the magnitude and power that the film could possess. My work as a Program Director has also provided me with an invaluable skill set of handling logistics, teamwork, problem solving, problem anticipation, managing, and more. And then the last three months I've spent in Hollywood have helped me learn the film industry, which adds a professional element. Yes, those are my powers, and I look forward to using them for good.

So wish me and everyone else good luck. I am very thankful and grateful for this opportunity, and I am also very thankful and grateful to everyone I have ever met and for every experience that I have ever had. It has brought me here thus far, and I have every intention of continuing to build upon that. Happy New Year.