My good friend Dagny Looper is a 2nd-year film student at NYU. This month she shot her pre-thesis film ‘The Lipstick Stain’ in NYC and Upstate New York. Originally she had planned to shoot in Arkansas just before Christmas, and I told her that if I was home in Houston at that time I would try to come help with the shoot. Eventually she realized it was much more feasible to shoot it in New York, and she found enough locations […]
read moreThe Lipstick Stain
Sichuan Earthquake Recovery
AFD (Agence Française de Développement), known in English as the French Development Agency, is a French international development agency that does a lot of good work in China (as well as in many other countries). In fact, they were the top foreign donor to the 2008 Sichuan earthquake relief effort. In commemoration of their work on the earthquake relief efforts, they commissioned a documentary to be filmed in several of the regions in Sichuan where they supplied recovery funds. As […]
read moreJay Hubert: Exploring Asia With a Camera
Recently the University of Hawaii’s monthly magazine Malamalama ran a short article about me entitled “Jay Hubert: Exploring Asia with a camera.” My friend Jason had wanted to submit some freelance articles to them, and thought I would somehow make a good subject (and up until that point I thought that Jason always exercised exceptionally good judgment!). I don’t think either of us realized during the ‘interview’ process just how short the article would be, as Jason sent me a […]
read moreMy Jeonju International Film Festival Experience
The 9th Annual Jeonju International Film Festival (JIFF) was held from May 1-9, 2008 in Jeonju, the 12th largest city in South Korea. JIFF is Korea’s second largest film festival behind the massive Pusan International Film Festival. Offering a cozy setting in a city famous for its small town atmosphere and traditional architecture – as well as delicious Jeonju bibimbab – JIFF screened a total of 195 films from 40 countries in several venues centrally located around the city’s aptly […]
read moreKorea’s MediACT a Brilliant Idea
I recently returned from a trip to Korea to shoot (as DP) a short film there for a few weeks. It was my first trip back to Korea since I lived in Seoul for two months in the summer of 2006 to study Korean. And it was fantastic. It definitely rekindled my intangibly strong attraction to Korea: the spicy yet healthy food that my stomach and heart appreciated much more than the oily fair I usually treat them to in […]
read moreBeijing Film Academy – FAQ
Several years ago I was asked to blog about my experiences studying at Beijing Film Academy (BFA) on my friend’s website Asianfilms.org (which has now morphed into AsiaPacificFilms.com, an excellent resource for streaming hard-to-find films from Asia and the Pacific). Little did I realize at the time that it would propel me to become the unofficial contact for foreigners wanting to come study at BFA, as the BFA English-language website was practically nonexistent. Eventually I added this Beijing Film Academy […]
read moreBeijing Film Academy – 2nd Semester
Several years ago I was asked to blog about my experiences studying at Beijing Film Academy (BFA) on my friend’s website Asianfilms.org (which has now morphed into AsiaPacificFilms.com, an excellent resource for streaming hard-to-find films from Asia and the Pacific). Little did I realize at the time that it would propel me to become the unofficial contact for foreigners wanting to come study at BFA, as the BFA English-language website was practically nonexistent. Eventually I put up a Beijing Film […]
read moreBeijing Film Academy – 1st Semester
Several years ago I was asked to blog about my experiences studying at Beijing Film Academy (BFA) on my friend’s website Asianfilms.org (which has now morphed into AsiaPacificFilms.com, an excellent resource for streaming hard-to-find films from Asia and the Pacific). Little did I realize at the time that it would propel me to become the unofficial contact for foreigners wanting to come study at BFA, as the BFA English-language website was practically nonexistent. Eventually I put up a Beijing Film […]
read moreRice University Asian Studies Letter
Although my primary focus of study at Rice University was Mechanical Engineering, my fascination with Asia and my four study abroad sojourns there as an undergrad helped me to attain an Asian Studies degree as well. I didn’t really need the degree, and I certainly didn’t think it would be of any use in the job market. But I was certain that I possessed a much greater interest in Asia than in engineering, and planned to spend a fair share […]
read moreStories from Danba
I’ll start from the beginning for those of you who have no idea what I’m up to over here in Bumblefuk, China. I’m here for two months this summer to film a documentary for my Masters thesis. For those of you who didn’t even know I was getting a Masters degree, well… shame on you for not keeping in touch all this time. Actually, all of this starts a year ago, when I came to China for a seven-month stay […]
read more