I'm a filmmaker, self-proclaimed. I have no badge or certificate that says so, I just have my short videos posted on YouTube that offer any credentials to this claim, and nowadays, who doesn't have a short video posted on YouTube?
But I love it. I breathe it. If I'm not filming a project, I'm either editing one or in pre-production for another. If I'm doing none of those things I feel uncomfortable, antsy, unnatural, something just doesn't seem right with the world if I'm not working on some kind of film project. As a result sometimes I feel like "butter scraped over too much bread" (Bilbo . . . anybody?), because I involve myself in too many projects, and can hardly find the time to get them all done. Such was the case three days ago on a bright Sunday afternoon. Currently at that time, I was behind in production for a short film I was directing, Delilah, the schedule had nearly gone to pot, and me trying to arrange things so breath would bring this project back to life. I am also editing a stop-motion music video that my girlfriend and I shot a few weeks before. All this along with work and my church responsibilities (which can be heavy). Yes, I was busy, but I was handling it, I made it work, and the gears of time management seemed to be clicking away just fine.
That Sunday afternoon, June 15, I'm over at my friends' house, when one of them, Dan Jones, tells me that he met a guy who is looking to hire someone to shoot a documentary about a comic book convention. That was alot in one breath. Let me tell you what I heard. Documentary. Comic Books. What? Are you kidding me? That's incredible! How can I get a hold of this guy? It didn't matter how full I was at the time, the moment I heard it, it struck a chord within me. This was something that just felt right, and something I couldn't pass up. I would make it work. I get the contact information of Ryan Joseph, and email him as soon as I get home. Here it is, can you hear the excitement in my voice?:
"Ryan Joseph,
Hi, my name is Geoff Yano, and I'm a local filmmaker here in Austin. My friend Dan Jones was looking at a house that you're renting out and he referred you to me about a Comic Book Documentary that you are looking for someone to film. First off, when he mentioned that I was immediately excited, I collected Spider-Man when I was a kid (until my mom threw them all away) and I recently have started to collect again. I am very interested in making such a documentary if you are still looking for someone. I have done several short films here in Austin and have access to the resources and talent to make this documentary into a quality production. I have a website where you can preview some of my past work--www.oogafilms.net. Besides what's on my website, I've also helped film several interviews used for educational purposes for UT, have made promotional videos for local businesses, and was the co-editor for Chaos, a locally-produced feature length film. I am very interested in working with you, if you've already found someone else, or if I'm not what you're looking for, that's fine as well, but either way, please let me know. Thanks!
Geoff Yano
www.oogafilms.net"
I crossed my fingers that this would be convincing enough.
Jump to yesterday, June 17. I'm at work, and I get a voice message from Bert Lopez, who turns out is the main guy that is putting this doc together. And we talk. He was polite, amiable, at least over the phone. He was addressing a 23-year-old punk kid as "sir". And we talked about what this all contained, basically saying that he wanted me to do it. YES! He was even paying me for it, which was great, but this goes beyond money, this is something I want to make, I want to make a compelling story from this scene. Bert goes into more detail of what this actually is. It's a game, not a comic book. It's a game about comic book characters. And its apparently a big deal. Especially to Bert, who was putting together a tournament where people will fly in from across the country to play this game and win valuable playing peices from him. This game is Bert's life and told me that he's "left work behind, vehicles behind, people behind, and even homes behind, but never the game, he's always packed that with him." He said people called it "plastic crack", because the little gaming pieces, the whole idea of collecting them was that addictive to some people, including Bert. Well, all seems well, when he tells me that the tournament is this Saturday. What? I had just made the finishing arrangements to film this Sat. at the Capital building for my short film? This Saturday? Kind of late notice. Was I going to make this work? I thought I was, but there were still some more bumps in the road, and its just Wednesday. More details on the bumps later . . .
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