CAAM Interview about Gotham

Photo by Aaron Yoshinio

Momo Chang from CAAM recently interviewed me about the Gotham Awards.  You can read the interview HERE.

Life on Four Strings wins the Gotham Audience Award!

As a result of all your votes, Life on Four Strings won the Gotham Film Audience Award! Cindy and I had a great time at the awards ceremony and the win was totally unexpected. Thank you for all your help mobilizing our community to vote and spread the word. Many of you have been backing me since day one and I really wouldn't be making films if it were not for all your love and support.

We got some ink in Variety but only as an example of how bad 12 Years of Slave did at the Gotham Awards, hilarious!

Geeked that I got to meet one of my favorite actors Mike B. Jordan. I’ve been a fan since he was Wallace in The Wire and Friday Night Lights just sealed the deal. He won the Breakthrough Actor Award that night for his lead role as Oscar Grant in Fruitvale Station.

Talk about geeked, Cindy was screaming inside while meeting her idol Rashida Jones.

Got to meet Director Ryan Coogler who won Breakthrough Director Award for this film Fruitvale Station.

Jake was in NYC but couldn't make it to the awards ceremony because he was performing with Paul Simon at a fundraiser that night. I got to catch up with him and his manager Chris the next day.

Vote for Life on Four Strings for Gotham Award

I'm honored that Jake Shimabukuro: Life on Four Strings, the film I directed for CAAM and PIC, was nominated for the Gotham Independent Film Audience Award and the winner is determined by a public vote!  The Gotham awards is a huge thing for independent films and it would be awesome to win.

There are two rounds of voting and the first starts today. I would really appreciate if you can go to the link, log-in (even if you've never signed up before just type in your email address and a password) and vote for Jake Shimabukuro: Life on Four Strings. You get to vote for five different films in this round, and those top five will make it to the final round.
Click here to vote.

Classroom-In-Residence at the Hammer

I made this video for an amazing arts education pilot program Classroom-In-Residence at the Hammer (CIR@H) developed by UCLA's School of the Arts & Architecture and the Hammer Museum. I was lucky to be able to witness the transformation of some of the students in just a week.

This was my first collaboration with Form follows Function, cinematography by the talented Maya Santos!

I also got to reunite with my dude Miles Senzaki and his partner Dan Marschak of Well Versed Productions who created the music at Grandma's Dojo!

More info about CIR@H: Classroom-in-Residence at the Hammer is an innovative pilot project, designed to strengthen and advance student and teacher learning through a unique weeklong, immersive experience at the UCLA Hammer Museum.

Developed by the Visual and Performing Arts Education Program (VAPAE) in UCLA's School of the Arts and Architecture, in collaboration with the Hammer Museum and the UCLA Community School (UCS), this ground-­‐breaking project provides a collaborative, multi-‐faceted, co‐cognitive learning experience, with an emphasis on arts­‐integration, for 60 sixth‐grade pupils, 2 UCS classroom teachers, UCLA undergraduates, graduates and faculty, along with Hammer Museum educators, curators, artists, and staff.
More info at: www.arts.ucla.edu/vapae     www.hammer.ucla.edu

Director/Editor: Tadashi Nakamura
Cinematographer:  Maya Santos
Location Sound: Rani De Leon
Music:  Miles Senzaki & Dan Marschak
Sound Mix:  Jon Oh
Colorist:  Kyle Peters

A Song For Ourselves Mixtape is back online!

DJ Phatrick recently uploaded the mixtape he produced for A Song For Ourselves back in 2009. It's been a minute since I listened to it, almost forgot how classic it is!

Features songs from Chris Iijima, with his groupmates Nobuko Miyamoto & Charlie Chin interlaced with the music of Kiwi, Bambu, & the Blue Scholars. It also features exclusive Chris Iijima remixes produced by Fatgums, Will Bracy, and Miles Senzaki.

Like, download and BUMP!

My path to becoming a filmmaker

October is American Archives Month (who knew) and Visual Communications is participating in a series of events in celebration of it. Each week this month they will feature "Asian Pacific Americans who have made their mark on their communities and history". I was honored that they asked me to participate in project. Here is my response to the prompt "How did you choose your path to becoming a filmmaker?"

Also, that's pops in the above photo!

A Song For Ourselves available On Demand on Comcast through August

My film A Song For Ourselves is available on demand for Comcast subscribers this month.

Comcast subscribers may access Cinema Asian America via the navigation path:
XFINITY On Demand > Movies > Movie Collections > Cinema Asian America

Free Outdoor Screening of Life on Four Strings in Seattle - 8/24

I've always heard that Seattle in the summer is amazing. The Seattle Asian American Film Festival has partnered with Seattle Parks to present a FREE summer film series OUTDOORS at Hing Hay Park. Life on Four Strings will be screened on Saturday August 24th at 8p. It sounds like it will be a great International District community event.

More info HERE

Live Pledge on PBS SoCal

PBS SoCal chose to feature Life on Four Strings for their live pledge this month and invited me to be a part of it. It was my first time on a live TV set and it was fun to see how it all goes down.

Feature article in Hyphen Magazine

My friend Oliver Saria wrote a great feature on me in Hyphen Magazine. We met up and talked over burgers at Plan Check on Sawtelle. I feel he really understood my goals as a filmmaker and where I'm at in my career. Oliver is a super talented writer and is the drummer for one of my favorite bands The Skyflakes!

Life on Four Strings wins at the Los Angeles Asian Pacific Film Fest!

Photo by Steve Lam

Just when I thought the Los Angeles premiere of Life on Four Strings couldn't have gone better, it did.  We won both the Audience Award for Best Documentary and the Best Editor Award at the Los Angeles Asian Pacific Film Fest (LAAPFF)!  While I do love me some awards, the best part about the LAAPFF screening was being able to finally show the film to a hometown crowd of family and friends.  Big hugs and thank you to everyone who came out to support that night!

PBS National Broadcast Premiere of Life on Four Strings on May 10, 2013!

PBS Hawa'i Broadcast Premiere on March 12th

Jake Shimabukuro: Life on Four Strings will have it's exclusive Hawai'i broadcast premiere on Tuesday, March 12th at 8:00p.  PBS Hawai'i gets to air the film two months before the national broadcast (on May 10th, but please tune-in then also).   So many people in Hawai'i contributed their time and talent to this film and I'm happy that they can be the first to share it with their family, friends and neighbors.  For me, the best outcome of this project is the relationships I built with local artists and community members during the two and a half years of production.

Seattle Asian American Film Festival

After a six year break the Seattle Asian American Film Festival returned this year to the Wing Luke Museum. Life on Four Strings was screened for the first time in Seattle to a sold out audience. Since many people were not able to purchase tickets in time we hope to screen bring the film to Seattle again soon. The screening was co-sponsored by the Seattle Ukulele Players Association (SUPA).


The SAAFF poster featuring Life on Four Strings was spotted in many local businesses in the International District.


Thanks to everyone who came out to the screening!


Co-Directors of SAAFF Vanessa Au and Kevin Bang


Went to the Blue Scholars/The Physics studio for a Rappers W/ Cameras kick back.


Geo and B.


LA in the building! ...Bambu...


Life of Sabzi


Cindy enjoyed her first time in The Town.


Pike’s Place Chowder was just one of the many food spots we hit up.


Beautiful Pacific Northwest sunset

PBS Press Tour

The Television Critics Association holds their national press tour twice a year for networks and cable companies to present their shows for the upcoming season. Reporters from all over the country gather in Pasadena, CA to preview films and listen to panels. Life on Four Strings had the honor of being featured during the PBS showcase at this year’s Winter Press Tour.


I got to get fancy for the press!


Photo by Rahoul Ghose/PBS
Jake treated the 70+ reporters in attendance to a performance following a short clip from the film.


Photo by Rahoul Ghose/PBS


Photo by Rahoul Ghose/PBS


Jake continued to talk with reporters in the lobby after the panel was finished.


The day was capped off with a great meal at Arroyo Chop House, which was capped off with this souffle.