In case you missed it, here's our "pitch video" (short trailer) for What did you do in the War, Mama?: Kochiyama's Crusaders. We get started on a more in-depth trailer next week!

Also please check out in the last post some photos we took during our shoot at the 44th Annual Manzanar Pilgrimage 2013. They cannot convey the terrible heat and the chapped lips and the constant taste of salt, but they're the best we could do to capture some still shots while shooting mostly video.

Stephon J. Litwinczuk also shot and edited a beautiful brief moment of me in the Manzanar Cemetery. For some reason, I am having trouble posting it here, so here's the link:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FMVh0DJhsJQ

Photos from our all-day shoot at 44th Annual Manzanar Pilgrimage at the Manzanar National Historic Site. Special thanks to the amazingly skilled crew who dropped down from Heaven to give everything they had to give to make our incredible video footage happen. The scenes and interviews we shot will "sew together" all the rest of the footage that has been shot over a 4-year period for What did you do in the War, Mama?: Kochiyama's Crusaders.

All photos are by Marlan Warren, copyright protected unless otherwise indicated. The title of this film project keeps changing, but the website remains the same. Please check us out at:

https://sites.google.com/site/bitsofparadisethemovie/

A separate short film project is in the works now--a collage of impressions from this 2013 Manzanar Pilgrimage. Parts of this Day of Remembrance will be incorporated in the longer feature film.

We especially want to thank the dedicated, sweet park rangers at Manzanar National Historic Site, Superintendent Les Inafuku and Park Curator Mark Hachtmann for not only granting us a permit to shoot, but inviting and encouraging us to please come. And we are especially grateful to the Manzanar Committee for granting us a permit, and ushering us through the long day.

Photo by Stephon J. Litwinczuk: Madlon Arai Yamamoto (R) with Marlan Warren (L)

We spoke with lovely, strong women who took us briefly inside their own personal struggles and victories, and each time acknowledged the need to keep ever-vigilant and resilient to keep freedom alive for every U.S. citizen and immigrant.

Soul Consoling Tower at Manzanar Cemetery

At day's end, all 3 of us felt transformed by the experience. The sound engineer, Rick J. Wilson, has relatives who were interned at Amache in Colorado, and the DP is married to a Japanese woman. They were determined to make this shoot happen, and the experience rewarded my own efforts as well.

Pilgrims in the Cemetery: Soul Consoling Tower: Photo by Stephon J. Litwinczuk

More details can be found on the film's website and Facebook page, but here are the photos that I took on the fly with my Canon point-and-shoot, and Blackberry cellphone:

(L) Hank Umemoto, Author of "From Manzanar to Mt. Whitney: The Life and Times of a Lost Hiker" with Master of Cermonies, Darrell Kunitomi (R)

 I heard a Muslim woman speak about how after 9/11 the Japanese Americans were the first to reach out to the frightened Muslim community, identifying with their fears and instrumental in preventing George Bush from sending these targets of prejudice into U.S. concentration camps.

As a woman who lost most of her family members in the Russian and Polish Holocaust, just the thought of concentration camps makes me furious. The sight of the tombstones at the Manzanar Cemetery made me weep. 

 Father of Taiko Drummer (L) and DP Stephon J. Litwinczuk (R)

 Sound Engineer Richard J. Wilson and the 1400-1700 strong who attended

UCLA Kyodo Taiko Drummer

DP Stephon J. Litwinczuk shooting the Guard Tower at dusk

Thank Heavens for Rick Wilson and Stephon Litwinczuk

Miracle of miracles, two amazingly professional, passionate and super-nice crew members have materialized and are on board for our Manzanar Pilgrimage shoot coming up Saturday, April 27.  Welcome aboard, Stephon Litwinczuk (camera) and Rick Wilson (sound)!

Finding super-skilled crew to work for food and "deferred payment" (they get paid when money comes in) is harder than trout fishing. Finding any applicants who even bother to read the ad that I placed is even tougher. Most prospective crew simply e-mail their resumes en masse without mentioning they've read the details of this shoot:  how long it will be, where it is, etc. They send out generic cover letters.

Then they get upset when they find out we can't pay $400/day up front.

Rick Wilson is a consummate professional sound engineer with a resume and awards longer than my arms. He laughed when he told me, "I can't believe these people who post on Craigslist, How dare you expect me to work for free...." He said if a project is worthwhile...well, he's got the time and the willingness. The same goes for me. For the past 4 years as we've limped along without adequate funding.

Here's the thumbnail sketch of Rick's impressive career:  http://www.imdb.com/name/nm1975069/

The first film he sound edited on was The Buddy Holly Story. He's worked on Michael Jackson projects. And this Pasadena resident knows the way to Manzanar since he usually passes it on the way to ski at Mammoth.

Stephon Litwinczuk contacted me today. I don't think it was a reply to any of my ads since his application went to a different e-mail address of mine. But I am soooo grateful that he found out about this shoot! He's married to a Japanese woman and they have visited Manzanar. He can fill us in on details and history that we might otherwise miss. And he is a director/interviewer as well as a Director of Photography. His reel knocked my socks off.

Here's thumbnail sketch of Stephon's Emmy-nominated work: http://www.imdb.com/name/nm3277661/

Every year I wish that I could go on the Manzanar Pilgrimage and every year I miss out due to financial constraints. I have some good friends whose families were interned there. It is important to remember what happened there, I believe. So it will never happen again.

Starting to get excited....

Am I crazy or what? That's what a well-meaning friend asked me when I explained that I'm trying to get a film crew to come with me on Sat. 4/27 to an ex-concentration camp on California soil known as "Manzanar" ("Could you spell that, please?" he asked) only 8 hours RT and we'll probably stand around in the burning sun near Death Valley, trying to shoot the speakers on stage, interview World War II vets and internees, and follow them through the new museum which will never forget the unjust "jailing" of ordinary American citizens who happened to look like "The Enemy." Okay, okay. I said that's okay. Never mind. I'll go by myself and take a still camera since I can't get a camera person lined up. But now the sound guy who said yes, is saying YES again. Hmmmm...Has the Fat Lady sung yet? No money yet. No way of getting there...but Hope. Hope. Hope.

In honor of #Women's History Month, today #Margaret Prescod, host of #Pacifica Radio's "#Sojourner Truth" program, aired Part I of the documentary, "#Mountains That Take Wing: Conversation on Life Struggles & Liberation" which is built around a dialogue between veteran activists, Yuri Kochiyama and Angela Davis. The film, released in 2009, was made by #C.A. Griffith and #H.L.T. Quan. For a summary of the film, check  out this link on the Women Make Movies website:

http://www.wmm.com/filmcatalog/pages/c796.shtml.

You can catch "Part 2" of this inspiring documentary tomorrow (7 a.m. - 8 a.m. PST) on Pacifica Radio (KPFK, Southern Calif./KPFA, Northern Calif.) .  In a world where excellent female role models are scarce, these women are outstanding in their courage to stand up for what they believe, and their articulate recollections give fresh perspectives on civil rights, Malcolm X, and Angela Davis' unfair  incarceration that you might not hear anywhere else.

Of special interest to me was hearing Kochiyama and Davis discuss the impact and presence of racial "crossover" activists such as Japanese Americans such as Yuri who supported civil rights for all and African Americans who went to the Philippines to fight as soldiers.

From the beginning, I have been concerned that my lack of "Asian" credentials would work against me as I navigated this film project about Yuri's early years as a budding activist in a U.S. concentration camp. (Well, in the past few months I've learned my great-grandfather was Mongolian, but that's another story...) But when I read Yuri's autobiography, Passing It On, her story of how afraid she was that Malcolm X would reject her on the basis of race and culture hit home, and the fact that they easily crossed a "boundary" that turned out to be an illusion gave me hope.

When I interviewed 87-year-old #Yuri Kochiyama for this film, I asked her, "What drives you?" Yuri answered, "When I see things that need to be corrected."

Thank you, #Margaret Prescod, for choosing this illuminating documentary to highlight in honor of Women's History Month!

Dear Friends, if you'd like to listen to today's show, here's the link:

https://w.soundcloud.com/player/?url=http%3A%2F%2Fapi.soundcloud.com%2Ftracks%2F83219632&show_artwork=true

Let us never forget how hard other women have worked for our freedom.

Editor Interview Fiasco

Licking my wounds from yesterday's fiasco: my first interview with an editorial candidate who can make a longer trailer for this film as we apply for grants that require 6-10 min. trailers. It was such a fiasco that I sat in the car afterward and called a good friend who is a filmmaker on the East Coast.

"Marlan!" she said. "Get this through your head:  all editors--okay not all, but most--are professional button pushers. They don't care about your project and they are not writers so they don't understand story."

I had high hopes for this one candidate because she was the only applicant to even mention that she'd clicked on a link that I'd posted with the ad and viewed the 4-min. pitch video we made last year. She also mentioned that it was "impressive" and she would try to adhere to my "vision" and give suggestions if I welcomed them along the way.

Perfect, I thought. Perfect.

Two weeks ago, I put an ad on Craigslist and except for this one, all the responses were the same. Everybody said they were interested. Nobody mentioned that they knew anything about this subject or the project, although I'd posted links where they could easily find out all about it.

Most common response was this and only this:
"Yes! I can do it!"

So I was hopeful this woman would be The One. Then came the red flags.

Red Flag No. 1:  She explained via e-mail that I would have to drive to the Valley to meet with her in a cafe because her husband would have the car. And that she was "crazy busy" one week so we'd have to meet the following week. This means that I would drive 30 minutes to get to where she was. Buy coffee. And showing her any footage would be awkward to say the least.

Would I be willing to drive there periodically (hopefully to her home eventually)? If it meant getting this trailer made for grant funding, then yes. After all, the editor for the last trailer was also female and had a boyfriend who needed the car and she worked at home, so I thought nothing of driving to North Hollywood to collaborate with her. Since I live in the Hollywood area, it's not that far. Just takes some time.

Red Flag No. 2:  Pre-Interview

I parked next door to the cafe because I couldn't find it. Then I found it but I could not find her. We stupidly did not tell each other what we looked like so I assumed she'd be waiting outside, laptop or notebook in hand. Wrong.

Owing to a prescient impulse, I dialed her number as I approached the front door and she answered, saying, "I'm already inside." So I go inside and the place is tiny with lots of customers, but I don't see anyone talking on a cellphone.

"I'm sitting on the left side," she says. I look to my left. Nobody on a cellphone or waving.
"I don't see you," I say. "Could you wave?" Nothing at all. Nobody waving. Am I in a parallel universe? She keeps insisting that she's "right here."

"This isn't working for me," I mutter, getting peeved and hoping my tone will bring her out of the woodwork to tap my shoulder and laugh and say, "Hi!" But this does not happen.

I go outside and look to my right, and there she is. Sitting at a little table in an alcove for folks who might want fresher air with their coffee and shelter from rain. Does she stand up? No. She waves.

When I approach, she stands, shakes my hand and tells me to move my car to the street because the cafe prefers that their parking lot only be used for 5 minute customers.

I move my car.

When I get back, she suggests we move to a quieter spot in the alcove. After we accomplish that, she asks if I'd like to get coffee. She already has some and it's cold outside. So I find myself fuming, standing in a line waiting for servers to get to me from behind the counter where they appear overwhelmed by the surge of morning business. In an ordinary world, I'm usually standing there with the person I'm supposed to meet and as we wait, we chat. But not today.

By the time I get my coffee, paid my $2.00, and sat down with her, the situation feels odd. But it's time for the next red flag:

It turns out that she hasn't done her homework on this project although there is a website, a former Indiegogo fundraising page still up for viewing, and a Facebook fan page that is active. All those sites have all the info on the project which has been going on since 'o4, seen many crew members come and go, featured them in detail (including my former co-producer in the Bay Area)--and explained this complex topic and vision for this film about the budding activist (Yuri Kochiyama, born "Mary Nakahara") who masterminded a letter-writing campaign between the girls and women behind the barbed wire of the Japanese American internment and their fighting men who were in World War II. They called themselves "The Crusaders" and it has taken years to gather key interviews with four of the survivors--including key interviews with Yuri herself who was nominated for a Nobel Peace Prize for her tireless civil rights activism.

Where to begin? I start by explaining who Yuri was when she was 20 and interned.The candidate stops me: "Wait. Are you saying these concentration camps were here? In the U.S.?"

 Sigh. Well, I take hope in the fact that when I worked with the young people who were in my play about this topic, they also were learning about this shameful period of history for the first time.

Long story short: After 20 minutes of my trying to explain who Yuri was; who The Crusaders were, and update this "candidate" on how much footage there is, what's available and what needs to be converted to what format...she grows impatient and cuts me off.

She says she wants to give me a "quote" but can't do that unless she knows what exactly she's expected to do on this editing job. I ask her to tell me what she knows already about it. She closes her notebook, stands up and declares the interview over.

That's when I went to my car and called my friend who warned me not to push the "button pushers."

Did it ruin my day? Yes, it did. My friend had advised me to call out "NEXT!" but somehow this waste of time that was supposed to be an interview hung out with me the rest of the day.  By 6pm, I had turned off my phone and gone to bed. At 3 a.m. when I woke up, I found an irate e-mail from this same woman telling me off.

She said that she was not used to hearing the "story" until an agreement had been reached and payment made. She said I wasted her time by telling her the story for 20 minutes. And she advised me to get a "producer" for the film who could communicate with editors.

How old was this person? I'm guessing maybe just out of college. From the Midwest. Been here a year. How old am I? Much much older with a B.F.A. from USC Film School and documentaries under my belt that have been shown around the world.

She went on and on actually. I didn't really read the rest of it. All I gathered was that her day had also been ruined, and she'd felt disturbed. Is it possible that somewhere in the back of that mind she was wondering if she'd turned down a worthwhile project? Or is she just the type who needs the Last Word? There were no words at the end of our meeting. Just silent parting of ways.

Or is it really I who need the last word? I've put off writing about my work on this film for so very long. It has been a tangled, often painful process. And it has been a joy when the going is good.

Since I am launching this diary as a blog to keep myself in tune with the daily toil of production, I will give this advice to prospective editors who apply for "trailer" jobs for indie productions. When you interview:

• Do your homework on the project. Research the topic if it's obscure. Read the website if there is one for the film.
• Do Google the producer or director or whoever it is who will be hiring you. Know who they are so you don't end up insulting them unintentionally by giving them advice on how to make a film and how to work with an editor (unless they ask for it).
• Don't just respond to ads with "I can do it!" Try to explain why you are the best fit for this particular project. This saves everyone time. Also if you do not want to work for deferred pay, please note this in your response (my ads state clearly that the editor will be paid when funds are available and under written agreement, but I get lots of applicants who don't appear to understand this.)
• Do be polite. You are not all that. You may think the world of yourself and your abilities, but you still need to either prove it to your prospective employer or part ways in a professional manner (i.e.,  no after-interview evaluation and criticism of the person who at one time thought your work good enough to ask you to interview for their project).
• Do let your interviewer know even before the meeting if you want to take time with the project to get it right artistically or if you are, in fact, more skilled at "pushing buttons" (no shame in that, but just be honest).

So yes, I am looking for an editor again. No, I still do not have my own equipment and my own computers are too antiquated to view even the raw footage. Yes, I am still financially teetering on the edge of oblivion with this project and my own life. No, I will not stop trying to make this film.

And yes, I have made films before. I have edited before. My films have been shown at film festivals around the world. And I have my film degree from USC (Class of '90). So why does every venture out into the production world feel like the "first time"?

Last summer, when I tried to line up an editor to help me make a longer trailer so that we can submit to funders who require a more in-depth trailer than the 4-min. one that is now up and running, I put another ad on Craigslist and it was "flagged" as "Inappropriate" and taken down by idiot trolls who do this kind of thing. I tried again and the same thing happened.

A month ago, I met a filmmaker who explained that if that happens, just run the ad again. And again. And again.

So. A few weeks ago, I took a deep breath and posted on Craigslist for an editor--explaining re the deferred pay, providing links to the film project's website and last fundraising page on Indiegogo which has the trailers and all the information (and I mean all) on it.

At this time last year, I did the same thing and got very very lucky. Two applicants were willing and talented. I went with the first and after a month when it became clear that we were not really communicating about what I wanted, I went with the next one whose time for the project would be more limited than the first's, but she possessed not only amazing skills and a lovely personality, but a profound understanding and enthusiasm for this film's subject.

I learned the key to successfully working with an editor was to give a precise outline and shot list, and some leeway for input in certain spots. Also it helps to have an editor who really "gets" the material. In the case of this film, with its sprawling raw footage and my unique vision, that is a tough call sometimes....but not impossible.

The last editor is so wonderful that she was already lining up well-paying gigs with production companies which meant she actually could not give that trailer the ending we'd talked about, and that would have added 2 minutes. When it came time for me to apply for grants, guess what? They ask for 6-10 min. for the trailer so they can see what it will look like before doling out $$.

Update:

After I posted this, I read the rest of that candidate's angry e-mail. She said a lot of mean things. I am trying to grasp how a 20-minute meeting for a potential job could make a candidate so furious with the interviewer. Is this a time for soul searching? Or is it like speed dating and we just need to put it behind us and move on?

She indicated that she might flag my Craigslist ads if she sees one.

When I talked with my friend by phone yesterday, I told her that I had one applicant who seems like a lovely person with a strong visual sense to his reel, but I was afraid he might be too young to grasp the material. He has already expressed interest in shooting the rest of the stuff we need to shoot here in Los Angeles.

So when I was done with my depression and sadness this morning, I called him and left a message asking him to please please look at what we have so far on the websites, and if he has feedback and wants to discuss being the editor for this next trailer, to call me.

He did. Not only did he look at the websites but he said he spent a good half-hour studying the trailer as it is now and the historical background. As he talked, he did not seem to take umbrage with my need to fill him in on the who, what, why, when and where. He is not only super-bright but honest about what is and isn't clear in the trailer as it stands now.

We are meeting tomorrow at Noon.

11:13 a.m. on Wednesday, February 7, 2013. Hope springs eternal. Note to Self: Let this one have input. Listen. Stay aware. Sort through and sift. Condense and clarify. Be less complicated. Stay true to what needs to be said and how to say it best.