Jace’s Place

As promised, here’s a little sample of the San Diego zoo.  This is as is, unedited with no added music.  Just a couple of tiger cubs playing around.  It was really hard to get footage on these little cubs because they and their mama were hanging out in a high corner far away from most of the viewing areas.  We had to wait patiently in one spot for several minutes and finally they came bounding down the hill.  Please bear wth the “blair witch” shake. 

Send post as PDF to

Bite Me’s up on IMDB now which means it actually exists and is not a figment of anyone’s imagination: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1311023/ (You know, if it’s not on IMDB, you didn’t really do it, appear in it, work on it, etc. In some cases, that might be a blessing.) Not all the credits are up there yet but the site says to “be patient.” And patient’s what you have to be when you first fill out the form to get your project listed.  My god it’s like filling out a long job application or a final exam full of trick questions. ”Hmmm, will they not accept me if I skip this part?  What if I don’t know the answer to this?  Where’s the brainiac I can cheat off of?” 

Send post as PDF to

Here are some more photos from my San Diego experience.

A few misfires and backs-of-heads later, the sea of photographers finally parted enough for wifey to snap this shot of actor John Cho, aka Harold, aka the young Hikaru Sulu.  It was a nice geek-out moment. For those of you who don’t already know, John Cho will be playing the part of a younger version of Enterprise helmsman, Hikaru Sulu in the upcoming J. J. Abrams reboot of the Star Trek franchise.

Speaking of Star Trek and all things geek…

We checked out the Star Trek Exhibition at the San Diego Air & Space Museum.  You have until January 4, 2009 to see it.  It’s $24 per adult and they’re open 7 days a week.  I was mildly vexed that they DO NOT allow any photography or video in the Star Trek exhibit itself.  My big honkin’ camera would’ve been a little too hard to hide.  So, sorry folks, I don’t have any sneak peeks available.

They had pros with even bigger and even honking-er digital SLRs on hand (Nikon D200s to be exact) to take your photos on the bridge of ST:TOS and standing on the transporter.  They charge you at the end of your tour for any printed copies.  At $22 a piece for a 5×7, you can see why it’s good business for them to disallow outside photography.

Um, yes, wifey and I bought one.  Hey, how many times in life are you gonna get a shot at sitting in the friggin Captain’s chair?  We were a little disappointed that ST:TNG’s bridge was not part of the tour, since we’re bigger fans of that series.  But it was still fun.  Keep in mind, all of these props and sets are replicas, so they’re not exact.  I believe the erstwhile Las Vegas ST Experience had real props and costumes from Paramount.  The LV exhibit was much better but that’s another story.  And finally, we rode one of those flight simulator thingies shaped like a shuttlecraft called “Doron.”  It was $5 per person and featured Michael Dorn’s voiceover as Lt. Worf.  Or Captain or whatever the hell his rank is these days.  It was kinda kiddie-level, so again, not as cool as Vegas.

Speaking of boldy going…

This is a shot of the Toyota Matrix, the big ol’ main sponsor of SDAFF.  This is a car we should’ve been driving.

Instead, we boldy rented a piece of shit called a Suzuki Forenza from Enterprise (the car rental place, not the Star Trek ship. I know, too many geek references in one post).  I reserved a “compact” car.  I figured it’s a step up from their “economy” line and right below “intermediate,” it can’t be all that bad.  I could save a buck, get from point A to point B, and use my dollars elsewhere (like on a friggin Star Trek photo of my silly ass in the Captain’s chair).  I didn’t realize that Enterprise’s version of compact = turdball-on-wheels.

The guy at Enterprise was trying to upsell me when I first got there (they always do).  Don’t get me wrong, I have had nothing but great experiences with Enterprise, and I still think they’re great.  But dude, they need to really rename their compact category “POS” or just lump all of these compacts into their economy category.  I mean, what’s in their economy lineup, a pogo stick?  One rollerblade and an oar?  WTF?

The Forenza handles like a golf cart.  You know that feeling you get when you drive a golf cart at full speed?  You feel like you’re just about to tip over, but you don’t so it scares the crap out of you at every turn?  Oh and imagine driving the golf cart with one eye-patch over your better eye.  Yea, that’s how the Forenza feels on city and freeway.  Screw that.  Note to self: upgrade the rental next time even if the guy is hardselling you on it.  Or heck, just buy a Toyota Matrix.  (No they’re not paying me to say that but I test drove one before and it’s decent.)  Oh, and one more note, the Doron shuttle from the Star Trek exhibit handled better.

Here’s a quick shot I took of the SDAFF screen at the awards gala.  It was packed and everyone was dressed to the nines.  John Cho, along with Aaron Yoo, Leonardo Nam, and others were presenters that night.

So, that about wraps up my San Diego/SDAFF adventure.  We also went to the zoo which was way cool but maybe I’ll post more about that another time.

Stay sassy.

Send post as PDF to

First-time filmmaker.

First time at SDAFF (first time in any film festival for that matter).

First time in San Diego.

A group photo of me and reps of a couple of the other films, “My First Crush” and “Damn the Past.”

SDAFF was a great experience, and I have a feeling that because it was my first ever film festival that I have been spoiled.  I heard from several other attendees that SDAFF is by far the best out of the Asian film fests in terms of a fun and happy atmosphere.  Whether or not that’s true, it definitely was a lot of fun and I was feeling pretty groovy.  I got VIP treatment the whole way through.  From the film scheduling to the panels, and from the parties to the awards gala, everything ran like a well-oiled machine.

The people who help make this possible are just the nicest, most supportive people I’ve met.  Lee Ann Kim’s leadership sets the tone and from there the support staff and the volunteers make sure filmmakers are treated very well.  It was just plain awesome.  My only regret is that I couldn’t be in several places at once to catch more of the wonderful films from all the talented creators.  There were like 140 films screened this year and many of them overlapped on the schedule.  Catching one meant missing out on several others.  Well, I guess that’s what dvds and Netflix are for.  Hopefully, most of these films will be available for home viewing.

The opening night film Ping Pong Playa was just plain hilarious.  It was directed by Jessica Yu and stars accountant/actor Jimmy Tsai who is just plain awesome in this film.  It had me rolling the whole time.  Tsai doesn’t really want to pursue an acting career but I must say he is more natural on camera than some big names I’ve seen.  His comedic timing is spot-on.  Tsai also helped write and produce the film.  I can’t wait to pick up the dvd in January not only as a show of support but also to own a very funny and entertaining film that I can watch again.  Jessica Yu and he are working on another comedy script, so I’m looking forward to that as well.

I did sit and watch my own film because I wanted to see how “my baby” would fare in front of its very first audience.  I was surprisingly calm, but wifey said she was very nervous for me.  Bite Me was part of a lineup of other short films in a program called “I Heart U.”  The other films in the lineup were excellent.  From very cute to very serious, and from funny to controversial.

Well, I was very proud of my little film because the audience laughed in all the right spots.  They even reacted with positive laughs in places I didn’t expect.  For example, when the title “Bite Me” appears in the very beginning I heard some chuckles.  I knew then that the audience was in just the right receptive mood for the jokes and gags that would follow.  At many points the audience was laughing so much they would miss the very next joke.  That’s a good thing.

Me answering a question from the audience.

Afterwards, we had a Q&A with some of the other filmmakers and me.  I didn’t expect the Q&A so I just tried my best to not sound like an idiot.  I felt like I did alright and it was a lot of fun to give a little more background about the film and my process.

Big thanks to Lee Ann Kim and the entire crew at SDAFF for making my first time a fun, supportive, and memorable one.  I wish I didn’t have to leave.

Stay classy, SDAFF.

Send post as PDF to

I’m currently at SDAFF and let me just say I’m having a blast.  This festival and everyone involved is just awesome.  I’ll have more detailed coverage here after I return, because, well, I have so much scheduled here that I won’t have time to blog about it until it’s over. 

Send post as PDF to

I finally added crew information and still photos to my Bite Me site: http://biteme.jasonfong.com.  Not a lot of new information but it’s there.  Sometimes it’s hard to keep up with these little details.  Makes you wonder whether it’s worth it.  Time will tell.  Well, in the event anyone who catches a screening of the film wants to find out more, they can. 

The Shop page is still down and will remain that way until I decide what to do with it.  Depending on what direction I go, I might remove it or I’ll actually have some movie-related items up there for sale.  I have some great ideas rolling around in my head but I gotta consider ROI. 

Some people are probably wondering why I built a website for a short film in the first place.  I mean, seems like a lot of effort for a very small blip on a very small radar.  Other short films have made less of a marketing effort and have gotten a lot farther without a website.  I guess the short answer is because I can.  I’m an old-school webhead who likes to mess around with old-school web technology just because of the instant gratification.  Nothing’s tied to a crazy-big database, I don’t have to configure anything, I just code it and it appears.  Plus, I get a chance to work in Photoshop a little bit for the graphics side and it’s probably one of my all-time favorite programs. 

Anyway, hope you get a chance to check out the site and I’ll keep you posted on whether it makes a difference.  If nothing else, it was fun to build.  And doing something fun, whatever it is, always makes a difference to the one who counts.  

Take care of yourselves out there.

Send post as PDF to

BITE ME has been accepted by the 1st Annual Philadelphia Asian American Film Festival happening from October 9th to October 12, 2008. 

UPDATE: The official schedule has been announced.
Bite Me (part of their Shorts Program 2: “The Other 4 Letter Word”)
Sunday, October 12th, 2008
3:30pm - 5:30pm
Asian Arts Initiative, 1219 Vine St. 

Send post as PDF to