Derek Ting

Hello Mr.  Blog.  See, it takes me a while to post, and I always promise to.   So just like any friend, I haven’t forgotten you.  I return to you now, to speak about the journey I’ve been on for the last 5 years.  The super marathon of making a movie, and then getting it out there end to end.  I’ve stayed more hidden, but now it’s time to take a step forward.  Restless and impatient, I’ve held at the starting line to ensure that as we race forward, I’m confident we can make the finish line.

What a majestic night full of friends.  Thanks to all who came out to see our preview of our trailer and clips.  With over 500+ in attendance, we were so fortunate to have so much support.  In consideration that particular night, there was the HKIFF Opening ceremony at the same time, various parties for the Filmart and Rugby 10′s/7′s going on, we were grateful for our guestlist to be filled with supporters.  I believe there is a hunger for stories originating from HK with balanced Eastern and Western point of views(an international perspective), and we aim to satisfy that hunger.

People think being an actor means public speaking comes naturally.  This is not the case for me at least.  I prepared for a long time and must give credit to Joyce for listening to me rework my speech over and over again, and James Bryce at Lalein who coached me.  Fortunately everything went as well as I could have imagined.  No profuse sweating or jitters came my way this time.  I remember speaking at MTV a long time ago.  As a younger more naive person, let’s just say it wasn’t one of my finer moments.

The moments before the event, I could feel the butterflies kicking in.  I’ve worked so long on this project, and moreover, so many people have stuck their necks out for me calling in favors, investing their time and money into me.  The pressure and responsibility to deliver has been overwhelming at times.

Thank goodness Joyce was there to help me through everything keeping me sane and filling the gaps.  By the way, Joyce managed all the photographers/videographers for us, http://www.joyceyung.com We had 3 photographers and 3 videographers spidermanning all over and there was a lightpainting booth.  Go to www.facebook.com/supercapitalist, like our page to support us, and check out our albums.

Was glad to bring many of the team together, from Crew to Post, producers we’ve had over 300 people work on this film.  My only wish is that the NY team could have been out here as well.  Our day will come to celebrate when we hit the US with our film. But HK’s first on our list.

Thanks to Lisa Cheng of Sheer(Above Left), luxury lingerie, and Susanna Ngao of S.Nine(Right), glamour wear featured in the film, for putting on the fashion show with models who are in our film.

And to top it off, my buddies Operator featuring Ben Robinson(Center) who scored our film and Victor Pena(L) our Post Production Supervisor, and Jon Lee on drums who owns This music studio.

Of course thanks to Bloomberg and Bloomberg TVour Media Partner, Perrier Jouet, Helishots, Liveit, Random Art Workshop(for a combined aerial photography package), Eremett(Bespoke luxury goods and accessories), Thomas Pink(Gift certificate), Sheer(Gift Certificate), S.Nine(Gift Certificate), for the prizes and giveaways!

Thanks to Solee Ngai over at Ignite Marketing.  All those late night calls talking about the details of the event paid off!

If you like what you’re reading, please like my page(in the facebook box on the right) so I know to keep doing this.  I always appreciate shares, and please comment as I’ll write you back!

Please also like the Supercapitalist page:  http://www.facebook.com/supercapitalist

Stayed tuned for more updates.  They are coming soon!

For many reasons which I will explain later, I haven’t written in my blog.  But the forces of Jeremy Lin have urged me to get this done and out.

As I am writing this, I am sure a zillion other articles are being written about Jeremy Lin, each with their own spin. I’d firstly like to say I am writing this, not for anybody, but for my own personal record so I don’t forget.  I do hope though that in my writing, further discussions continue beyond Jeremy, and more importantly what’s wrong and right with our world.  It’s already happening, and I hope to contribute to that.

Convergence:

This is a theory I believe in of why things become successful.  Jeremy Lin was likely a already a great player before they played him that fateful day, and all that he had done before and worked on culminated in his success on the court.   It was only a matter of time for someone like him, an Asian American to break the mold, the stereotypes, the system because his true abilities, which were grossly underestimated and the result: the excitement, the happiness, the reinvigoration, has been a clear example of how much surrounding pent up demand there was for someone to do it.  The scariness of the Jeremy Lin story is that this guy didn’t have to be just like or as good as any other star point guard to break the system, he had to be SUPER star point guard to be recognized by the world’s premier basketball league.

No options left

The forces around him also converged to let him play creating the right opportunity for him to showcase his talent.  The unfortunate thing(or in Lin’s case fortunate) was the only way for someone of his high caliber to break the system was because the Knicks had no resort but to let him play.  Melo and Amare were out, they were having another losing season.  I bet for sure Mike D was thinking, “what the hell, I’ll probably be fired next season,  why not let the scrawny Asian play?”  It certainly wasn’t, “Wow this kid is talented, let’s put him in now before it’s too late!”  Well Jeremy most likely saved Mike’s job, and the Knicks whole team, MSG and their stock price, and even the NBA.   Perhaps the world and our faith?

An Already Broken System

The harder truth about the system is that it was already broken.  It wasn’t working.  No one cared much about basketball since Michael Jordan.  Kobe, as good, gifted, and talented as a player as he is, nowhere near commands the type of passion for the game as someone like Jeremy.   Jeremy is a true underdog story that you can’t manufacture or replicate.

Supercapitalism – in athletics

But that it was these “capitalists” try to do: copy, replicate, craft and contrive success rather than do the work, take real risks, and cultivate it.  Success is something to be earned, not created.  The result of this super capitalism is it produced a Kobe.  Somebody saw early on, that Kobe given his gifts and very much likeness to Jordan crafted his stardom, molding him to be the next Jordan.  A guy, who started too early in the NBA and never really had to work and earn his pedigree.  How much do you think Kobe appreciates his success?  More importantly, how many other players were overlooked because scouts are looking for the next LeBron James, overlooking skill, teamwork, personality, dedication, desire for raw physique.

No fault of any but ourselves

We can’t blame anybody especially white people for our perceptions.   People of all races and color assume a lot of things.  Having lived out in Hong Kong for several years, I can tell you Asians are just as racist as any other race if not more.  And you can’t blame or expect a business exec(white, black, Asian, or purple) for not casting or playing an Asian for something because at the end of the day, they are risking their money and time.  Who do you think they are going to bet on?

What we can do

And well, it’s already happening with Jeremy Lin, we’ve finally been given the chance.  That we will come out and support true talent and get excited about these things and that will translate to real dollars:  Merchandise, tourism, ticket sales, etc.

The proof is already there, we can influence what happens with our own dollars and be an unstoppable FORCE and a VOICE to be heard across the world.

And step up

Take the risks, the shots when given the opportunity, just like Jeremy without any regrets, even in the midst of nobody ever doing what he did before.  The uncertainty of being the first.  Leading up to your string of wins, and still even there have been a lot of naysayers, talking down on you by calling you “kid”, a lot of backhanded praise from people who think they’ve made it, and quite frankly, this makes me angry, you’ve taken greater risks than most people ever do, so I don’t know how anybody can call you anything but a person we can all learn from, draw strength from, and admire.  In my book, you’ve already made it, so just enjoy the ride.

Hello everyone, I’m here.  I’m not neglecting this blog.  I’ve just been swamped.  And, I’ve been trying to rehab my knee, but today, I really hurt it trying to test my boundaries.  I ran full force and then I did a hard stop, and literally crushed my knee.  Ouch, it’s sore and weak again.  Damn it!   Well, I guess it’s making me write to you at least.  It’s a time to take a break from pushing so hard, and reflect back.

What a choppy month of ups and downs.  It’s been mostly ups at least, but there have been major disappointments.  In life I feel I just want everything to go my way, or at least make my life easier, but that road has never been the way this movie has happened.  It’s always been the uphill climb.  I guess, fortunately, it allows me to really appreciate the people who have helped us along the way.  If life was easy, I guess it wouldn’t be worth living.  I think about how it’s like a basketball team, and sometimes you feel like to win, you want to take it all on yourself, be a ball hog, but really if you pass the ball around, your teammates can really score for you.  At the center, I must push my teammates harder, and they in turn, must push me as well.  We all must contribute to win.

I think about how big a team we have…it’s pushing 500 who’ve worked on this project?  Not to mention the 1000′s of fans who have been so supportive.  Sometimes I’ve felt so alone, just missing all the shooting, because really after a year of post, people come and go, playing their part, but also needing to move on.

As we approach finishing the film, now’s the time for me to start talking to you about what’s up.  Basically, I think we are doing well, but as I said, an uphill climb.  Here’s the good news, we’ve gotten some private feedback from friends, industry, major press, and Linus Roache himself, and the feedback’s been good.  We’ve had a sales trailer for a while, but we’ve been unable to share it publicly because it’s too early.  So we’ve tried to show friends, family, colleagues, and supporters in sneak preview ways.  Everyone’s been very supportive, and thanks for all the kind words.  We’ve tried our best with our humble budget across three countries, and a lot of the production value has come from the team, friends, and sponsors really taking a chance on this film, without us having the conventional requirements of the films you normally see in a theater:  Big Budget, Big Cast.

And you know what?  Inch by inch, we’re are doing it, and I’m flabbergasted how fortunate things have been, where we have found opportunities I had not foreseen.  I’m amazed at how and what we are achieving…and it’s a been much about the heart and passion of everyone involved.

So essentially what we’ve decided is that based on where we are, we are pushing harder on the film in this last month to accomplish key additions/edits to the film which I feel really raise the bar.  All engines are running, and well, we’re just going to give it our all to see what we can do.  The objectives we set, are finally coming together and it has me excited.  We are targeting Sept 1, 2011 to finish when I fly to New York and that will have meant 1 year.  If we finish Sept 11, 2011, it will have been exactly 1 year.  That’s the point we put the pen down…And then pick it up to work on new projects.

In terms of timeline, we want to come out early next year.   Our Sales Agent has been wonderful.  A tip to all you filmmakers, if you find a sales agent that believes in you, that’s all that matters.  Finding a Sales agent, it just the same as finding anyone to work with.  They are really pushing our film.

And we have a chance, but not without all of us being consistent and having a voice.  I feel it’s the edge we need to getting this film to a theater near you.  It’s not going to happen just because someone likes it, and is willing to spend time and money to sell it for you.  Which is why I started this blog.   To quickly tell you, about what’s been happening.  But to also talk about people who’ve been so dear in my life, supporting us and working with me on this project.  Honestly, it’s also for myself because I have been learning about myself and what I want.

So thanks for listening.  And I hope you’ll like my page(Link on the right) to stay tuned for more updates.

Had a really fun day watching all the 72 Hour Film Shootout shorts.

Honestly, watching them really made my day.  Some of you had me rolling on the floor laughing.  2 hours later I’d laugh thinking about some of the shorts.  Some had me guessing what was next.  Some really touched my heart.  So thanks for that.

I really enjoy these contests because of the challenge.  Everything is happening so fast, you’re forced to make decisions on the fly, and it’s a team effort as to what you can do.  Leaders emerge, and soldiers fight the front line.  Everyone depends on each other.  At the end of the day, what’s great is that no matter how you did, you tested yourself under some of the harshest conditions.  Moreover, you made many mistakes for you to learn from in the future.

burn for the yearn

It’s funny, because I am sure you will judge yourself on how well you did.  But, really I think the bigger question to ask is, “Do I want more?”  The yearn factor.  Yearn is not hunger.   Hunger can be satisfied, but yearning is searching for something that completes you and the feeling is intense.

Supercap

We’re waiting on some news right now while in the midst of post production for Supercapitalist.  The process of making a feature film is tough.  Sometimes you wish it’s all done in 72 hours!

Waiting while doing work is like running up a hill.  If you run too fast, you’ll run out of gas early and you won’t want to finish.  If you are too slow the day will be over. But if you keep your pace and take really small steps, you’ll get there without giving up.

Running

I wanted to share this with you guys which seems much more relevant now. On my day 1, Feb 21, 2011 I wanted to run on Bowen Road, a common running path in Hong Kong. I had never been, so I was jogging around looking for it. Came Bowen drive, a steep hill in Hong Kong which I figured leads to Bowen Road. Here was my experience…

I didn’t know what I was in store for.  I was really careless and I ran not even knowing how far it is.  I guess you can guess that I have continued to run, but it sure doesn’t look like I’d continue running based on this video.  LOL!

Here’s my update from today.

TO JOIN MY FAN PAGE AND STAY UP TO DATE: Derek Ting Blog Updates.

KUU – Keep U Updated.