Years ago a restored Flower Drum Song was screened at the JAT in Little Tokyo, LA, and it was a wonder to see: we were big, as big as the silver screen and playing characters, playing the hell out of them, dammit.

I thought two things after the movie ended, and after I shook the writer’s hand, Mr. C.Y. Lee — one, it will be a very long time till we could do something as big and pretty as a mainstream, Hollywood studio-produced musical. And two, no modern writer would dare write the damn thing in the first place — too retro, too Cantonese, too predictable, too happy, too low fan. Guai low for NYers. And that’s too bad.

OK, it’s a Mid century story. It’s Kennedy-era, it’s of the era of the Sound of Music, South Pacific, Oklahoma, etc. But behind those musical facades lurked some serious themes. I’m not suggesting we double back to happier times and Asian Richie Cunningham saving the world — who would he save the world from today? The Chinese? and which Asian peeps would he rep? — no, I have no suggestions. Just advice;

Stay true to your voice, since it’s all you got. You gotta make the green to make headway. Just remember when you bend over it’s a temporary reaming.

And that every minority who endeavors in show bidness will criticize and baste itself. Jews laugh hard at themselves, perhaps harder than any. Black peeps roast the crap out of their revered, and laff like hell. Go see Culture Clash. They make it, they can take it — can we APs take that crap? We should.

Here’s another idea about AA Indie filmmaking. Bank roll it yourself. Be your own studio. Be the executive producer. Film-making is cheaper than ever these days.. For about 4k you can aquire all the lighting, sound, and camera gear you need to make a low budget cinema quality film. Then when its’ over, thanks to ebay, you can easily sell it and recoup more than half the costs. Just rent the big ass stuff you’ll only need for a day or two, like generators and jibs/cranes… but besides things like that, renting is no longer the cheapest route these days.

As for crew.. there are great actors willing to work for free or low pay. Film students or hobbiests that’ll DP or do grip for you.

Write a limited location script or buy a script, there are up for grabs everywhere on the internet, some free, some cheap, some expensive.. Hire a newbie writer that would love you to turn theirs to reality.

Film making school? Forget about, there are dvd training sets that’ll teach you everything you need to know…then let the first film you make be your education.

You’ll have no one to please, manipulate, or suck it up to but yourself. I mean, for christ sakes AA have the highest incomes in America, we dont’ need hollywoods money.