Magic Carpet Ride

This is my second year to volunteer with the L.A. Asian Pacific Film Festival, and boy did it start off with a bang! I showed up at the Director's Guild of America headquarters in West Hollywood, expecting to help with crowd control for the festival's opening night premiere of "Fast Five", but was placed at the front of the red carpet to assist with celebrity arrivals instead!  I was handed a list of names and photos of the people that were scheduled to walk the red carpet.  The list was a "who's who" of Asian American cinema, and I only needed to glance at the list for a moment to digest who was going to show up.  These were the actors that I had been following as a teenager while stuck in Texas, wondering where to even start my pursuit of acting.  There was no need to study a list of my own heroes, so I neatly folded it, placed it in my pocket and eagerly awaited the first arrivals for the red carpet.

I'm not usually one to get star struck, but I couldn't help but smile when the likes of Kelly Hu, John Cho, Brian Tee and Sung Kang walked past me on their way to be blinded by a barrage of flashing cameras.  I wanted to whip out my cell phone and snap photos of everyone, but professionalism is always first in my book, and I was here to do a job.

It was very inspiring to just be in the same room with all of these talented people.  In my eyes, they are pioneers of Asian American cinema.  Even with all of their major successes, they were still gracious enough to come out and support the community to keep that trail that they've blazed full of budding artists.

If you ever find yourself low on creative juices or you've hit a wall with your art, go to that which you love so much: film festivals, art walks, gallery openings, book signings, conventions, coffee shops, concerts, and the list goes on!  Immerse yourself in the world that drives you and I'm sure you will very quickly find the fuel you need to keep that flame of passion lit.

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