There is no crying in doc filmmaking!

While I was editing New Year Baby with my editor Sandra Christie, we sometimes would talk about why I made the film. And I've told her more often than not that I didn't make it to win awards. I told her, "If we don't get into Sundance, I won't even cry."

Well, I lied.

A few days ago, we found out that though the programmers' repeatedly expressed respect for the film, we didn't get an invitation. As I wrote an email to our crew, I shed a few tears, while searching for everyone's email in my contact list. I realized that I wasn't crying out of disappointment that the most famous indie film festival in the world passed on us. I felt like I let our crew down.

Everyone who worked with us did so with sacrifices -- and they were usually monetary. I wanted to be able to show my gratitude for their talent by bringing this film to the most visible level of success, so their work could be highlighted. And what Charles and I realized is that not getting into Sundance keeps us hungry. We're even more motivated to make this film a creative and business success. And judging from the overwhelming response at IDFA, the sky is the limit.

Little did we know IDFA audiences would rate NYB among the top 10 of the more than 173 international films here. I am very proud.

And the winner is . . .

Recently, Charles and I saw the movie Little Miss Sunshine. We both laughed and cried and talked about it for hours afterwards.

The moral of the story is that life is a series of beauty contests. It occured to me that Sundance is just another beauty contest. And I didn't come up with the rules. I didn't even sign up for them.

I realized that the main reason I would be disappointed if we don't get in is for our crew. Everyone has worked so hard to make this film as good as it can be. They really have invested their hearts into it.

But I know the film will find its audience - whether it happens at Sundance or in a village in Cambodia.

Speaking of Genocide

Last Sunday, Charles, Joanne, Leslie and I were at the Save Darfur Rally in Central Park. We volunteered for Human Rights Watch and listened to speakers and singers. I was impressed by two things: 1. how many young people were there (at least 60%) 2. how many Jewish groups were there (as many as 50% of the groups).

It occured to me that Cambodian Americans aren't organized to tell the history of the Khmer Rouge. Therefore they're not organized to advocate for the prevention of genocide.

As Cambodians, what is the conversation we bring to the world? I don't think we have one. Not yet anyway.

Speak Your Peace

This past week, I attended SEARAC's (Southeast Asian Resource Action Center) Leadership Training in DC. Over three days, we developed an advocacy agenda and took it to Capitol Hill. I couldn't believe how easy it was to waltz right into Capitol Hill and speak your peace. If the Congressperson's staff is smart, they should be eager to hear what you have to say.

Our group of six spoke to Sen. Hillary Clinton and Rep. Al Green's office about the problem of mental health in the Southeast Asian community.

I met a lot of wonderful people at the training. And out of it, two projects have been birthed:
1. a Cambodian American women's professional group called Bong Srei: Khmer Sisters
2. a how-to guide on how to honor your parents in the traditional Khmer way.

What It Takes To Make a Film

Sometimes when I feel overwhelmed by this project, I think to myself that I'm doing this all alone. It's my responsibility to make the story work. It's my responsibility as the director to make a great compelling film that people will remember.

Yesterday Charles and I created the credits list for the film. There were 194 lines! We couldn't possibly acknowledge everyone who has ever volunteered at a fundraising party or given an hour of time.

I saw in the document the support it took to make this film happen. How presumptous of me to ever think that I am alone.

Go Mets!

Today, one of our supporters, Chris and his brother Basil Stamos invited us to a Mets Game at Shea Stadium in a sky box. It was a gathering of young activists, artists and entrepreneurs -- such a New York room.

It was a great chance to see Leslie Morioka and Raj Gandesha outside of a conference room. It was a great opportunity to acknowledge the Stamos brothers for being who they are for the world.

Mets lost, but we left with a high.

What's a Film Without an Intern?

We have our first intern! Her name is Sara Newens and we met at a Women Make Movies event. Duties will include helping us with footage research, helping us coordinate fundraising events and petting our dog. Thanks Sara, in advance, for your enthusiasm and support.

A Flood of Support

My editor Sandra and I have been noticing that my voice over is a little less than brilliant. It's somewhere in between the Today Show and VH1 Where Are They Now?

We were racking our brains, trying to think of a writing consultant. We came up with no one.

We sent out an email to filmmakers on our list.

I got 34 responses with people offering their help or referring me to someone else. Many of the people were strangers who totally got turned on to our project from the website. So many people want to contribute to the film. It's wonderful to feel so supported.

Soundtrack to My Life

We've been working recently with our composer, Gil Talmi. It's such a delicious treat to have someone write the perfect soundtrack for your life. I highly recommend it. I have asked him to create honest and organic sounding music. I recently watched scenes that I have seen a billion times. With the perfect music, it was like watching a brand new scene.

Friday the Dog

I got Friday on my birthday a few weeks ago. She is my very first dog and so adorable as you can tell that I often forget that she is animate. She looks like a stuffed dog. Here's the new Broken English Productions mascot!

Thank you to Patrick and Phillip

I'm posting this thank you to two friends. - Socheata

"Yesterday, Socheata Poeuv (Director of New Year Baby) spoke to a room of senior UN Officers and several embassy diplomats at an event hosted by the Soros Foundation's Open Society Justice Initiative. The other three speakers included the Cambodian Ambassador to the UN and two crafters of the upcoming Khmer Rouge Tribunal. Socheata was invited to both speak and screen the 9 min trailer of the film. This was an opportunity to introduce our mission and the film's quality to the highest level diplomats working in Cambodia and the world on human rights.

When I arrived, one of the organizers handed me a projector he didn't know how to operate. No one knew how to operate it. There was also no DVD player. We didn't know if the projector was even compatible with my computer. I couldn't make it work within the 30 min. to start.

Then friends and doc filmmakers Philip Eisenstein and Patrick Horner arrived only to support our work. They not only spent the time hunched over the gear to make it work, Patrick pulled out his own laptop to sync with the unexplained projector. They got it to work briefly and then when it was time for Soch's talk the lamp bulb would not turn on. In that 12th floor room of diplomats overlooking the UN Building, while others listened to the conflicts of international law. Patrick and Philip sat in the front row pressing every button on the projector, rebooting the computer and everything they (and I) could think of. They got it to work before the end of the event!

The crowd laughed and cried. The hosts later told us the trailer was the high light of the event. A multi-Emmy award winning documentary maker passed Soch his card. The Justice Initiative expressed interest in using the finished film for their outreach in Cambodia and Socheata has a new relationship with diplomatic human rights community.

This is all possible because Philip and Patrick showed up and were totally unreasonable and unstoppable"

-Charles Vogl
Producer
Broken English Productions

California Dreamin'

Just returned from a visit to LA. Tuesday I met with the UCLA United Khmer Students Association. The gathering was an intimate one amid a rare rainstorm in Southern California. I was excited to find that the students were visibly moved by the trailer. Some of them shared that this project inspired them to interview their parents about their survival story. Thanks to Seng Peng for setting this up.

On Wednesday, I met with three staffers from the Shoah Foundation at USC. Thank you, Chaim Singer-Frankes for your support and encouragement. I wanted to learn everything I could about their process with a mind toward developing a project modelled after Shoah to archive videotape testimonies from Khmer Rouge survivors. What they have done is astounding and incredibly impressive. They have recorded 52,000 interviews from Holocaust survivors. All are catalogued and indexed to be keyword searchable. What a task!

I asked them how many funds they acquired in seed money to start the project. All three staffers piped in at once -- anywhere from $11 million to $100 million to be exact. I became so intimidated by the project I created.

Then I remembered that 2.5 years ago when I started this documentary, I thought I could finish it in one year and with a mere $75,000. Sometimes naivete is the access to courage.

She's a Brickhouse

The subject of my fim -- the story of how my family survived the Khmer Rouge genocide -- took place a generation ago. Like a number of docs, we have the challenge of covering events for which there is no video. I'm not a big fan of the slow push into a black and white photo a la Ken Burns.

There is one anecdote, I'm especially keen on illustrating. A childhood moment when my mother refused to tell me anything about her past and suddenly put a brickwall. But this is a film; what would I show? Today, the guys at IMI (International Masonry Institute) in Long Island City came to my rescue by constructing a brickwall for us to shoot!

Thank you to Dennis Holloway, Kenny LaValle, and Alfredo Reyes.

First Day Live for the NYB Blog!

Thank you to Elliot Mebane from Roguish Studios and Kevin Johnson from Kintera for taking us live!

Welcome to a blog about the making of my documentary film New Year Baby. In the future, you can come here to follow my journey from idea to PBS!