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Category: Short Narrative
Running Time: 27 minutes
Original Format: NTSC DV (Color)
Language: English
Date of Completion: June 2003
In association with Infinite Quest Productions
Writer, director, editor TRAN QUOC BAO
Producers JOSEPH K. LEE & STEVEN TRIGSTAD
Director of Photography ADAM HART
Music by DAMIEN KOEMANS, JENNIFER LEE, SAM VONGSNAKORN
Synopsis
Carmen witnesses a kidnapping and seeks comfort from her less-than-willing boyfriend Kai. When the kidnappers find out, Kai must prove his worth as he and his friends are drawn into danger at a warehouse.
Cast
Kai ANDREW MCINTYRE
Carmen MEGAN STACKER
Ken KEN QUITUGUA
Kit ADAM PHELPS
Baptiste LAURENCE PENERA
Russian Girl SASHA GRINBERG
Pole Thug ANDREW CHIN
Spin Thug PHILIP CHANG
Smoking Thug ALAN LUK
Kidnapping Thug DAVID ROWE
Lothario JEFF BERMOY
Massager ED HA
Bowler BRADLEY TRAN
Frat Boy PHILIP PARK
Vanilla Chunky STEVEN TRIGSTAD
Duhas OMAR KING
Band-Aid Man JOSEPH K. LEE
Screenings and Awards
2003 NAAAP Asian American Film Festival
2003 Northwest Asian American Film Festival
2003 Vietnamese International Film Festival
2003 Pure Digital MiniDV Festival
2003 Kung Fu Cinema Award for Best Short Film - Nominee
2004 Salt Lake Asian Pacific Film Festival
2004 Satellites Film & Video Festival
2004 Visual Communications Asian Pacific Film & Video Festival
2004 Asian Film Festival of Dallas
2005 US ASEAN Film & Photography Festival - Special Mention
Reviews
"A well-acted, casually humorous story that will leave you wanting more."
-- Mark Pollard, Senior Editor of KungFuCinema.com
"A bright, funny, energetic short with charm to spare"
-- John Oak Dalton, MicrocinemaScene
Director Comments
This is POV's most ambitious project with a 10 month production schedule and a cast that came from Seattle, Bremerton, San Francisco, Los Angeles, and Vancouver, Canada. I often made the joke that this film was an international production, too bad no one laughed.
Ken Quitugua is a member of both Infinite Quest Productions and ZeroGravity Stunts, a well-known stunt team in California whose films have built a sizable internet fanbase. Andrew Chin and Philip Chang are stuntmen from British Columbia and train with Bruce Fontaine, who has worked in Hong Kong movies and fought Jackie Chan in Operation Condor.
I'm hugely indebted to the contribution of Infinite Quest Productions, who made up a large part of the cast and were creatively involved in the action scenes. From what I understand they were huge fans of my earlier work, but I wasn't aware of them then. When we began to shoot I noticed Ken was trembling nervously, he confided that it was just such an honor to work with me. I told him not to worry, I get that a lot. And if IQ tells you things happened otherwise, they are lying.
Making Carmen was a great experience because it allowed us to go beyond a one-note short. We could take our time to tell a story and develop characters that you could, hopefully, envision in a feature-length film. Quite a few festivals have declined the movie. I suppose there are many reasons we don't know about, but the half-hour running time does put us in a hard place. It is often too long for most shorts programs and not yet a feature. Regardless, working at that length was invaluable because it prepared us for feature-length storytelling.