For those of you who have been keeping track of this blog about my film “Whatever It Takes”, let me first apologize for being a bad, bad blogger these past four weeks. I do have a decent excuse, though, because I was incredibly busy planning some fundraising events in three different cities. As someone who has never done this before, let’s just say that it was (and continues to be) a mighty difficult undertaking.
But there is good news… last night, we held a large event in at The Pacific Asia Museum in Pasadena, CA. And we brought in the main subject of our documentary, Principal Edward Tom, to give a presentation about not only his role in the film, but also what it means to be an Asian American man actively engaged in public service.
We expected about 15-20 attendees, but we ended up getting 55 people there! And every one of them was amazed and captivated at Principal Tom’s energy and vision. One person said that he might want to consider being a preacher someday… I personally have heard his stories over a hundred times myself, and I still was laughing and clapping along with the audience, as if I were hearing him for the very first time.
Afterwards at the reception, guests kept coming up to me and asking how they could help with getting the word out about the film and Principal Ed Tom’s work. This was perfect because those were the exact two goals I had for the event from the beginning. More than a few donations, I wanted to get people so excited about this project that they would be telling all of their friends, who would then tell all their friends…
We have two more events in Santa Barbara and Los Angeles planned where we have invited a bunch of filmmakers, educators, and social activists to screen a short cut of the film, and to discuss their ideas of how to best finish the film, secure distribution, and maximize outreach impact.
Thanks for joining us on this journey, and I promise to be a more frequent blogger (at least on a weekly basis). For more info, you can always check us out at the film’s website:
www.whateverittakesdoc.com
