Bacon Wrapped Date

Back in 2009 I set out to make a documentary about Foodies living in Los Angeles. Through that documentary, I got inspiration to make a short film about two food bloggers who meet for the first time and fall in love as they try to one up each other in their taste in hidden gems around town. This film is called Bacon Wrapped Date and it is dedicated to all the food fanatics, foodies, people who hate being called foodies, food bloggers, chefs, and people who just love to eat. 

It is finally available to download on iPad (not yet available on other iphone platforms). I do not have an iPad but if you do, please download it, watch it, and let me know what you think. The app itself is free and Bacon Wrapped Date is only $1.99. It's our first distribution deal!

After two years of filming largely in the food scene, I can't say that I've gotten thinner! However, I can say that I know that my calling is in the film + food equation and I hope to bring informative documentaries and fictional narratives to you. I just ask that I get as much feedback while I'm still learning so that I can learn from my own productions and from readers like you. 

More info on Bacon Wrapped Date Here.

Interview with the Actress, Hong Lei, Here.
Read my food blog called Slate Food, which is updated frequently, Here.

Troy Davis

Troy Davis was executed today. This marks a day in history when a country that prides itself on freedom, justice, and progress took a huge step back.

If you don't know about Troy Davis' case, I did a video about him a while ago:
http://wherethelinesblur.blogspot.com/2009/06/troy-davis.html with a full blog post about it.

I can't stop thinking about how this incident is going to change the way people see America - both the citizens as well as the international media that have been watching to see how the U.S. would handle this case. I'm sad that he didn't walk free. This incident should show us how broken the legal system is and how we have to change the system that lets people who kill their kids walk free while innocent victims get the lethal injection.

First Anni

Currently editing away my latest film, called First Anni.

Synopsis: A newly wed husband forgets to get his wife an anniversary present and his stay at home brother tries to help only to realize he may have overstayed his welcome.

Runtime: 10 min
Produced by: David Ngo
Written by: David Ngo
Directed by: Jin Yoo-Kim
Director of Photography: Alejandro Martinez

Edited by: Jin Yoo-Kim

Cast: Laura Quenzel, Jeremy Lawson, Chris Wolfe

Hopefully this film will be finished and polished by the end of this summer!

The Raw Truth

Everytime I tell someone I'm in film school, the first thing they ask is how much longer I have left. Well, to answer that question, the program itself is 3 years but that doesn't count the time you take to make a thesis. There are many ways to still get out of film school in 3 years (you can write your way out, edit your way out, etc. if you don't want to direct a thesis). You can also direct a narrative (546) or a documentary (547) and USC selects 3 each semester.

This semester, I get to direct one of these, a documentary, about the raw food movement in LA. But, I STILL don't get to graduate in 3 years because I forgot to use my summers efficiently and I basically have thus far only taken 28 out of 52 credits. I'm hoping that switching over to the new curriculum is going to help me out a little because as much as I love film school, I'm dying to get out there and get paid for doing what I love.

Anyway, before I go on and rant more about my not graduating in 3 years horribleness, here's the project's website that I'm doing this semester in case you want to follow it.

http://therawtruthmovie.tumblr.com/

It's not as updated as it should be but you can get a good glimpse of it. Check out the sexy Adam and Eve photo shoot! ;)

The final screening is on December 10, 2010 so save the date!!!

Here is a trailer that Billy Sullivan and Barbara Steele (our editors) cut together. PW is rawfood. Enjoy.

The Raw Truth Trailer from The Raw Truth on Vimeo.
PS. The statistics are higher than that actually. 75% of Americans are overweight.

Understudy, the Movie

We are wrapped with Polar Opposites and now I'm on to my next project, producing a USC thesis this summer called "Understudy."

Understudy is a dance film, which is why I gravitated towards it. Better yet, it's going to show off salsa funk, a new fusion dance movement that combines salsa, hip hop, jazz, etc.

The director, Cristina Malavenda, is an editor-director and she did a 547 documentary called No Kill, which has been extremely successful and has had a great run in festivals and now it's even going to be shown on KCET next week. She's an extremely talented editor and director so I'm really excited to work with her.

Maritte Go, my fellow producer, is in my semester at USC School of Cinematic Arts, and she was a dancer/actress all her life so it's really fun working with her. Plus, she's just an awesome person.

Desi Jevon is the choreographer and is so talented, innovative, and a great teacher. I'm writing this blog post as we are casting right now, watching him work with eight people at the same time, doing both the girl and boy moves, never losing patience.

This movie is going to be dazzling and amazing. At this point in the process, we are just starting to cast. Next week, we will be casting the actors and actresses. Hopefully, we will find great dancers this week that we will be calling back for the acting process.

At the same time, we are raising funds to make this film. Please watch me, Marty, Cristina, Desi talking about the film and what we are hoping to accomplish and if you can find it in your heart to invest in the arts, please support us. We are all trying to do something innovative, visually compelling, with a story of an underdog trying to make it in competitive LA.

Our fundraising page where you can donate as little as $5 to be credited in a film (you can see your name come up in the end credits! What a great souvenir for the price of your daily coffee).

The Trailer

Fundraising page

Docs on Food

When I interned at Causecast, I had the pleasure of watching Food Inc. when Causecast helped with one of their theatrical screenings with Participant Media. Since then, I saw this film take off, and even get nominated for an Oscar for feature documentary. Today, Robert Kenner, the director of the film, came to our documentary class to screen and talk about his journey and the challenges he faced making this documentary.

Since watching Food Inc., making my Foodie Nation doc last year (which is still a work in progress - ahem, I need editors to help me edit it), reading books like Omnivore's Dilemma, Food Politics, Fast Food Nation, Health Food Junkies, watching documentaries like King Corn, Super Size Me, along with some raw food documentaries, I'm now more than inspired to continue embarking on this food + documentary journey.

Last night, Jamie Oliver's Food Revolution, backed by Ryan Seacrest Productions, launched and is getting a lot of hype. Jamie is undertaking the huge effort to overhaul the school cafeterias in Huntingon, VA. He's being met with a lot of resistance but he's really brave for doing this. Along with Michelle Obama's efforts to fight childhood obesity and even with corporations starting to "go along" with the organics movement, our eating habits are slowly changing and SHOULD be changing.

If you haven't seen Food Revolution, you can catch the first episode here.

All this food and film and activism talk is making me really excited!! Three things I really love.

For next semester, I'm hoping to pitch a documentary about the raw food movement. Please let me know if you have any comments for me. I pitch on April 16th! I'll be making an oral pitch as well as a video pitch. As of now, I'm looking for medical doctors to comment on the raw food movement and raw foodists who are trying to repeal the laws banning raw milk.

MANAA Scholarship

I forgot to mention that at the end of last year, I won the 2009 MANAA scholarship.

It was really a great surprise that I got the scholarship and just in time, too! I'm going to be using the money to finish the film I started this summer as a work of love. It's currently in post-production right now and in desperate need of ADR and sound design. With this money, I can make this film come into completion. The film is about two Asian Americans falling in love over, what else? Food.

MANAA is a great organization that continues to strive for Asian American representation in the media. Without organizations like these, where would Asian American filmmakers be?

Thank you, MANAA.

Read the full interview here.

3rd Semester at USC Film School

I can't believe I haven't updated in such a long time! I guess I must have been busy. I am now about a month into my 3rd semester at USC and having so much fun and learning quite a bit. I am producing a documentary for a 547, which is a course where three projects are green lit. This semester, the greenlit projects are Lines, Living in Limbo, and Polar Opposites.

Lines deals with teens going to a skateboarding school in Venice, Living in Limbo explores the Iraqi refugees coming to and living in California, and Polar Opposites examines the reasoning behind the underground phenomena of women suddenly flocking to pole dancing.



I am co-producing Polar Opposites, with the fierce Meera Menon, aka Meownun. Apparently I'm not supposed to give away people's real names if they have a Jersey Shore nickname but I've already failed at that so many times so there. My Jersey Shore nickname is Jinnernut. The director, Caitlin Starowicz, was my directing SA my first semester and probably the most multi-talented, multi-tasking person I know. Does she ever sleep? Katie Walker, our cinematographer, can walk into any room, blink her eyes a couple of times, and form a vision in her head that we can only just stand and watch her realize it. Adair Cole, one of our sound people, is the only man on set so we give him a hard time but of course, if anyone can handle it, it's AY-DARE. Lindsay Ellis, our other sound person, can outwit anyone while innocently batting her lashes. She'll have super pole arms by the end of the semester from holding up that boom pole. Neil Williams, one of my partners in 508 (last semester) is one of our awesome editors. He can stylize anything to make it look visually enticing. Erika Edgerley is also one of our editors, and she brings characters and stories to life. We have such a strong team this semester and our documentary is so much fun. I'm sad we only have a couple more weekends of shooting left.


Being on a documentary set is so much different from a fiction set. The stress levels are much lower, the working hours (though it could be as strenuous as fiction depending on each project) are shorter, you meet subjects that could easily become your friends after the project is over, and there is a sort of adrenaline rush you get from the spontaneity of being able to create the story as you're going along. Of course, there are rules and thematic elements that cannot be changed for the sake of budget and time, but there is more freedom in shaping the story week by week and of course, in editing. I am super excited to see what the editors will do with the footage that we shot and at the same time, because we know that editing can be stressful if we don't have a vision, we are more responsible with footage allotments and planning to make sure we don't "hose down the scene," or shoot things with no purpose.

If you want to read more about our day to day process, please visit the blog that we made for our documentary. I'll be updating there for the rest of this project!

Our Blog: polaroppositesfilm.tumblr.com
Our Facebook Fan Page: Polar Opposites
Our Flickr: Plropposites
Our Twitter: PlrOpposites

Me, fooling around on set.

Go To Kenny now online

End of 2nd semester

Second semester came and went just like that. I've gained a lot of weight from my foodie documentary, I've made great friends with the best triad partners in the world, I learned what it meant to collaborate, give constructive feedback, TAKE constructive feedback, and hustle.

An upperclassman said to me that no one comes out of 508 with a good film - you come out with a reputation. I know this to be true. The first semester was all about getting to know each other, being on your best behavior. By the second semester, you're already in your groups and you emerge as a filmmaker. Perhaps a more positive way to say this is that when you come out of 508 you have formed your identity as a filmmaker.


I always knew I wanted to be a director but after this semester, I'm pretty sure this is where I am most comfortable being myself and the position that invigorates me the most. I definitely wouldn't mind producting or even cinematography (though I definitely need more training in the latter). But, as it stands, I think directing is my calling.

So, for next semester, I signed on to co-produce a 547 documentary called "Polar Opposites," directed by the lovely and talented Caitlin Starowicz, who happened to be my SA last semester. I'm so excited to embark on a semester long adventure into pole dancing, women empowerment, and making a great documentary. We're crewing up by this Wednesday, which is super stressful but also really fun. I can't wait to have a full crew so we can all go bond together.

Happy Halloween!!!

So for this year, my bf and I were torn between going as John and Kate Gosselin or Kanye and Taylor Swift.

My bf didn't want to buy Ed Hardy merch and we wanted to save money this year. I looked through my closet and I knew I had the outfit for Taylor Swift. All I had to do was buy the wig and the trophy. Introducing Jin Swift:

Glamour shot #1Glamour shot #2 w/ light sabre

Bf bought the glasses and the heart.

We hit the Yelpoween Elite party at the Viper Room. Free vodka drinks and beer until 8:30pm. We got there around 8pm so we didn't get to take full advantage but it was alright.

Here I am with my zombie hipster yelping friend.

And a vampire.

I thought we were friends!!

Waiting outside the viper room after the party.

Next, we hit the USC film school party. Of course, we rocked it out. There was a fog machine, an awesome dj, dancing and talking and even a photo set up to take dumb pictures!

Those really good pics are not online yet but here are a few shots I got from my friends and from my own camera.

Hanging with Darth Maul.

The ladies of SCA...well, a few of us, anyway.

Here we are posing like we wont the Olympics.
Represented countries:
Bolivia, U.S.A., Turkey

Red White and Blue!

With a pirate lover.

With best trio....er...triad.

Halloween is over but I think I'm keeping those contacts. Man, were they blue! I had a ton of fun on Halloween, ESPECIALLY because I made an effort to avoid the horror of LA traffic through west hollywood. Two years of We-ho parade was good enough for me.

That was a great weekend but now I must focus on sound editing, then shooting Joel's film. I need to learn cinematography before Friday night.

Cut the Fat - fight scenes/getting sick on set

(Ray, Grace, Ben)

Hey guys, I'm still recovering from the flu as I write this. I'm still so amazed that everything came together in the way it did. We had three overnight shoots from 10pm-6am and that second night I thought we were definitely going to go over. The sun was peaking into the horizon but we got our last shot in before 6:30am.

I'm so proud of the cast and crew for sticking it out. I know that half of them were sick, including myself. But, some amazing things were done in those three nights. My actors and actresses dedicated themselves to stunts practice 3 times or more a week for two weeks in order to do this fight scene. We had awesome stunts coordinators, one amazing double, and really awesome clothes, makeup and hair.

A lot of research went into the look of this film. I spent hours pouring over youtube videos, Asian pop star sensations, video games and cartoons. I was inspired a lot by Michelle Phan's videos as well. If you don't know her videos, they're addictive and fun to watch.

I had an awesome stylist, Mika, who helped me put the wardrobe together. She's a really talented designer who has her own line called Cuore. I buy a lot of stuff from her because she makes everything by hand, it's cute & unique AND they make great gifts. Check out her online store at cuore.etsy.com.

All the clothes were donated by Fashion Max, minus the dad's king costume & mom's ref shirt, which I rented from Universal's costume dept.

Here are a few of my favorite shots:



All photos by Alan Kwan.

Credits list:
Writer/Director: Jin Yoo-Kim
Producer: Joel Townsend
Cinematographer: Neil Williams
Production Sound: Joel Townsend
Editor: Joel Townsend
Sound Design: Jin Yoo-Kim
Composer: Taylor Hollyer
Sound Mixer: Valen Hernandez
Action Consultant: Ron Yuan
Action Design: Mike Wilson
Action Director: Sonny Sison
Stunt Coordinator: Kerry Wong
Stunts double: Marissa Labog
1st Assistant Director: David Ngo
Assistant Camera: Justin Madriaga
Set Photographer: Alan Kwan
Makeup Artist: Laura Monteleone
Hair Stylist: Max Lam
Stylist: Mika Yamamura
Production Assistant: Panida Rzonca, Mira Ahn, Scott Ackerlund, and Paul Rader

Cast:
Ray Chang...Dad
Clarissa Park...Mom
Aiko Tanaka...Esther
Junko Goda...Sarah
Grace Su...Grace
Ben Kim...Henry
Mike Moh...Theo
Clara Juhn...Mina

508 faculty:
Nina Sadowsky
Jeff Lengyel
Jeff Crum
Kenny Hall
Robert Miller

508 SA's:
Thenmozhi Soundararajan
Dennis Castello
Ali Mansuri
Katie Walker

Special Thanks:
The Yoo Family
Joseph Camerota
Fashion Max

Cut the Fat – house scenes

the house
Originally uploaded by jinyookim2004

Last weekend, we shot the “reality” house scenes. I was going for a Korean drama look and I’m pretty sure I succeeded through my grandmother’s house. Her family room is literally the perfect manifestation.

I also wanted to tie in the sister’s looks with strong dark eyebrows. Their wardrobe was to make them look pedigree. That is, all the sisters except Mina, the blacksheep of the family. The dad wears a bahama mama shirt to reflect that he is “celebrating” his birthday and to visually signify irony against his moody disposition. The mom wears the stereotypical polo with black pants. If only she had pink crocs!

Location Scouting

So we got our cast and location! Here's a few location scouting pictures I took:

The "warehouse" where the action sequence will be taking place. Imagine you are seeing each picture to the right of the previous picture.






This is pretty exciting. All the stunts are being worked out now and the costume and makeup are coming along nicely! We just need PA's to help us!

Casting Call for my short film

So we're wrapping up with Neil's short "Butterscotch" and now we're in pre-production for my short which is tentatively titled "Cut the Fat."

I'm holding auditions for all the parts this Thursday night and a second date on Saturday morning (or Sunday...second audition date is TBD).

Here is the breakdown:

Title: Cut the Fat
Logline: A man has to defend his honor, win over a wife, and protect his unborn child by gaining the respect of a man who detests him the most - his future father in law.

Auditions are at USC this Thursday, September 24th, 2009 from 6pm-11pm. If you cannot make this time, please note this in the email you send to jykproductions@gmail.com and we will schedule you for a time this weekend.

Breakdown:

Theodore: mid-late 20's. Theodore will go through anything to marry Mina, even if it means physically overtaking his future father in law. Theo will be using modern fighting styles to overtake the old man. These fighting styles may look more like UFC fighting style and some action film elements.

Dad: Korean man in his 40's-late 50's. Very traditional, conservative and from the old world. He's stuck in a time period and mentality that doesn't exist even in modern-day Korea anymore. He wants to make sure that his future son in law has balls to protect his daughter from nature, foe, and random acts of violence from street gangs. Although he's 1st generation, he's made a name for himself in academia with several published literature and is a professor of English literature. He's an expert martial artist (or other fight genre).

Mom: Korean woman in her 40's. Adaptable, shrewd, funny, and has very good intuition. Can tell right away when something is wrong and is immediately thinking of ways to solve problems.

Henchman #2: expert killer, esp at hand to hand combat. knows many forms of martial arts.

Martial Arts girl: expert killer with style and sass. Might wear traditional martial arts outfit, or a variation of it.

If any of these roles interest you, please submit your headshot/resume to jykproductions@gmail.com and hopefully we will see you at the auditions!

End of Project 1's first weekend of Shooting

It's 2:41am and I'm still up from the coke I drank driving home. I'm blogging to update a little on our progress. We filmed Neil's film on Thursday, Friday, and Sunday. We were at Echo Park Lake for two of those days and then at Wurstkuche and Grand Ave. It's very LA and very whimsical. I'm in love with the story and the visuals that accompany it. Next weekend, we will be shooting the fantasy sequences, which will have more choreography, dramatic lighting, and surrealistic qualities. I'm pretty stoked about that.

Some problems we ran into while shooting:

• We lost a location and an actor very last minute but we hustled and got a location and an actor that ended up working (better) for the film.
  
• Traffic was blaring at Echo Park Lake. Note to self: do not film there if there is a lot of dialogue.
• Little Tokyo is relatively quiet on a Sunday morning until 8:30am. After that, traffic patterns are crazy, especially on an intersection like where Wurstkuche is located, where 4 streets meet.
• Property managers of buildings in DTLA's financial district are extremely militant in keeping people off the property. We had to be on the sidewalk and if we ever spilled over to their property, security would come to move us. No wonder I couldn't get permission to film there.
• We were one of four filmmakers on Grand Ave. on Sunday over labor day weekend shooting a scene. Everyone had the same idea as us.
• Parking on Grand Ave. was unexpectedly horrible. We were expecting some delays from parking but we figured it was a Sunday and over labor day weekend but someone closed down the entire street and there were no parking 1pm-10pm on Sunday only signs everywhere. What luck! We had to park a few blocks away.
  
• We had a prob with the batteries in the camera on our first day. We left it to charge in the rec/maintenance center at Echo Park but when we went to get it, it was closed and we were locked out. Luckily, an awesome classmate by the name of Josh, brought over a spare and SPARED us from not being able to shoot. We got the batteries unscathed the next day.
• We also ran into a media card problem but we petitioned to use our 3rd card this weekend since the following weekend's footage will definitely all fit into one card. We were approved.
• We were told that we are not allowed to use any 35mm lens adaptors. This news came really late into the game, AFTER our first weekend of shooting. We personally were going to rent one for the following weekend's shoot in order to accentuate the differences in reality in a cinematic style but we cannot do that anymore. I feel really bad for the people who already shot more than half their movies using the 35mm lens adaptors because they will most likely have to fight this against the administration, which is more work for them.

And for the good stuff:

• We ended up filming at all our locations for free. We didn't even have to pay for permits due to the rule of three clause at Film LA and the nice people the locations who were way more than generous to us.
  
• We saved a lot of money on props and food so we're still under budget unless we rent out expensive equipment for next weekend.
• We have a consistent PA that came and will be coming to all the shoot dates. This is so incredibly helpful, especially when most of the crew members usually consist of other students who are all wrapped up in their own work. It's good to know people who can devote time and energy and consistency to help out who are not students.
• We got some good wild lines using the DPMD sound kit, which will prove to be immensely helpful once I start editing.
• The makeup artist was awesome, fast, and reliable. I hope to work with her again.
• Of course, my partners were also awesome. They were diligent, positive, and professional.
  

Pics from the set:

Week 1 of 2nd Semester @ USC School of Cinematic Arts

Film school part deux finally started this week...or shall I say, last week? We started classes this week but we've been meeting for that last week or two to get our first project off the ground. In this semester, we are divided up into trio's and each person wears a different hat per project. For example, I am producing, editing, and doing the production sound for the first project. For the second project, I am writing, directing, and doing the sound design. For the last project, I am doing the cinematography.

We don't get to choose the people we work with nor the order we want to go. I've heard a lot of people who took 508 in the past warning about working in these trio's and how it can get really heated. I personally couldn't have asked for better partners so I doubt that anything out of the normal would come between our group but it's good to keep in mind that we still should maintain respect and an honest line of communication. The three of us are really different (music lover, zombie lover, drama lover) but we all love food! But, it's still important not to get overzealous or hot-headed nor stray too far to be a doormat.

For example, if I want Korean tacos, I should not be afraid to speak up and if any of my partners would prefer to eat at a Japanese style burger truck, I shouldn't get offended.


In fact, I should just get both. =D Not like I can even attempt to lose the weight I gained last semester doing that fattening documentary.

Now that film school has started and I'm in class from 9am-5pm Mondays & Wednesdays, 7pm-10pm on Tuesdays, 9am-12pm on Fridays, I can kiss my social life good bye. Before I do, a quick trip down memory lane for the best of summer 2009:

With Panida @ Yelp Elite clothing swap and cocktails at the W hotel

Winning a $75 gift certificate to Crustacean @ the Blogger Prom

Redeeming my free lunch @ Crustacean

Mendocino Farms' sandwiches at the Project By Project's event, Plate by Plate

My first limo ride ever sponsored by Causecast.org

The Judges @ the Korean BBQ Cookoff

The Contestants @ the Korean BBQ Cookoff

Yelp Elite Party: Spa Luce (waiting for my free facial)
Free food @ Yelp Elite's Spa Luce party

@ Yelp Elite's Spa Luce, hanging out

Dinner @ Golden State (Burger & Salty Chocolate beer float)

Needless to say, my summer days of cheap thrills and gorge fests are over... until December anyway. I had to cancel many events already, even a sweet trip up north for a food event because I am filming that weekend. Slowly, my nights out are being replaced by nights in to produce, and my parties are being replaced by sleep. But, all is well in the land of 508 because there's nothing I'd rather do than to eat, sleep, and breathe film.

Week 1 is almost over and we're 90% done in locking down our location for project 1, and we already have our cast (as of now). Things change rapidly in this business but for the time being, I am happy enough to let myself rest watching a Netflix movie I have not touched since January.