The National Film Society Podcast

Tad Nakamura - THIRD ACT Premieres at the Sundance Film Festival

Fri, 24 Jan 2025 22:03:19 GMT

An insightful conversation with director Tad Nakamura about his documentary film, THIRD ACT, focusing on his legendary father Robert Nakamura's life and career as well as his battles with both depression and Parkinson's disease. The film premiers at the Sundance Film Festival.

Watch on Youtube: https://youtu.be/ggsmCOZYAjY

0:00 - Intro

0:48 - Why make this film?

3:51 - Did you need to feel ready?

6:02 - Urgency making the film after diagnosis

7:53 - Anxiety taking over the film

9:50 - The Perm

10:09 - Showing restraint

14:01 - When to show father's emotion

17:05 - Father's comments on finished film?

18:56 - What does it mean to premiere at Sundance?

21:46 - How has your filmmaking evolved over 20 years?

24:12 - How to watch Robert's films?

25:57 - Where to find and follow Tad?

More info on Tad and Third Act:

https://thirdactfilm.com

https://www.instagram.com/thirdactfilm

https://tadashinakamura.com

https://www.instagram.com/tadashinakamurafilms

Music:

"Girls" by Paper Son

https://paperson.bandcamp.com

https://soundcloud.com/paper-son

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

H.P. Mendoza - From Colma: The Musical to The Secret Art of Human Flight and the Tribeca Film Festival

Thu, 08 Jun 2023 17:35:18 GMT

Patrick is joined by friend, writer, director, and composer H.P. Mendoza. He talks about his journey as a filmmaker from his early childhood to now. He discusses everything from Colma: The Musical to I Am a Ghost to Bitter Melon. His latest film The Secret Art of Human Flight, starring Grant Rosenmeyer, Paul Raci, Lucy DeVito, Nican Robinson, Reina Hardesty, Maggie Grace, and Sendhil Ramamurthy premieres at the 2023 Tribeca Film Festival in New York.

(0:00) Intros

(1:10) How did H.P. get into filmmaking?

(4:48) What drew him to "The Secret Art of Human Flight"?

(12:26) What was it like working with a larger budget?

(15:22) The experience of directing a screenplay he did NOT write

(22:10) What he learned as an artist from this film

(27:23) Traversing Asian American and LGBTQIA+ film festivals

(30:17) H.P.'s advice to other filmmakers and creators

(36:32) Outro

Watch the video version of this episode on YouTube: youtu.be/U3L2NSwsM1M

H.P. Mendoza https://hpmendoza.com, https://www.youtube.com/ @hpmendoza, https://twitter.com/hpmendoza, https://instagram.com/hpmendoza

Patrick Epino: twitter.com/PatrickEpino, instagram.com/patrickepino

National Film Society: nationalfilmsociety.com, twitter.com/NatFilmSociety, instagram.com/nationalfilmsociety

Email the show: nationalfilmsociety@gmail.com

Music by Paper Son: paperson.bandcamp.com, soundcloud.com/paper-son

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Yuji Okumoto - From Karate Kid 2 to Cobra Kai and Beyond

Wed, 21 Sep 2022 16:00:00 GMT

Patrick is joined by friend, actor, director, and producer Yuji Okumoto. He talks about the experience of playing the role of Chozen in The Karate Kid Part 2 in 1986 and revisiting the role decades later on Cobra Kai. He talks about the audition process, memories of the great Pat Morita and Tamlyn Tomita, and the aftermath of being in a massively popular movie in the 1980s.

(0:00) Intros

(0:48) What was it like auditioning for Chozen?

(4:48) Afterwards did he feel like you had a good shot?

(7:32) Reaction after getting the part?

(9:30) Tamlyn Tomita

(11:28) Toughest part of the shoot?

(15:21) What was the deal with Chozen's MASSIVE pecs?

(20:24) The Tomato-Throwing scene

(25:35) Knowing Chozen was going to be an iconic character?

(30:48) Karate Kid Part 2 blows up

(38:31) Instant fame post-KK2

(42:38) Are people still surprised Yuji "speaks English well"?