Al'n Duong

Film gods, thank you

After months of bad weather in Seattle, finally having a weekend of clear weather just in time for a big shoot. Thank you film gods for looking out.

Life, Death and the Struggle in Between

The day after the 10th anniversay of 9/11, I spent the afternoon with my uncle and my dad exploring my family’s own stories of war and death. My family escaped Vietnam during the war in 1975 and made their way to Olympia, WA. Growing up, I had limited understanding of the details of their lives in their home country. Nearly 40 years later, I opened a dark vault of personal pain, loss and redemption.

My uncle, Bac Binh, told me a story of his struggles with the death of his older brother. Both worked as translators for the US Army and their allies. During a mission, my eldest uncle, Bac Hai, was shot by a sniper. As fate couldn’t have written the story any better, Bac Binh found himself face to face with his brother’s murderer a year later during a mission with the US Psychological Warfare group.

After hours of talking with both my uncle and my dad, I had no choice but to adapt this story into a film script. It’s a powerful story with a powerful ending. Hopefully, 2 years is all it will take for me to complete my own mission of making this film.

Locked and not loaded

If there’s an NFL and NBA lockout while I’m stuck with more Seattle Mariners baseball next year, I’m going to snap.

Chicago vs Dallas

The truth is David Stern is putting his all into hoping that the Miami Heat will make it to the NBA Finals. It makes sense though. According to ESPN, the Heat attract the most web traffic… it’s a 2-man all star team that has revived the NBA in pop culture.

For a true NBA fan like myself, you have to give props to the scrappy teams… and I emphasize TEAM. Miami is good for ESPN highlight reels but have you actually watched them play? I caught myself thinking “This is a 2 man game that only involves 3’s and dunks.”

OKC is not Seattle. The Thunder are not the Sonics. Lets get that straight. I don’t owe them my loyalty. They’re a great young team that improves every season but I think lack of playoff experience will do them over this time.

It comes down to Chicago vs Dallas. Each team is deep with weapons all over the bench. Nowitzki and Rose both look to be unstoppable. I can’t wait.

Keeping it real…

… Really busy. Ever since I got back from the Philippines, it’s been non-stop editing for all sorts of projects. Feels good though. I’m always looking to line up gigs to keep me on my toes. I love to learn new things. Taking a break from the medical documentary for now and taking on a new and fun hype video for Out Cold Marketing. Look for it in the next week or so. Trying something new on this one.