Musical about Colma to debut at Asian American Film Fest

Courtesy Photo

Richard Wong working on the set in Hollywood.

by Ronitte Libedinsky

Richard Wong, 29, and H.P. Mendoza, 29, never thought that anyone else would be interested in watching a movie musical about three friends who just graduated from high school in Colma. Yet, "Colma: The Musical," Wong's directorial debut, is scheduled to premier at the 24th annual San Francisco International Asian American Film Festival on March 21.

"We really believed that the movie would be just for us" said Wong, who spoke by phone from Los Angeles, where he was putting the finishing touches on the movie.

"It's a story about three best friends, fresh out of high school, who now have to deal with the question of what to do with their lives. What choices do they have, now that they're no longer restricted by school? And how do these choices affect their friendships?" said Mendoza, who wrote the screen play.

Wong, who graduated from the Academy of Art College, grew up in the Richmond District. His love of photography led him to work as a cinematographer in Hollywood. In the past five years, as more TV shows were being filmed in video, Wong began working as a video engineer as well.

A cinematographer, often called director of photography, sits behind a camera and is in charge of filming the movie or television show. Cinematographers make lighting and camera decisions and make sure the director's vision is being carried out.

A video engineer is also in charge of making decisions regarding the color and lighting of a movie or TV show. But in this case, the movie is shot on video instead of the traditional film, so a video engineer sits behind a computer screen during filming.

Wong has worked as a video engineer for TV shows including "Oliver Beene" and "Arrested Development," both on the FOX network. He's also been involved with some failed television pilots and movies.

"It's hit or miss in Hollywood. I worked on one movie that had a lot of big name actors and it was supposed to be a hit, but it bombed. That's the way Hollywood is," Wong said.

In 2005, Wong grew tired of the Hollywood grind and returned to San Francisco, where he planned to spend a year away from the television and movie business.

But he could not stay away for long. A chance encounter reunited Wong with his former college friend, Mendoza, whom he had not been in touch with for 10 years. They first met at the College of San Mateo, which Wong attended before the Academy of Art College.

Mendoza grew up in the Bay Area but he had moved to the East Coast, where he worked in theater and music. As a joke for a high school friend, Mendoza had written a series of songs about their high school years in Colma. When Wong heard the songs, he knew that a movie could be made based on them and convinced Mendoza to write a screenplay.

"This was the opportunity to have complete control over a movie," said Wong, who financed the entire film.

Mendoza agrees.

"This movie afforded us a lot of freedom to do things that we wouldn't have been able to do with a big studio."

And so began the hectic process of making "Colma: The Musical." Even with Mendoza in Philadelphia and Wong in Los Angeles, the screenplay was a collaboration between the two of them. Mendoza would write a draft and send it to Wong, who would comment and make suggestions. One month and seven drafts later, the final screenplay was finished.

Wong and Mendoza then spent two months preparing for the filming of the movie, which lasted only 18 days.

"Normally a script will be worked on for much longer - shooting low-budget films averages about 25 days," Wong said. "So the process was a whirlwind compared to big Hollywood movies or even standard low-budget features."

Wong will soon be promoting the film in Los Angeles and hopes to find a studio that will distribute it, but "the San Francisco Asian American Film Festival is the ideal place for our movie to premier. It's such a local movie and everyone who worked on it will be there for this," he said.

For more information on "Colma: The Musical" visit www.colmafilm.com/index. For more information about the film festival, visit the Web site at www.asianamericanfilmfestival.org.