How many of the lines that Beethoven composed daily became the very lines that are included in his symphonies?  Since seriously thinking about my future, I couldn’t help but ask this very question and recently, I think I came to a conclusion.  It does not matter.  What matters is that because he worked undaunted every day to compose his music, he created such musical pieces that even bring people to tears today.  As I thought this, I wondered if the films I make will have such an impact and connect to people 10, 20, 50 years from now.

As someone who was torn when receiving 4 rejection letters from 3 different film schools earlier this year, it was hard for me to pick myself up and to do anything related to film.  However, as I worked on my senior thesis, an anthology of 60-second shorts on life, I came to realize that there are some things that no film school could ever teach me.  

Passion. Patience. Perseverance.

“No day without a line,” the title of this blog, was said to be Beethoven’s motto.  On July 10, 2009, I wrote on my blog that I will be aiming for an Oscar nomination within the next 10 years.  At the time I wrote that, I’m sure I was joking, on an emotional high for the PA job I had the next day.  However, almost a year and a half later, I’ve decided to take on this challenge.  If there is anything I can do with my life right now, it is to move forward towards this dream.

So, until I reach this goal, I will challenge to creatively exert myself daily.  To write.  To compose.  To film.  Once every day despite setbacks.  Now you might ask why?  I had an art teacher in high school who asked me this: what could I bring into the world of art?  I also had a professor in college who told me to keep asking myself this question: what can set me apart from the rest?  

These two questions remaining in the back of my heart, I still need to discover what I can contribute to the film industry and what can set me apart from the rest.  But only through my daily actions, just as Beethoven 200 years ago, can I truly find the answers to these questions.

On November 18, 2010, I will start this challenge, an effort to post <30 seconds of footage, a phrase of music, an excerpt of writing.  Some of them may be related to my current projects, Finding Azusa, Extraordinary Life, or The Memories I Sleep to, but I hope this will also serve as a progress report and an in-depth look at the my creative processes.

While it may be difficult to keep up with at first, something will come out of it in the end.  That, I am sure.

Toward July 10, 2019
- Musings of an Aspiring Filmmaker