After almost 13 years at the Japanese American National Museum,  I’m sad to report that I’ll be leaving for different pastures at the end of this month.

I started in the education department as the education assistant and later school visits coordinator. At the time, I was not married and had no children. In other words, I was just a lost baby deer in the big scary woods of Little Tokyo. After a few years, I moved into public programs as the public programs coordinator and later public programs manager. I’m most proud of growing JANM’s average family day attendance from one hundred people to one thousand visitors. Most recently, I oversaw the Museum’s exhibitions as the programs manager and then the vice president of programs. While working on JANM’s exhibitions, I helped curate the Dodgers: Brotherhood of the Game exhibition and oversaw Perseverance: Japanese Tattoo in a Modern World  and Hello! The SuperCute World of Hello Kitty, two of the biggest and most successful shows in the museum’s history. (I’m ashamed to admit that before Hello!, I didn’t realize that Hello Kitty was not a cat. I will NEVER make that mistake again.)

I’ll now be turning my attention to writing/producing, starting an exhibition/ event/ programming consulting company called Little Nalu Consulting (stay tuned for more details soon!), and spending time with my toddler who is growing much much too fast.

I would like to thank all the wonderful people I’ve met and had the pleasure of collaborating with while I’ve been at JANM. I know that my Facebook feed is much richer because of it. Finally, I would also like to thank the staff and volunteers at the museum for making me feel like family for all of these years and helping me grow. I feel like I’ve gone from that lost baby deer to a full-sized deer (although, it was probably all the food the volunteers made me ear).

This blog makes it sound like I’m dying. I assure you I’m not. At least, I hope not. Not for a while at least. I want grandchildren. (Hint, hint, are you reading this five-year-old toddler?)

Happy to announce that The Big Bachi was IndieWire’s Project of the Day. Check it out and comment that it’s a movie you’d be interested in seeing!

http://www.indiewire.com/2016/10/project-of-the-day-the-big-bachi-1201735757/

Support ‘The Big Bachi’

 

Excited to announce that my last movie Dying to Kill will be at this year’s Philadelphia Asian American Film Festival this November! If you’re in the Philly area, let us know, we’d love to see you there! More info to come.

Crowdfunding Campaign Launches on Kickstarter TODAY!

How does World War II, the Hiroshima bombing, a powerful corporation with a secret, a mysterious man from Japan, a runaway girl and a ghost from the past all connect? Nobody really knows, but full-time gardener/reluctant detective Mas Arai is on the case.

Los Angeles, CA – October 5, 2016: First Pond Entertainment proudly announces the Kickstarter crowdfunding campaign launch for the feature film, The Big Bachi, adapted from the acclaimed novel, Summer of the Big Bachi, by Edgar award-winning author Naomi Hirahara, The film centers around Japanese American gardener Mas Arai, an atomic bomb survivor, whose past propels him into a noir mystery set in Southern California.

“Diversity” has been the buzzword in Hollywood since the Oscars controversy earlier this year. Still, Asian Americans in the industry continue to be vastly underrepresented. The Big Bachi, which will feature Asian Americans in front of and behind the camera, is an opportunity for inclusion but has almost no chance, unfortunately, at traditional Hollywood financing. First Pond Entertainment hopes to raise $100,000 through Kickstarter to launch this film.

“The character of Mas Arai from The Big Bachi is a conglomeration of people familiar to our tiny production team, each with their own distinct voice and story,” says director Derek Shimada. “We’re all, somehow, linked by Mas – three of our fathers were or are still gardeners, two survived the atomic bomb, and so on. This emotional connection encourages us to tell our story in our own words, which is why we’re so eager to collaborate on The Big Bachi.”

The Big Bachi will be directed by Derek Shimada (June Bride: Redemption of a Yakuza, The Killing of a Chinese Cookie), written by Mark Tasaka, based on the novel, Summer ofthe BigBachi, by Naomi Hirahara (Snakeskin Shamisen, Murder on Bamboo Lane), and produced by Oliver Ike and Koji Steven Sakai (#1 Serial Killer, The People I’ve Slept With).

The Big Bachi script was recently accepted in the second round of the Sundance Screenwriters Lab. The Kickstarter campaign ends November 4, 2016.

Website: thebigbachi.com

Facebook: facebook.com/thebigbachi

Check out the new book cover and listen to this sneak preview of the audio book Romeo & Juliet Vs. Zombies coming out this fall! The voice actor is the very talented and amazing Lauren Ezzo. She has definitely brought the characters to life! If you like Shakespeare or zombies, you’ll love this book.

Thank you Brian Won for the amazing amazing amazing cover! Brian did my favorite children’s book in the world, Hooray for Hat! If you have a kid, it’s worth getting and reading with them. Heck, if you don’t have a kid, it’s worth checking out.

8Books Review: “Rayven Choi” by Shequeta L. Smith

About half way through a novella, Operation Survive, I’m doing as part of Amazon’s Kindle World Extinction Cycle Series.  It’s the first zombie book that features an Asian American protagonists (at least that I know of).

To help me stay motivated, I got the cover done and LOVE LOVER LOVE it. I hope my writing can live up to the cover!  The book will be launched on October 19 of this year. More info to come. Stay tuned.

 

(If you like this cover, check out Covers by Christian. Very reasonable, talented, and easy to work with.)

And if you’re into zombie books, check out the source material, Extinction Cycle. I’ve said it a few times before and I’ll say it again, one of the best zombie books and series I’ve ever read. Hands down. And a bonus, it features a diverse cast of good guys, which I think we all know is pretty rare.

I’ve been working with my partner and co-host Mustafa Rony Zeno on a new podcast called CounterPlot.

CounterPlot is a podcast demystifying off beat ideas, theories, and world views. The show looks to understand what informs these ideas both from the outside world and the inner workings of the people who hold them.

Do you believe in aliens, ghosts, and/or Secret Societies? Are you strongly pro or against Blue Lives Matter?  If you have a strong opinion that goes against mainstream America, we’re looking for you!

We’re hoping to interview people for the first season. Out goal isn’t to debate or argue or make anyone look stupid, we want to hear how YOUR beliefs connects to YOUR story.

Please message me at ksakai1@gmail.com if you are interested or have any questions. Or feel free to pass this to someone you know who might be interested. Right now we’re looking for people in the Southern California area first, but if you have a great story, please reach out!

I wrote one of the entries to Interpretations 2.0, Stan Lee’s Vault. Check it out and make sure you watch the whole thing so we get credit.

Here’s a little about the contest:
You Offend Me You Offend My Family is launching the 2.0 version of Interpretations – a short film initiative to encourage aspiring Asian American filmmakers to develop their own original and unique voice. All participants will create a short film using the same four-line original script. The point of this exercise will be to encourage filmmakers to find their own take on the material and to be as creative with it as they can. The script will be broad and fluid enough so that one director could craft a comedy from it, another a stylish music video, another an action film, another an avant-garde work of animation and so on.