Showdown in Chinatown: A year of winning films
Photos by John Hook
It’s been a good year for Showdown in Chinatown. In 2011, the local independent filmmaker showcase saw more Showdown graduates, people who have never written a script or picked up a video camera, get enthusiastic about the filmmaking process and win the competition. Even with all the big-budget films being shot in Hawaii this year, the little guys got a chance to shine too.
The energetic organizational team behind Showdown includes woman-on-the-go Cyrina Hadad, who has been the showcase’s marketing director since 2009. It’s more than just a job for her; she’s invested part of her heart and soul into the work of giving filmmakers, both professional and amateur, a place to let their creativity loose. I got a chance to talk with her about the upcoming Best Of showcase, some of the event’s highlights this year, and what next year holds for them.
What were some highlights of the year for you?
My favorite part of this whole event is watching teams merge and evolve to the next level. It happens every season or two where teams grow and strengthen their abilities and connections and then build up the courage to create a feature film and enter the festival circuit. For example, The Rising Sons team started in 2010 and kept submitting films and talking to industry professionals, and they won several times this year. Now they’re doing their first feature film. They’re just one of many different teams I could name that have done it.
My personal highlight was finally being able to make Showdown In Chinatown t-shirts. They have a super cool design and were made by local company ORGANIK, which are pure quality and as soft as a baby’s butt! They’re not cheap to purchase, but the quality is worth it.
You get VIPs from the film industry and well-known actors coming in all the time to judge Showdown or just mingle. What’s the feedback from them?
Everybody who comes to Showdown loves it! They think it’s an awesome, educational outlet. Evangeline Lilly donated $1000 to the first place prize for championships and sent us an great email saying she wants to help Showdown because it’s such an amazing, selfless thing.
Alexander Payne (director of “Sideways” and “The Descendents”) came because he’d heard about it. We get a lot of people from the big-budget film crews who drop in unannounced. What’s cool is that whenever a film or TV show comes to Hawaii, everyone on the set ends up knowing about SIC because someone who’s worked on the crew has submitted or been involved somehow.
It’s also a night where we’re not advertising so much who’s going to be there; it’s not a star-chasing event. People catch a glimpse of someone and kinda turn and look, but it’s not so much a big deal.
Who’s coming to the “Best Of” night?
I put out an email to everybody who’s ever judged for Showdown, it just depends on who’s on the island for the holidays. A lot of people want to come back and see their films shown on a big screen again, so we’re expecting all the casts and directors to come and check it out … everyone loves to rehash.
What are your plans for 2012?
For next year, we want to put a film festival together. We want to tap into the circuit and see who’s willing to partner, possibly HIFF. We’ve had a lot of requests from Big Island and Maui, where the Maui Film Festival is big.
Showdown started with the crew from LOST, and it was cliquish at first, but it’s growing, and evolving, and I think now it’s at a good spot to branch off into other projects, like an underground film festival with short film segments and feature-length films, educational forums, workshops. Another thing I’d really like to do is a subterranean screening, something kind of crazy and weird outdoors.
Best of Showdown in Chinatown 2011
Saturday, Dec. 17 at 7 p.m.
NextDoor
$10 includes a Filmmaker Happy Hour & free food, 21+
After-party with New York DJ Nickodemus + Mr. Nick and Matt Kee
Here’s a sneak preview of one of the short film winners that will be shown at the event: “Once Was Paradise” was the first-place winner for March’s Showdown in Chinatown, created by Rising Sons Productions. Caution: contains violence.
The topic: What If Hawaii Ran Out Of Gas?
Props: A Blender & Roller Skates.
Line Of Dialog: “Throw Me The Rope.”
