Johnny Le Films

Inksie published a Q&A on their Journal about two music videos and How Will I Feel Tomorrow. One directed by Matt Jay and the latter by me. Enjoy.

Wieden+Kennedy's subsidiary WK Entertainment curated WK Entertainment How Will I Feel Tomorrow for the week. See it before the end of the week.

Wieden+Kennedy's subsidiary WK Entertainment named the My Own Home music video by Jennie Wayne as part of their Feature of the Week. Have a look as it'll be up until Tuesday.

Vince Porter of the Governor's Office of Film and Television was kind enough to include the WKE feature in their blog as well.

“My Own Home” is a one-shot music video that magnifies the artifacts and textures that make a space your home. Music by Jennie Wayne. Directed by Matt Jay. Shot by Johnny Le.

Portland Timbers spot is airing. A handful of my shots made it in spot, which is exciting. The FC team will be playing all summer so if you live in Portland, come see a couple games when they're at PGE Park.

Christopher Nolan seems to always push the limits with his filmmaking. Looks to be an amazing cast and storyline.

The Johnny Cupcakes Suitcase Tour stop at Kamp Grizzly was epic. Johnny brought a great crowd, his limited edition tour gear and the inspiration for Kamp's Cupcake Cannon. Portland's Kamp Grizzly developed a steam-punk style pneumatic cupcake cannon and set the stage for eating frosty delights at 120psi. The blasting buffet was documented in at 700fps coming off the Phantom HD Gold. As the evening shook down, cupcake enthusiasts continued to step in front of the cannon and camera. Some shaking in their boots, others perched in zen-like states, ALL were covered in delicious frosting, spongy cake, and showered in a mist of sprinkles.

Concept By Kamp Grizzly
Produced By Kamp Grizzly
Directed and Edited By Kamp Grizzly
Director of Photography Greg Schmitt
Cannon By Tyler B. Robinson
Camera Provided By Koerner Camera
Lighting and Grip By Gearhead Electric
Song by I Don’t Want to Speak by Guidance Counselor | Old Wave Records

My Own Home by Jennie Wayne

Directed by Matt Jay
Cinematography by Johnny Le

DisOrient Asian American Film Festival of Oregon is a community, grassroots, and volunteer-run film festival committed to presenting honest portrayals of the diversity of the Asian American experience. We believe in the power of film to educate, positively transform our community, and challenge the negative stereotypes of the 'Oriental' presented by mainstream media. We use the W.E.B. DuBois standard of "for us, by us, or about us" when selecting new and exciting films for our festival.

My music video Keep Pushin' by Kero One is screening on the Opening Night Gala preceding the feature Mr. Sadman. I'll be attending this weekend.

Friday, April 23th - Opening Night Gala
7:00 - 9:15 PM
Bijou Art Cinemas
492 East 13th Avenue
Eugene, OR 97401-4268
$8 - includes reception at UO Jordan Schnitzer Museum of Art @ 9:30

Kamp Grizzly's Yogi and I collaborated on a profile piece for Studio Olivine. We rolled out and I shot on the Canon 5D. Have a look.

Julie Dutton of Studio Olivine takes her craft back to its beginnings, by hand feeding each piece of 100% recycled paper into her vintage letterpress machine. She uses soy based inks and creates each design in house, for a truly unique product. If quality, originality, and sustainability are important to you, Studio Olivine is the place to go for all of your speciality printing needs.

My friend Dan Zvereff sent me this last night of throw away footage shot by Thanks Camera. As you can see, he's a manual master and also a talented illustrator and freelance designer currently working in NY.

Bell Plaines packs his belongings and hits the road. "How Will I Feel Tomorrow" is a vignette full of photographic textures and pretty landscapes. These are moments we all share while driving on the road.

"How Will I Feel Tomorrow" is off of Bell Plaines sophomore album Strange Season.

Directed by Johnny Le
Special Thanks to Kamp Grizzly and In N' Out Burger

Shot with a Canon 7D

I met Calgary native Graham Foy in last June while he set up shop in Portland for a couple weeks to edit The Airblaster Movie. Upon meeting Graham and hanging out a couple times, he approached me about shooting some sequences for the video and I obliged. I shot the introduction sequence of The Airblaster Movie with camera assistance from Austin Will. Our setup was a Panasonic HVX200, Letus Extreme, Nikon 50mm and 75mm-150mm lens.

The sequence was partly inspired by a video series done by Laurence Hamburger of Stink Digital for Traktor Pro. The four part series covers a conversation between Richie Hawtin and Grandmaster Flash. The fourth video specifically the No Crates was the one that Graham referenced.

Synopsis of the Traktor Pro series:
Director Laurence Hamburger spent a few days in Brooklyn with minimal techno pioneer Richie Hawtin and hip-hop legend Grandmaster Flash talking about the days before digital for this series of documentary shorts for DJ software company Traktor Pro. For more snippets of their conversation, check out the rest of the series via the links on the right.

We went with this concept and drove around I-5 with two cars. Graham interviewed Airblaster rider Ben Lynch while he drove. Austin and I were in the back seat of the driving car covering shots. We had an Wireless micto cover the audio.

The shoot ended up being pretty tight. The edit came together very well. It's a bummer that it had to be conformed to 4:3 for DVD so I'm presenting it to you in 16:9. Enjoy.

Austin Will and I collaborated on this video for Nemo HQ. The concept was Hard vs. Easy for Bells Onestep® Giro helmets. I shot it with an HVX-200 and lighting was with Kinoflos.

This Transworld clip of my friend is so wack. Getting hit in the head with a board from a security guard is not cool!

La Blogotheque does it with Phoenix and it's awesome.

Watch Kero One's "Keep Pushin'" music video On Demand from Fuse TV if you got Comcast, Cox or Cablevision. It'll be on for the month. Stoked.

Grounded TV's interview with Ohmega Watts is pretty dope. Ohmega's a real genuine and personable artist and it shows in this interview. The "Eyes and Ears" music video I helped produced with Nate Goodman in 2007 is featured in the interview so check it out.

Earlier this week, I received word from Kero One that "Keep Pushin'" is Official Selection at the 10th San Diego Asian Film Festival. Kero One is invited to fly down to San Diego to perform at Blowfish night where the music video will screen among others followed by appearances by Lyrics Born, The Visionaries (Zen, Dannu and KeyKool) and Vox Merger.

Blowfish: An Intersection of Sights and Sounds
Saturday, October 24th, 2009
8:30PM, 21+ Only

Presented by ABS-CBN International, MYX, Toyota

A deadly but delicious mix of beats, rhymes, and videos, our popular BLOWFISH music night is back with a vengeance featuring live performances by some of the best Asian American hip hop groups in the nation, music video premieres, and spins by the freshest West Coast DJs.

Venue:
Canes Bar & Grill
3105 Ocean Front Way
San Diego, CA 92109
(858) 488-1780

Tickets:
$18 at the door
$15 w/festival ticket stub or RSVP to Blowfish@sdaff.org by October 23rd
Buy Limited $15 Pre-Sale tix at the UltraStar Cinema Theater lobby merchandise table October 15th - 23rd

I'm thinking about flying down there for the weekend. We'll shall see.

This treatment is so clever. Who would of thought that closing credits can roll alongside the main character and become the antagonist? Keith Schofield is a genius. I don't know if the credits on the video are real people, but check Motionographer for who did what.

I'll be on vacation for the rest of the month in NYC.

Congratulations to my friends Kellan Craddock and Jessi Tsuji for graduating with a Web Design degree from the Art Institute of Portland. :)

I finally got around to developing my rolls of film after accumulating them over the years. I've posted some images up on my photblog, which I started on Tumblr. Having the luxury to shoot a bit more these days is so nice. I forget how much fun is it to just go out and shoot!

Lance Bang's early focus group video of Spike Jonze scaring the crap out of a kid is hilarious! It's getting me excited for the theatrical release of Where The Wild Things Are. The New York Times published a remarkable story of Spike's career path and his struggle with Warner Brothers Studio to stay authentic and true to Maurice Sendak's vision of his book. I don't recall reading the book growing up, so I'll have to pick up on it before I go see it!

Anthony Mandler directed this. Tight.

Kero One's "Keep Pushin'" music video is screening tonight at The Fix! Kero is flying up from SF to PDX to spin along with the Fix crew so bring your friends. It's going to be a fun night. Check Facebook and Portland Mercury for details.

The Fix presents Kero One's "Keep Pushin'" video release party.

Thursday, August 27th, 2009
Someday Lounge
125 NW 5th Ave.
9:00PM - 2:00AM
21+, No Cover

Guest DJ set from Kero One alongside the Fix Crew: Kez, Rev. Shines and Ohmega Watts.

Hosted by Ronin Roc

The music video was recently featured on Video Static. Thanks guys for supporting the video.

I'm a little late on this, but last weekend I drove up to Seattle to attend the Inaugural event of The Skateboard Film Festival. My short documentary film Big Papes (official selection) screened on the opening night (Friday, August 14th) in front 350+ people as they filled the SIFF Cinema theater in Seattle Center. The audience reaction to Big Papes was so sick! I wasn't expecting so much laughter out of Dave Yong's character. Some Seattle OG dudes who knew Dave didn't know that side of him until seeing this film. I stuck around for the second day to check out a little bit of the Final Cut Pro Battle and sat in to see the Profiles and Skatopia: 88 Acres of Anarchy (gnarly film) programs.

The Viewer's Choice Award polls ended yesterday. We'll hear of an announcement for the award along with the winners from each category tomorrow. Overall, the festival was great to attend and it was nice to take a break to enjoy seeing films made from skateboarding! I'm looking forward to the next years TSFF as it will be bigger and better than the first!

Add them on facebook and follow @skatefilmfest if you haven't done so.



"Black Water" is the dirty water, the sh*t and p*ss, the jenkum that accumulates in an RV tank. With that said, this trip had almost no plan and destination-less. We knew we wanted to pick up a homie in the south but that was basically it. The rest of the trip was planned on the RV with the other 9 individuals including myself and an average of 3, 30 packs a day. Basically what you put in is what you get out, and this trip was it. 10 people on an RV living with each other has the good and the bad, and this film is a documentation of that. On and off of the board this film takes you into a look at what happens as these guys trek through the american southland. Jenkum!

Stephen Marino directed, shot and edited the "Black Water" piece which screened during the Skatopia: 88 Acres of Anarchy program. I met up with him while he and Dana were vacationing in Portland. They seemed to take a liking in the City of Roses. I wanted to give Steve a shout out as the film was sick!

Keep Pushin' is the third single from Kero One's sophomore release of Early Believer's LP. This is my second music video that I've directed and am very happy with how it came out.

Director: Johnny Le
Production Manager: Robert Muraoka
2nd Assistant Director: Anthony Lopez
Casting Director: Liz Vice
Director of Photography: Patrick LaValley
1st Assistant Camera: Cameron Carey
P2 Card Loader: Matt Cortese
Gaffer: Joe Paulet
Key Grip: Mike Weiss
Dolly Grip: Brad Reeb
Grip: Kale Heily
Art Director: Jack Shay
Assistant Art Director: Sebastian Jaramillo
Art PA: Austin Will & Mike Gonzales
Stylist: Madi Roosevelt
Stills: Michelle Gee
Catering: Pho Le Vietnamese Restaurant

Editor: Johnny Le
Compositor: Darrin Casler
Colorist: Ryan Kunkleman

Vendors: 500 Cuts, Gearhead and Neal A. Corl Studio

Thank you: Vince Czekus, Shaun Mendiola, Darrin Casler, Dino Castagno, Mercedes Rose, Katy Kolego, Stephen Li, Milton Campbell, Cora Benesh, Kathryn Duebler, Tani Lynn Fujimoto, JC Miller, Casey Murphy, Jorge Mardrid, Paris Phelps, Thuggy, Robert Bemis, Ryan Artists, The Becker Family, Cal's Pharmacy, Icon, Brooklyn Industries and Connie Wohn.

I've never personally shot with a Letus 35mm adapter, so I gave it a try on these two videos for Ruby Feathers. Ruby Feathers is Lindsie Reitz who is a film school student and musician in town. I shot "Pull Through" and "Little Bear" at her house in NE Portland.

I haven't driven the adidas van since March, but did today and it was a piece of cake. I landed in Chi-town last Friday night after a delayed flight and arrived just in time to the Leaders deal to meet up with Aaron Stuart (member from Piebald), whom I'm working with for the week.

We're here for Lollapalooza, so look out for us and drop by Belmont Army Thursday night, to get a chance to win tickets to the festival and see Mix Master Mike of Beastie Boys DJ!

Aaron and I will be parking the van in the Lollapalooza by Perry's Stage. See you there.

SHOPLIFTIN' is a skate shop contest put on by DVS. The shops were given six months to film, edit and produce a short video of their best shop sponsored skaters. Each participating skate shop then submitted their videos, which were judged by DVS Pros and The Gav. The End.

Executive Producer: Kyle Reynolds
Producer: Tyler Brown
Animatior: Darrin Casler
Director of Photography: Johnny Le
Key Grip: Tommy Spencer
Editor: Hayes Peterson

Filmers: Cory Woods, Corey Williams, Corey Feldman, Michael McCloud, Colton Mathews, Elliot Murphy, Zak Allegri and Sam Boren

Portland based production company Kamp Grizzly recently launch their new website. Looking good.

I met Patrick LaValley in our first class together in film school. He was always killing it. His knowledge in the technical side of grip and electrical and photography has given him a great eye for shooting films. I've had the great pleasure to work with him on some of my projects. Pat's 2008 reel is dope and worth the watch. Hit him up @pslavalley if you ever want to go camping with him. He'll take you through the ropes.

Part Three of Nemo Entertainment's "Who, How, Now" with Bryce Kanights is now live. This completes the three part series following the photographer, skateboarder, husband and dog friend.

We've also included two Bonus sections (parts four and five) with some show and tell at his office.

Who, How, Now is a collaborative project between Austin Will and me.

Director's Reel 2009

Selected Works:
Restaurant | Short Film
Big Papes | Short Documentary
Keep Pushin' by Kero One | Music Video
Optimist, Pessimist by Caves | Music Video
Lick | Short Film

Here is a collage of some of my directing work. Hope you enjoy.

"Debacle." is the first full High Definition skate video shot, directed and edited by Jason Hernandez. This is also the first time for a skate video to be released online as a digital download (HD, iPhone) and distributed to skateshops in BluRay. The guys over at NikeSB collaborated with AdobeXD to deliver something unique in this progressive nature of online media. There're 11 days left to download the video so head on over and get it. It's a pretty fast download, so you'll have it in a matter of minutes.

I'm back in the bus again, but this time in the bay area from Tuesday, 14th to Sunday, the 19th. I have no idea how we'll go around town with a stick shift bus, but we'll make it happen. Mike Parziale cannot make it this time around (Grease Not Gas man got hitched! Congratulations!) so Aaron Stuart has stepped in his place.

I'll have more information on our exact whereabouts later in the week. I'll be on @chadachi, so follow me if you feel so inclined.

Log Line: The anatomy of a relationship is strikingly examined in painstaking detail as a family's history unfolds onscreen.

I was so blown away by this story when I saw it at PSISF. New Zealand based director Katie Wolfe did it right with this short film, This Is Her. What I really admired about the piece was it's durability to transcend 20 years plus within 12 minutes. I would love to see how the script was written. Ginny Loane shot it so beautifully. All the pieces of the puzzle fit in this one. I hope I can see it again at the next festival.

Since returning to Portland, I immediately got on board producing a photoshoot campaign with my friend Shaun Tomas. We've been working super hard to prep this project and so far things are panning out well.

Towards the end of last month, I went on a week long trip with Jerylyn and headed south to Palm Springs, California. There I witnessed the world premiere of my short film, Lick. The Official Selection of the 2009 Palm Springs International Shortfest debuted alongside 315 films from over 40 countries. We stayed for a good four days at the Ace Hotel (Thanks to Connie Wohn). This is the first festival for me to attend as a director, so it was an amazing experience. I've never seen so many good short films back to back.

A handful of programs I was able to see: Films for Families, Peak Performance, Shooting Stars, and Amazing Animation.

Some of my favorite films:
This is Her
Juiced and Jazzed
Lost and Found
Mutt
The Bread
Alma
Cigarette Candy
Brotherhood
The Cello
The Mouse That Soared

The programmers panel had some good insight directly from festival programmers on how they selected their films. I hope I can send my films to them soon.

Kodak's "Stop By. Shoot Film." was awesome. Jerylyn and I got the chance to shoot with Super16 on a Aaton camera. I cannot wait for compilations DVD they send of the film shot from the festival.

On the drive back to Portland, Jerylyn and I drove by Los Angeles for a five hour tour (saw the MJ Star, Hollywood Sign and Elliott Smith "Figure 8" wall). San Francisco had to be hit up as well so we stopped by to visit my cousins and friends. The roadtrip ended being a real nice break from the constant work and school leading up to it.

All in all, I feel very honored to have taken part in the festival. Now that I'm an alumni, I'll need to step it up and make another short. :)

If you haven't known, Lick has been written up at Studio Nemo and The Asian Reporter.

The recap is also on Lick's official site.

Part two is a continuation of the "Who, How, Now" show with Bryce Kanights and Mark Conahan. We follow Kanights and Kevin to Mark's backyard DIY pool.

Apparently the Burnside benefit show at Nemo HQ tonight was a success.

Austin Will (from Nemo Entertainment) and I collaborated on this documentary series titled, "Who, How, Now Bryce Kanights". For part one of three, we see Kanights and amateur skateboarder Kevin Kowalski head to NE Portland to grab a photo at a secret backyard pool.

In the past, Austin and I have worked together in different aspects of production, but this project is the first time we worked together on a creative front, from concept, to shooting and post production. It has been a great collaborative experience and no egos were involved!

Parts two and three will be coming soon. Stay tuned.

The Eazy Dolly.

Jerylyn Brei and I are driving down to California for a little vacation, but before I leave, there is some work to attend. I'm currently working with Nemo HQ and collaborating with Austin Will on a Bryce Kanights project, TBA. It's in conjuntion to Nemo hosting the Mixed Mania event going on Friday, the 26th.

I directed a music video back in April for artist Kero One and that's about to wrap up. Kero One and I are hoping to schedule a Portland premiere in July so an announcement will soon come for that.

Go Skateboarding Day was yesterday (it's technically Monday now) so I hope everyone was able to go skate and also hang out with your fathers.

If you're in LA or living in Palm Springs, come out and check out my film Lick at the Palm Springs International Shorfest. Tickets are on sale now, so get them while it's still available. The screening is 10:30AM on Saturday, the 27th at the Camelot Theaters.

I'm graduating from college today. Exciting! There is going to be a portfolio show with fellow graduates at the Art Institute of Portland with two showings: 11:00AM to 1:00PM for businesses; and 1:00PM to 3:00PM for the public.

A very special thanks to Kevin Rucier (designer from iDL and member of This Is Suite) for collaborating and designing my kiosk. It's looking very proper. Please do drop by today and check back @chadachi to check out what's up!

Come by the Department of Skateboarding tonight at 8PM for the Nike SB premier of "Debacle.".

Department of Skateboarding
15 NE Hancock Street
Portland, OR 97212

See you all tonight.

I recently shot a music video for my neighbor Sebastian Jaramillo. We shot it hand-held with the Panasonic HVX-200 and my friend Austin Will assisted in some focus pulling. We were walking backwards throughout the whole shoot. Most of the shots are MS and CU so the focusing can be apart of the aesthetic. Good job on the roto work Sebastian!

Update:
Studio Nemo did a little write up on it. Word.

"Silver Guitar" is the second recording I shot with Portland artist, Bell Plaines. Bell Plaines, Derek Budzik and I agree that this is our favorite one of the two.

I’m proud to announce that Lick got accepted and will have its world premiere in Palm Springs, CA at the 2009 Palm Springs International Shortfest and Film Market. So happy!

The dates for the festival are June 23rd - 29th.

Lick will be screening Saturday, June 27 at 10:30AM in Camelot Theatres as part of the FILMS FOR FAMILIES program.

Toyland screened in 2008 and went up to win an Oscar at the 2008 Academy Awards so I am super stoked to have this film take part in a festival that is competitive and is all about showcasing the best of the best.

The complete schedule won’t be up until Sunday, the 14th. I’m booking the flight this week. I don’t want to miss out. I’ll be down there to see the film on the big screen so follow me @licktheshort or @chadachi to see what I’m up to.

Thanks everyone for the hard work to make this film happen!

I haven't shot much since I started school. Actually, I didn't shoot much photography or videos at all, but this Dop from Sweden, Christian Haag got me back into the swing of things. As Cheesy as it sounds, Haag's worked inspired me to get out and shoot. He has a couple live sessions with Anna Ternheim and Lykke Li that caught my eye. I loved the way he shot his vignettes: a one shot with a crisp sound recording. It looks like it's shot on film too. The setup and location are real practical which gives an intimacy to the camera and artist(s). It's kind of a take back to early days to how artists were promoed.

I utilized this tone and treatment with Portland artist Bell Plaines for a first attempt and called up a local musician and sound engineer Derek Budzik to aid in the sound recording. We banged out two songs "Saw A Face" and "Silver Guitar" in Plaine's humid apartment. I used a Canon 50mm lens and opened it up to allow some shallow depth of field. I believe "Saw A Face" was shot at f/4.0 and "Silver Guitar was shot at f/1.4. I wanted to have this constant shift of focus allow the viewer to fully experience the moment. This medium has been done with many notable filmmaker's an, but I thought I'd give it a try. It definitely has influences from Black Cab Sessions, Vincent Moon and Lance Bangs. There are for sure more talented people than me doing this. Hope you enjoy.

Haag's work is really refreshing to watch. He has a real good eye for documentary work and also can shoot high production value commercials, music videos and shorts.

Special Thanks to:
- Derek Budzik
- Bell Plaines 
- Nicko the Dog

I'm currently on the free ride for Vimeo, so I'll have to wait until Tuesday, June 9th at 12 EDT to upload "Silver Guitar".

This song has been on loop for the past week. I really like the color treatment on the music video. With only 3 and a half minutes to tell a story, Norwegian director Kristoffer Borgli really pulled it off.

I briefly talked to Michael Creagh over the phone in March and he was a genuinely modest dude. I blogged about his Susana Monaco Catalog Fall 2009 (who he frequently collaborates with) and asked him how he shot it. Michael was kind enough to share his approach, which gave me a better understanding of how he shot the series. For lighting it, he basically only used a beauty dish to get that one source lighting.

Creagh is mainly a studio photographer. I really admired his use of keeping his shoots simplistic in focusing on the model and minimal props with a minimal color palette to bring out a great image. He is currently featured on Digital Photo Pro. The article is a great read and gives you a glimpse on how Creagh approaches his work. His modesty really shows in this article and it's nice knowing that there are professionals out there that are down to share their ideas in photography.

"When pressed for advice on how other photographers can achieve the same, he isn’t eager to offer a road map—not because he doesn’t want to share but because he doesn’t think there’s a secret formula for greatness. In fact, Creagh attributes much of his own success to decidedly low-tech abilities: interpersonal skills and collaborating with others who share a desire to make great pictures."

Check out his site and blog if you haven't done so.

We Were Promised Jetpacks


"An Almighty Thud"


"Ships With Holes Will Sink"

self-titled posted this peep show back on the 23rd of May. This is content I shot of Glasgow, Scotland band We Were Promised Jetpacks. The lead dude has powerful vocals, but I really enjoyed his acoustic performances in the adidas Bus. After you check this out, pre-order their debut album These Four Walls which drops early July.

My friend Spencer Gentz directed a music video for Telekinesis. Months later they got on Merge Records via Chris Walla. Rolling Stone was kind enough to premiere the video today through their Rock & Roll Daily. The video features the lead member Michael Benjamin Lerner as we see him fall in love and hang out with a female mannequin. Check it out because it's super dope.

Update:
The video got featured on some pretty dope blogs: Under The Radar, Telekinesis' Myspace and Sound On The Sound.

We Have Band


"WHB"


"You've Had Band"

After watching an abundance of music videos shot in California and Nevada, why not shoot one in the great Pacific Northwest? It took a lot of phone calls and research, but we were fortunate to shoot this in a designated boundary in the sand dunes of Florence, OR. Our crew was about five people, just enough to carry all the equipment up and down this 150 foot soft sand hill. Don't forget the instruments and their gear too.

Director: Kurt Nishimura
Producer: Johnny Le
Director of Photography: Patrick LaValley
1st Assistant Camera: Sally Spaderna
Grip: Matt Shaw
Editor: Johnny Le
Colorist: Ryan Kunkleman

Some homies at Cal's Pharmacy were down in California this past week for a Levi's Powersliding comp. Mike D got first place as he was judged from the likes of Wee Man, Jonny Moseley and Kendra Wilkinson. Here's some photos posted from the Department of Skateboarding. MSN also got extensive coverage too.

Check out Youtube for trick tips. Remember, don't hate, learn the basics, go big or go home.

Check it.

Looks like a neat in-studio shoot and having a hard time finding an embed on it. Too bad it got taken down from the original posting I had via Vimeo.

Chairlift


Little Boots

Self-Titled magazine posted the Chairlift and Little Boots interviews. It's a pretty lo-fi shoot, but thanks to Arye Dworken I have some new music to listen to. There will be more videos up with some exclusive performances in the Vw Bus in the coming days.

I recently finished shooting Kero One's music video this past weekend and it was a blast! A very special thanks to the cast, crew, friends and family for their support in it. It could not have been done without your help!

A couple weeks back I was at SxSW for adidas and Arye Dworken of Self-Titled magazine collaborated together for exclusive interviews and performances from Chairlift, We Have Band, Yoni Wolf of Why?, We Were Promised Jetpacks, Still Flyin', Fol Chen and Little Boots. Be on the look out as I'll be cutting it this week.

I cannot wait until this film comes out. Download the trailer here.

The Doc Challenge DVD (I produced Jetty which won Best Original Score, 2008) goes for sale on March 17th through Typecast Releasing.

Pre-order it at Amazon.

Look for a '70 adidas Volkswagen bus... We'll be venturing around the city during Sxsw. :)

I had to pull an all-nighter for a 6:15AM flight. Connected from DEN to AUS without eating a single thing, but had a great time at Fadó where I met some folks from Diggnation. It's going to be a fun week. Feel free to follow me @ chadachi.

Fashion photography has been an interest that I want to explore this year. I've been photo assisting with my friend Shaun Mendiola a couple of times and really enjoy lighting his shots. It gives me a chance to pay real close attention to the shots and how it contrasts with the model he's shooting. I've been looking at some portfolio's and came across NY photographer Michael Creagh.

I checked out his Susana Monaco Fall 2009 shots and really liked his use of lighting and how he got perfect exposures. The highlights are dope and his use of shadows never go to black. It's time I start collecting shots I find inspiring so I can soon get together a shoot and make it happen!

Check it.

Here is a new teaser of rehearsal footage of the main cast from "Lick". The film was just sent out to Palm Springs International Festivals of Shorts, so I hope the programmers like what they see. There are a handful of festivals that I want to submit so in the meantime, stayed updated by following the film on twitter.

It's been a tough time for me to get out to see movies, but April 24th is on my calendar to see Gigantic at Regal Fox Tower. The film premiered at the Toronto International Film Festival 2008 and did real well for first-time director Matt Aselton. Most of the film has an abundance of medium-long lens creating "an observational feel -- like eavesdropping on people’s lives," as Matt puts it in his director's statement. The romantic comedy is about a 28-year-old mattress salesman (Paul Dano) who wants to adopt a baby from China, gets chased around by a homeless assassin, and collides with meeting a girl (Zooey Deschanel) whose asshole father (John Goodman) so happened to do business with him by buying an expensive mattress for his back problems. Watching the trailer, the film looks like it has a lot of character, comedic innocence, and overall whimsical feel. With a cast like that, how can you resist?

It was pretty cool getting to see Bobby and Victor improv as they're meeting up for the first time during rehearsals. This is a week prior to the production. I am really anxious to get my short film "Lick" press materials done this week. My friends over at Colorcubic (super grateful for their support) are designing the press materials. As you can see, they provided the film with a great typeface, which I'm super stoked on. It matches so well with the film. The movie poster (of Bobby), which I just picked up fresh from Mollet Printing last week is great! Kudos to Michael Tompkins (photographer) and Bernadette Spear (stylist) for the great photoshoot :) The 11" x 17" print costs about $3.70 each and getting 50 made definitely added up. It's worth getting them done though because it's a film I feel everyone who worked on is proud of. It's worth every penny to have these made. I do want to give these to the cast, crew, family, and friends for their contributions to my film. It's going to take a little time since funds are real tight.

The website is still getting worked on. Content is slowly getting added on as we go. I'm looking to submit the film up to seven festivals, so I hope it'll get picked up by one.

The Portland rain is back now after being absent for a good week sunshine. It was a bit gusty tonight.

I have an IMDB profile now for Ben Age Five. Looks like I got another film on there from my 2nd project I ever helped on called Whisky Marine. Kinda cool, but I have no idea what "Kids Unlimited" is. Is it possible to be in two places at once?

"Indescribable", the music video I produced for Kurt Nishimura now can be seen at CBS and Filmaka.

There is a voting process for the top videos, so please do vote for our video.

Vote for KURT NISHIMURA ("Indescribable" by Olivia Broadfield).

I'm looking forward to seeing the 30 second spot during the Grammy's! :)

Credits

Cast
Man - Derek Osting
Bride - Flora Kwitman
Boy - Grayson Lange
Girl - Beth Orrick-Arno
Teenage Boy - Will Cuddy
Teenage Girl - Delaney Clevenger
Flower Girl #1 - Naomi Klockars
Flower Girl #2 - Kylie Ridge

Crew
Director - Kurt Nishimura
Producer - Johnny Le
Executive Producer - Uli Beutter
Director of Photography - Ryan Kunkleman
1st Assistant Camera - Eliza Plumlee
2nd Assistant Camera/Data Tech - Savannah Teller Brown
Gaffer - Fro Waters
Key Grip - Matt Semchee
Grip - Brad Reeb
Grip - Mike Weiss
Art Director - Jack Shay
Make Up - Madi Roosevelt
Hair Stylist - Michelle Gee
Wardrobe/Editor/FX - Kurt Nishimura
Key PA - Ken Potts
PA - Anthony Lopez
Wedding Gown - Lena Medoyeff Bridal
Jewelry - Sarah Waters
Camera Package - Koerner Camera
Grip and Lighting - Gearhead Grip and Electric

Special Thanks to:
Pho Le Vietnamese Restaurant
Ryan Artists
Actor's In Action

Ty Evans is my all time favorite filmer in skateboarding. Period.

To follow up on the Lincoln contest...I produced a music video for friend and director Kurt Nishimura as part of a national contest for Lincoln Mecury and it won! A condensed 30 second spot will be airing during the 2009 Grammy's on Sunday, the 8th. The full length version will be available on either Filmaka or CBS. Oh the artist is Olivia Broadfield and song is called "Indescribable".

I'll have more information about the video soon.

Yes!

Take a look at the two: Colorcubic / Lady Tragik

Colorcubic

"Print Design is concerned with how traditional printed media communicates with people visually. Examples are brochures, posters, direct mail, or POP signage."

Lady Tragik

"Print Design is concerned with how traditional printed media communicates with people visually. Examples are brochures, posters, CD Layouts, DVD/Poster designs, etc.."

Any similarities? YES!

All the way down to the source code.

I watched Cal's Pharmacy entry for the DVS: Shopliftin' contest for the first time today and was real pleased with how it came out. The art direction, editing, shooting, and soundtrack is dope. All the skaters in the video were super solid. Kyle Reynolds, Tyler Brown, Mike McCloud, Darrin Cassler, and Hayes Peterson definitely pulled it together and delivered a good video.

Cross my fingers and will hear back March 1st on who wins.

I was reading Thrasher magazine and stumbled upon Matt Beach's Nike SB ad. Looks like he's killing it. So stoked to see him back in action.

It's coming down to the wire for Tyler Brown and Darrin Cassler to direct Cal's Pharmacy video entry for the DVS Shopliftin' Video Contest. The deadline is this coming Saturday, the 31st.

A couple weeks ago, Tyler had been in conversation with me about shooting an introduction sequence for the 5 min video. He invited me to stop by the shoot, so I did, and it wasn't looking too good... I felt obligated to step in and pretty much took over the shoot. It was chaos. There were about 15 dudes plastered from PBR from waiting for their shots, noise, and ultimately Tyler didn't prep the shoot properly.

It took a couple days for Tyler to look through the footage. He decided to do a re-shoot and have Darrin involved as a co-director. Tyler set a date and we prepped for it. Tyler can be a little spacey sometimes, so I was a little concerned on how he was going to build the set. When I arrived last night to setup, he didn't have it all planned out, so it was a little difficult troubleshooting through the setup. My part with lighting and camera placement was easy, his part on setting up the two ladders of different height with 2 stacked 4x4 pieces wasn't. It was a pretty janky set. After about an hour, we found a solution and went for it. The shoot went great and it was a lot smoother than the first time, yet the Pharmacy homies we were shooting were rowdy as ever.

Hayes Peterson is going to edit the footage, so Mike McCloud better get on it and have everything digitized ASAP. From McCloud's drunken words last night, "It's going to put the Portland skate scene on the map". Make it happen guys and good luck.

"And they have a new video! Goddamn, summertime in the NW is looking fantastic right now!" posted by LARRY MIZELL, JR. on FRI, JAN 9 at 1:38 PM. Pretty stoked that my music video got blogged at The Stanger: Line Out.

It also got featured on Rain Drop Hustla and Three Imaginary Girls.

I am excited to take part in the Filmaka Lincoln Contest with director Kurt Nishimura.

"Here comes the fun part: All of the names listed below are up-and-coming bands willing to let you take their songs for a ride in an original music video of your creation featuring the 2009 Lincoln MKS. Our selection of songs has been chosen by veteran music supervisor Gary Calamar, who has put together soundtracks for HBO's Tru Blood, Six Feet Under, and Entourage, as well as Showtime's Dexter and several feature films. Your short must be set to music because a version of your video could run on the CBS Television Network broadcast of the Grammy® Awards!"

Kurt has worked with Olivia Broadfield before on a previous video (that got on VH1 Top 20 Countdown). Now I have the opportunity to produce the contest entry "Indescribable" with him. Kurt got the greenlight from the agency Friday morning so it's been an ambitious time preparing the shoot that's happening the next couple days. I may have to miss out on some work and school, but wouldn't it be sick to have your work seen at the Grammy's?

My friend Allison O' Connor has been studying abroad in Japan since the middle of 2008. She's been blogging about her experiences and it's got some attention from Notcot.

Every now and then you'll see pictures of delicious treats that'll entice your taste buds. :)

It's sick to see this episode about Anthony Pappalardo. It's rare to see him in the spotlight, but in this episode, I do get a sense of his personality. Remember his part in I.E.? Can't wait to see part 2.

Happy birthday Mom! Looking back at 2008, there has been memorable and tough moments, but I'm thankful to have the things I have. I'm looking forward to the new projects, collaborations, and creative challenges in 2009. It's going to be a sick time.

A couple days ago, Element Audio Visual released a teaser for an upcoming full length skate video titled "Travel Well". The teaser features their new additions and riders from Europe. It's a pretty solid group of skaters that are ripping in this video. Looking forward to its release in Fall 09.

I hope everyone is having a relaxing time, staying warm, and hanging out with family (and friends) during the holidays!

I've been stuck at home for the past couple days and haven't been able to leave within a 4 block radius. I've had the opportunity to kick back and update my work section. There's a new piece up titled, Jetty, that I produced back in April with a group of students from the Art Institute of Portland. We signed up for the 2008 International Documentary Challenge and collaborated as a 10 person team to make a short documentary in 5 days.

We made it into the finalist round and got offered two all-access passes to Hot Docs in Toronto, ON to see our short documentary premiere amongst hundreds of other films. It was such a fun experience and we won Best Original Score. It was really my first time going out to a big festival of that scale. I met some great people and have been staying in touch with them ever since (as they were from all over the world). Doug Whyte, the producer of the contest, has been showcasing the finalist films and it got a chance to screen in Prizren, Kosova at Dokufest.

Be prepared as the next one is coming up in March, 2009.

My friends over at Colorcubic recently launched Nueva Forma beta 1.0. They offer 320kbps, LAME encoded, DRM-free digital downloads. Have a look at their online shop and preview or purchase a copy of Social Club Vol. 1.

I'm excited to finally post my first music video. I approached CAVE$ over the summer and asked to collaborate with them. Tom McGinnis (the manager) was more than happy to have me involved. I felt like it was the right time to jump into the directing seat and give it a try. This was before shooing my thesis Lick. I wrote a performance treatment and things started rolling from there. I went around looking for a producer, but people were busy. I took it into my own hands and coordinated the whole shoot. I really wanted to have the band on a rooftop on a hot summer day so my friend let me shoot at his spot in North Portland.

I asked Patrick LaValley to shoot it. It was our first time working together on a project. We did camera tests on the Panasonic HVX-200 for the frame rates. I wanted to shoot 45 and 60 fps, speed up the playback, so in post it would look like slow motion, with Jacob Carey's (lead vocals) lips in sync.

We were a skeleton crew with the support of James Owen gaffing, Tom, and the band on set. Everyone was really helpful and patient with getting through the hot summer day. It was an 11 hour shoot, so we had to get through our shots as efficiently as possible. We rented a scissor lift to move our equipment and the bands instruments. Pretty sketchy, but cool.

The day was long, but I got the shots I wanted. I edited it all together. Ryan Kunkleman colored it and it looks really good. I'm really happy with the turnout.

I posted it up on Vimeo to test the quality and it looks really good. Better than Youtube for sure. It's also on my Behance too. Enjoy :)

Director - Johnny Le
Director of Photography - Patrick LaValley
Gaffer - James Owen
Grip - Noe Chavez
Colorist - Ryan Kunkleman
Stills - Dominik Krüger

Thanks: Kyle Reynolds, Gearhead Grip and Electric, and Neal A. Corl

My parent's restaurant Pho Le got a full page review in the local paper today. They're super stoked and very happy that it brought attention to their business. Congrats Ba and Ma.

On another note, the special screening for Lick went real well. The response from the audience was great and well received from the two programs. Thanks everyone for making it out through the cold and icy weather!

It's been a while since I've listened to Phantom Planet, but I recently found out they called it quits at the end of November and played their last show a couple days ago. :(

I was trying to find The Happy Ending song, but came across an acoustic version.

Enjoy.

Johnny Le Films cordially invites the cast, crew, family, and friends to a special screening of Lick. The free event showcases thesis films of fellow senior students from the Art Institute of Portland. The program will screen two times at 6:00PM and 7:30PM. Arrive early as seating is limited.

Hollywood Theatre
4122 NE Sandy Blvd (map)
Portland, OR 97212
503.281.4215

For more information, please check out licktheshort.com.

See you Thursday night!

Sooner Or Later - Behind The Scenes

Stumbled across this music video from R.FM directed by Tim K for Classixx. The majority of the video is cut together with old 70's - 90's skateboarders (west coast) then 80's Bboy footage (east coast) rolls through halfway. What a good way to recap on some lifestyles that still exist today.

My senior thesis film "Lick" has been working its way through color correction and sound design. I'm really happy with cut and am excited to have it screened soon. I'll be posting up the trailer soon.

I find this to be pretty odd for Etnies to run an ad in the 1st page behind the front cover of Willamette Week's paper.

If you're free for First Thursday in the evening, check out the Hecklewood Gallery for Wood Pushers. There's an invite only even Wednesday night...See you there.

I cannot wait for this to come out. It's one of the sickest shows online.

Congrats to Silas Baxter Neal for SOTY!

This is a classic Gondry commercial.

Check it.

Watch music videos anytime, anywhere, forever.

Alas, Ubquity Records has released Ohmega Watt's "Eyes and Ears" on XLR8R.

It brings back memories watching this video Hayes Peterson and Jason Whyte made titled "Hazey Whyte".

My friend Manny is in charge of music for my thesis film "Lick". I never knew this until a year ago that he was a gifted pianist. We had a recording session over the weekend and it went real well. I'm hyped that he's gone a long way from being a little kid to a talented musician and skateboarder.

If you haven't picked this issue up yet from a couple weeks back, download it here.

I've been working on the dvd layout with Bryce Kanights for the Sick Boys re-release. It's been a super fun project and stoked to take part in this. The DVD will be out before Thanksgiving so put that on your list of things to purchase.

My senior thesis film "Lick", has been sailing smooth in Post Production. November will be dedicated to finishing the film.

My friend Froberg from Seattle is an awesome filmer. I recently discovered this from Trickwood's blog that his video "Shoot Your Friends" is posted on Youtube in 3 parts. The soundtrack, parts, and editing are superb.

Last time I talked to him he was in between the Bay Area with Jordan Sanchez and back home working north of Seattle. Hopefully he's doing well.

Check it.

Flynn Productions is dope. Barnaby Roper's quite impressive.

Two inspiring people passed away recently and I'm saddened by it. Up above is Van Wastell who recently turned pro for Krooked. His style was unique and so smooth.

Nagi Noda is a director of music videos represented by Partizan.

I have not met these individuals in person, but I've been keeping tabs in the skate mags and Video Static and have been inspired they what they've put out.

:(

Colorcubic sent me an invitation to Behance. Pretty stoked on putting some of my work on there. Thanks Michael.

I haven't talked to Paul for a long time, but he's a homie of mine who hails from San Diego. Check him out in Footy Tape Fridays: Paul Sewell.

It's been four years since last time they've been here. Hope to see you there.

Slap Magazine and adidas Skateboarding are teaming up on doing a poll. They're giving the opportunity for skateboarders to vote for the next shoe in next years line.

The Campus Hi won and it's time to vote for the color way. Click Here to vote. If you want to voice your opinions or chat, post an entry in the forum.

This is Johnny Le Films. Check out my work and let me know what you think. Drop me a line in the contact section and be my friend.

Have a good day!

:)

I'm prepping on shooting my senior thesis in the summer. Website soon to follow.