Visual Media
Film
Current Project
WAI AULIA ("Water That Flows")
documentary film following the recovery of the Lahaina, Maui wildfires
When wildfires leveled Lahaina in August 2023, the Hawaiian Kingdom's capital surfaced under the rubble. Now armed with tangible proof of historic disregard for indigenous rights in Hawai'i, Kanaka Maoli leaders must come together to protect their 'aina' (land) and heal their community in the face of encroaching private developers.
Festival Circuit
END of DINOSAURS (2023)
Selected for Fukui Ekimae Short Film Festival 2023, Hokkaido International Film Festival 2024, Pia Film Festival 2024
With the help of a drag queen and a free-sprited gal, a community organizer sets out to challenge a dinosaur-ridden town in its full-fledged attempt at redevelopment.
Synopsis:
Eiko is everywhere and no where. Growing up in a Japanese household in everywhere but Japan, she developed a knack for adapting to new places. Realizing she can't stand a place without change, she finds her way to her grandmother's hometown of Fukui. But the place of her dreams to connect to her roots was anything but that. Faced with the hypocrisy of the city looking to the future by clinging onto a faraway past, Eiko questions the real meaning of change. In her pursuit, what ensues is a summer of friendship bound in silly outings, arguments, whimsical infatuations, meteors, and the end of dinosaur.
Cast:
Kako Annika Esashi as Eiko Sato
Shota Kurt John Imai/JAMIE BAD CHILD as Shota Imai
Leica Sasafu as Rika Sasafu
Kazunari Yanagitani as Shin Yamamoto
Masahiro Takahiro as Masahiro Goto
Crew:
Producer: Kosuke Miyata
Associate Producer: Masahiro Takahashi
Screenplay: Ryo Katayama, Kako Annika Esashi
Cinematographer: Ryo Katayama
Sound Operator: Takashi Sugimoto
Previous Credits
Director/Co-Writer/Editor: "Tasogare" – Narrative Short Film, 2021
Director/Cinematographer/Editor: "Sakai Wedding"–Digital Video, 2021
Production Assistant: "Michikusa" – Narrative Feature Film, 2022, "Todo no Tsumari" – Narrative Feature Film, 2022, "Kumori Nochi Hare" – Narrative Feature Film, 2022
Co-Writer/B-cam Operator: "Wai Alua" – Documentary, in production; "Cadence" – Narrative Feature Film, 2024; "Resonance" – Narrative Feature Film, 2024
Film Festival Submission Coordinator: "ICCHORAI" – Narrative Feature Film, 2020; "Meaning of Life" – Narrative Short Film, 2020; "ROAR" – Narrative Feature Film, 2020 Official Selection at Sitges Film Festival, Japan Cuts, Japannual Nominated at Kanazawa Film Festival, Hamamatsu Film Festival
Portrait Photography
Kazunari Yanagitani | actor
Kiri | writer
Yuya Suganuma | radio personality
Yasutaka Otsuka | actor
Toru Takahashi | IT specialist
Takaya Miyadera | actor
Other Media-related Experience
Nippon TV International Corporation, New York, NY
Production Intern, July 2018-August 2018
Conducted pre-production research for shows, including media content licensing details, restaurant and store reviews, and idea compilation. Translated and transcribed footage and documents from English to Japanese. Provide on-set support as a production assistant
aKoma Media, New York, NY
Production and Fellowship Intern, June 2017-January 2018
Produced "afro@NYC," a six part video series on Africans in New York City, including finding 20 subjects, pitching 10 stories, budgeting $4,000, scheduling shoots, filming, transcribing, and editing footage. Managed and collected analytics for daily social media content, including gathering, editing, and scheduling materials on frame.io, Epoxy, and Hoot Suite for YouTube, Twitter, Facebook, aKomanet, and Instagram. Researched lifestyle news, wrote scripts, and gathered elements for 5 short-form listicle videos. Assisted with the selection of 32 Fall 2017 fellows from over 1,000 applications.
Film Researcher, November 2018-May 2019The Philadelphia High School for Creative and Performing Arts, Philadelphia, PAIn partnership with the School District of Philadelphia, directed and co-produced a collaborative narrative short-film with five high school students scripted based on ethnographic research, broadcast on Philadelphia Schools TV (PSTV), Comcast/Xfinity.