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Today is July 14th, 2020. And here with us today is Christian Toledo, who is from the Philippines. And he is joining the Houston Asian American Archive to speak to us about his life

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stories. So thank you very much, Christian, for spending time and contributing your stories for our Archive. To start, can you tell us when and where were you born? Sure, thank you for having me here as well.

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So, yeah, my name is Christian Toledo. I was born in the Philippines in Cavite City in January 20, 1993. And hospital was La Cavite Medical

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Center—it’s like a small hospital, it's not like a big hospital. Great! Can you share with us some of your childhood memories? Yeah, growing up, Cavite is in... it's like, near the sea.

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But it's not beaches, it's more like, a lot of fisherman, a lot of salt farms. Which I think isn't that common in here, ‘cause like, not a lot of people know how salt is made, so it's—I grew up near a place where they actually

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make salt from seawater. They dry it, and all day in there, they let the seawater dry, and then they harvest the salt and stuff like that.

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And then uh, like our—the barangay, or like the small unit of... it's smaller than a municipality. So as a barangay, it's what it's called in the Philippines,

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is—I grew up—it's called Barangay Santa Isabel. And, actually a lot of people in there are like, also moves to the US. So like, when I moved here three years ago, I attended this party of people from our barangay who moved

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here. And there's like, 300 people in one place, and they all flew from Florida, from LA, and like they're all in one place. So that's how tight the community was.

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But it was a very diverse—especially in like, social status. Like, there are people—wealth is like, not evenly distributed in the barangay at all. So that's why there's still salt farmers who make

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very less—very little money. And there's a lot of like, rich people who live there too. And I remember there's this like, one mainstream actress who lives there now. I just recently found out that she was friends with my

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parents, ‘cause like, you know how Asian parents never tell you stuff, and like, you just find out and stuff like that. And another piece of me, like recently, that I found out a few years ago, I only found out

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through a movie, that my great grandfather was part of the Philippine revolution. But he was part of, like—he was really more on the American side rather the

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Philippine side . So it's not the proudest historical reference or relationship that I have, but yeah. So my both my parents grew up there, and they actually live a bridge

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across from each other. So it's just that all my, all my roots are from the same barangay from Cavite. It's also like, historically, Cavite

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city is where—Kawit, Cavite, which is where the barangay was—is the birthplace of Philippine independence. Yeah, so I always see the

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house of the Philippine—first Philippine President on my way to school and stuff like that. So my school was also super , and it's like, actually...

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three sides of the school were facing farms. So it's like, you look out the window and you see , you see stores, and you see like the ocean. And like, for me, it was like, a very normal thing, but

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moving—studying in Manila, the capital of the Philippines, studying there, like, it was super different, and sharing experiences with other people who lived in the city was very different as well.

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But yeah, so I grew up there, up to high school, and my mom worked as—my mom worked for the government for the Bureau of Customs in the Philippines and my dad worked in LA.

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So he was a court clerk. And he was there for like, 30 years before he retired. And the deal was, or it’s not a deal, it’s like the setup was,

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when we were younger, one year my dad would go home, and then the next year we would go visit him in LA. And that went on ‘til

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we were old enough not to get the airplane discount— plane ticket discount. So when that happened only my dad went home. And then it was a long time before we got to visit the US again.

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And yeah, so... I left for college in the University of the Philippines Manila, where my sister—I have two sisters—where both my sisters also went to school.

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So my eldest sister is a doctor and my—the other—my other sister's a lawyer, so I'm like, the black sheep . I don't think I have to say that anyway. So yes, a lot of pressure.

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But yeah, I don't—I don't think—since all of us went there, I don't think my parents actually, like, recognizes that it's a big deal to kind of get in there, ‘cause it's like the best university, and

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yeah, so we all went there. My sister went to med school in another university. My sister went to—the other sister went to law school in another

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university. I do take my in also studying in U of P, my undergrad was in Philippine arts, and my majors were cultural heritage and arts management.

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So that's cool, but I used to—I was supposed to go into dentistry. Then, a year after I was supposed to shift into dentistry, but then I decided I

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wanted to stay with the arts track, so I stayed there, I had fun. And I joined a lot of organizations as well. Like the musicians’ organizations, ‘cause I used to be in a band, and also like, arts

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activism organizations, and film organizations. I was more in organizations than with my academics, I was one of those people. But yeah, after college,

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I applied for my MA and I got accepted into the University of the Philippines Diliman, so it's like an hour away. So it's like, we're now two hours away—two to three hours away from my hometown, which I still, like—I still go back

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and—back home every day, six, or five- to six-hour commute every day. And I went—my MA was in media studies and

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my major was in film, so... back then I was also working for—let me know if I'm getting cut off, ‘cause my internet kinda sucks right now.

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My major was in—yeah, media studies. I also worked for different organizations before. Like I had on the job training at the National Museum of the Philippines.

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And my first job after college was in PAGCOR—it's like Philippine Gaming Association. So it's a lot of casinos, but it's like

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the—the charity side of the casinos, so whatever the casino makes, they—they give it away to like, other people. And another job I had was in the Museum of Contemporary Art and Design in

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Manila as well. I was there as an invigilator. So what we did was, we basically helped install artworks, helped build the exhibit. And then once the exhibit is built and the show is turning,

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we take note of like, who's coming in, we gave tours, we gave—we do condition reports on artwork, so it's like, did this artwork get damaged today, yes or no, or is it like, too cold in this area.

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So a lot of like, very simple paperwork. And so that—that was one of my first jobs. And al—I also worked as an usher in the unversi—in the cultural center. So before I actually

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worked there as an employee, I was an usher, ‘cause our office would have shows, performances, film screenings, thousands of people would go in and out, and we're guiding people, so it's

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basically just that. And yeah, so I went—going back to University of Philippines Diliman, I went to take my MA in media studies major and film. And while I was there, I was also working full

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time for the cultural center of the Philippines, and my department was in arts education. And I was under the division that worked with cultural management.

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So basically, cultural management, what we do is we try to go to like, different regions, different provinces and help artists manage their own cities, help artists like

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be sustainable, help artists with government paperwork, like taxes and stuff, ‘cause it's different than like, a regular office job with everything's already handed to you. So yeah. But then two years after,

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I got moved to the—another department which deals with workshops. So whenever we have like a film screening or a dance show or an orchestra, our division deals

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with the educational aspect of it. Like, there’s going to be music workshop, there’s going to be a talk, a symposium, or a roundtable discussion with experts, stuff like that.

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So it was very, a very diverse uh, I would say we did a lot of stuff, different stuff, every year and throughout the year as well, ‘cause we work with the seven arts, which is like visual

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arts, music, dance, film, literature, architecture, and theater. So it was all there. And we also conducted workshops for teachers.

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So we would fly in teachers from like, different regions of the Philippines, we would fly them into Manila to teach them and—so they could go back to their regions and teach whatever they learn. And we all—another thing we did was online workshops.

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So before like, this was way before COVID-19, where everything’s online—we would have regular artist talks online to like, provinces that are really far and can’t go to Manila.

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So yeah, that's basically it. And after that as well... I went freelance for film, I got to be a production designer in different films, and, and I also

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got to be a member of the Screenwriters' Guild of the Philippines—so you know how there’s like, Screenwriters’ Guild in America? So basically the Philippines version of that.

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I wasn't very active, but yeah, I just got out of it because like, I stopped paying the dues when I—when I moved to the US. I probably should go back to it, we'll see. But yeah, so a lot of the connections I just, I

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just met with the film industry, I met when I was taking my MA in U of P. But the thing is, I didn't actually finish my MA.

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I moved to the US before, like, my last semester. So yeah, that's my Philippine life in a nutshell. Yeah, thank you so much for going through your life.

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Saved me a lot of questions! Very, like, I'm not a good storyteller that way, like it's all jumbled. But yeah, feel free to ask questions stuff that's not there.

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Sure, sure. Actually, if we go back to a little bit, you mentioned your grand—your granddad was a writer and he kind of took on a perspective on the US. Like, can you tell us more about that? Like, what is—what was his background and...?

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My... it was my great grandfather. So my dad's grandfather, and... so there's this film, it's on Netflix now, it's called General Luna.

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So it's about this, like, the best general in the Philippines back in 1896. And his rival general, his name is Tomás Mascardo, so that's my great grandfather.

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And, I mean—background, I kinda need to do a background of Philippine revolution history. So back then there—the Philippine Revolution, there was this one side it was like, revolutionary side, and more of like

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the... reformist side, this was like, more of the elite people who wanted to side with Americans because it's good for business rather than the revolution, which is like, we have to start all over again. So basically, there was one revolution, and then it

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split into two with the revolutionaries, and then the first President of the Philippines, Emilio Aguinaldo. So Emilio Aguinaldo, one of his generals was my great grandfather.

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And like, because these people were like, working with the elite class, which is like, I'm not part of them either . And so these people were working with the elite.

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And it was good for their business to be siding with Americans to be reformist, rather than revolutionaries. So that's where he was, and like, from history books that I read after

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that, I know that he released like—'cause 18—1896, we were just being handed down from the Spaniards to the Americans, the Philippines was being handed down from the Spanish to the Americans because of the Treaty of Paris.

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So when, when we were already under the Americans, my grandfather, great grandfather during , he released two Spanish prisoners, and I think he

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did it twice. And yeah... and that's not on the movies, that's just on the books. And then what happened was after we watched the movie, me and my sisters, we asked our dad,

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if he knew like, a Tomás Mascardo. And he said, "Oh, papa Tomás?" And he just said it like it was someone close to him. But it turns out it was his grandfather!

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But not directly, it was his— his grandfather's brother. So like, technically also his grandfather, but yeah. So it was that close,

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so, just makes me think how close we are to history and you know, the world isn't that big from like, the books to where we are now. Yeah, for sure. Has it cause any kind of debate in your family if you

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remember? No, not really, it was just like, a small thing for my dad, ‘cause I bet he wasn't that close to him. But I know a lot of my grand—great grandfathers as well were also in the military.

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I'm not sure about how active they were. But after that, like my dad's—my grandfather, both my grandfathers and both my grandparents on either side of the family, my mom's and my dad’s side—none of them were in the military anymore.

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So yeah, I think it got cut off in that. But I do have a lot of like, uncles who joined US army who now live in Florida or California. ‘Cause it's basically—joining the military if you're Filipino, if you're

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like, a generation before us Filipino, it's basically, like joining the military as a Filipino if you’re like a generation before us, it’s basically like an easy way to get a US citizenship. And like a lot of stuff that they would

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recommend, like lower generations like me, is that join the military for four years and then get out and get like, free education, get like $1 down payment for a house and stuff like that.

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So yeah, like I could see how it's an easy—easy way to get a lot of stuff here in the US. Great, thank you so much for sharing that. And do you have any like, impact by grandpa—

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grandpa's film—great grandpa's film, like, for your career in the cine—cinematography? Well, no. Not really, not directly.

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But it makes me want to work more like in education and history just to make up for—to make up for it, you know. 'Cause when I moved here to the US— and like, I studied about Philippine culture, Philippine arts management stuff.

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But when I moved here to the US, I was culture shocked when I found out that there's a lot of like, Filipino Americans actually want to learn about Philippine culture. ‘Cause in the Philippines, it's not that

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important to a lot of kids. ‘Cause, you know, you would understand if, like, in a third world country, people would wanna worry about what to eat first, how to make money first, rather than

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culture. And it's really like no one's fault. But in here in the US, since everyone has less stuff to worry about, compared to the Philippines, people are set up here with houses and food, with education and whatever.

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The only thing missing over here is, like, their actual Filipino roots, which is—now they're longing for it. And now I feel like it's my role here. That's why I was brought here.

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I feel like it was my role to like, try and help people—to educate people with, with what I know. And how to help them navigate through their identity as a Filipino American, which I'm also trying to

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navigate, ‘cause I only know more of the Filipino side rather than the American side. But yeah, there's a lot of conversations being taken, and just still also learning.

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Yeah, that's really inspirational. And I just wondering, since you're the black sheep in your family, and do you—did you experience any conflicts in terms of your career choices?

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Yes, I would say yes. 'Cause... so the thing is when my dad was working in the US, so—and my sisters were both in med school in law school, I was the only one living with my

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mom. And... and my dad will always tell me, ever since I was young, my dad would always tell me that I was the man of the house and I was like, five years old . And so yeah, so I would try to take

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care of my mom, like, do everything he says, try to take care of my sisters, if they need anything. I would be from home and I would go to Manila or where they were just to give them their money, or send them money, or whatever they need.

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It's not my money, it's still my parents money, but it's just like, the effort of just going through them. It's all on me. And... when my dad retired—this was just after I graduated college—my dad

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retired, I was like, okay, my dad's here, I don't need to be like, this responsible anymore. So I took my MA in film, which, which I did, like, for myself this time. And my commute was three hours, and I had the

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class and I had the job and like, my family was like... like I was—they were telling me that I was, like, trying to escape my responsibilities in the house.

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When I was like just feeling that I was like, this time, it's like, my responsibilities to myself and like, I'm not even asking them for money, I'm not even asking them for anything. It's just like, try not to stop me from whatever—

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doing whatever I want to do. ‘Cause I feel like I was trying to get somewhere, and they just felt that I was playing around. Like people would actually pay me to travel and shoot stuff with

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them, and they thought I was just traveling for fun . But I was actually—actually not sleeping, and just shooting, and doing everything. So yeah, I would feel like there's a conflict

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with that. And like, I actually tried to fix it, and like, I wrote my mom a letter explaining my side, ‘cause like, we’re not a confrontational family, and like I find doesn't talk, you know how it is, being Asian and stuff.

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And... and so I wrote a letter explaining that I'm not trying to, to escape my responsibilities, I’m just trying to do stuff for myself this time, rather than doing stuff for them.

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And they still didn't understand that, like it was still a bigger conflict, and I kind of gave up trying to explain. And also in my workplace, since we're working more with like—we were in the background of

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artists. So even in our workplace, when we try to be artists ourselves, it's not like... we still don't get the same respect as actual artists. So, to me, part of—I actually like, quit and just moved

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here. So it's kind of getting burnt out, I was kind of getting burnt out and I feel like I wasn't going anywhere, ‘cause a lot of factors trying to stop me. And I just felt like I had more freedom moving here when I tried to do that kind of stuff.

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But it's still like, kinda—when I see my other colleagues over there actually making, actually making it, like seeing their names on Netflix and stuff like that, it's amazing. And I wish I could be part of it.

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And I know if I move there right now, there are jobs waiting for me but like... I still—it would still be like, a huge thing in the family and stuff like that.

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And here it's not as much. Thank you for sharing. I'm just also wondering, given your own experience, how do you see this Asian identity between you and your parents as like

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first and second generation, I guess? The weird thing about our family I guess is like, I'm not really sure, like, if I'm a second generation, ‘cause I moved here, and my father was already out of here. And so technically, he's

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first generation, and I'm second generation, but I didn't grow up here. So I guess I could be also first generation again. So I try not to worry about all the technicalities of it.

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But now they're actually really proud that we're here. ‘Cause the deal was, if we didn't get into the University of the Philippines, you would go to college here, we would go to live with our dad in

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LA and try to get, like, UCLA or whatever, if we didn't get into the University of the Philippines, which we all got into, so that's changed. And yeah, now we're, we're still here—now we’re here again.

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Great! So you said, one of the reasons that you come to the US in 2017 was to study cinema and arts management. Is there any other reason besides that?

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It's not really directly to study, ‘cause I went here, basically to get another job. And like, I wasn't moving here, I didn't think that I was going to get into the art scene again,

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get into culture. I was just here to get, like, whatever job, and make money, and forget about everything. And another reason was... like, I had —I had like a girlfriend in here too.

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But she's based in Chicago. So that's one reason why I moved here. Like I was getting burnt out over there. And I may have something over here.

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But then that relationship didn't work out. And... I don't know if Matt told you, but we also got into—so a friend and I also got into the Ellen DeGeneres Show for

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this fake McDonald's poster that we made. So I—and that was like a year after I moved here. So stuff was like, moving really fast . And—but yeah, I moved here.

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First job I got was in a Filipino-run TV show. It's called Pinoy Houston TV. And... it was during Hurricane Harvey season.

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And I was scrolling the Internet. And in one of these Filipino Facebook groups, I saw this ad for the TV show. And I was like, "Wow, this looks really bad.

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I think they need help." So I applied and they got in contact with me, like, within a week. And I got into an interview.

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And turns out, no one but me—only two people with media experience was actually working there. And they were like, an editor and a

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producer. And one of them isn't even Filipino. So this TV station, or TV show, it was shooting in a Chinese TV station.

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It was in Southern News Studio in Bellaire. So... I mean, it's no disrespect, but a lot of people in there were working as nurses, as real estate agents, as teachers, as interpreters, stuff like

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that. But we actually needed people who knew what they're doing, like, media-wise. So... we work there for like, more than—a little less than a year,

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and no one was getting paid. Because payment, like how TV runs is, like, TV makes money with commercials and endorsements and stuff like that. But like, no one was getting commercials, no

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one was getting endorsements, no one was getting marketing stuff done, because there's very little of us and like a lot of stuff to do. And like, I feel like since the owners weren't from the media or don't have media experience, they don't understand that.

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And that's why we all quit. But then before we—before our last day, so we're there—me and my friend, Jevh Maravilla, which is Jenah's brother, I think you've already interviewed Jenah—we

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always hung out at this McDonald's here in , and we were always looking around and it was almost, like—Crazy Rich Asians was almost about to come out and we’re talking about it and Asian

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representation in media and advertising. And we looked around the store and there were posters of like, white people, black people, Latino

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people, but there were no Asians. So we decided to put one up there ourselves. And we shot in a park nearby. And we had this—we edited it, like it was like

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snack, same aesthetics as the other posters. And we printed it like four feet by six feet. So it's like, a big poster. And we snuck it in there.

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We made sure that the location we chose, there were no video cameras pointing to it. And we planned what time of day we were gonna be there. We planned our outfits—like, he actually wore a McDonald's uniform he found

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in a Goodwill, and... And we just posted it up there, acted like it was nothing, and then we went out. And then—that was Memorial Day weekend, before Memorial Day weekend. And the week

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after—or two weeks after that, I think, Jevh tweeted about it. And it was getting viral. And we never expected anything like that to happen, ‘cause the most weight we like, hoped for was like,

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it was gonna be like an urban legend, and that there's gonna be rumors that that poster wasn't gonna be there, but it is, like no one knows why. And like, we would actually still shop or buy

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stuff at that McDonald's, we would be in line. And people will look at us funny and look at the poster and that kind of thing, and they're probably like, “Do they look like the people in the

00:33:54.910 - 00:34:07.940

poster, or are we just racist?” So like, even the employees, they didn't know, ‘cause like, a lot of McDonald's employees are like, teenagers who are just there to make money and stuff, so they probably didn't care.

00:34:09.620 - 00:34:24.670

And like even on the tweets, people are like, “What, I work here, I didn't even know this!” And so, yeah, Memorial Day weekend came, it got viral . Sorry. Uh...

00:34:26.740 - 00:34:42.160

it got viral, and, and then people messaged us, and wanted to talk to us about the poster. And then week after

00:34:42.240 - 00:34:55.380

that—or not—or days after that, it's the McDonald's people who wanted to reach out to us. And turns out, like, Ellen’s people and McDonald's people spoke to each other to have us go to their

00:34:55.380 - 00:35:05.950

show—to Ellen’s show. So it's like, September 17, I was just picking up the , ‘cause the check is here, and my room’s messy.

00:35:08.270 - 00:35:24.530

So just like, September 17, when we were there, or at least the show aired on September 17. And... yeah, they gave us $25,000 for it, ‘cause, you

00:35:24.710 - 00:35:34.950

know, Ellen likes pranks. So it was mostly—the talk was mostly about, like, the prank, rather than the actual like Asian representation.

00:35:35.580 - 00:35:51.590

It was—it was mentioned, but it's not like, the key conversation over there. So yeah. And—and—and I kept asking the McDonald's people, like, “Weren't anyone mad at us for doing this and stuff?” And they were like, "No, because it's like

00:35:51.590 - 00:36:06.340

super hard for brands to go viral," and so they appreciate it. And yeah, so after that, they asked us to—to go to Florida

00:36:06.680 - 00:36:18.310

to like be part of a talk about diversity and advertising. And they also invited other Asian McDonald's franchise owners. And that

00:36:18.310 - 00:36:30.530

happened like maybe twice, they threw us somewhere to talk. And we also got to be like, in a McDonald's commercial. To select like two seconds of us, we just made a high five of us in like

00:36:30.530 - 00:36:44.760

an Easter egg . Like if you didn't know us, you wouldn't know it was us in the—in there. And yeah, and like, a lot of—we were interviewed as well like in a TV show in Australia, but we didn't fly to Australia.

00:36:44.760 - 00:37:04.500

It was like a studio here in Houston, which was live in Australia. And what's funny about it, like, we were on the same show, and then Michael Davis was also there . So it's funny, like we almost met Michael Davis , and also a

00:37:05.450 - 00:37:18.440

lot of TV—TV show, TV news—news journalist here in Houston also interviewed us, we got into like a late night show here in Houston, a local one.

00:37:20.570 - 00:37:38.720

We almost got into Steve Harvey, but that didn't go through. And, and yeah that's pretty much it. And—I mean, like I got some opportunities—or almost got some opportunities, like someone

00:37:38.720 - 00:37:55.760

from NASA messaged me and got me an interview to be an editor for NASA. And it was like, editing space station footage that no one has seen before. And like, ‘cause they you know, it's

00:37:55.760 - 00:38:04.970

like a Big Brother house. There's like, a lot of stuff that's—a lot of boring stuff happens, and then a lot of like, not a lot of like, action stuff happens. So it's like, editing out the boring stuff.

00:38:05.620 - 00:38:21.810

And then just handing them out the the usable stuff. So... I almost got that, but no, they got another person. And I also got an interview here in Houston Mayor's Office for Cultural Affairs.

00:38:23.590 - 00:38:35.430

So, I got an interview for that as well. But they chose another person. So it's weird. So yeah—so part of me thinks that, like, do they just want to hear the Ellen story, or are they just

00:38:35.620 - 00:38:46.020

actually looking for a person who’s better ? But another good thing that came from that, as I was—I became part of this Filipino American

00:38:46.020 - 00:38:58.250

nonprofit group. It's called UniPro Texas, where we educate college students, and we also do programs for professionals and older folks, and try to bridge generations,

00:38:58.250 - 00:39:09.610

‘cause generation gap here with Asian people—with Filipino American people is real. Like, a lot of Fili—first generation Filipinos, like hate second generation Filipinos, and they

00:39:09.610 - 00:39:21.280

just don't understand each other. So we're trying to bridge that, and also, like, this year, we're trying to bridge other cultures as well. Like different races, like, just having even solidarity with black people,

00:39:21.710 - 00:39:35.430

for Black Lives Matter, try to do something with that, and like, other issues as well. So it's like a very group— very good group to be with, which—I'm with Jevh as well and other people. And now I'm also

00:39:35.430 - 00:39:52.540

part of the Filipinx Artist Collective with—founded by Matt Manalo. And now we're—yeah, and we're actually doing a lot of education and work with other people. That's so cool.

00:39:52.630 - 00:40:07.820

And just going back a little bit, talk about the prank you did, whose idea was it, and how did you come up with it? So basically, he was joking that—like, Jevh was joking that we should put a poster in there.

00:40:07.820 - 00:40:16.760

And I was just like, yeah, let's do it. Because I'm an enabler. And then we did it. And yeah, so

00:40:16.760 - 00:40:34.700

that's basically how it got—like the idea got into us. Did you use the proceedings to invest in, like, your movies, or screenwriting? Or—how did you use the funds to um the—you said the

00:40:34.700 - 00:40:45.930

campaign funds? Like how do you—did you make some good movies with that fund? Well I paid my bills .

00:40:47.120 - 00:40:58.980

I paid my bills, and my car was broken. And, and—like it was basically a cash car, I got it for like, $1,000, it was like, the brakes were broken and stuff like

00:40:58.980 - 00:41:11.570

that, so I had to change my car. So I got a car—and I didn't use all the money for a car. I got it for like, camera equipment to start my own photography business and videography business.

00:41:13.260 - 00:41:28.760

And so yeah, I got like a camera, some lenses, some stuff. We went to vacation in the Philippines, and some of it still in the bank ‘cause, ‘cause, like after that, I

00:41:28.810 - 00:41:42.670

quit my job, ‘cause I used to work in retail before that happened. And yeah, I quit that job, tried to pursue my photography and videography, and the money I used for like—as buffer, for when I don't

00:41:42.670 - 00:42:01.460

have gigs, for when—if I need something professionally, if I need to rent stuff, so stuff like that. That's cool. And I'm just wondering, when did you start to pay attention on this issue of like,

00:42:01.530 - 00:42:16.410

cultural diversity, racial diversity? Did you start any kind of similar initiatives since like arriving to the US? Or, back in college, since some—there's a lot of American

00:42:17.100 - 00:42:30.010

representation in the Philippines as well? Actually, like—it is very common. Like in the Philippines, it's still like colonization

00:42:33.430 - 00:42:46.430

is still kind of felt in there. And stuff with like if you're light skinned, you're considered prettier or more beautiful than the darker skinned Filipinos.

00:42:47.780 - 00:43:00.290

So it's basically like, I already learned a lot of stuff over there, but here, being here is different, ‘cause there's—there's no actual, like, other races in there—I mean, there are, like, Chinese people and other people.

00:43:00.290 - 00:43:13.000

But it's not like... racism against other people, other races. It's actually like racism against darker skin, but also Filipinos.

00:43:13.760 - 00:43:30.180

And it's not like too extreme as in here. Like there's no, like—there's not a lot of crimes being done in the Philippines just because of the color of your skin. It's just like, you get more privilege because

00:43:30.470 - 00:43:42.670

you're whiter, or stuff like that. And in here—you know I came here, I didn't know, like 2017, I still didn't know what Black Lives Matter was and stuff like that.

00:43:43.720 - 00:43:59.620

So yeah, it's still a bit—like, a lot of learning for me. And when I got to UniPro, they actually helped me learn a lot of this stuff. And also like I help a lot

00:43:59.720 - 00:44:15.530

with, like, activist groups here in the US, with NAFCON, which is the National Alliance for Filipino-Americans, and Malaya, which translates to English as “freedom.” So Malaya is an

00:44:15.530 - 00:44:37.310

organization here as well that helps the Philippines—the Filipino American way, like with the director— So yeah, also worked with Malaya, which translates as "freedom." So they're trying to

00:44:37.630 - 00:44:52.380

campaign to stop the US from sending money for weapons in the Philippines, for the , stuff like that. So yeah, just trying to work with a lot of Filipino organizations in here as well,

00:44:52.630 - 00:45:09.240

‘cause I—we also—as UniPro we also work with the Filipino American Chamber for Commerce, and there’s a lot politics in the Chamber of Commerce, because there's two Filipino American Chambers of Commerce, and it’s a lot of politics between them and the

00:45:09.280 - 00:45:22.570

Philippine consulate as well, so... Like, for a time, I was—we were kinda in the middle of it when I worked for the TV station. So that's another reason why, why we quit.

00:45:26.110 - 00:45:42.330

Cool, and I also saw that you're one of the editors at the ChitChat Houston? Yeah that's another one that's like—we can probably talk to us about as well. So what happened was a lot of people from ChitChat also

00:45:42.330 - 00:45:52.910

worked with the—with Pinoy Houston TV before. And they also got tired of how like how they treat people. So they all quit,

00:45:53.110 - 00:46:08.110

and Cheryl now works with Balitang America, which is like, one of the biggest news—Filipino American news shows here in the US. And the—Ron

00:46:09.130 - 00:46:27.790

is no—Ron, the director before me, now directs ChitChat, and now article. He has a business with the real estate and stuff like that. And he's one of the producers.

00:46:28.420 - 00:46:45.140

And Cheryl , she was also an amazing singer in the Philippines—like, she won the nationals program. And—it says my connection’s unstable again, so we'll

00:46:45.140 - 00:47:02.060

see how it goes. And, yeah we also have who’s like, a very good singer in the Philippines as well, and who also moved here. And Roe Aragon, she is a news reporter for KPRC.

00:47:02.570 - 00:47:15.120

So you—you also might want to interview her. And... yeah, she's a very good friend as well, and she's also part of UniPro, Texas, so if you need info, let us know.

00:47:15.980 - 00:47:32.640

So yeah, I now edit for ChitChat Houston for like, one season—I’ve edited for one season. And ChitChat Houston has won like a Telly Award. So it's basically a thing—I'm not sure about the scope of it, but it's

00:47:33.950 - 00:47:49.390

one—it's for a variety show, stuff like that. And my role, basically—you know how when you watch, like news, there's like a moving text down here, stuff like that for like, who to call, what headline we're

00:47:49.390 - 00:48:02.670

supposed to put in there, what time is it, stuff like that. So that's my role, is basically just like a roundtable discussion sometimes. So it's basically like, I try to not

00:48:03.230 - 00:48:15.900

just put facts in or like, not just put shallow stuff under there. Like if they're talking about bullying, what numbers should people call, when they're

00:48:16.270 - 00:48:34.310

being—with like, mental health stuff, what number should they go with, stuff like that. And like, what other sources can people get. ‘Cause sometimes, like, people can get lost in the conversation, and I feel like it's my goal to like, get

00:48:34.430 - 00:48:46.270

this—whatever is the most important stuff, and like, just put it in there. ‘Cause a lot of people just watch TV in the background and not listen to it and they just see this stuff, or the other way around, they don't see the

00:48:46.270 - 00:48:59.350

stuff and they just listen to it. So I feel like that was my role in there. But unfortunately, we're not shooting this season because of COVID-19. So I'm not sure if we’re doing, like, an online thing.

00:49:00.440 - 00:49:09.530

But yeah, I'm not sure if I'm supposed to tell people that, but I think—I think I can ‘cause they posted it on the website. But yeah, ChitChat Houston.

00:49:12.500 - 00:49:27.100

Cool, we hope to see something coming up soon. And how about the Cinema Arts Society , can you share some of...? That was a brief thing

00:49:27.100 - 00:49:39.680

that I did. This was still before COVID, when everything was normal. And Cybil, my friend from Filipinx Artist Collective, used to work for Cinema Arts Society, and they were looking for volunteers.

00:49:40.220 - 00:49:52.410

So I volunteered in there, ‘cause like I technically had my time on my hands, ‘cause I was doing freelance work. And I basically became a volunteer office assistant. And...

00:49:54.450 - 00:50:10.500

and ‘cause basically, for the Cinema Arts Society, they only have like, two full- time employees, and they don't actually work the Cinema Arts Festival. So for the Cinema Arts Festival, they, they outsource

00:50:11.690 - 00:50:27.650

this—there’s this event producer, her name is Tchernavia Sessum. She's African American, I work a lot with her. And I feel like they were happy with my work, and like, they said if they needed anything, like, to actually

00:50:27.650 - 00:50:42.350

hire people next year, they would contact me. So, we'll see how COVID-19 goes, and if they're still going to have it or not. Yeah but right now I also try to work with... I've been attending stuff with the Houston Media

00:50:42.350 - 00:50:55.890

Source. Try to get in contact with people, attend their workshops, and my friends and I also form this small film group. It's called Joy Luck—Joy Luck Club.

00:50:56.580 - 00:51:05.460

It's not something big yet, it's just like, five of us. And now Matt's in it too. And like, some of my friends in the Philippines are in it

00:51:05.460 - 00:51:23.650

right now as well, we're doing like a weekly short screenplay, workshop series where we just try to write every week, and like see what—where we get to. That's cool. Can you share with us some of the current work that you're

00:51:24.130 - 00:51:40.950

doing? Anything. This—'cause we—I also host this book club. Well, let me get that book, where’s that book... so basically, it's a book club about—we

00:51:43.400 - 00:51:58.980

have this book, it's called 101 Amazing Creatures. I'm translating it. So it's like, Filipino mythology, Filipino folklore, what creatures do we have in the Philippines, what monsters do we have in there, what gods,

00:51:58.980 - 00:52:13.920

goddesses, like, semi-gods do we have. So we started that book club, and then... my goal was to write stories about the monsters,

00:52:15.020 - 00:52:29.470

or creatures, or gods. And then, what I've been writing right now is, like, a mix of, “what if this modern day—like, what if

00:52:31.170 - 00:52:42.350

these gods still exist, we still believe in these gods,” and, and like basically, let me—let me get the book. Give me one sec...

00:52:46.080 - 00:52:59.810

And it's in Filipino, so I basically started the book club just to translate everything for other people, and... and I try to juxtapose stories, like...

00:53:04.530 - 00:53:20.770

So is it like a science fiction? No, it's like actual, like, actual folklore. And so what I wanted to do was—or what I'm doing

00:53:21.370 - 00:53:37.360

is if—like, I get one character, like this—this lady over here, Valentina. So basically, she was like in a relationship with the creator—one of the creators of the universe.

00:53:38.340 - 00:53:50.850

And... and, like, he was so busy that she left him. And now when it rains, they fear like—it's really that—it’s the

00:53:50.850 - 00:54:06.750

guy’s tears, it’s his like excess tears, because he's crying because she left him, and that the stars are like her gems, and... And yeah, so basically I tried to juxtapose that with like, modern day

00:54:06.750 - 00:54:22.630

stories, that what if Valentina was like a mom, and like, and like this—this—her ex, which is , the name is ... what if he is like a filmmaker who makes worlds and stuff like that, and try to

00:54:22.630 - 00:54:35.160

juxtapose stories that—what if they were human? Like, how would they feel, and what would they do? Stuff like that. Did you feel that any of your upbringing influence any of your writing?

00:54:35.160 - 00:54:49.040

Like, do you try to portray yourself in certain ways in your writing? Like—I always say no, but then my friends, when they read my work, they're like, “this is you!” And then uh,

00:54:50.760 - 00:55:07.920

I feel like a lot of my writing is this one part of me trying to talk to another part of me, trying to like, negate one another, having conversations with one another, trying to be like, my own devil's advocate, or maybe like a “what if”

00:55:07.920 - 00:55:26.060

story, like, “what if this happened.” Basically, if you've heard of of the Before Trilogy with Richard Linklater—so it's basically something like that, ‘cause in the Before Trilogy, it's based on like,

00:55:26.060 - 00:55:36.600

an actual, like—an actual person that the director, director met. And after the first movie, like, they actually never saw each other again.

00:55:36.760 - 00:55:51.970

And like, turns out the lady died, the lady where the first movie was based from, she died and like he didn't know when it was made. And that's basically this—that kind of premise, like with nice writing, with like,” what if this

00:55:51.970 - 00:56:05.690

happened,” or what if... and it's basically a lot of irony, I would say, and playing a lot with, with like, what's happening in society.

00:56:06.180 - 00:56:21.990

‘Cause before I moved here, my passion project was—it's like this short film about extrajudicial killings and pop culture. And it's like a political satire, that

00:56:22.110 - 00:56:38.570

what if this really popular action star got caught in like an issue with like, extrajudicial killing? Like would his fans be, like still be fans of him? Would they support him, would they hate him?

00:56:39.330 - 00:56:52.250

Like, what would you feel if there's this very influential person that you looked up to, turns out like, he’s not that—or like the media tries to frame him as something else, something like that.

00:56:56.280 - 00:57:04.560

That's really interesting. How about—like, are you spiritual in any way? Or do you have any belief that—

00:57:06.610 - 00:57:22.130

I mean, besides my name being Christian? to live up to my name, but I grew up Roman Catholic in the Philippines. And... and I always went to church with my family.

00:57:24.250 - 00:57:38.940

And moving here, I still go to church alone before COVID. But then I also, like, got into this Christian church—nondenominational

00:57:40.710 - 00:57:55.370

Christian church, which is like New Hope Church near me. So why—sometimes I end up going like to a Catholic Church in the morning, and then after that, drive to like, the Christian church, ‘cause —‘cause I really

00:57:55.600 - 00:58:10.110

enjoy the worship music. And on Thursdays, Jenah actually invited me to like a Bible study. I was—the first time I attended it, I was just supposed to give her a ride and stay, and then I kept

00:58:10.280 - 00:58:20.880

going. So like, it's every Thursday, we have like a bible study. But like, it's not like... there's still some reservations

00:58:20.880 - 00:58:35.850

with religion and stuff like that, ‘cause you know, there's still some questionable beliefs, and there's still some stuff that's not like clear. And I'm still on my own journey to spirituality and

00:58:35.850 - 00:58:51.250

stuff. And I—I've been getting into philosophy a lot just because of this one podcast. And like, it really makes you question things, ‘cause like, all the—all the reason why Jesus exists and stuff like

00:58:51.250 - 00:59:02.900

that, they could just change the name to another person and still keep everything, and it would still be totally valid, which is... yeah, still trying to get through it.

00:59:04.090 - 00:59:20.040

But yeah. And also like, I have a lot of friends who believe in like astrology and stuff like that. I—I'm not like, an expert on it. I just download the apps, they—they asked me to download, I just have CoStar,

00:59:20.040 - 00:59:32.710

I just have , and just see it every day. But I don't really like, follow it. And I'm not really an expert on it, ‘cause a lot of like, other friends—and other friends, they also believe in like

00:59:32.710 - 00:59:44.570

numerology, and they also believe in like, a lot of different stuff, which is crazy. And I feel like—I mean, it's interesting, I just don't have like the bandwidth to like, study all of those again.

00:59:47.370 - 00:59:59.090

Cool. So what are the inspirations for you that you draw from? Like, is it from your own life's experiences? Or like, from reading, from writing?

00:59:59.990 - 01:00:17.060

To—yeah, from your own—yeah, writing, creative works and others? For me, it's basically... rather than my own life experience, it's what I want to

01:00:17.180 - 01:00:28.870

experience, I would say. Like—with the “what if” thing. Like it wouldn't be a “what if” if it actually happened to me, and it was actually, like, fun.

01:00:29.500 - 01:00:46.230

And... basically—'cause I feel like I had a very sheltered upbringing, so all the stuff I didn't experience, that's what I feel like I want to write about, but the struggle is that like, how do I write about it when I didn't experience it, right?

01:00:46.230 - 01:01:05.150

So it's like, chicken and the egg thing, like, what comes first? Which I feel like what I do is like take my experience, and then like, exaggerate it. Like with this one—I had a short run in theater back in the Philippines

01:01:05.200 - 01:01:19.770

before, where I wrote something about... about this birdman and this mermaid and this—and this monkey—monkey man.

01:01:20.410 - 01:01:39.920

It sounds like a children's thing, which it totally is. But what the premise is that, like, this birdman, and this like mermaid fall in love with each other, but then again, like—the main trigger for me is this code that says like,

01:01:41.090 - 01:01:56.570

a bird could fall in love with a fish wherever they lived. So basically, I just made it about it social stratification. Like maybe if it's like a rich person and a person not as well off trying to be together, but the society doesn't want them to.

01:01:56.960 - 01:02:09.390

Or maybe like, two... two people have the same gen—of the same sex trying to be together, and then the society don't want them to, or like maybe different races, I don't know.

01:02:09.870 - 01:02:22.630

So it's like a lot of variations like that. And basically, it was... like, choose-your-own-story type of play, it’s like, very experimental. So

01:02:22.630 - 01:02:36.890

what—the audience decide what happens. So the debate in the... so it becomes like a Jerry Springer show , with the monkey man as like, the host, ‘cause he's in the

01:02:36.890 - 01:02:47.020

land, so it's like the middle ground. So the monkey is like Jerry Springer. And these two people trying to get together, but society don't want them to, like the audience don't want them to.

01:02:47.660 - 01:03:02.500

So they make their cases. And it's like, animals talking about humanity, which is like—you know, humanity talks about animals like it's a bad thing.

01:03:02.500 - 01:03:16.010

Like, if someone calls you a snake, it's a bad thing. If someone calls you like a pig, it's a bad thing. But actually like, we're the ones destroying nature, we're the people that was like, taking more than we deserve, taking more than we need.

01:03:17.200 - 01:03:27.000

And like—like it's an actual insult, now, if you’re called a human. If you're an animal and you’re called a human, you're actually like, a bad—the bad person here.

01:03:28.410 - 01:03:44.870

So it's basically like a group of animals talking about, if these two—if these mermaid men, and like mermaid and birdman, if they were gonna be together, they should be humans ‘cause that's the only reason they

01:03:44.870 - 01:03:59.840

could live in the land, and whatever. And the audience were also wearing masks. Masks with their favorite animals, we have them draw them down, and like , wear them during the whole show, so that they feel like

01:03:59.900 - 01:04:14.530

they're actually part of it. And yeah, they ended up voting if they should just kill both—both characters, or like, have them live together as humans and never understand animals anymore. And like, we

01:04:14.530 - 01:04:32.970

had two shows, and both shows like, people voted that they should be humans, and they should be together, but they should also get the best characteristics from animals as they can, like if a dog cares for her child like this, if like this

01:04:34.350 - 01:04:48.940

animal’s very fast—like, all the good characteristics animals. I'm also butchering my explanation, but that's pretty much it. So yeah, so I feel like my—my works are about...

01:04:49.000 - 01:05:01.900

I don't want to claim that it's about humanity, ‘cause like, I'm not an expert, we're not an expert on it. And there's also this—now

01:05:04.520 - 01:05:16.270

that I'm talking to you, I'm just realizing that it's a lot about, like, fictional animals and stuff, ‘cause there's this other—other screenplay that I've just been submitting to stuff.

01:05:19.080 - 01:05:37.210

If you've heard of “Metamorphosis” by Franz Kafka—so basically this guy wakes up as a cockroach. And like what would happen if that happened, like, in 2020, right? Like, what would your family tell you, what would the media tell you?

01:05:38.760 - 01:05:51.710

And like, you could basically go on a Zoom meeting as a cockroach, and people would think that you're just on the filter, and that there's nothing wrong with you, and you just change whatever. You could just pretend that nothing's happened.

01:05:52.930 - 01:06:08.670

So basically like that. Like it's still the same premise, that people are still thinking about like, capitalism, thinking about money when in fact, like... “You're a cockroach, you should be worrying about what's happening to you right now.” So

01:06:08.670 - 01:06:22.470

yeah, stuff like that. Basically, yeah, I guess it's from other—other works of art as well. I'm not like, an avid reader. Or even like—I I studied film, but I know a lot of people who watched way more

01:06:22.470 - 01:06:40.590

movies than me. But yeah, I just try to get them from what fascinates me, like other creatures, and the irony— just the irony of life itself. ‘Cause... like, this—it's super easy to get irony right

01:06:40.590 - 01:06:53.370

now, like if you just watch like a late night talk show host, like, doing jokes about the government—they're not even doing jokes, they're just stating what the government is doing. And it's just really ridiculous

01:06:53.710 - 01:07:10.480

what's happening. Yeah, talking about, like, comedy shows, and you were talking about Crazy Rich Asians, and we're seeing a lot of the—more and more Asian population and

01:07:11.520 - 01:07:23.070

seeing our race being represented in mainstream medium. What is your view on this change in the society? It's still like...

01:07:25.080 - 01:07:43.070

a lot of—it's still very difficult to like navigate all of it, 'cause now it just seems like there's just token Asians, just so Asians wouldn't say anything, or now it's just like uh,

01:07:44.670 - 01:08:01.310

Asian men try to be sexy. And—‘cause there's still, like this model minority myth that's still happening. And there are more Asians, but it's still like a lot of Asian stereotypes, which

01:08:01.410 - 01:08:12.810

we're not actually heading the right direction. But it's still in there. I mean, I could see how a lot of people are still proud to see their people in there. But like a lot of shows that I watch, I just

01:08:12.810 - 01:08:25.570

recently find out like, oh yeah, I'm also laughing at this Asian guy. Like, I love watching good plays and they're laughing at this Filipino guy in there who’s like stupid. So it's either like, we're super-smart or we’re super-stupid, like, we can't be like in

01:08:25.570 - 01:08:38.010

the middle or whatever. But then again, I haven't watched everything in there, and I'm still hopeful with a lot of, like, Asian filmmakers out there.

01:08:38.010 - 01:08:54.610

Like Parasite—can you believe it was just 2020 that Parasite won, it feels like years agoAnd and like—I like it because compared to Crazy Rich Asians, and compared to like...

01:08:58.180 - 01:09:16.050

Always Be My Maybe—‘cause Crazy Rich Asians—I feel like it's a good start. But it's like, still—this is just the rich Asians, which is like 1% of us and like, who are these people? And then, I feel like Always Be My Maybe—so, like...

01:09:17.330 - 01:09:32.660

okay, it's more balanced. And it doesn't directly talk about the Asian struggles, which is a like good thing for, like—a good starter for non-Asians, I guess, ‘cause it's not like all-in-your-face Asian stuff that you

01:09:32.660 - 01:09:44.240

wouldn't understand. So I feel like it's a good direction, and— And then Parasite comes, and it's like all Asian . And, and...

01:09:45.170 - 01:09:59.610

and it's amazing, and the— and I don't see why people don't like it, even hearing—people don't want to read subtitles. But also I want to know if it’s like Train to Busan, which

01:09:59.610 - 01:10:12.290

is like—not everyone takes horror films, or like thriller zombie films seriously. But if it's like Train to Busan could happen anywhere, anywhere in the world, and you would still see these same

01:10:12.290 - 01:10:25.790

characters who are in there. There's like this always this jerk, always this kid, always this grandma, always this tough guy. So it's basically like an actual critique of society from anywhere, it doesn't need to

01:10:25.790 - 01:10:42.620

be in Korea, it doesn't need to be in Asia. So yeah, that's—so far it's my kind of favorites, Parasite and Train to Busan. Yeah, we're looking forward to more, and hopefully you can bring some for us too.

01:10:42.620 - 01:10:54.990

Thank you . We'll see— ‘cause we also have a lot of Filipino screenings and fans in Cannes. But the deal is, like these are art films. And these are like—a lot—some of these are

01:10:54.990 - 01:11:07.930

like, 8-hour films, or like 12-hour films, and like this is not accessible to the public. Like, main, main movie distributors wouldn't distribute this.

01:11:09.610 - 01:11:26.940

And like people, especially in the Philippines, they still make films, like very shallow films. And I only get to watch a lot of independent— good independent films, ‘cause I actually work where they are shown.

01:11:28.350 - 01:11:39.360

So like, country per country, I think there's still a long way to go. But like in the US, it's getting there. And it's not

01:11:39.360 - 01:11:51.210

stopping, that's what's good. It's not stopping, so... And I also—like, one question I always ask people is, how do we know when we already have Asian—enough Asian representation?

01:11:52.300 - 01:12:00.580

And like, how do we stop? Like, when do we stop? When do we need to stop, or stuff like that? Which which I also still don't know the—I don't think

01:12:00.580 - 01:12:15.830

anyone still knows the answer, ‘cause everything changes, and then like COVID, COVID comes, and like, people think it's all our fault being Asians and stuff. Yeah, but I think like personally, a

01:12:15.830 - 01:12:28.260

lot of people think I'm I’m Hispanic . So I don’t get a lot of the Asian racism. Like I would have co-workers who would speak to me in Spanish. And thankfully I know a little bit of

01:12:28.290 - 01:12:43.570

Spanish, because I took like, three subjects of Spanish in college. I failed like, the last one. But I still understand it . So yeah, that's—that's very useful here in Texas.

01:12:47.360 - 01:13:01.700

Um, so, you also have another—you worked as a curator as well, right? And that's the more recent show in January called the Laka—sorry, excuse my pronunciation—Lumikhâ. Is that

01:13:01.810 - 01:13:15.420

correct? Yes. Yeah, Lumikhâ. So “lumikhâ” means “to create” in Filipino. So it started like two years ago—or last year, it started like, last...

01:13:19.420 - 01:13:34.950

so, 2020—sorry 2019 was the first one. We had like, 10 artists, who it's basically the first one of these was basically introducing to Houston that we actually have Filipino artists in here, ‘cause Filipino artists—if

01:13:36.740 - 01:13:51.000

you're an artist and you're Filipino, the community doesn't support you. The community still don't understand the power of culture, the value of culture, the value for this, and we're basically trying to—trying to get that in

01:13:51.000 - 01:14:05.270

there. Trying to get that out there. I wasn't part of the first one. But since I have experience in the arts, they got me to curate the second one, which is like—now we have like 30 more

01:14:05.750 - 01:14:22.760

artists and like 300 people were there, and—I think 350 people were there and this—the second one that I curated was basically actually addressing issues.

01:14:23.290 - 01:14:34.280

So here's the poster for that . These ones... so we can send you some for your archives if you want to—I have like, 20 more, but I don't know what to do with them .

01:14:34.400 - 01:14:49.870

So it's basically addressing issues, like, in the Filipino American society, like colorism, gender constructs, intergenerational gaps. What else do we have in here?

01:14:52.360 - 01:15:08.830

Traditions—like, do we have toxic traditions that we need to forget and like social movements as well. So yeah, I created that, and like, we—another person was basically the overall director.

01:15:09.610 - 01:15:26.960

And I coordinated with like 30, 30-plus Filipino artists, Filipinx artists here in Houston, including Matt, which—this is Matt's work over, over here. And... basically, trying to

01:15:26.960 - 01:15:39.480

show the artists that there is community. And like even if the main— like, the mainstream Fili—mainstream Filipino community doesn't acknowledge them, like, we

01:15:39.480 - 01:15:56.730

could acknowledge each other, and actually help each other ‘cause there's a lot of like artists who work full time, who actually went to school for art, who have been doing this for years like Matt. And there's like new artists who didn't go to school, who started that as a

01:15:56.730 - 01:16:11.440

hobby. And... and it's basically helping each other out with what you need. And... yeah, stuff like that. So that's also how—one I guess one part, one factor

01:16:11.890 - 01:16:26.590

of how the Filipinx Artists of Houston in got, got conceived. And... what else about it? So that show, I think it got featured in the Houston Media

01:16:26.590 - 01:16:41.100

Source. And it was also in the newspaper, at least for the Filipino Texas newspaper. It was also in KPRC, because of Roe . And... yeah.

01:16:41.260 - 01:16:56.620

And this year, I'm also planning for for the upcoming Lumikhâ, which I'm inviting you to be there. And and we're still not sure how it's gonna be. I mean, it's still in January, but

01:16:56.620 - 01:17:12.390

like, Texas is not getting better. So if it has to be an online thing, then it's going to be an online thing. If we don't make money out of it, then we don't make money out of it, ‘cause like... you—I mean, I don't personally make money out of it.

01:17:12.790 - 01:17:27.500

But all the proceeds, ticket sales went to Unipro for our programs, but then when the artists actually sell their artworks, if someone buys their artworks, 100% goes to the artist.

01:17:27.870 - 01:17:44.000

So we're basically giving them like, a venue and an audience, and and an opportunity to like, introduce themselves to the Filipino community and get more collectors, get more people interested in their work and in their art.

01:17:44.830 - 01:17:58.620

What I am trying to do this year is make an educational component to it. ‘Cause with my background in arts education... ‘cause what's interesting and

01:17:59.080 - 01:18:10.790

personally frustrating in the Filipino community here in the US, not just in Texas, is that there's like, these “experts”—quote-unquote experts in Filipino culture, I don't know who named them experts.

01:18:11.460 - 01:18:25.400

But it's like, these people who practice Filipino culture and make money off of it, whereas some stuff you could actually learn yourself, and do it yourself.

01:18:25.510 - 01:18:41.460

Like, I could teach you how to write in the Filipino script. And you could do it, and you don't need me to write your own name in your own language and pay me for it, you know? So yeah, basically education and,

01:18:42.460 - 01:18:57.640

and also, like, just trying to get—to have more artists in there, to have more Filipino culture. ‘Cause there's a lot of parents, Filipino American parents in here who want to teach themselves and their kids Filipino culture, but they don't

01:18:57.640 - 01:19:13.500

know where to start. And there's still no clear path to how we're going to do it, but like, we have a lot of allies as well. Which—we have like a... Filipino Young Professionals, who have a very good dance group.

01:19:14.230 - 01:19:27.240

And they teach a lot of people the tinikling and stuff. And like, a lot of FSAs as well—Filipino Student Associations. We work a lot with them as well to target like college students who want

01:19:27.240 - 01:19:42.460

to learn about Filipino culture. And yeah, so, as much as they like art, I also want a lot of people to actually understand what it means, rather than just hanging something on a wall.

01:19:43.240 - 01:19:59.890

Which is great, it's beautiful, but like if you frame them, why you do put it in there, you know? Yeah, thank you so much for sharing. That's very inspiring as well, to be an educator and

01:20:00.000 - 01:20:11.590

influencer as well as an artist. Um— I don't know about influencer, but... . As a cultural promoter. Yeah, I would say that more, yeah.

01:20:11.960 - 01:20:25.270

‘Cause I think a lot of people here, they use the word like, “cultural practitioners.” I mean, we're all, like, cultural practitioners in our own selves, we practice our own culture everyday.

01:20:25.270 - 01:20:36.980

So like it doesn't make sense to me, to like, make, make something exclusive when it's actually for everyone, you know? Like a lot of gatekeeping is

01:20:36.980 - 01:20:53.400

happening in the academe, a lot of gatekeeping where like you just have to read the book, and you know this. You don't have to like, go through four years of school to know this, you just have to read, and share what you know, and ask people what they know, and

01:20:53.400 - 01:21:10.520

then share what you know with each other, and then we both know it! It’s not that complicated. And the following part will be about the COVID-19. I guess we talked about it, but—so

01:21:10.700 - 01:21:22.470

here, we are probably gonna talk about how it specifically impacts your life after it happened. So what has changed for you? Could you share with us?

01:21:22.610 - 01:21:38.520

I—I was gonna have like, some gigs as photographer—for photography and videography, for events and stuff, which got cancelled because of it—like, I am supposed to be in Austin this Saturday and Sunday to shoot something.

01:21:39.600 - 01:21:52.400

But then someone got COVID. And, and now we're not gonna be in Austin, we're still gonna do it in Houston, without the person that has COVID. But yeah.

01:21:52.850 - 01:22:05.300

I mean, I still—I mean, it's not a good thing, but there's a lot of people have bigger problems out there, a lot of people actually have COVID, which is crazy. And being a

01:22:05.300 - 01:22:15.980

photographer, it's actually, like, a social distance job, ‘cause I don't have to be in like, people's faces to take their photos. I could be like 15 feet away from them and still take the photos.

01:22:16.770 - 01:22:30.560

And a lot of editing happens from home even when I was in ChitChat. I just did it from home, and I don't actually have a choice to work anywhere else. And so I just concentrate on like doing stuff

01:22:30.830 - 01:22:46.010

for Unipro, doing stuff for the FilipinX Artist Collective, doing stuff for NAFCON, doing stuff for Malaya, and work on myself. Try not to get fat, stuff like that.

01:22:47.080 - 01:23:01.950

And... what else? Yeah, and it's also very hard for—'cause my parents, they're like super-old—not super-old, scratch that from the record . No, my dad is like almost 70 and my mom is like almost 70

01:23:01.990 - 01:23:14.590

as well, so I'm worried about them. And my sister is gonna have a baby on—my sister that I live with right now, she's gonna have a baby with my brother-in-law, they're gonna have a baby this September.

01:23:15.720 - 01:23:28.740

So we try to be careful about who we’re around with, especially because my brother- in-law’s a nurse. So sometimes they have COIVD-19 patients and like he has to change his

01:23:28.740 - 01:23:45.640

clothes and take a bath immediately when he gets home . And we're also thinking of flying in our parents in September, if it permits them. ‘Cause even in the Philippines, it's not doing like, really good over there,

01:23:46.080 - 01:24:02.760

it's like Texas. And so they still need to get clearances, get checkups, get like tested before they fly in here. And like, a lot of their flights that actually go to some places that have COVID-19,

01:24:05.450 - 01:24:19.650

so we're just trying to get them to have a direct flight, but there's no direct flight from the Philippines to Houston, so they have to pass by LA, which I don't think is doing really good as well right now, I'm not sure. So yeah...

01:24:21.230 - 01:24:34.030

a lot of, a lot of... We also have some friends here in Houston with the Filipinx Artist Collective who got infected. So we just tried to organize something for them—like

01:24:36.990 - 01:24:53.960

a gift basket, something like that. One of them is a mom, and and both the mom and the dad got COVID, and now it's like, they have three kids. So we got them like a lot of microwavable stuff for the kids so they

01:24:53.960 - 01:25:04.190

don't have to cook anymore, stuff like that. And another friend too... which is like—it's not like financial aid, it's more of like just making them feel comfortable, not to worry about stuff, like a

01:25:04.190 - 01:25:18.710

gift basket. And also, because of COVID, there are like J-1 visa holders here in the in Houston, who... who, like,

01:25:18.710 - 01:25:27.990

lost their jobs in the hotels because the hotels closed. So we tried to raise money for them as well with Filipinx Artists Collective. We tried to raise money for them for their bills.

01:25:29.770 - 01:25:44.250

And now—now one of them is back to work, and like the other eight is now in Florida, transferred to Florida to work as well. There's still some J-1 visa holders in Dallas, they're still not working.

01:25:44.250 - 01:26:03.840

So like, some folks are also trying to help the ones over there. Yeah, it definitely impacted every one of us, and thank you for your contribution in helping out. Yeah, go ahead? Yeah, definitely. Like, I personally got anxiety from it.

01:26:03.840 - 01:26:13.440

Like, when I would read like symptoms on the Internet, I would directly feel it. Like, when I read “shortness of breath,” I can't breathe suddenly , stuff like that.

01:26:13.440 - 01:26:25.410

Like when I read, like, “your body's gonna ache,” I feel it immediately, even though I just worked out yesterday, so my body's supposed to hurt—stuff like that. I overthink it, I’m an overthinker in that way.

01:26:28.380 - 01:26:43.970

So you said you live with your sister's family? And—has that helped with the depression—I mean, the anxiety? Yeah, I would say yeah. I mean, I can't imagine this—I'm still always alone in my

01:26:44.040 - 01:26:55.660

room, but like, you know, knowing someone is downstairs is—is also good. And like, I started gardening as well. And like I now I have, like I’m a plant dad now! I have plant babies.

01:26:56.490 - 01:27:09.060

So it helps me keep busy. It gets my mind off just thinking about myself, and like, actually thinking about other stuff too. And how has the

01:27:09.480 - 01:27:26.290

quarantine changed the relationship between you and your family—your sister’s, I mean? I actually talk to my parents more, ‘cause, you know like we're not doing anything, so they could just call me—call me whenever, and I have no

01:27:26.290 - 01:27:39.780

reason not to answer. But it's more like, getting to know how they also react to these stuff. Like... like turns out my mom also gets the

01:27:39.780 - 01:27:46.680

same anxiety, and like... and like, we know where we got it from. And my other sister also has the same anxiety.

01:27:47.200 - 01:28:01.190

And now we all know like we got it from our mom. And yeah, and... what else? Also, like yeah, checking up on them more. ‘Cause since my sister's a doctor, she tries to

01:28:01.320 - 01:28:15.910

like check up on them medically—like, make sure they always take their blood pressure, check every day. And... ‘cause my role I feel like—I know I said I had conflicts with my family

01:28:15.910 - 01:28:31.800

before, but like, I just, like, let it go. And now I feel like my role is just, try to get everyone together. And if they're feeling anxiety, I will just make jokes and stuff so they won't think about it, and...

01:28:32.930 - 01:28:55.850

yeah, try to just try to like keep the peace. Yeah, I mean, to keep—keep us all sane as well I guess, in this stressful time. Yeah, also, just wondering, since everything has been moved to online now, has your kind of,

01:28:55.960 - 01:29:09.920

working model—like, if you're not filming, do you kind of spend the time having meetings with other people online, or have you—have you thought about like doing filming through online

01:29:10.350 - 01:29:26.150

ways? Not yet, 'cause—I mean, it's come to my mind, but for now it's just like, the writing stuff that we're doing online, and and a lot of educational stuff as well. I also attend a lot of like, Zoom

01:29:26.150 - 01:29:42.530

workshops, with writing, with Jenah, with like a lot of other people from LA too. Just trying to get—getting all that free—free educational stuff, downloads and ebooks.

01:29:44.010 - 01:29:52.740

Watching movies that I've been like, wanting to watch for a while now. And like, just—I know a lot of people are being more productive than me.

01:29:52.900 - 01:30:07.260

That's—that's what I would say. But like, I try. Cool, and how do you think about this pandemic has revealed about our society?

01:30:07.350 - 01:30:23.390

For example, the social structure, seeing the poverty and the people of color being more impacted? Like, you also mentioned that—the discrimination being one of them, but also places where

01:30:23.480 - 01:30:44.040

there—the poor family getting more impacted by COVID? It's crazy. It's crazy how people like, denied that this is like, systemic, that treatment of of this pandemic is not racist.

01:30:44.570 - 01:31:00.870

It's crazy how people think they—that they were still treated equally, we're—even with Zoom classes, there are people out there who don't have Internet at home, or don't even have Internet in school, they have to go somewhere else. They have to go to a

01:31:00.970 - 01:31:14.600

restaurant, park, outside a library, just to do homework, just to get to a meeting, just to send an email, whatever. And like, a lot of people don't realize that, and it's crazy.

01:31:14.600 - 01:31:26.920

And also like, people would rally just because they don't want to wear a mask. And then like, they're complaining when other people are rallying because racism,

01:31:28.670 - 01:31:48.550

like—it's crazy how like how extreme people are... even like, with how there's a lot more supplies in Asian markets rather than like in Walmart

01:31:48.550 - 01:32:01.780

or H-E-B, ‘cause like, no one is going there anymore. And now we—now they're discovering that, “Okay, maybe it's okay to go here,” and stuff like that. And... and even with the Asian community, like

01:32:02.020 - 01:32:18.770

the recent—this one Vietnamese business owner who paid for like a Black Lives Matter billboard, and like a lot of other Vietnamese conservatives were like, rallying against it. It's crazy how also even in our community it's like,

01:32:18.770 - 01:32:32.410

very divided. And even in like, Filipino—the Filipino community, I feel like they wouldn't be that extreme—like, would go to a rally just to oppose Black Lives Matter. But there's definitely a

01:32:32.410 - 01:32:49.320

lot of conservatives here. And there's definitely a lot of racists in the community as well. And we're still trying to get through it, and we're still like—one time, Jenah and Matt and , and the

01:32:49.320 - 01:33:07.530

other folks and I were talking about like, how do we actually like, open people's minds to this? ‘Cause like, a lot of them have like, very emotional stuff going on. And like facts don't go too far if it's like, you’re actually trying to argue with an emotional person who has a personal

01:33:07.530 - 01:33:20.630

reason to it. And yeah, it's still a lot. But it's voting season, so trying to vote, see where that gets me, gets us. And like also, like—I

01:33:21.140 - 01:33:34.460

also signed up to be part of the census team, which I guess is delayed, ‘cause COVID-19 again. So yeah, that's one more effect of COVID-19, I guess. I'm not sure if I answered your question

01:33:35.750 - 01:33:49.040

. But yeah. So we’re also trying to aim—aim Lumikhâ to address issues about this. About COVID-19, about racism, about Black Lives Matter,

01:33:49.920 - 01:33:58.040

about solidarity. But it's still in January. We're also thinking of stuff to do right now. And it's still...

01:34:00.460 - 01:34:14.980

a lot of stuff is going out there, but there's also a lot of like not so good stuff. Like a lot of—there are also Filipinos who try to make money out of like Black Lives Matter.

01:34:16.020 - 01:34:30.340

And they would sell merch for their selves. And like, no money—or like, little money goes to Black Lives Matter. So they actually make money from this revolution. And they actually make money from like uh, like,

01:34:33.210 - 01:34:48.350

making money out of social issues, making it political, and like rather than like, a human rights issue, you know? So can you share more about that? How do—what were the exact things they were doing?

01:34:49.710 - 01:35:03.820

So there's this one artist... I'm not sure I should mention him, but there's this one artist. He's based in—I'm not sure where he's based. But he sells this merch that says,

01:35:04.190 - 01:35:16.870

“Filipinx for Black Lives.” And 30%, they said goes to Black Lives Matter. But the other 70%, they don't—they don't specify where it goes.

01:35:17.140 - 01:35:31.210

But then they also say that they're not making money out of this. And... so yeah, so there's still like a, like no transparency with this. So it's basically, they're

01:35:31.210 - 01:35:41.750

making money out of Black Lives Matter. And they're not even Black, like they could be donating stuff for Black Lives Matter. I know—I know in Texas with the Filipinx Artist

01:35:42.060 - 01:35:56.440

Collective folks, we actually sold a lot of artworks and donated 100% to like where we need to donate it. Also Dallas folks also did that. But then there's these artists who are like, actually

01:35:58.260 - 01:36:18.620

making money out of it and actually sending out merch and explaining the artwork, where it was revealed to be a template for Canva. So this—this person has actually, like, taken credit for

01:36:18.620 - 01:36:33.950

Canva—for a Canva design and explaining like the deep meaning of this star, and this hand, when it's actually just from Canva. So you're learning a lot of like tea from Filipino Twitter right

01:36:34.000 - 01:36:47.420

now . I'm sure from, like, in every—yeah, there's different sides of a story and different sides of views, yeah— 'Cause even here in Houston, like—you

01:36:49.640 - 01:37:02.210

know how there's a lot of murals here, and like, there's a mural of George Floyd, there's a mural of Vanessa. There are artists—these are non- Filipino artists, now—there are artists who are like, making murals of

01:37:02.270 - 01:37:15.890

people who were a part of the social issue, just for clout. Like, they're not even like invited to make the mural. Like, all

01:37:15.930 - 01:37:26.200

ethics is being being questioned right now. Like, what are we doing, and why are we doing it, and if—is this right? Are we supposed to be doing it?

01:37:27.730 - 01:37:37.830

And I know I have my own, like, questionable ethics with the McDonald's poster and stuff. But it's like, no one actually got hurt by that, like we're not erasing another person's face and putting our own face on it.

01:37:38.420 - 01:37:54.860

Whereas these, like—people actually died and like you're—you're making something out of it just for clout. Whereas with other social issues, like they're silent, and do not have any other opinions. Yeah, it's

01:37:55.190 - 01:38:12.400

incredible this year through the pandemic, how much of these layers of either racial or the ethics has revealed. And I was just wondering, we touched on that briefly, that you were saying you weren't particularly impacted

01:38:12.400 - 01:38:26.800

during the wave of Asian American discrimination and attacks and the xenophobic behaviors. Um, like in—during your time in the US, or I guess back in the Philippines, have you been

01:38:26.800 - 01:38:39.000

like, kind of attacked in any way or experienced any unfair treatment in any way due to the color of your skin? I mean, I'm like in the middle.

01:38:40.710 - 01:38:56.150

I'm like medium roast rather than light roast or dark roast . So it's like—I mean, my mom always buys me whitening soap and stuff like that. Like when I was younger, my face got burnt, because like, the soap actually peels your

01:38:56.150 - 01:39:08.270

skin. And you can't go in direct sunlight if we use that soap. And it's crazy how people want to be white over there. And yeah, so that's—so

01:39:09.190 - 01:39:20.850

even in my own family, that's basically it—’cause I'm like, the darkest one in our family. My my sisters look like East Asians, and my mom also look like— looks like she's Chinese.

01:39:21.570 - 01:39:36.240

And... yeah, so like, I don't know, like even if I use that soap like my skin doesn't get lighter . I think—I'm not sure if she stopped—if my mom gave up trying.

01:39:36.880 - 01:39:53.970

Or like, when she goes here in September, she's going to have soap for me. But yeah. It's the first time I heard something like that exists. It's very normal now, it's like... like, we're desensitized in the Philippines.

01:39:54.810 - 01:40:08.740

It's not even like—there's still conversation about it, but only in like the woke circles that people are actually talking about it. Like if you go on the streets, like no one's talking about, like being proud to be brown.

01:40:09.040 - 01:40:19.620

No one's talking about like—it's just ingrained in our, like, minds, that if you're whiter, you’re—you look better. ‘Cause like it's all everywhere. It's on mass media, it’s on billboards,

01:40:19.620 - 01:40:33.990

it's on commercials, it's on TV shows. And like the whole mass media, over there on TV, people would be—have white skin and long hair, ‘cause that's like that's where they get money from.

01:40:33.990 - 01:40:48.350

From like, soap commercials, from from shampoo commercials. I mean, that's why it's called soap operas, because it's like, soap, soap endorsements, and like, that's where the show gets money from, you know?

01:40:48.650 - 01:41:03.250

Oh, wow. That's interesting. And I'm just wondering, how has, like your vision or your perspectives of the future change during the pandemic?

01:41:04.110 - 01:41:15.420

Like, I know a lot of people have been reflecting and worrying and thinking. Like, what—what are your thoughts? I'm just... you know, it's

01:41:16.990 - 01:41:34.330

like—I'm—this is another reference, but it's like, also like the best plan is no plan right now. And it's awesome. But it also makes you put into perspective what you really need to do and what to—who you really want to hang out to and

01:41:34.510 - 01:41:49.390

with, and like, what are your priorities. And— ‘cause like—like before, I would always be out and try to dress up and

01:41:49.390 - 01:42:02.860

impress people, and like, that's not important anymore right now. Like... like I'll... like, even in this meeting like no offense, like I was thinking, “Should I just dress up for this

01:42:02.980 - 01:42:16.810

meeting?” ‘cause I know it's gonna be recorded. But you know, I just try not to look, like, ratchet and stuff . But it's like—you also see, like—‘cause you also see like, who—who is actually trying to do

01:42:16.810 - 01:42:31.630

something out there, who's like, genuinely trying to help, and genuinely like sacrificing their own time. ‘Cause even here in the US—or in Texas, with the J-1 workers we were mentioning before,

01:42:33.180 - 01:42:48.830

they were asking for help with the Philippine consulate, for the—yeah, from the Philippine consulate. And they didn't get anything. So it's now up to civilians to help them. And this old

01:42:48.830 - 01:43:04.780

lady—she's not like old, don't tell her I told you she was old—and this lady, this this auntie in the Filipino community, she was cooking for them, and like, she was getting them groceries, and

01:43:05.540 - 01:43:20.940

doing a lot of stuff for them, when... When the—our own government here, the very people who signed up to serve the people, are not doing anything. So it actually makes you look at the

01:43:21.350 - 01:43:34.560

perspective, like—like who's saying they're doing stuff but not really, and who's actually silent but actually doing stuff. And yeah, you know—you get to know who you want to hang out with

01:43:34.560 - 01:43:51.220

after this all ends. Yeah, we see a lot of things through this pandemic, which is also an interesting aspect of it. So, I guess my last question would be, just, how you would see

01:43:51.220 - 01:44:05.310

yourself in 5 to 10 years time, and what is your vision, or what do you want to achieve with your career as a cinematographer? I mean, I wish I was still doing it, and I wish...

01:44:07.770 - 01:44:20.250

you know, get more more gigs out there, maybe. 'Cause Texas is not like a mainstream film industry hub. Even Austin isn't, like we just

01:44:20.250 - 01:44:35.130

have the Austin Film Festival, but it's not like—people don't actually, like Hollywood, people don't actually go to Austin just to shoot films, or to Texas just to shoot films. They actually go to like, other places in California, or Georgia, or like,

01:44:35.130 - 01:44:47.170

other countries to shoot, ‘cause it always rains here, and you'll never know what the, what’s the weather gonna be. So it's like, super hard in here. But also, yeah—I mean, it would be nice to like, be part of

01:44:47.250 - 01:45:05.380

the the film industry here. ‘Cause I would say it's easier to make it here, and then just move to wherever ‘cause the industry isn't that big. And... and yeah, so hopefully I'm still doing it, hopefully, I'm still

01:45:05.380 - 01:45:16.800

learning. Hopefully, I'm in a much better place financially, and I could do a lot of stuff. And hopefully, I'm still working with more people, people I haven't met yet right now.

01:45:17.460 - 01:45:31.580

But also hopefully, I'm still in contact with a lot of people who I am working with right now. And like and I hope that we're all still growing together and making the community stronger.

01:45:32.180 - 01:45:44.560

And learning a lot of stuff that we should be learning, or—and also unlearning from ourselves, you know? Yeah. That's wonderful. Wow, thank you so much.

01:45:45.910 - 01:45:59.480

Is there anything else that I haven't touched on that you would like to share? Uh... I think—well, I don't really mention the Ellen thing a lot to a lot of people, because

01:45:59.500 - 01:46:14.930

like it's not like an entirely—not all of it is like, the happiest moment of my life. ‘Cause a lot of it like, there's still a lot of people out there who who are like, who think it—who have like,

01:46:14.960 - 01:46:32.660

conspiracy theories, who are saying like, “Oh, like, this is not real, they were actually hired by Ellen and McDonald's just to do this,” ‘cause—like that sort of thing . Like there's this person who made like a 20-minute, 30-minute video on

01:46:32.660 - 01:46:46.140

YouTube, just trying to disprove us. And I was like—and like, some people are saying like, "No, they can't be like normal people, they look like models." And I was like, “How can I get mad at that? They just said I looked like a

01:46:46.140 - 01:47:03.850

model.” And it's also like a lot of like, stuff with like friends and acquaintances. And like, people would actually say that, oh, they know me, and they hang out with me. But in real life, before that happened, they never talked to me and stuff like that.

01:47:03.850 - 01:47:19.320

And there's a lot of people actually in the Asian community as well, who were like, “‘cause I wasn't from here.” And so, that—that happened, like a year after when I arrived here. And they were like, "Does he actually know Ellen, does he actually watch Ellen DeGeneres

01:47:19.320 - 01:47:30.780

Show?" When in fact, her show is screened in the Philippines three times a day in one channel. And like, they— it's just a lot of people trying to discredit me.

01:47:31.050 - 01:47:44.860

And a lot of people think I didn't do anything, and I just post for the photo when I actually edited and shot it. And yeah, so... that's why I don't read comment sections anymore .

01:47:47.940 - 01:48:04.860

But yeah, so there's a lot of good stuff from it. But also like, there's some stuff that’s not really as good. So you actually learn who your actual friends are, who would actually call you out when you do something wrong rather than just like, patronize you with whatever

01:48:04.860 - 01:48:17.680

you say. ‘Cause like right now, I would rather have someone call me out rather than just agree with me all the time. I guess that's also one—one effect of the pandemic was like, we're not just wasting

01:48:17.680 - 01:48:34.520

time here anymore. Like, any one of us could die at any moment and whatever, so if you want to say something, just say it, and just do it, and... ‘Cause a lot of, like, community work as well with organizations, there's a lot of like bureaucracy,

01:48:35.770 - 01:48:49.690

and—and a lot of politics, you have to go through this and that first, when a lot of stuff is actually very urgent, and we have to move right now. So, yeah. Yeah, definitely a lot of the

01:48:50.130 - 01:49:03.250

policies have made this pandemic a little bit longer than it should have... um, yeah. Well, thank you so much! And, yeah, really inspiring stories, and thank

01:49:03.620 - 01:49:17.560

you for being so open-heartedly sharing, and— I'm not sure if I'm gonna get in trouble with some stuff that I said . Also my parents’ part .

01:49:17.880 - 01:49:31.690

They’re not gonna read this, and I mean— I mean, I guess adding to it... well like, with my issue with my family being—with me in the arts, is like, there's some times that my name was on TV

01:49:32.070 - 01:49:43.770

with the credits scene—like, they wouldn't even watch it. And they're just in the second room watching a different show. So I'm not like, very concerned about them like, finding out what I said.

01:49:48.890 - 01:50:01.490

Yeah, good luck with everything, with this. And thank you for like hearing our stories. And I hope it's not like a pain to like, transcribe all of this, ‘cause I know that I mumble a lot, and I talk a lot

01:50:01.490 - 01:50:14.140

sometimes, and like, I'm all over the place. But let me know if you need any help with anything. Even—even after the pandemic, if you need like, video documentation stuff like that

01:50:14.580 - 01:50:17.150

like, I got you. Great! Thank you.