Taiwan and Guam filmmakers to collaborate
Taiwan’s SAPORO Entertainment International Corp., which represented “Poetries from the Bookstores,” winner of the Grand Jury Award for the Best Documentary Short, at the 2015 Guam International Film Festival, has started working with a Guam filmmaker on a project to feature Guam and local talent.
SAPORO Entertainment was co-founded one year ago by Guam resident Ping-yuan “Edward” Lu and his sister, who has been active in Taiwan’s entertainment industry for more than 20 years. The company serves as a talent agent, produces drama and TV series and will get into movie production next year.
SAPORO began discussions with Guam filmmaker Steven LeFever during GIFF. Chen-Yi “Jenny” Yang, wife of Lu and the company’s representative on Guam, says the showing of GIFF’s Made in the Marianas film submissions really impressed them and inspired them to have Guam and Taiwan work together in the film and entertainment industry.
“We found Guam filmmakers really have talent, but it seems they do not have a sophisticated business plan for their films or sufficient financial support,” Yang says. “That is why Edward and I, with our team in Taiwan, decided to diversify our business field on Guam and started generating a filmmaking project with a Guam filmmaker.”
Yang and Lu, who is also a nutritionist, also own Globest LLC, which is the franchisee for GNC products on Guam, and Love Vitamin Supply in the Hilton Guam Resort & Spa.
The first film collaboration will be a short narrative feature project. Filming began in Japan in October. A crew of Guam directors and talent — including Michael Marriott, Neil Tinkham, Myracle Mugol, Dr. Michael Lujan Bevacqua, Jayton Okada, Cory Caso, Nick Dugan and actors Jayton Okada and Franchesca Nico — will shoot scenes on Guam and in Japan.
The film project has a 16-minute script by the dual names “Hayi Gaitano Este” — translated “Whose Land is This?” — and “What Does God Smell Like?” Its themes will focus on philosophy, the state of Guam and what it means to be Chamorro today.
LeFever says he feels this collaboration of “progressive business-minded people that support the arts” is a way to assimilate independent filmmaking into Guam’s culture and help local filmmakers to grow.
“I look forward to learning and growing from the insights and knowledge of what Edward and Jenny possess, since they are, in fact, from a country that has been filmmaking for a long time compared to our island,” LeFever says.
Lu holds a bachelor’s in nutrition from Taipei Medical University, a master’s in public health from National Yang-ming University (Taiwan) and a master’s in international management from Loughborough University (UK). Yang holds a bachelor’s in journalism from Chinese Culture University (Taiwan) and a master’s in international management from Loughborough University (UK).
Documentary highlights World War II legacy on Guam
The Richard F. Taitano Micronesian Area Research Center screened the documentary “War of Guam” on Oct. 15 as part of its Seminar Series, “Re/Envisioning Tiempon Gera: Chamorro Wartime Survivors as Living Warriors for Guam.”
Directed by Puerto Rican filmmaker, writer and scholar Frances Negrón Muntaner and co-produced by Guam’s Baltazar Aguon, Michael Lujan Bevacqua and Christine Borja Sumbi, the documentary details the experience and impact of World War II on Guam through rare archival footage, contemporary film and testimonies of survivors and their descendants, including Antonio Arter Jr., radioman George Tweed and Father Jesus Baza Duenas.
Delta Air Lines announces Apple Pay feature
Delta Air Lines announced that as of Oct. 8, customers can book and pay for flights via Apple Pay using the latest version of the Fly Delta App. According to a release from Delta, the airline is the first U.S.-based airline to allow customers to purchase tickets using Apple Pay. More than 18 million customers have downloaded the Fly Delta app, the release states.
United launches newest safety video
United Airlines is set to launch its newest in-flight safety film this fall. The latest video will be a sequel to the airline’s 2014 “Safety is Global” film. The 2014 safety video features United flight attendants and staff providing instructions on buckling seat belts, locating exit doors, emergency procedures and following posted signs in a variety of destinations and settings, including a taxi in New York, a double-decker bus in Las Vegas, a cable car traveling to the peak of a snow-capped mountain and a field in Australia surrounded by kangaroos.
GVB announces winners of social media contest
The Guam Visitors Bureau launched “Only on Guam,” a social media contest to share Guam-specific experiences, events and activities with an international audience. Residents were encouraged to submit photos and videos of “Only on Guam” experiences for a chance to win a GoPro Hero+ and be featured as the “Only on Guam” photo or video of the day. The contest was held from Aug. 10 to Sept. 26 with winners selected weekly.
Winners of the prize include Terence DeLeon Guerrero’s video, “Hike to Tarzan Falls”; Donny Martin’s video, “Rope Swinging Good Time”; and photos by Alfredo Rodriguez, Julia Berg, Leilani Techaira, Jenevieve Ooka and others. Winning photos and videos are posted on www.oog.visitguam.com. The website also features photos and videos of the day and a meme generator.
“Rock Island” by Leilani Techaira was one of the “Only on Guam” social media contest winners
“Good Morning Guam,” a photo submitted by Jenevieve Ooka, is featured on the “Only on Guam” website.
Communications professionals join University of Guam
Raymond Anderson
The University of Guam has added two new assistant professors to its communications department.
Raymond Anderson has joined UOG as an associate professor of mass media. Originally from Jamaica, Anderson holds a doctorate in communications and media effects from Regent University (Va.). He has taught at George Fox University (Ore.), where he helped grow the cinema and media communications major. Prior to coming to Guam, Anderson was an instructor at Sterling College in Kansas, where he developed a media program that included cinema production, public relations and multi-media concentrations.
Francis Dalisay
Francis Dalisay has joined UOG as an assistant professor of journalism. Dalisay is a graduate of UOG. He received his doctorate and master’s at the Edward R. Murrow College Communication at Washington State University. Dalisay’s experience includes positions at Cleveland State University (Ohio) and the University of Hawaii-Manoa.
Dalisay’s research has been
published in the International Journal of Public Opinion Research, New Media & Society, Communication Research and Journalism & Mass Communication Quarterly, and he has won awards from the International Communication Association, the National Communication Association, the Association for Education in Journalism and Mass Communications, and the Central States Communication Association.
Local recipes to be featured on cooking website
Mary Ann Allen
Local dishes will soon be featured on The Frugal Chef, a cooking website dedicated to the preparation of meals using affordable and natural ingredients.
The creator of the website, Mary Ann Allen, relocated to Guam earlier this year with her husband, Peter Allen, president of Pernix Pacific.
She hopes to begin to feature Chamorro food as soon as she has properly educated herself on its preparation. “I just have to go out there and explore,” Allen says. However, her most recent recipes have featured ingredients bought and prepared locally. Allen says she has sampled keleguen, which she enjoyed and will most likely feature on the website.
Allen started the website seven years ago while in Southern California and maintained it throughout moves to Bolivia and Vanuatu. The Frugal Chef features recipes from each place Allen has lived in, as well as vegan dishes.
Allen was inspired to start the website after leaving a profession in real estate in California. The economy went down and many people in her surroundings were worried about the cost of food. In addition, the Allen family moved a lot, so a business that could be run from home was ideal. “All I need is a kitchen, my tri-pod and Internet,” Allen says.
Allen says her readers are of varying ages and incomes and are a good ratio of men and women. “The demographics are across the board,” she says.
The Frugal Chef website features instructional videos and printable recipes in English and Spanish and can be found at thefrugalchef.com.
Artists to recapture residents’ favorite spots in Guam
The Guam Council on the Arts and Humanities Agency’s Dec. 4 exhibit “9 Views of Guam” is to feature artwork of residents’ favorite spots on Guam. Residents were asked to submit photos of their most sentimental or favorite places on Guam, along with an explanation of what makes the place special via social media with the hash tag #9viewsofguam. Photos selected were recaptured in artwork by artists Taliea Guerrero Strohmeyer, Amber Word and Jessie Snyder.
GTA, Docomo to carry latest Apple phones
GTA Teleguam and Docomo Pacific began offering the Apple iPhone 6s and iPhone 6s Plus on Oct. 23.
The iPhone 6s features new technology and features including 3D touch technology, a 12-megapixel camera, five-megapixel FaceTime HD camera, live photos and a 64-bit A9 chip processor, fingerprint sensor and 7000 series aluminum alloy enclosure.
Caronel Rolex introduces Oyster Perpetual line
The Caronel Rolex Center introduced the 2015 Oyster Perpetual Yacht-Master and Oyster Perpetual Sky-Dweller on Oct. 2 at the boutique’s grand re-opening in The Plaza.
The Oyster Perpetual Sky-Dweller is a classic watch with practical functions for world travelers. It features a dual time zone display, an annual calendar with a patented Saros system; a fluted ring command bezel for quick and easy setting of functions; an officially certified Swiss chronometer; paraflex shock absorbers; a self-winding mechanical movement, and an oyster case that is waterproof to a depth of 330 feet.
The Oyster Perpetual Yacht-Master features a bidirectional rotatable 60-minute graduated bezel with raised numerals and graduations; a luminescent display; an official certified Swiss chronometer; self-winding mechanical movements; and an oyster case that is waterproof to a depth of 330 feet.
