How we got Pak-kun

--snip--

Hey Dan,

It's really strange how we got Pak-kun. Ken was going on and on about how Pak-kun was his idol and all. And, I was thinking "We really need to get an interview with this guy, but he's so famous, so how do we get to him?" Then, we were out at a stand up gig at the Fiddler filming Cloudy B., and Pak-kun stepped up to the mic (you gotta love synchronicity).

I jumped on him after his set. I was really clumsy, pushing my card in his hand..."I'm doing a movie. Will you be in it." He was really nice...almost too nice, and I thought, "this guy is going to blow us off." But he didn't. We only shot one interview with him on that trip, and it was on the street, so the sound sucks. At the beginning of the interview, he got mobbed by fans. It was so surreal. I asked him what it meant to be a talent in Japan, and he said "it means you have no talent."

On the next trip, we shot loads of stuff--him doing his TV show, him doing his radio show, and him at home with his wife. He is a really cool guy...very humble...very thankful. It's good because it shows what Ken is aspiring to be. And, it shows the sacrifices that Ken might have to make to achieve his dream. Interestingly, that guy works so much! He never has vacations. I don't know how he does it.

--end snip--

I've been thinking a lot about Ken. He's the one that has the really big story arc. We've been filming him since the beginning. The other Cowboys sort of represent possibilities of what Ken's life could have been, what it might have been had he made a different choice here or there. It is so interesting to think of the film in that way. Like, Ken would have been like Mark had he stayed in Head Hunting and formed his own company. If Ken hadn't have found Aki, maybe he would have been like Dave. The film is becomming something bigger than just this thing about some guys I know in Tokyo. It's about life, freedom, sacrifice.

Michael was right. The more I look at the footage, the more things become clear.

Robert and Helen are buying us dinner tonight. Today is a really good day.