Gene Cajayon

Gene Cajayon

Рождение : , Saigon, Vietnam

История

Gene Cajayon was born in Saigon during the Vietnam War to a Filipino father and a Vietnamese-French mother. As an infant he and his family immigrated to the United States, eventually settling in Orange County, California. Growing up with equal doses of Filipino, Vietnamese and American culture, he fell in love with movies at an early age. From Ang Lee to Spike Lee, he is influenced by a broad range of contemporary filmmakers, and is committed to portraying a diverse image of America in his work. Cajayon attended film school at Loyola Marymount University in Los Angeles, where he began work on The Debut, his first feature film. A groundbreaking coming-of-age story about a Filipino American family, Cajayon and his Producer Lisa Onodera (Picture Bride) completed The Debut after an arduous 8 year production process. From there the film embarked on a successful film festival run which included awards for Best Feature Film from the Hawaii International Film Festival and the San Diego Asian Film Festival. The Debut's crowd-pleasing success on the festival circuit inspired Cajayon to launch an ambitious theatrical self-distribution campaign. For 2 years, The Debut's grass roots promotional team (consisting of Cajayon, Onodera and a full-time staff of 6) traveled to 15 major cities across the United States and promoted the film directly to Asian Pacific American and mainstream communities. Utilizing aggressive grass roots promotional tactics, targeted advertising and traditional media coverage, The Debut eventually grossed US$1.8 million at the box office and won the Ammy Award for Best Independent Feature Film. The movie's extraordinary success in theaters led to a domestic and international distribution deal with Sony Pictures. 12 years after Cajayon first started work on The Debut, the film has now been released in theaters, DVD, home video and television in over 50 countries worldwide. Cajayon is currently developing several feature and TV projects, including Saturday Morning Christmas, a poignant feature film about an immigrant family that explores timeless themes of belonging, identity, and the redemptive role of faith.

Профиль

Gene Cajayon

Фильмы

Tribe
Tribe
Executive Producer
In the darker side of Manila-by-night, tribes of youthful gangsters roam the streets in search of quick fixes and precarious thrills. World-weary Tondo throbs to the beat of of hiphop and freestyle gangsta rap, and to the scents and sensations of drugs and sex and violence. We witness this crepus-cular underworld through the eyes of ten-year-old Ebet. We follow him as he witnesses the deadly lives of teen age gang members in Tondo and the events that lead to their explosive confrontation.
The Debut
The Debut
Writer
Filipino-American high school student Ben (Dante Basco) works in a comic book shop to earn money to pay his way into Cal Arts. His father, a postman, is determined that his son--who has won a pre-med scholarship to UCLA--will become a doctor. The eighteenth birthday party of Ben's sister, Rose, sets off a comedic and touching series of events and family struggles that will in turn determine young Ben's future. This fresh independent production from Gene Cajayon presents a lighthearted and warm coming-of-age tale filtered through the eyes of an American subculture rarely seen on film.
The Debut
The Debut
Director
Filipino-American high school student Ben (Dante Basco) works in a comic book shop to earn money to pay his way into Cal Arts. His father, a postman, is determined that his son--who has won a pre-med scholarship to UCLA--will become a doctor. The eighteenth birthday party of Ben's sister, Rose, sets off a comedic and touching series of events and family struggles that will in turn determine young Ben's future. This fresh independent production from Gene Cajayon presents a lighthearted and warm coming-of-age tale filtered through the eyes of an American subculture rarely seen on film.