Creative people working together…there is no force quite like it.

Let your life become your greatest work of art.

February 16, 1923 - September 22, 2007

My Late Grandparents and a Little Me.

Grandma, you will always be in our hearts, in our prayers, and in our memories.
You have been an inspiration to me;
teaching me about what it means to love, what is means to be strong,
and what it means to have faith.
You once told me and your other grandchildren never to give up on our dreams, ideals, and beliefs.
We will do our very best.
Your life was a gift to you, but you took it and made it a gift for others, for God.
I imagine that in Heaven, you will be quite happy to see Grandpa again, as well as meet many of your favorite actors and actresses. Say hello to Greta Garbo, Gregory Peck, Cary Grant, Loretta Young,
Bing Crosby, Fred Astaire, Gene Kelly, Audrey Hepburn, Bogie, and the rest of the gang.
I will always remember your life-giving smile, your youthful laugh, and the shining light in your eyes.
To quote the angel character in “The Bishop’s Wife”(1947),
“The only people who grow old were born old to begin with.”

To Janet Young, who was and will be…forever young.

“Be not a closed person, instead, open your heart and your mind…
  

  …Only then can love, ideas, compassion, sympathy, and spirit flow freely.
  Let an invisible bridge pass from all corners of the earth through you.
  Tear down the walls of distrust, of prejudice, of suspicion, and of judgement.
  Keep always a spare room, so that a guest may find comfort and solace in your home.
  For the wise person knows that true treasures cannot be taken from the heart, nor from the mind.
  It is through understanding this, that one may find a path to the unmoving lake, which welcomes all
  and turns back none, and even in the presence of a great, powerful, and terrifying storm…
  can remain still, calm…ripples gently spreading over the surface, while underneath…
  there is only silence and peace.”

-Andrew Zeller

PS: Happy Birthday to one of the people responsible for me being alive today!

Hello all,
This homepage will now serve as my primary blog space. I will try to update it at least 3 times a week. Please feel free to comment!

7.16 “Eating plain food and drinking water, having only your bent arm as a pillow, certainly there is joy to be found in this! Wealth and fame attained improperly concern me no more than the floating clouds.” -The Analects of Confucius

“While ordinary people consciously and deliberately pursue external goals, the sage focuses his attention upon his own inner virtue and allows external things to come to him naturally.” -Edward Slingerland’s commentary on Confucius

Photo by Andrew Zeller. Copyright 2007. Location: China.

My friend generously made a photo slideshow of me.
You can watch it on his blog: here. The title is “The Crazy Canuck.”
I also recommend his blog for some interesting and entertaining blogs.
(In case you grow tired of mine).
Thanks Christian for the slideshow!

Also, on a more serious note, I read some news tonight about a typhoon in Southern China & Taiwan.
Having been in Fujian Province and Shenzhen during typhoon warnings and some bad storms/flooding,
I have a sense of how scary this can be. For more details, I suggest you read the article: here.
Let’s keep the safety of everyone in this area in our prayers.

在见。

“Why do we need diversity in the film industry?
Why not (just) have German films for Germans, Chinese films for Chinese, (and) French films for the French?
That’s the way it used to be, right? But the world isn’t the way it used to be and the film industry should use that to good advantage. Our world has grown smaller and we are no longer isolated from each other. Words and images reach across the globe in a heartbeat and people fly to the far reaches of the Earth in hours. It is no longer possible to ignore each other:

Everyone is our neighbor now and it is our responsibility to help our neighbors because they are misunderstood and they are suffering.

The film industry is in a unique position to influence the emotions and thoughts of the pubic. By making films that pull their subject matter from the (news) headlines, using international casts, filming in different parts of the world - we can make a difference. With film, we are able to put a human face on the headlines, to show the audience what is going on, using our skill with drama, cinematography, and music to make them feel and experience what our neighbors are going through.

We are also in a position to break down stereotypes and preconceptions of other cultures by using drama, humor, and documentary. The possibilities are endless and not to take advantage of them would be irresponsible and wasteful.

We (filmmakers & actors) can all learn from each other and the more diverse the cast and crew, the more we can acquire and share. 

I have traveled all over the world not only for my filmmaking career but (also) for my charity work. I have talked with children in Vietnam who have lost their entire families to AIDS. I have been to Cambodia to see firsthand the effects of landmines; to Indonesia to witness the devastation of the tsunami. Experiences like these change you as a person and they change you as a filmmaker. The power and influence of the media should be used like a tool to help fix some of the world’s problems. It is our responsibility as filmmakers to take full advantage of the film industry to spread the word(s) of humanity, tolerance, and peace.”

-Inspirational words and feelings similar to my own from Jackie Chan

Personal Quote: “Today I became a man, and ironed my own clothes.”

Personal Poem (Dated: July 28, 2007):

I feel something very powerful, listening to the music
Listening to fingers hitting the keys
Pounding…like thunder
Prancing…like a young fawn dashing between trees deep in the forest
Pitter-patter…the sound of rain drops on the window

The journey of the heart continues forever, reaching up into the heavens,
Winding around the soul like a spiral staircase, extending one step at a time
5 steps, 6 steps…a jump….then….hesitation…shall I go further? Shall I even bother to continue? Or shall I make my way back down….to start over, all over again.
But still, I continue. What makes me continue?
Faith…Hope…Trust….the dream…the belief that within something so illogical, so wild and unpredictable, one may find peace…stability….happiness.

From my head to my toes…wind, waves, water, warmth…
Inspiration to inspiration…artist to artist…paintbrush to camera…camera to paintbrush…medium to medium…bridging the gap between minds, between imaginations, between something deeper than intellectual or emotional. Something which bridges both together to explore new ground, like a ship sailing on land.

By Andrew Zeller

For most students like myself, the year has just begun. What awaits us? Only time will tell…

Having returned from China, I am now working on 3 video projects.

The first is for a private company.
The second is “Blind Sight”, a feature length film which I began filming this June.
The third is an travel documentary/comedy series which I plan to post online for your enjoyment.

I hope you will watch my feature film, as well as the series. I am working hard to finish them soon.

To every student, have an enjoyable year! To everyone else, never stop learning!