Spotlight on.....Mika Johnson

I'm pleased to present an interview with film-maker, Mika Johnson.

Mika is currently working on a feature film, Amerika: a notebook in three parts. We have never met, but I've heard great things about him and his creative work from our mutual friend and collaborator, Honey Lapcharoen.

Can you tell me about your interests?

I’m an avid fan of the cinema, devoted mainly to the poets and visionaries. I also have a strong interest in photography, mostly for works that blur the distinction between truth and illusion or fantasy and reality. I like real scenes that appear artificial or set ups that appear real. Other interests include miniatures, optical illusions, and collages, all of which relate to my love for Surrealism. I’m more interested in making music than in listening to it and I enjoy reading books, mainly fiction but also history, psychology, and spirituality. I’m very interested in ritual, synchronicity, dreams, and time.

Can you talk about your travels and living abroad? How did those experiences shape your vision as an artist/film person?
After college I spent five years living in Japan, Germany, and the Czech Republic. I left two days before 9/11, and this gave me an outsider’s perspective on America and everything that happened afterward. Were it not for that experience, I wouldn’t have written my first feature, which in the end was my attempt to both understand America and re-mythologize it from a foreigner’s perspective.

As an artist, living abroad was a struggle, but a fruitful one. I went from teaching English, to supporting myself in Tokyo, to completing two short films and landing a job at Barrandov Studios, Prague. I spent all my free time either scriptwriting or studying European Cinema, un-enrolled at FAMU - a film school where some of my favorite directors attended, including Milos Forman, Vera Chytilova, and Jan Nemec. Since European schools tend to treat film making as an art form, I saw in their cinema a mirror of my own desire to make films that tackle philosophical and spiritual questions. During the three years between Prague and Berlin, I also completed two music albums with the Berlin-based group VOCO. I sang and played guitar.

I want to make sophisticated films, with artistic integrity, in America rather than Europe, where even independent cinema is entrenched in the values of commercialism. Not wanting to compromise this vision, my solution was to create a production company, based on the model of non-profits, and to make films that could be self-distributed over the Internet. I started
Arcanum Productions with these goals in mind. In November Arcanum uploaded a 20-minute short film that I directed and photographed in the Czech Republic titled “Yonder,” which viewers can now watch for free on our site.

What is a typical week in your life like?
I work as a freelance photographer, videographer, and editor; everything depends on the work that comes my way. When I have free time, I’m always working on the promotional aspect of trying to launch a feature film. I also love to spend time at photo libraries, like the International Center for Photography, or the image library at the Mid-Manhattan library. In the evening, I watch films with my wife Kaori and our two cats. Or I play the guitar. If it’s Friday we go out to a museum.

You are currently in the midst of developing a feature film... Can you talk about it? How did it come into being? Where are you in the process, what happens next?
AMERIKA: a notebook in three parts begins with a young Japanese woman named Kat, who is trapped in her job as a hostess in Tokyo. To escape, she leaves for America. This character grew out of my wife’s experiences, and conversations I transcribed in 2004. Kaori temporarily worked as a hostess and had intimate knowledge of that world. Imagine a situation where a man pays $500 to $2,000 to sit down, drink alcohol, and talk to beautiful women. That would almost never happen in America, unless it included sex. Something very different was at play in these Tokyo clubs that combined wealth, fantasy, and a psychological exchange. It never occurred to me that a Japanese hostess would make an interesting protagonist until Kaori described how these women often lost their identities through decadence and self-destruction. I regarded this self-destruction as a mirror of the commentary I wanted to make on American identity, history, and culture.

(Kat in Ohio still from Part II of AMERIKA: a notebook in three parts. Photo: Mika Johnson)

After Kat leaves Japan, her journey begins to overlap with America’s historical evolution, as she heads west and finds herself on this multi-dimensional road-trip; all the archetypal energies of America’s history rapidly unfold like a bizarre dream spiraling toward an apocalyptic conclusion. Kat eventually makes a sacrifice that symbolically turns back the clock. It’s an event of rebirth and reversals. I refer to this as “re-mythologizing.”

All our principle actors are cast and we have a solid crew of international artists from America, China, Japan, Iceland, and Germany. We also have our locations scouted and recently sparked a collaboration with Colleen, a French composer whose music resonates with the dream-like quality of our story. Now we’re waiting for an angel to step in and say, “I’m here to fund your film.”

How did you become interested in film?
When I was 13, my father got me a job at a local store, which also rented movies. Besides my meager pay, I could borrow movies for free. In junior high, my brother bought a video camera and we started making short films. But it wasn’t until I started college, and saw the films of Andrei Tarkovsky, that I really felt the drive to be a filmmaker. From that moment on I wanted to be a filmmaker and create poetic films with spiritual themes. Ten years later, I still feel the same way.

What is your creative process?
It’s always different. AMERIKA began as a script, which I began writing in cafes in Berlin. I needed that social environment. When we moved to Prague, I began collecting hundreds of images from photo books at FAMU that I would copy, print out, and hang up on the wall, where they began to tell the story from a visual perspective. I began casting and recording actors. My goal was to integrate each person’s real identity with the character on the page. When I began collaborating with writer Honey Lapcharoen, we tightened the narrative by removing what didn’t need to be there and adding things that were missing. It was all very organic. By the time I began taking promotional photographs for our website’s gallery, the vision completed itself.

(Kat's notebook from Part I of AMERIKA: a notebook in three parts. Photo: Mika Johnson )

What books, mentors, teachers, films, etc. have had the most influence on your development as a creative person?
It all started with my father, who is a natural performer. I was more talented behind the camera. When I think of the people who’ve influenced my development as a creative person, there are really a few that stand out: my former professor, Tim Scholl, who continues to teach and inspire me; my friends Bonnie Huie and Peter Hlinka, who I made my first short films with; and then there are those people in my life right now, who continually support, inspire, and push me to develop. These include my friends Robbie Schneider, Honey Lapcharoen, and Kaori. I’ve taken most of my lessons from my favorite filmmakers, such as Andrei Tarkovsky, Ingmar Bergman, Luis Bunuel, Sergei Parajanov, Hiroshi Teshigahara, Federico Fellini, Aleksandr Sokurov, and Bela Tarr. These are the people I study.

What are you currently reading?
The Brothers Karamazov, by Dostoevsky. It’s good, especially in the bathtub.

What inspires you?
My wife’s drawings. Our cats. Recently, archival films. And for the last two years, the museums here in New York City, especially the Metropolitan Museum of Art. My favorite sections are the Arts of Africa, Oceania, and the Americas and a reconstructed room, in the American Wing, which I know to be haunted.

What is your dream project?
I am currently completing my second feature script, which combines the genres of classic noir and sci-fi, as it follows a detective who is attempting to solve a bizarre murder in a dystopic version of America, where pharmaceutical drug companies have come to control consciousness. My dream project would be to make this film interactive, so that viewers could choose their way through the story, like a narrative labyrinth. I can foresee multiple endings, hidden scenes or texts within scenes, etc.

What words do you live?
“A sincere belief that anything is so, will make it so.” William Blake

“Wishes are recollections coming from the future.” Rainer Maria Rilke

How do you get through artist's block?
I find that working on multiple projects helps. When one isn’t flowing, I turn my attention to another. In time they all grow up.

Ohio native Mika Johnson is an accomplished filmmaker/photographer and holds a B.A. in Film and Religious studies from Oberlin College. Having already directed a documentary (Lake Street USA) and two independent short films while living in Japan and the Czech Republic (The Mountain of Signs, Yonder), Mika anticipates directing his first feature length motion picture AMERIKA: a notebook in three parts, a film loosely based on his wife and collaborator Kaori Mitsushima. He currently lives and works in New York City as a photographer, videographer, and video editor.

Thanks Mika!

Spotlight on.......Honey S. Lapcharoen

Today's interview is with Honey Lapcharoen. Honey and I were in the same program at college, lived in the same dorm- but didn't really become friends until our junior year. I would have a difficult time putting into words how I feel about Honey. To say that she has been my mentor, my trusted and great friend, and a sounding board for me feels like an understatement. I have learned so much from her in so many different arenas of life: spirituality, self-confidence and assuredness and respect. The list could go on and on. She is one of the most deeply insightful, bright, beautiful people I know.

Tell me about all of your interests, ie. baking, cats, art, music, poetry, etc.......

My love of music fuels all of my other interests. It scares me to think about how lost I'd be without my personal soundtrack. I love to write, to work in the garden, to cook, and I do all of those things while listening to my favorite bands. I connect some of the most important experiences of my life to particular songs, lyrics, and voices.

I've written poetry on and off since high school, but only recently became serious about writing poetry as something to share with others. I love watching television when the writing behind it exceeds my expectations.

I consider myself a spiritual person. I'm a Buddhist by choice and I've found that amazing things happen when I pray. I'm also a cat person because cats rule and dogs drool.

You are working on your PhD....what are you writing about and how has your writing process changed since you began the project? What is the mission of your thesis?

I'm writing my dissertation about an amazing Japanese American artist named Roger Shimomura. I first saw his work in a magazine, and was completely overwhelmed by how much I related to the issues of Asian American identity he critiques in his art. My dissertation explores how I, as an Asian American viewer, make connections to aspects of his work that communicate an "Asian American" experience. The difficulty with my thesis is that it relies on an overtly subjective-critical perspective. Using the "personal" perspective in academic work is challenging, so I've had to read the work of theorists who specialize in autobiography, narratives and alternative methods of research. Art remains a discipline which benefits from a variety of perspectives including psychoanalysis, sociology, history, critical theory, and philosophy, so I have a great deal to work with. Ultimately, I'm trying to write a paper which adds something informative and unique to the discussion of ethnicity and identity. I want it to be simultaneously personal and intellectual.

Before I started work on the dissertation, I never wrote anything longer than 20 pages. Writing a paper 150 pages or more was a daunting prospect for me. I used to be the kind of writer who edited every sentence before it ever showed up on the page. I don't do that anymore. I just write whatever babble comes to my head and edit everything later. Editing takes a lot of practice, and I've had many opportunities to edit the writing of others. All of that outside work enabled me to see the strengths and shortcomings of my own work.

You've teamed up with a film maker-- what are you working on?
Mika Johnson is a person that I've known for over 7 years. He's made a few short films, but started work on a feature film script about four years ago. He wanted to hear my opinions about his story's synopsis, so I agreed to give him feedback. Before I realized what was happening, I became completely involved in his project. His film is called "AMERIKA: a notebook in three parts," and tells the story of a Japanese woman who comes to the United States in search of her father and her true destiny. Mika is a fantastic director and photographer, but I found that his writing lacked the poetry of his visual palate and imagination. So I volunteered my time and helped him basically re-write and edit his script. I'm now the co-writer for AMERIKA, and the writer for Arcanum Productions, the company he started with his wife. It's been an exciting and frustrating time because we're trying to find funding to make the film. But overall, it's been one of the most rewarding endeavors I've ever been a part of.

How do you structure your day? What is your creative process?

I can't really focus on writing until I have a cup of coffee in my hands. If I smoked, I'd probably be on a pack a day by now. I'm not a morning person, so I don't usually do any writing until after noon. Sometimes writer's block hits me and I'll find any excuse in the world to distract me from the void in my brain. My most productive and fruitful artistic experiences happen between the hours of midnight and 3am. And needless to say, I don't sleep soundly.

With writing, I make lots of notes by hand and type them up later. Music also helps to motivate me. You know that feeling you have when you're listening to an upbeat song while you're on the treadmill? The one that makes you want to run faster? When I listen to the right song, I physically write faster and think more clearly. It's strange.

You started off studying one thing and gradually, that thing kept morphing. Can you talk about how your life as a student has brought you to where you are today.
When I was at Syracuse University I realized that I enjoyed speaking and thinking about the impact of art, rather than making art itself. Critical Theory seemed like a natural fit, because it combined extravagant thinking with academia. I eventually went to NYU for an Arts and Humanities Education degree, because it heavily focused on Critical Studies. The Doctoral program in Art Education was more of the same.

But when I was in the thick of graduate school, I sometimes felt completely inferior to everyone around me - students, professors, other visual artists. I was the youngest person in my doctoral program and I'd often be sitting at a table with only two professors and two graduate students who were over 10 years older than me. There was pressure to speak and think in a particular "post-modern" way. I was able to keep up, but there were times when I would doubt my own sincerity. Now that I've had some time outside of the academic environment, I realize that I want to speak and think in a way that incorporates what I've learned without limiting the way I communicate that information.

What books, mentors, teachers, people, etc. have had the most influence on your development as a writer?

My mom is the biggest influence on my life. She represents everything I want to be in terms of her confidence, strength, and resolve. I've been exceedingly fortunate in the support I have had from teachers and friends throughout my life, but there's nothing more important to me than the support of my mom. In terms of writing, I am most inspired by Cormac McCarthy's "The Road." That novel speaks the breadth of the universe using the fewest amount of words. It's remarkable.

What are you currently reading?

I'm embarrassed by how many books I'm reading concurrently: Revolutionary Road, Blood Meridian, The Hunger Games, 2666, and Fantasy Lover-a romance book ;)

What are you inspired by?

I'm inspired by people who aren't afraid. I'm always afraid and I hate it.

What is your dream project?

I recently started writing a novel and if I finish it, publish it, and sell it, that will be my dream project.

What words do you live by each day??

I say a particular prayer every day and those are the words I live by. The prayer isn't from any text, it's something that I created a long time ago, when I was still finding my way. It works for me. But for something a little less enigmatic:

"To laugh often and much; to win the respect of intelligent people and the affection of children; to earn the appreciation of honest critics and to endure the betrayal of false friends; to appreciate beauty; to find the best in others; to leave the world a bit better whether by a healthy child, a garden patch or a redeemed social condition; to know even one life has breathed easier because you have lived. This is to have succeeded." - Ralph Waldo Emerson

You have been a very grounded, spiritual presence in my life, how does your spirituality affect the way you approach your creativity?

It's difficult for me to think of myself as a creative person, because I don't think that I have much of an imagination. I have a very pedestrian nature that impedes my ambition. But prayer has allowed me to see the scale and impact of my life on the world. Without getting too narcissistic, I have come to realize that my choices are significant, and the positive and negative energy that I reveal to others always finds its way back to me. I no longer believe in coincidence of any kind. Everything has significance and profundity, and I remain open to its possibility.

Honey S. Lapcharoen is a writer, editor, and artist from Silver Spring, Maryland. She holds a B.F.A. and M.A. in Art Photography and Arts and Humanities Education respectively, and is currently writing her Ph.D. on the work of Japanese American artist Roger Shimomura through New York University's Art Education and Visual Culture department. Her writing has been published in Beyond Race Magazine and at the Asian American online magazine iaLink. She is the co-author of the upcoming independent film "AMERIKA: a notebook in three parts" and is the lead writer at Arcanum Productions. She is a Cancer (moody) and a cancer survivor (thyroid), and she spends her free time pulling the tails of her cats.


Thank you Honey!