Colin Hearts Kay is a movie about love, made with love. Not to mention an ocean of blood, sweat and tears in lieu of a Hollywood budget. As every writer draws inexorably from his or her own experience, the story is a reflection of my own personal journey where love is concerned: what is love? Is it duty? Is it passion? Is it fireworks or eating crap? My brother and I are half Chinese, and our bi-racial upbringing informed the project from its inception. The female lead character, Kay, has a traditional Chinese conceit of love. Filial piety wins out over Hallmark cards. But where's the fun in that? The male lead character, Colin, learns both about love and the responsibilities of growing up. Men are made when hobbies become professions and when stuffed bears become diamond rings. It's a tough pill to swallow. And what Kay doesn't realize is that romance is more than just the sugar that helps the medicine go down. You really need both. I'm very proud of my cast and crew for working so hard for so long for so little to bring this film to life. It really was a labor of love for all concerned. And I'm proud of what we pulled off. From a color palette that resolves along with the character arcs, to rotoscoped frame by frame animation, to crane shots created without a crane to snow generated without a snow machine-- I consider the project a small miracle. We even shot on a completely new still camera no one had shot a feature flim with before. I'd be remiss not to mention the movie soundtrack and how grateful I am to the many awesome Brooklyn bands that contributed songs to the film. The songs are edgy, cool, entirely new and fresh. The Colin Hearts Kay soundtrack culled from the talent of these amazing young artists is sure to blow people away. Thanks finally, and especially, to my new bride, Sarah, who let us shoot in our tiny apartment and even let us engineer the walls closing in destroying everything. If that's not love, I don't know what is. Sebastian Conley |