I am truly humbled as I welcome you to MY little corner of the world wide web.  It’s my first time having a “.com” after my name so please bare with me and feel free to send me your comments and suggestions.

I’ve definitely been blessed to be doing what I do.  I can’t even imagine doing anything else.  I know this because I’ve tried many times and have always failed.  The artistic side of the brain always finds a way to conquer and lead me to do what I do best… CREATE! A lot of people think I’m crazy to drop everything and just go for it, but I’m the type of person that will first take the risk and think about the consequences later.  Life is too short!

These past few years have been a BIG learning curve for me.  I love to learn and teach myself. I believe the day I stop learning, in any form, is the day I become ignorant and irrelevant to the world . I know I have a purpose in this life and I’m proud to display it to to anyone that’s willing to explore.

I remember back in 1st grade I’d sell my drawings to classmates for $1.00 each, that was a lot in those days!   I’ve been drawing and painting all my life and now instead of pictures, I sell words.  I paint my pictures with the words that I write.  I use my camera instead of pencils and brushes.  The difference now is that instead of expressing myself through still art, I have a moving picture.   The influence of film is profound.

I am a filmmaker in every sense.  I like to write, shoot, direct and even edit my own films.  There’s this amazing feeling that I can’t get anywhere else when I’m on a set.  It’s like that feeling of belonging somewhere that just feels right.  It reassures me even more this is what I’m supposed to do.  I’ve made a lot of personal sacrifices to get to this point and I know in time everything will all fall into place.  Until then, I’m ready to work… bring it on!

“There are those who look at things the way they are, and ask why… I dream of things that never were, and ask why not?” – Robert Kennedy

*photos above by Adley Diaz

My latest ACTION feature coming out in 2012.

This film has been unfortunately postponed till the second half of 2011 due to two other feature film projects of mine that has been bumped up into production “Ameripino” and “Heartbreaker”.  I don’t have time at the moment to concentrate on three films and don’t want to compromise the quality of the film and integrity of the story.

I have nearly all of my Filipino-American submissions ready for auditions but no Koreans yet, although I will continue to look as I go through my next two features.

This will end up being my 5th feature film and first Asian-American topic and cast titled “Brownless“.  It’s a film that delves into a clashing of two families from two different cultures.  It’s about a Filipino and Korean family that must learn about each other through their kids romantic entanglement.  It deals with the stereotypes and prejudice that we in the Asian-American community know exist.  It’s a story about love and culture from two different sides.  Based on a true-story.

If you are interested please send digital copy of your head-shots and resume to jeffsolema@yahoo.com.

Here are the principle characters that I am casting for:

Character Breakdown:

James Robles, 27 is a man torn between two cultures.  He left Philippines old enough to still have enough of the culture instill in him.  He allows himself to be easily influenced by the American culture but does his best to some how mix his Filipino heritage in to his daily life.  Race and color becomes very evident in James’s life.  He has dated Filipino girls all his life but eventually begins to fall for an American girl.  His relationship is very close with his family and does his best to protect and guide his younger brother John.

John Robles, 24 is an All-American kid at heart.  He knows where he comes from and uses it to his advantage when he can but doesn’t acknowledge it unless he has to.  He refuses to date within his kind and all of his relationship has been all kind.  John is going to UCLA to get his BA in Art.  He meets a girl in Wendy that he falls for and decides to do whatever is necessary to win her heart and her family.   He begins to question everything when Wendy and her family decide that he is not good enough for their daughter because he’s Filipino.

Wendy Kim, 23 is from a distinguished Korean family.  Her father Jung is preacher in their Korean Christian Church.  A lot of pressure is on her to succeed knowing their prominent place in the Korean community.  Wendy is getting her Masters in Business at UCLA where she meets John at campus.  She doesn’t normally think about anyone outside of her typical Korean circle and all of her past relationships have been with Korean guys.  Something about John intrigued her and knew from the beginning that her parents would never approve of him.

Aliw Santos, 24 is a good friend of James and his whole family.  They have been friends since they first arrived in America.  Aliw has seen James go in and out of his relationships.  James doesn’t know that Aliw has been in love with him for a while now.  James looks at her as one of the guys.  She is deciding to finally tell James how she feels right around the time that Alice Smith is introduced to her.  Aliw is very much Filipina and is proud of her heritage.  She doesn’t speak the language but understands it and is very prideful when it comes to her culture.  She is in someway over protective when it comes to James.

Jae Kim, 30 is very protective of Wendy and watches her like a hawk.  He is in every way what a Korean-American represent.  He does everything to make his parents proud of him.  He realizes their status in the community and uses it to his advantage in every way possible.  Jae at times can be very cocky and confident.  He speaks fluently in Korean and switches to English with ease.

Jung Kim (Father), 55 keeps a strict household.  He is very tradition and keeps everything he does as if he is still in Korea.  He is a preacher, a business owner, and a prideful Korean father to his two kids.

Maria Robles (Mother), 52 tries to keep up with everything her kids is doing.  She is the glue that keeps the family together.  She always speaks Tagalog to her kids.  She works as a nurse at the local hospital and is the breadwinner of the family.  She prays the rosary everyday and is very religious.

Ignacio Robles (Father), 58 is a quiet man.  He keeps to himself a lot and is very fortunate and grateful at the life he and his wife Maria can provide for his family.  He is a hard worker and sees everything at face value.  He is a janitor.

Mae Kim (Mother), 48 is a stay at home mom.  Her main focus in life is to serve her husband Jung and her two kids.  She doesn’t speak any English.  She watches Korean drama everyday.  She keeps the house clean and cooks dinner every night.  She is always trying to set her daughter Wendy up with other Korean guys.

Alice Smith, 25 is your all around blonde haired, blue eyed girl.  She is your All-American girl next door.  She doesn’t see any color so when James begins to date her she doesn’t see any color… just the person.  She fights to be accepted by James’s mother.  She tries to do whatever she needs to for her to fit in within James’s circle of friends.  Alice is very smart and intuitive.

Mason Ramos (Best friend), 25 is a great family friend and has been with the Robles since early on just like Wendy.  Mason is the joker of the crew.  He encourages James to be all that he can and looks up to James.  He has a secret crush on Wendy.  Mason can be loud and obnoxious.

“BROWNLESS”

Written & Directed by Jeff Solema

Registered with WGA and Copyrighted.