We are continuing to feature the Fuller filmmakers involved with Land of Kim: The North Korean Tragedy. This in-production documentary will tell the story of North Korea that no one really knows. They were even able to go into North Korea, the most closed country in the world, with cameras and bring out never before seen footage of what life is like above the 38th parallel.
The production recently launched their funding campaign to raise the rest of the money they need to finish their film. We strongly encourage you to check out what they are doing, and get involved in whatever way you can. Their campaign runs until October 25.
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Matthew Schuler
Editor, Animator
Land of Kim: The North Korean Tragedy
Director, Editor, Animator
LivingStone International University in Uganda
Writer, Director, Animator
Rose City Coffee
1) How did you get involved in filmmaking and why?
Growing up my family had a 10″ black and white television that sat in the corner and flickered to life only when dad wanted some weather. On special occasions we would make a trip into town, rent a VHS player and a full-size color TV, and my brother and I would get to watch a movie. We would set up our portable stereo and record the whole film onto casette tapes then listen to the audio again and again for a month which probably explains why I become overly emotional whenever I hear studio logo music and suddenly feel as though I’m traveling back in time.
Since those early years, movies are the means by which I understand the complexities of the world around me and the forces that actualize my own life. Memorizing films became second nature, movie lines became credos, and conversational anecdotes always began with “it’s just like that scene in…”
I became a filmmaker because I ran out of excuses. I realized that the only reason I wasn’t doing film was because of a well-developed fear of personal failure. Now I am working on choking that fear with my mind, just like that scene in Empire Strikes Back. All of my life I have jumped onboard with other people’s projects, because I was too afraid to fashion my own. Now I’m working on films because at the end of the day, that is what I really want to do.
2) What project(s) are you particularly excited about now and why?
The projects that I am most excited about at the moment are, sadly, still too firmly in pre-production to disclose. I will say that I am working on a feature length film and a documentary of my own, as well as a book.
3) How does your faith influence your filmmaking?
Hollywood contains twice the recommended daily allowance of ego, and spending too much time around that system nukes my soul. Faith in a better way, a better life, in overwhelming goodness, it changes the tone of the projects that I’m working on. It helps me accept my own limitations and flaws, which are legion, and be humbled by them.
I work to be kind and gracious on set, rather than cutting or unreasonable. I realize that I can expect the best from people in a way that pulls it out of them rather than forces it or demands it. If someone screws up and costs me money – forgiveness. If one of our crew needs help – service. If we’re all feeling that midnight Martini burn – love. Faith helps me fight for the things that matter, like creating the best thing I can, rather than fighting to get ahead or to get my way. Faith changes the game.
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Matthew is half of the partnership behind Snowtone Limited, a small film and design studio based in Los Angeles. You can connect with Matthew and Snowtone Limited via Facebook and Twitter.
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From the Land of Kim production team:
This documentary film will outline the history of North Korea from the beginning of the twentieth century to the present day, focusing on human rights abuses and solutions toward a one-day peaceful North Korea.
Interviews with experts in the fields of human rights activism, politics, history, Asian studies, foreign affairs and national security will provide clarity and a variety of opinions about the geo-political and humanitarian problems facing the reclusive communist nation. Archival footage, news clips and animation will be used to chronicle the current state of diplomacy between North Korea and the world community.
Our goal is to unite the world community toward the task of finding solutions to the human rights crisis facing the nation of North Korea. Many Americans simply don’t know much about this strange and isolated country. With this film we will give audiences a better understanding of the history, politics, and heartbreaking human struggle of North Korea. We want to spark conversation, provoke thought, and urge society to ask difficult questions about the global neighborhood.
You can connect with Land of Kim and its production team via:
The Land of Kim Website
Their Indigogo Campaign
Facebook