Jul 17
Jimmy Buffet for life. Thanks for supporting us! Super Cheers!
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WEBISODES
Jul 17
Thank you for your contribution and support! Good luck with your venture!
Check out Pan American Dreams:
Pan American Dreams is an ongoing multi-media narrative artwork that is equal parts adventure story, documentary film, photo journalism and sacred quest for knowledge.
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Jul 11
Keep The Country Country from B-Rilla on Vimeo.
Hawaii was the last state of our fifty state journey.
Ending it in pure paradise was a true blessing. Listening to the locals, and participating in the community completely fulfilled our trip.
I find it hard to explain our trip in words. Simply because I’m still trying to process everything. Our experiences, the people we met, the places we’ve been have affected and changed my life as I know it.
Hawaii. I simply don’t need to say anything more.
follow our journey: therecessends.com
Twitter: twitter.com/austinchu
Jul 10
It’s Not A Party In New Orleans from B-Rilla on Vimeo.
It’s difficult to comprehend and understand the full situation of New Orleans.
We arrived at the start of Mardi Gras and didn’t leave until the end.
Old, young, rich, and poor, celebrated Mardi Gras to the fullest. It’s the life symbol of New Orleans and it’s people. They celebrated life and being part of such an amazing community.
Much of the city is still abandoned and left to rot, but the people there, are more alive than ever. The city of New Orleans celebrated what they have, not what they don’t have.
Jun 28
Boston Hustle from B-Rilla on Vimeo.
Playing music in the subways and on the streets is raw, simple, and truly a humbling experience. I have never played anything on the streets, nonetheless sit in one place for a long period.
We saw Paulo, at the Havard stop, on the Boston Underground. His music followed us outside as we left the subway building. We originally wanted to stay and record some of his music. Turns out we got more than just a few of his songs.
When we hung out with Paulo, we realized it was more than just selling CDs and making a few extra bucks. We ended up staying and listening to him for a couple of hours.
To all you street performers, Thank you.
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Jun 17
By Juliane Huang
Some call it fate. Others call it blind luck. Whatever the term, brothers Austin and Brian Chu set out five months ago on an ambitious 50-state road trip armed only with the desire to tell the stories of everyday Americans coping with the recession.
Without concrete plans or much forethought, the two relied heavily on the kindness of strangers to help actualize their film. Since then, they have gathered over 300 hours of raw footage they aim to condense into a 50 minute length documentary film titled “The Recess Ends.”
“We went in with no plan, no goal, no vision,” documentary filmmaker Austin Chu said. “[Brian and I] thought, ‘Let’s just drive through every state. Let’s just observe. Let’s just listen. Let’s just be open to what people have to say.’ ”
As it turns out, having no plan was the best plan for them. From utilizing social networking sites and major media outlets (the brothers have been featured in CNN, USA Today, Chicago Tribune, and many other local media stations), Austin and Brian followed the spontaneous trail of human connection and always found extremely giving hosts across the nation.
“In Bennington, Vermont, we didn’t know anyone,” Austin said. “We passed through our entire network [and found] a friend of a friend who knew someone who might be working there. Two hours later we got picked up and had a place to stay. People are really generous even when times are bad. Humans are good people.”
And ultimately, that’s the message the Chus hope to impart to audiences. Though family budgets are getting squeezed and employment is harder to retain and even harder to find, there is value in basic human kindness, generosity, understanding, and communication.
Jun 9
It’s Sunny In Las Vegas from B-Rilla on Vimeo.
What we saw in Vegas blew our minds away. This was the first state we saw after leaving from California. We had no idea what to expect.
What we heard, what we gathered, was a glimpse of what is really happening. Much of Las Vegas has suffered because of the influx of out-of-state home investors.
Is this the last straw for Las Vegas? There is more than Las Vegas than The Strip.
follow our journey: therecessends.com
twitter: twitter.com/austinchu
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Jun 7
Untitled from B-Rilla on Vimeo.
Jia You “Get Gas” from B-Rilla on Vimeo.
We’ll be posting weekly web videos, while we continue to edit our film. Look for them. We’ll have them up between Mondays and Wednesdays.
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There is this saying in Chinese, “Jia You,” which directly translates to “Add Gas.” Normally, it’s used as a form of encouragement, a cheer during a sporting event. It can also be translated into: “you can do it.” Well, it didn’t really work in our favor.
Travel tip: when it doubt, always fill up.
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Jun 6
Brian and Sunny’s Wedding from B-Rilla on Vimeo.
Our trip would not have happened without the support of our friends and family.
We flew back from Hawaii, just in time for Brian and Sunny’s Wedding in California. It’s amazing to see friends and family come together. Nothing is more important than that. I realized something that night. Happiness, wealth, abundance, and riches are only present among people that you love. With that said, thank you Brian and Sunny for supporting us and our crazy adventures.
Cheers to you both!
Oh yeah, for those of you getting married, or thinking about getting married, or know of someone getting married. Keep us in mind when you’re thinking about wedding videos. If you like our style, you can hire us to support the production of our film. We don’t normally do weddings, but for friends and family, anything. Plus, we need to eat.
Email us @ austin.chu@gmail.com and/or bchu85@gmail.com
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In case you missed our trailer:
Jun 5
Brothers Show Early Glimpse Of Economy Documentary
The Chus, from Irvine, found tight-knit families on their great American road trip.
Partway through their 50-state road trip, the filmmaking Chu brothers pulled a mental 180.
“We were honestly led to the poorest cities, but the most positive people,” says Brian, 23. “Once we figured that out, it took on a whole other light.”
Brian and Austin drove from Irvine four months ago with a camera, a tiny budget and no agenda, other than to craft a documentary about the economy’s bite on the common man. This week, they reentered town with thousands of miles on the odometer and more than a million megabytes of digital film.
On their first day back, the Chus didn’t dither. They instead sat down and synthesized days’ worth of footage into a 2-minute trailer, which is now watchable on their blog, www.therecessends.com.
TRE Trailer from B-Rilla on Vimeo.
The brothers are now set to settle in San Francisco to finish the film, titled “The Recess Ends.” Brian, who’s editing, says revisiting interviews, vistas and rows of dwellings, among other moving images, has put the brothers’ cinematic journey into perspective.
“When you’re filming, you’re just concentrated on filming, and you don’t really get to listen, or you’re pretending to listen,” he says. “Now, I’m really thinking and evaluating.”
The film sprouted late last year after Austin got laid off from his job at a Web startup company. Brian then left his own post as a fitness video producer in the Bay Area, as then reported in the Orange County Register .
Along the route, which took them as far as Alaska, the Chus started tracking patterns in unrelated stories of economic hard times. Instead of limping along lonesome, Americans they met from Detroit to Denver seemed extraordinarily in tune with their families and friends.
Something then switched on in the brothers’ creative brains. In other words, they found the “secret sauce” to their project, says Austin.
“How did we miss it?” he asks. “The whole thing about this economy, this recession, is that it evolved around community.”
Contact the writer: cbird@ocregister.com or 949-553-2915
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