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Globality.org: I think I saw some blue sky in Colma in this movie. Was that just by chance? This was summer in Colma, right?
Wong: Yeah, we saw that and we dropped everything to get that shot. That came up and was gone in, like, four minutes. So we dropped everything and got the very last 20 seconds of it or something like that. That was like a miracle.
Globality.org: The movie has a light feeling to it. It doesn't bog down. Did you do anything specific to achieve that, or can you identify any influences in terms of giving it that feeling?
Wong: I can't say that I did anything consciously. Everything about the movie was completely gut feeling, gut reaction. I can't say that I was brilliant enough to say, 'If we do this, this, and this, it's gonna be like this!' The movie actually came out exactly how we wanted it. I think the main part was just getting the script right.
Globality.org: You take some jabs at community theater in the movie. Do either of you have any background in that area?
Mendoza: I do, yeah. I like to think of them as endearing jabs. I don't think it's too, you know, snarky. But, yeah, when I was doing theater in certain cities, (laughs) I kind of laughed when they would put on these productions of famous shows, and they would overcompensate because they know it's this black-box theater, and they'd be doing some big Cole Porter musical, and they wouldn't have the budget to do the kind of sets they would want or enough cast, and they would say, 'Well, we're just reinventing it.'
Globality.org: What is it about suburbs that are near to a really big, exciting city that makes them just feel like nowhere?
Mendoza: It feels like nowhere and everywhere at the same time, because you're so close. Anywhere that's known for its malls. Serramonte was, like, the big deal. That's where you'd go to socialize, regardless of age. It felt OK when we were like thirteen, fourteen and hanging out there. And you'd do that and walk home ... and you're just walking up St. Francis Boulevard, and you just see fog, and there's, like, nothing around you. So then, when you'd pay your visits to San Francisco, it's like, 'Wow, there's people everywhere, and they're actually talking!' And then you'd come back to Colma, and ... it's like having a birthday party, and then you come back home and there's nothing. Rich, what was your experience of Colma? You used to come all the time to see me.
Wong: That was interesting, because I have the perspective of growing up in San Francisco and seeing Colma, and not understanding why people lived there. The thing is, we didn't do anything different. We just went to Stonestown, and the funny thing is, we'd make fun of Colma people. There's just a snobbery thing to the big city/small city, just like everything else.
Globality.org: Tell me a little about the future of this movie, and then what you guys are thinking about next.
Wong: Well, the future of this movie is festivals, for a while. We're going to do festivals for the whole year. Hopefully, after a year, the movie will spark some interest from other people and either allow us to show the movie more or make another movie.
Globality.org: Rich, do you see yourself making more musicals?
Wong: Yeah. I see myself making all kinds of different movies. After the next musical, I want to do some kind of hard-core action movie or something, and then do a pure drama.
Globality.org: H.P., in addition to making music, do you expect to make more movies?
Mendoza: Yeah, definitely. That's actually all I wanted to do before I even got into music. Or plays. It's my passion, above music. I know I was supposed to be working on this new album, but I can't, because every song I write I want to put into a movie.