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Aloha! This email is being sent to you either because of your association with the movie, "Parts Of The Same Circle," or with one of its producers, or because of your participation with Yellow Brick Studio (YBS) and the production of any of its previous movies. YBS is joining with the producers of the movie, Parts LLC, to assist with the promotion and distribution of this compelling drama. Mahalo!
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Death should not be feared, but embraced. That is the theme of this haunting yet heartwarming drama which looks at death from the perspective of it being part of the circle of life. In this unique story, death is a metaphor for more than grief and tragedy, but represents reconciliation, redemption, love, and wonder. Find out why a bank vice president's life changes when he ventures on a ghost tour. Discover how a lifetime secret is the source of family discontent when siblings come together to plan their father's funeral. And feel the pain of two divorcees who find love the second time around, only to face the biggest challenge of their new lives, cancer. With Parts Of The Same Circle, we discover 11 interwoven stories of death which become a testimony about life!
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Watch "Parts Of The Same Circle" On "Amazon" And "All Hawaii TV!" | |
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Amazon is an American multinational technology company that focuses on e-commerce, cloud computing, digital streaming, and artificial intelligence, and is the largest Internet company by revenue in the world. Parts Of The Same Circle is now available for rent and purchase on Amazon, and is free for subscribers of Amazon Prime. Click here to be directed to the Amazon site. Roku is a pioneer of streaming video for television. It produces streaming players that connect to your TV and Roku TVs that have streaming built in. These devices connect to the Internet and gives you access to 500,000+ movies and TV episodes from free and paid channels. One of these Roku channels is All Hawaii TV, a channel dedicated to displaying content related to all things Hawaii. To access the channel, after you've connected to Roku, go to the main menu. Find "Streaming Channels" and search for "All Hawaii TV." Make it one of your favorite channels. "All Hawaii TV" should now appear on your Roku main menu, ready for your TV viewing whenever you desire. Parts Of The Same Circle, both the standard version (on Amazon) as well as an extended director's cut, are available on "All Hawaii TV." The official trailer* for the movie appears below.
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NOTE: If your browser returns a request for a password to view any of the videos in this email, insert "Parts" (without quotation marks).
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Click The Image Above To View The Official Trailer For The Movie | |
The Team Behind "Parts Of The Same Circle" | |
Five Men Combine Their Time, Resources, And Talents To Film An Epic | |
Eric Nemoto (far left) wrote "Parts Of The Same Circle" literally in nine days as well as a few more scenes once production began. He also served as the movie's co-director. Dann Seki (second from left) coordinated the cast and background artists (which eventually numbered over 250), served as the production's liaison with SAG-AFTRA, and helped on sound. Allan Okubo (middle) took the lead in securing the shoot's film locations (which eventually totaled over 60 different sites) and also helped on sound. He also served as the team's lead taskmaster, who kept the team surging according to what seemed like an impossible schedule. Of the many great actors who appeared in the movie, the late Jim Tharp (second from right) played the most critical role, that of the Reverend James Katsner, whose life after death experience forms the foundation for all the other stories. Jim also coordinated the production's craft services. Denny Hironaga (far right) co-directed the movie, served as its cinematographer (providing his own film and sound equipment to shoot the endless number of shots), and ultimately edited not only the current version in distribution but an extended two and half hour version by reviewing over 36 hours of footage. All of the men served as co-producers and each contributed their own time, money, and resources to pursue what would turn out to be an epic shoot, which began on January 29th, 2011, continued with periodic shoots throughout the year, until finally culminating on December 13, 2011. The team's regimen would be to meet weekly to review what began as a seemingly endless number of scenes and then proceed to schedule each succeeding week's shoots and then to methodically film each scene, checking them off one by one, week by week, month by month. Ultimately, the team filmed nearly 180 scenes over 65 separate shoots, held as many planning meetings, and ultimately involved as many as 300 people (cast, crew, background artists, and supporters) in total. It took the equivalent of 38 days to complete principal photography in which they calculated that 40 days was the goal to finish inside of in order to be considered within schedule. From this perspective, they accomplished that great rarity of outcomes, bringing the production in on time and on budget. On the night after the final shoot (which appropriately was a shot of a setting sun), the team spent a portion of that budget fittingly on themselves, enjoying a celebratory dinner at a restaurant in Kailua. It marked the culmination of a production for the ages. The photo above is from that memorable occasion. | |
So many individuals gave of their time and talents to help make "Parts Of The Same Circle" a reality. To begin with, every actor who attended and completed the audition process was eventually given a role in the movie in some form (the inset photo shows the first and only full cast reading held on January 16, 2011). As the team proceeded through the pre-production of all of its scenes, it kept getting eager participants who would provide their support to the project in some fashion. Of an approximate total of 300 people who contributed in some manner to the production, a few absolutely went beyond the call of duty. Camera operators Michael Ng, Wayne Takabayashi, and Anthony Vallejo-Sanderson assisted with the filming of the "tonnage" of shots from every angle imaginable. Audio post production became the work of Ross Okamura, from Audio Bytes Corporation, who put in countless hours to refine the movie's sound. Wayne Paakaula served as the movie's music supervisor and brilliantly coordinated its soundtrack. Tracy Okubo served in various capacities, including working as a production assistant, helping on sound, and recruiting background artists. Most significant of all were the great contributions of Gary Okuda, Bill Orihuela, and Ethie Mendonca, who provided support in innumerable ways including providing shoot locations, helping with craft provisions, and just being willing to assist in any way possible.
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Premiere & Film Festivals | |
"Parts Of The Same Circle" premiered on August 18, 2012 at the Leeward Community College Theatre. Two showings attracted an amazing total of 1,000 people. A great video that captures the excitement of that incredible day appears above.* The movie was also accepted into the 2012 Hawaii International Film Festival (HIFF) and the 2013 Big Island Film Festival (BIFF). In addition, DVDs of the movie, both the standard and extended versions, were printed, which were largely delivered to members of the movie's cast, crew and many supporters. | |
The "Parts" Of "Parts Of The Same Circle" | |
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DOCTOR DEATH
Jim Tharp plays Reverend James Katsner, whose workshop on death and dying is the central focal point through which all stories are interwoven and somehow connected with, and wherein he shares his own personal experience of dying.
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THE DISINTEGRATION OF US
Allan Okubo, Keith Kashiwada, and Karen Hironaga play siblings who must plan their father's funeral, but in doing so, will have to overcome a family tragedy that happened long before which has forever scarred their lives.
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LOVE, INTERRUPTED
Dann Seki and Elissa Dulce play two divorcees who find love the second time around, only to discover that their future may not happen because of cancer . She can't see a future with him. He can't see one without her.
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THE GHOST TOUR
Eric Nemoto plays a bank executive who is told by the outgoing president and CEO, played by the late Bill Ogilvie, that he will be the new man in charge on one condition - he must go on a ghost tour, which will come to change his life.
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THE COMEDIAN
Troy Apostol plays a comedian who, because of a past DUI, has to perform 400 hours of community service at an old folks home where people die. David Farmer plays an attorney and friend who looks out for him.
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THE UNLIKELY FOURSOME
Curtis Duncan plays a visiting dentist who skips the final day of his dental convention to take in a round of golf with three golf course rats, Dennis Ihara, John Wat, and Will Hao, in a round that will change all of their lives.
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LOVE LETTERS ON THE AIR
Stephanie Conching plays a radio DJ who decides to stay on the air indefinitely as she tries to cope with the recent death of her close friend, and Devon Nekoba plays her empathetic and understanding boss.
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THE ANNIVERSARY
Marion Lyman-Mercereau plays a mother whose daughter was raped and murdered 27 years earlier and whose killer was never caught. Once a year, she meets with the detective, Howard Bishop, for an update.
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MARILY
Renee Garcia plays a woman who has problems. As an ad salesperson for a newspaper who takes calls for obituaries she deals with death every day, which affects her. A concerned co-worker, Sherry Clifton, attempts to talk to her.
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KYLE FUKUSHIMA
Reyn Sugai plays the spirit of a young man who roams the earthly realm as penance for having committed an unforgivable crime. His story is shared by Lopaka Kapanui, who plays the guide of a ghost tour that visits haunted places.
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FOR THE FULL STORY
On August 3, 2013, the five producers gathered to tell their stories about how "Parts Of The Same Circle" was developed and produced. This video, called "Producer's Interviews,"* can be viewed by clicking here.
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IN TRIBUTE TO JIM
The original script for "Parts Of The Same Circle" had the lead character of "Kats" patterned after the late Dr. Mitsuo "Mits" Aoki, who was an expert in the field of death and dying and who helped many through the process of dying for decades. In fact, the character's name was originally penned as Katsuo "Kats" Aoyagi. Believing this central lead character would likely be the most difficult to find, the team thought to reserve this audition for last. But on the very first day of open casting, 10-time Po`okela recipient Jim Tharp walked in the door and was the very first actor to read for a part. Though he auditioned for another role, once he was done it was very clear. On August 21, 2010, mere days after the passing of Dr. Aoki (August 19, 2010), "Parts" had found its pivotal lead actor and the story's character name was merely changed. Jim would eventually join the team as a partner and the rest, as they say, is history. Looking back, it might have been fate that led Jim to take on what could possibly be - in a remarkable creative career in which he was generally regarded as one of Hawaii's finest actors - not only his greatest role, but possibly the most appropriate. For Jim was intimately acquainted with death. Having "lived" with stage 4 cancer for well over 15 years, he had been technically "dying" for a very long time ("Off the charts," as Jim said his doctor told him). Since Jim finally left us on March 21st, 2017, looking back, his monologues about death in the movie now resonate with almost a sense of prophecy. Aside from being a great actor, Jim was courageous and never let his "dying" stop him from living life to the fullest. He possessed passion, wit, and most of all an incredible sense of humor (it was he who self proclaimed himself to be "Kenji," in recognition that he was the only producer who wasn't Japanese). Those of us who remain miss him dearly. But we take comforting solace and great pride in that with "Parts Of The Same Circle," we captured his amazing talent forever. To our good friend, Jim "Kenji" Tharp, a hui hou.
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*The movie trailer, premiere footage, and producer's interviews, were produced by Denny Hironaga, and are provided courtesy of Hiro Films.
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