Chapter Five - Murder in Shimmering Lake
July 1985. Shimmering Lake. A young store worker is gunned down trying to stop a robbery. Bruce and Stacey Nakamura witness the crime and are identified by one of the juvenile perpetrators as going to the same school. The Nakamuras turn to the K.I.’s (Kelley Investigators) for protection.
It was the first in a series of annual summer videos my friends from school and I made. Shot on VHS, a bunch of us ran around shooting cap guns, using smoke bombs to power rocket bikes, and Alka Seltzer as killer acid dropped in a slow stream of water to kill two of the K.I.’s and Stacey. Some little kid popped in out of nowhere to shoot one of the gang members and save the day.
My mom refused to let any of us drive because we were all thirteen, so she was the designated stunt driver of the VW Vanagon in several crucial get-away scenes. I’m not really sure what she was thinking letting all of us take over the house, my grandmother’s house, and supervising the murder in a vacant lot on Griffith Park and Hyperion (a busy intersection in the Silverlake neighborhood where I grew up.)
There was no intelligent dialogue or promising filmmaking, but it was sure fun.
In between production and the screening, I went to summer camp and invited some of the friends I made to come to the screening. I bring this up only because one of them goes, “Akira, do you always cast all Asians?”
The truth is no, I didn’t do it intentionally. I was not ahead of my time. I cast who was available. Plus, Jaime was Latino. Philip and Matthew were white. But then it dawned on me that the actors playing Stacey, Bruce, Tim, Michelle, Wendy, Gang Members 1&2, and I were all Asian.
It was honestly, the first time I was ever made aware of race.
On my street in Silverlake, every house was a different ethnicity. And you know what? It didn’t matter. We were all neighbors. I mean literally the houses went black, Asian, white, Asian, white, black, Latino, Asian, white.
Throughout my high school and college years, I really saw the world colorblind. As I wrote and got involved with productions, I just cast who was best for the role.
Today, however, my views have changed, especially with MAGA advocating divisiveness in the country. For me it has become important not just to accept anyone of another color or religion, but to embrace them. Be inquisitive. Find out what makes them different. Get to know them as people. Get to know their culture. Ask about their politics. Even if you don’t agree, find your common ground.
(This editing is happening 75 days to the election in 2024. I am on the "If we fight, we win" and "Mind your own damn business" train.)
Each successive summer in the late 80s, my friends and I made a film. We remade “K.I.’s” as “The Shimmering Lake Executives”. I guess no one knew the definition of executives because we were all cops. Tim’s girlfriend, Wendy, was gunned down. And the Nakamuras were replaced by Scott and Katie Lord.
We did a feature length sequel “Angelic Nemesis” where half the cast got killed off by a serial killer. What? “Avengers: Infinity War” did it. No one came back to fight Thanos though.
“Teen Crisis”, a project about peer counselors in a high school in San Francisco, was shot in the counselor’s main office at school where literally every single John Marshall High counselor took a shift on a Saturday to supervise. Amazing! (John Marshall is where they filmed "Rebel Without a Cause" and the carnival scene in "Grease" to name a few.)
We then drove to San Francisco to shoot establishing shots. The VW Vanagon broke down on the way back. My mom was refusing to drive us anywhere by this point.
No matter how young you are and how limited your resources, just imagine and create. If it’s an exciting idea, your friends will rally around you and participate. Don’t be intimidated.
Incidentally, my friend Mike Wong, who I knew from kindergarten, was in every single one of these projects. He played Tim and gave a monologue ripped off from “Cagney and Lacey” when Wendy was shot.
In real life, he became a successful graphic designer. And when the need for a revamped logo came about for Inception, he graciously took on the task. It’s amazing to work with someone you grew up with who now pretty much defines professionalism. He leads the off-air marketing graphics for the Family Channel. Again... talented friends rally.
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