This year, I'll be 65 years old, and eligible to apply for Medicare.  More importantly, I intend to finish and release my 2nd feature (which is in Post-production) and 5th short (had a Pre-production meeting at home with my cast & crew above last Thursday, March 28, 2019.) 

My co-producer and soulmate Gie & I am completely retired from listing and selling real estate after 30 years in the business and being diagnosed from leukemia myself two and a half years ago, yet getting healed from it by Jesus Christ, the Healer.

Right now also, we are so excited to see and babysit our second grandchild who will be coming out next month in New Jersey, get ready to take a cruise in Europe from there for a much-needed 2 weeks vacation, come back, and take care of our grandchildren again for another month.  What a blessing!

And, what better way to thank the Lord for His Divine Providence than to spread His Good News by being more creative through this art form, without losing my vision as a Catholic filmmaker, and our focus on what is most important in life, here and now.

First and foremost, we'll continue to praise, love, and serve God not just in our Parish Church as Lector/Reader and Eucharistic Minister during Sunday Sacred Liturgy, attending our Charismatic Prayer meeting every Tuesday and Bible Study on Fridays, feeding the homeless of Las Vegas every month, and praying for the healing of all abused children everyday, but also by nurturing and teaching our grandchildren about our Faith in Jesus Christ, whenever we visit them every two months of the year, or our kids & grandkids visit us in Las Vegas at least for a week, and see them during their weekly video calls.

Again, I praise and thank the Lord for allowing me to be creative full-time in my retirement, and indulge myself in scriptwriting, directing, editing, and producing at least one short or feature film a year (except for this bountiful and blessed year when we have two) in order to glorify Him, instead of cruising twice a year (now only once, except for this year because we already booked and paid for another cruise in December.)

You are awesome God, and Your timing is perfect!  Whereas, I wanted to sell all our possessions and retire with Gie in the Philippines when our children both finished high school 13 years ago so that I could embark on a film career over there, You did not allow our family to be broken up on the opposite sides of globe by letting my wife and kids object to my plans, because You wanted me to wait until our children are done with college, and retire in Las Vegas instead.

Besides, You wanted me to humble myself, experience the great recession in my lifetime that took a large chunk of our nest egg, forgive those who had wronged me, while continually serving You in St. John's Charismatic Renewal, and praying for healing of all abused children.

Now, I'm able to really discern why You sent us to the dessert of Las Vegas.  Because You want us to glorify You through film, and post them on social media, before Your Second Coming.

So be it, my Lord...  And, our Savior.

​
​5. I don't intend to preach in my films or even pretend to be a moral compass to what is right or wrong for my audience.

For example, my third short film is a contemporary love story between two teenage girls-- a Filipino-American and an all-American girl, which leads to murder, abortion, and the ruined lives of two wonderful young people because of the protagonists' families' contradictory religious and cultural values, and the idea of  privation of good, or presence of evil and suffering in this world.  My job is to tell the story, and let my viewers decide who and what is right or wrong, and good or bad.  As a writer, director, and producer, I aspire to be objective and morally non-judgmental as much as possible in my films.  

Integrity in filmmaking for me is being true to my vision of what I perceive to be the whole truth, and presenting it as such on the screen without reservations, even if it hurts, or it turns out to be false in the long run.  Why?  Because by being honest with yourself and certain conscience, your vision will always be valid, even if it  turns out to be erroneous.

​For my second narrative feature-- a one hour campy sex comedy-fantasy for cable TV situated in the US and the Philippines is actually a metaphor for four decades of exploitation of the Philippines by the US for commercial and strategic reasons, the disastrous consequences of US policy supporting the dictatorship of the Marcos regime, and the unfinished business of the American government in cleaning up the toxic waste left by the US military in their bases in the Philippines after the eruption of Mt. Pinatubo because of non-renewal of the bases agreement promulgated by the government of the Philippines.  Being a naturalized US citizen, my allegiance is to my adopted country-- the United States; but my integrity as a filmmaker requires that I tell the truth above, as I see fit, based on my diligent research and ascertained by my conscience; so that even if my premise is proven to be false, as a filmmaker-- my vision stays honest, and my argument remains sound.

Intellectual humility is the ability to accept one's ignorance, or to say to one's self: I do not know everything; I only know some things.  This virtue is made self-evident and difficult to attain in this Age of the Internet and Information Superhighway.

As a Catholic filmmaker, intellectual humility dictates that in order for me to achieve my vision, I: must give credit where it is due, and affirm the cooperative nature of the art of filmmaking; mustn't patronize, second guess, condescend to, discriminate against, or reinforce the biases and prejudices of my audience; would avoid using unscrupulous means of marketing my film; would neither use shock value or cheap tricks nor appeal to the lowest common denominator in man to draw attention to my film; and will not exploit my actors, film crew, and myself just to make money.

                                                                   Film Directing Class ~ NYU '99
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(To Be Concluded...)

​1. At 45, having discovered the joy of screenwriting, and embarking on my eight career for the first time in filmmaking, I can't afford to tell other writers' stories.  Right now, I have too many stories in my head, but not enough time and resources to tell them all on the screen.

I find screenwriting (the process of giving birth to characters, breathing life in them and their world, putting dialogues in their mouths while expressing a full spectrum of emotions and creating situations and conflicts in their lives in order to produce compelling drama, suspense, comedy, etc.) to be the most creative aspect of filmmaking, followed by directing and editing.  It's the closest thing to experiencing God's Act of Creation, albeit in virtual reality, which I find immensely gratifying.

2. Realistically, I probably have to produce my own films because they're not commercial enough by Hollywood standard-- which means, I have to bring my production costs down to keep my company viable and concentrate on good story lines and performances in order to come up with the best independent feature or short film possible.

3. I enjoy a variety of films, shot in different styles by a wide array of film directors worldwide because of my eclectic nature brought about by the Filipino, Spanish, Chinese, Indian, Japanese, and American imprints in my genes and upbringing, including the Tagalog-Manila, Pampango, Zambal, and Ilocano regional influences of my growing pains, which I'm sure will be reflected in the story, structure, substance, and style of my films.

​For instance, my first feature which I hope to shoot in the Spring or 1999 has an unconventional mix of classical, minimalist, and anti-structure design, a genre combination of a love story & friendships, redemptive and educational plot, domestic and psycho drama with a religious backdrop and a lot of flashbacks, but will be shot and edited in the American classic style of the 1940's.  My goal is to find a middle ground between the Hollywood and foreign art film in style and structure, and between East and West in substance.

4. For me, all knowledge passes through, from our senses to the mind, and ultimately to the spirit in all of us.  My job as a filmmaker is to put together images in a coherent whole or story, whether it's linear or non-linear, that will awaken in my viewers their abillty to feel, think, and transcend what they're experiencing.  Sex, reason, and religion (or lack of it) are intertwined in the sense that they're instinctive to man's self-preservation, and the driving forces which make our lives bearable, problematic, and always interesting.  Every film of mine will certainly explore all of these areas as a whole because they elicit strong reactions from all walks of life, when their ideals or foundations are challenged, threatened, or violated.

For example, in my first feature and thesis film, the story is about the love and friendship of four people: eros and agape between husband & wife among 2 men, and 2 women which lead to adultery, divorce, and betrayal, brought about by one of the protagonists' repressed memory of childhood sexual abuse (SEX;)  while the premise of the film is based on Aristotle's Philosophy of Friendship in his Nicomachean Ethics (REASON;) and  the theme of forgiveness and unconditional love is deduced from the set-up subplot of "The Second Coming Of Christ" film shoot within the film (RELIGION.)

(To be Continued...)

I, Oscar Diaz Ocampo, firmly resolve:

1.  to tell a story written by me
2.  in the most economical way possible
3.  using mixed (conventional and unconventional) design, form, and genre
4.  to stimulate my audience' senses, mind, and spirit altogether
5.  without moralizing and sacrificing my integrity and intellectual humility.

​EXPLANATION

(To Be Continued...)