It was crucial to champion and collaborate with marginalized filmmakers, many of whom were queer, because they added to the set experience and overall vision of the project. If we identify queerness as a practice, rather than a signifier, one can “queer” various elements in filmmaking and structure.

WATCH THE TRAILER FOR AIRBED

 

THE ORIGINS OF AIRBED

From 2013 to 2016, I attended the one university that I applied to as per my parents' instructions. Like the idealistic immigrant parents they were, they had been banking on me to become an engineer -- one with a degree from UIUC, specifically -- since before I was born. Blindly accepting my assigned path, I truthfully didn't understand what it meant to go to college, or what the full responsibility of earning a degree was. After much frustration and aimless wandering during those three years, I decided to take my future into my own hands and drop out to find my passion at another school closer to home.

But in that transition, I left behind a close and budding relationship with one of my best friends that helped me realize a three-part identity that developed inside of me: a queer, Asian-American, college transfer student.

waiting for the train at Union Station in Chicago, IL, Fall 2016 - Spring 2019

Today, six years after its non-fictional inception, Airbed serves as a fictional and autobiographical time capsule of how those three identities intersected. As a commuter, I had to closet my queerness from my Asian family and live an hour train ride away from all my classmates. Looking back at my sheltered and lonesome life before the transfer, I ruminated about the unique independence I sacrificed for my potential education.

visiting UIUC in March 2019

Throughout my time at my new school, my best friend would come visit me at my childhood home and I would visit his 2-bedroom apartment off campus. After dropping him off at a charter bus stop or driving back home after a weekend visit, I would daydream of what could have been. Meanwhile, he was continuing on as a successful engineering student and I was starting over from square one to be an artist (supposedly).

I decided to make Airbed as a way to summarize my struggles as an undergraduate student who was constantly in a state of transferring identities -- and it's for anyone feeling the same way.

 

ON THE JOYS OF PRODUCTION

 

Over three and a half days in three locations in late May 2019, Airbed was filmed with a powerhouse student crew made of the many close friends I met across my three years at DePaul. As one of the few production sound mixers in the School of Cinematic Arts, I had met almost everyone prior to Airbed on a different set, and I'm so, so thankful they chose to be a part of my directorial debut.

While filled with the expected pressures of creating a low budget movie, shooting this film was the greatest experience of my life so far. It felt like a rite of passage going from the mixer's chair to the director's, and I owe much of my knowledge to the many directors I got to collaborate with before this. Thank you to all who were involved on and off the set!

 

SO WHAT'S NEXT?

As Airbed approaches its first passes on color and sound, my team is in need of some more financial support to cross the finish line and get this film out into the world. With your help, and in exchange for some slick incentives like a custom Airbed University filter for your profile picture, an 11"x17" poster designed by Don Eblahan (@don.takyon) and an exclusive 1.5" enamel pin commissioned by Ann Chong (@pocketwondersdesign), we can make this queer, Asian-American short film look and sound as beautiful as possible. Currently running at 17 minutes, Airbed and its post-production team are specifically requesting support for:

• PICTURE EDITING

This film turned out to be a much, much longer film than anticipated, but we fully embraced it when we realized its pacing was one of its strengths. Help us put the final touches on the timeline before it moves down the track.

• SOUND DESIGN & MIXING 

There's a lot of quieter moments between the more dialogue-centric scenes, and because there won't be a traditional score, how will we keep the film's mix audibly engaging? What does the airbed sound like when it's awkwardly filling up in front of Jesse and Daniel? How do we make the diner scene feel alive and like there's actually more than seven people occupying the tables around Jesse?

• COLOR GRADING 

Through the graces of DePaul's advanced camera vault, Airbed was shot on an ARRI Alexa in 2K ProRes 4444. Help us take advantage of that sweet ARRI sensor and breathe life into every frame with enhanced coloring.

• MARKETING & FILM FESTIVAL SUBMISSIONS 

By boosting the film's presence across our three social media accounts, the film's own homepage, and submitting it to festivals around the country, more people will be able to know a film like this exists. With these funds, maybe some of the crew can make an appearance at these fests to represent queer Asian-American cinema (and DePaul University and also the Midwest filmmaking community at large, I suppose).

• MANUFACTURING & SHIPPING FEES 

We're using Vistaprint for our posters and the Australia-based company The Sunday Co for our enamel pins. A percentage of the funds collected will help subsidize the cost to make and ship your incentives straight to your door!

 

Thank you kindly for taking the time to read up on our little film. Making Airbed has been one of the most fulfilling projects I've ever taken on, and it's with support like yours that queer minorities like me have a shot at creating something worth sharing with the world. Matt sitting alone in his single dorm room at U of I never, ever would have guessed he would be helming something like this a few years down the track. I personally think he would be really proud.

 

Cheers y'all,

Matt
Director / Writer / Producer
Airbed