Mak is our voice of reason. He remains calm and systematic even amidst chaos and arguments. He is an excellent time manager and strong team player. He is ready to roll his sleeves up when asked to do tasks whether mundane or exciting. He is not afraid to try and only asks for help when he has made a considerable attempts. He also has the confidence and level headedness to tell me I am wrong, of course with grace and respect. His ability to challenge authority clearly shows that he is often thinking critically. Aside from having excellent focus (he works more than he talks), he is often willing to help others.

The areas in which he can improve in include: independent thinking (perhaps pursue his own ambitious projects where he can take leadership and ride on small victories), communication (content is often good and sound, but execution is lacking) and taking initiative (something I definitely saw more of towards the end). The areas in which he shows great potential: creative problem solving (deemed one of the most important 21st century skills) and collaboration. I can imagine the film crew disbanding if it wasn’t for Mak. (I too fight with with the other boys) Overall, it is an absolute pleasure working with Makoto, our voice of reason.

Kazu is our fearless leader and visionary. He has mastered the balance of expectation and reality. When confronted with limited time and resources, he sheds the skin of a perfectionist and embraces the “good enough” mentality, a skill that is particularly valuable in face of a challenging project. With great power comes great responsibility, he has taken the initiative to lead the rest of the crew in editing, which is just as important if not more as shooting. He is not afraid to ask for help or delegating to others. On a different note, his optimism is often admirable, and contagious too, a glue that binds us. While keeping his eyes on the prize, (which was to FINISH a B+ movie with friendship intact) he is very considerate and manages to navigate through very different personalities.

The areas in which he can improve in include: acting (to immerse himself fully in the character), not micro managing (something we all do), and perhaps being more understanding or aware of others priorities when they don’t align with his own. The areas in which he shows great potential: creativity at a very high level (his imagination is off the charts when it comes to writing the screenplay), effective leadership (he has charisma, need I say more?) and delay gratification (one of the best predictor of success in education theory). Overall, I had a blast working with Kazu, our visionary.

p.s. I love the way he says “Sssstuck ”

Daryl is the next 梁朝偉. A truly talented actor and ahead of his time, his world-class performances makes me forget we are making a film with 12 year-olds. He is so in touch with his emotions that he can laugh hysterically on queue, cry as if all the sorrows in this world has descended upon him, and rage so fiercely as to set fire on everything he touches. In short, he is not afraid to be vulnerable which makes him a great actor. The other thing he is great at is friendship. With little idea of what he is getting himself into, he went from zero to 100, truth be told, he went from typing random things on the screenplay in one of the first classes to being so committed as to send me 10 takes of him crying in the bathroom on a Sunday afternoon. It was mind blowing to watch this transformation, all for friendship.

The areas in which he can improve in include: fear of failure and risk taking (not wanting to try something unless he knows its going to work out), getting easily distracted and not being aware of other people’s feelings (that their time and resources are also valuable and limited). The areas in which he shows great potential: multiple intelligence (mastery of different fields), building empathy (I could see he was deeply moved by the film Just Mercy), and hospitality (the kind of gracious host who will make you french toast if you haven’t had breakfast) . Overall, I really enjoyed getting to know Daryl, our in-house 梁朝偉