A writer by inclination and trade, Peter A. Martin spent most of the past year learning about film festivals as a programming intern and also as a programmer for AFI Fest 2003, the Los Angeles International Film Festival, held during November 2003.
Among other things, he worked as an office assistant for the programming staff, marketed and promoted the "Asian New Classics" section, and wrote 20 program notes and a number of short blurbs for the festival program guide. During the festival, he introduced screenings, conducted several question-and-answer sessions, and enjoyed the company of creative filmmakers, super busy staffers, and enthusiastic volunteers. Oh, and more than 40,000 filmgoers.
Before commencing work with the festival, he wrote more than 100 reviews and five sidebar articles for Brian Thomas' Videohound's Dragon: Asian Action and Cult Flicks, which was published by Visible Ink Press in July 2003. The extremely handsome and sturdy paperback features over 1100 reviews, 50 sidebars, 8 indexes, 900 pages, and a foreword by actress and martial artist Cynthia Rothrock.
The book is available from
Amazon,
Barnes & Noble,
Powell's,
Chapters.ca,
Amazon Japan,
UK's
Review Index,
Wal*Mart,
BooksAMillion, and your local bookstore.
Peter wrote Hollywood to Hong Kong Express,
a weekly column for Mobius Home Video Forum, from September 2002 to November 2003. He covered film festivals and special events,
reviewed movies, tackled divergent cinema subjects, and won at least a handful of
loyal readers.
He created A Better Tomorrow, a web site devoted to news and reviews about the Hong Kong film industry, in August 2000. Nearly 200 reviews can be found on the site. As of January 2004 the focus of the site
was broadened to include reviews, ruminations, and pithy comments on film festivals, world cinema, and the latest releases from Hollywood.
He wrote movie reviews and researched product information for HKFlix, a U.S.-based importer
of Asian DVDs, from September 2001 to August 2002.
He began his writing career by developing educational materials for a non-profit organization. His work included writing articles, editing newsletters, and organizing training seminars. Switching focus in the late 1990's, he wrote marketing and sales material as well as web site and newsletter content for two start-up technology companies.
Peter has also contributed his time and energy to other film festivals, including the 1st Asian Film Festival of Dallas (Texas) and AFI Fest 2002. One of his film reviews was republished in the program book of the 4th Far East Film Festival (Udine, Italy).
All told, he has more than 15 years experience as a writer, proofreader, editor, and Internet researcher. He is based in Los Angeles, California.
