(IMAGE: Allen Ling Music)
An AllenLingMusic.com Release. 2022. 6 mins.
Grade: 3 out of 5
Heartbreak and learning to let go are the themes of writer/producer and performer Allen Ling’s trilogy of short films, each shaped as narrative music videos. A Name In Your Book is the most recently released and the middle film of the three and has already won several international music and film festivals. It’s even more cinematic than the first film in the trilogy, Straight Into The Ocean, directed by Carolyn Laws, which is a winner of over 40 festivals. “Rather than have a bunch of people dancing,” says Ling, “we want to tell real stories in a cinematic way.”
The little movies are indeed cinematic – films set to music, certainly, but the music is in service of the story and narrative of the film. That narrative is generated by the emotions drawn from real events in the singer/songwriter and actor’s life. “People like to watch something while they’re listening to music,” says Ling. “…we want to immerse someone into the whole experience, the to give them more than just a music video. To put into this film all of the elements of a movie; actual locations versus green screens, the sets, the costumes, the performances, beyond, but informed by the song.”
To that end, A Name In Your Book and the other installments feature more than a few notable performers, including Ally Ioannides (Parenthood, Into the Badlands), among others. The first film in the series Straight into the Ocean, featured Aramis Knight, currently playing Dagger in the MCU’s Ms. Marvel (he was also a co-star of the popular dystopia action-adventure series, Into the Badlands), and Emma Kenney (Shameless). These performers not only lend an air-of-cinema to the series of short films/music videos but also provide familiar faces that give the audience a reason to pause and consider what they are watching – what’s the story here?
The story in A Name In Your Book refers to a book a former lover of the lead (played by Ling) once revealed to him that contained the names of her lovers, begging the question for our protagonist, “Will I be the last name in your book?” They are the events of Ling’s actual life and are among the inspirations for his view of life, one that suggests Ling’s s personal philosophy: “The best part of the creative process is the magic that happens when talents collaborate with respect and mutual admiration…,” says Ling.
The third short film in the trilogy, Remember (Us), Ling says, will serve as a CODA for the journey, and stories, resolving the narrative of the songs and the narrative of the films and bringing us back to that principle theme of the films about learning to let go. This is the other concept Ling, a cancer survivor of 17 plus years, wants to instill in his work as a filmmaker, songwriter, producer of graphic novels, and noted physical therapist. Yep – that, too.
A Name In Your Book and Straight Into the Ocean have played or is currently playing the music and film festivals circuit. A sample includes; the Paris Film Festival, Hollywood Gold Awards, Toronto Indie Filmmakers Film Festival, China Beijing Film Festival, Palm Beach International Music Awards, Top Shorts, and dozens of others.
A Name in your Book
Director: Elizabeth Mantia
Written by: Allen Ling, Elizabeth Mantia and Ariel Rozenbaum
Ex-Producer / Producer: Allen Ling
Cast: Allen Ling, Annie Malev, Ally Ioannides, Beteal Sharon Mahari.
Director of Photography: Beth Cloutier
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