The actors silently go over their lines as they walk to their chairs and sit in a wide circle facing each other while writer, director and editor Alice Park scans the room and watches as her vision slowly turns into reality. As a proud alumna of Temple City High School, Park graduated in 2003 and was involved in many extracurricular activities during her time in high school including ASB, Marching and Concert Band, Brighter Side, Basketball and Dragonflicks.
“Being involved in high school in general was the crux of deciding what I wanted to do because I continually wanted to be engaged and involved with the world,” Park said. “Specifically, the range of being involved helped me expand my views and constantly opened me up to different perspectives – it’s all about perspective. I just happened to gravitate toward the arts, and that pull is something I can’t explain.”
Luckily for Park, she chose the right path and has found a career that supports her passion.
“All of my druthers led me to filmmaking because it’s a medium that has it all – photography, music, writing, drama, leadership, learning, etc.,” Park said. “It was a good guess and choice because once I delved into it, I realized this is what I’ve been training myself to do all this time without really knowing it.”
Park went on to graduate in 2008 from Art Center College of Design. Currently, Park is working as a Freelance Director/Writer/Producer/Editor on commercials, TV and web shows at various production companies and ad agencies. Her profile on IMBD includes the credits for the short films that she has written, directed, produced, edited and other credits from jobs she’s worked on or projects she helped her peers on.
“My friends are my life-source, a constant in this very tumultuous life,” Park said. “Even if they don’t understand what it necessarily entails to create a film or what I am trying to do – and to their defense I really didn’t know what I am doing most of the time or how to make a film that resonates – they are always there contributing to the process, showing up to screenings, and giving me that moral support any creative person needs.”
Even though Park is an excellent team player and enjoys working on projects with others, she also takes on independent projects.
“The most challenging projects are always and will always be the independent projects mostly because they mean the most to me personally but also due to lack of resources, market value, and funding available for these types of projects,” Park said. “Plus, there’s a limit to how many favors you could ask your friends for before it gets to a form of abuse.”
Although Park is working in the entertainment industry, it hasn’t really changed her life.
“It’s just the business that I’m in and I’m working to make a living – that’s it,” Park said. “I suppose ‘the industry’ sheds a light to how privileged I am to have ‘an industry’ where I could pursue my passions, which is, let me assure you, something I do not take for granted.”
TCHS School Newspaper