To NMC president Antonio V. Deleon Guerrero

I am a filmmaker based in Los Angeles where my company, Fast Carrier Pictures, produces feature motion pictures, television movies and documentaries. On June 9, 2004, I arrived on Saipan to shoot location footage and interviews for my feature length documentary, The Pied Piper of Saipan: the Untold Story of Guy Gabaldon. Mr. Gabaldon is a WWII war hero from Saipan.

I had the pleasure of working with Butch Wolf and Greg Curda of the Northern Marianas College, Department of Film and Television Arts. To assist me with my film project, Mr. Wolf assigned me a videographer, sound crew and a pair of production assistants, all of whom were students at the NMC DFTA. My team consisted of cameraman Rabby F. Syed, soundmen Rudy Hermosilla and Chuck Cabrera and production assistants Herano Imperial and Mark Agbanlog. During a four day period from June 12-15, we shot footage over the entire island and conducted 17 interviews as part of the project. I was extremely impressed with the skill and professionalism of these students. They not only had a great enthusiasm for the project, but I admired their “can do” attitude which helped solve many creative problems during the course of the shoot.

I’ve been in the film business for more than 30 years and have worked with hundreds of video crews, shooting both behind the scenes documentaries, industrials and short films, and I would compare this crew with some of the best I’ve ever worked with. On both camera and sound, they made the process of completing my work on the island an enjoyable and satisfying one. As an additional note, I want you to know that I was shocked to discover, after the production was completed, that my crew had only received their intensive training three weeks before our production began. Despite this limited experience, they handled themselves in exemplary fashion. I will be honored to include their names and the NMC DFTA in the closing credits of my production.

Please consider me a strong supporter of the NMC DFTA and I will do everything I can to spread the word in Hollywood and the United States about your exciting film and television program and wealth of production and post production talent. Please contact me any time if there is anything else I can do to assist your efforts to expand your film and television program.

Steve Rubin
Producer/Director
The Pied Piper of Saipan