When I was 25, I suddenly decided to go abroad.
I met Kobe at a Japanese company's founding anniversary event held in Laguna Beach, California in May 2024. He was not a guest, but was there as a videographer filming the event. I participated as the event coordinator, and from our discussion about the program that day, I immediately had the impression that he was an "easy-to-communicate videographer." I imagined that he was a staff member of a Japanese TV station that had requested the filming, or a freelance cameraman, but it became clear who he was when the consul of the Japanese Consulate General, who was giving the guest speech, mentioned in his speech that "Kobe Shimada, who is being filmed there, is the director of the popular documentary film ' Dr. Bala .'" At that moment, questions popped into my head, assuming the premise of an interview: "What kind of film is that?" and "Did he go to the United States to make a film in Hollywood?"
Kobe spoke to me later with a gentle expression on his face about what prompted him to move to the United States.
"When I was 25 and had just graduated from the Faculty of Economics at Nihon University and was working in sales at a computer company, I received an email from my high school girlfriend. She said, 'I'm getting married. I'm quitting my job and moving overseas.' I had heard rumors that she was dating a Swiss man, but the news that she was getting married to someone from another country and moving overseas came as a shock to me.
Up until then, I had been working quietly without questioning anything, but after hearing from her, I suddenly felt insignificant, sitting quietly in Japan. So I suddenly decided to go abroad. Where should I go? What should I do? I wondered, and since I was a TV fanatic, I thought I might work in the entertainment industry in Hollywood. Looking back, it was a very naive idea to think that I could become an actor. So I got a student visa and came to Los Angeles in 1999.
Appeared in "The Last Samurai" and "Spider-Man 2"
Kobe said that if he had received news from a simple friend, he would not have fled Japan. "She was someone very close to me at the time, so when I found out she was going abroad, I think that's when I took that action."
Hearing that, one might imagine that his overseas study abroad plan, which he decided on later and the destination, would have been abandoned in a short time, but he actually stayed in Los Angeles for 25 years and now runs a video production company. What kept him in the US for a quarter century? Did he discover the great appeal of the US? How did he get a work visa after coming to the US on a student visa? More questions arose.
"I heard that if I took nine months of acting (training) classes, I would be given OPT, which would allow me to work after completion, so I decided to study in an acting class. However, I found out that the time I spent studying in ESL classes didn't count towards the nine months, so I gave up on OPT. From then on, I kept my student visa and auditioned as much as I could as an actor. However, acting, which I thought anyone could do, was actually very difficult, and it was hard to pass the auditions.
But I was lucky enough to appear in major films like "The Last Samurai" (starring Tom Cruise), "Spider-Man 2" and "Inception", which allowed me to join the Screen Actors Guild (SAG). Furthermore, making a film with a friend from acting school sparked my interest in behind-the-scenes work such as camera, sound and lighting, so I started to actively get involved in independent films, which led to my current job."
Kobe, who says he is "lucky," also had good luck with visas. After working on a video for a company run by a Japanese businessman he met through his hobby of rugby, he was able to get a professional visa and a green card.
"Thanks to the generous CEO who was willing to sponsor my visa, after working there for a few years I was able to start my own video production company, KOBY PICTURES, in 2006."
A documentary film shot over 12 years
The biggest turning point after going independent was the production of the documentary film "Dr. Bala," mentioned at the beginning.
"I met Dr. Omura through rugby in 2006, when he was studying abroad in Los Angeles. The following year, he began working as a medical volunteer in Southeast Asia, including Cambodia and Myanmar. I followed his activities on film for 12 years, until 2019. As a rhinologist, he performs surgery in Southeast Asia while also teaching his techniques to local doctors."
Kobe flew from the United States to Southeast Asia at his own expense to record Dr. Omura's activities on film. Much of the post-production and advertising costs were raised through crowdfunding. Furthermore, due to the COVID-19 pandemic, Kobe had time to focus on editing, and he poured his heart and soul into completing "Dr. Bala" (2003), which was nominated for a total of 21 film awards in the United States, the United Kingdom, France, and Asian countries. The music was composed by Chad Cannon, whose work "American Factory" won the 2020 Academy Award for Best Documentary Feature. "I was able to get in touch with him through an acquaintance, and when I asked him, he said that his mission is to 'connect America and Asia through music,' and he agreed," Kobe said.
When asked if he felt that his original goal of "wanting to work in the entertainment industry" had been achieved, with the film, which he shot, directed, and edited all by himself, Kobe replied, "I don't feel that way at all. My next goal is to complete a fiction feature film, and I'm currently working towards starting filming within the next two years. As for 'Dr. Bala,' I tried as many different things as I could over the last two or three years. I'm turning 50 this year, and I'd like to go even further." He revealed about his future projects.
Kobe's ex-girlfriend's email made him turn his attention to overseas destinations, something he had never considered before, and he went ahead and moved to the United States. He says that being outside of Japan has helped him to see his home country more objectively:
"Japan has amazing manufacturing and technological capabilities, but is not able to promote them. The same goes for individuals, who may have a lot of thoughts in their hearts, but don't express them. I would like to create works that focus on the positive aspects of these things being made more public, and on things that I would like Japanese people to open their eyes to."
Having left Japan and successfully made the shift from aspiring actor to director in America, he is sure to be able to create a masterpiece that will send a message to the Japanese people. While listening to Kobe's trajectory over the past quarter century, I was left with the strong impression that he is "a person who can adapt to things flexibly. He is a strong person who does not easily break because he is flexible." Incidentally, I later learned that "Bala" in Kobe's work "Dr. Bala" means "strong man" in Burmese.
© 2024 Keiko Fukuda
