An image from “Purple Heart for Effect” depicting Masatsugu Uyeda as a member of the 442nd Regiment during WWII. (Image: Courtesy of Brad Uyeda)
‘Purple Heart for Effect’ tells the story of Brad Uyeda’s grandfather’s 442nd service.
By P.C. Staff
Like many others during the Covid-19 lockdown that began in March 2020, Phoenix, Ariz.-based animator Brad Uyeda, who was born and raised in Fresno, Calif., decided to work on something that had been in his thoughts for several years, a project that, under normal circumstances, he might not have been able to put his focus.
The result was a feature-length script and a short, animated movie inspired by stories Uyeda learned about his grandfather, Masatsugu Uyeda, who was incarcerated at the War Relocation Authority Center in Poston, Ariz., and later volunteered to serve in the 100th Battalion/442nd Regimental Combat Team.
There was something compelling about that narrative that piqued the grandson’s interest in the World War II military service of his grandfather, a member of K Co. He began researching not just his grandfather’s story but that of those Nisei who served in the U.S. Armed Forces during WWII.
The result was “Purple Heart for Effect,” which runs one minute, 36 seconds and is a “proof of concept” that he hopes will help it become a feature-length project. Before that could happen, however, he would need to spend a year working on the short in his spare time.
Filmmaker Bradford Uyeda at the Flaggstaff International Film Festival earlier this year (Photo: Courtesy of Brad Uyeda)
“I drew every single frame by hand with a light table like the classics they did back at Disney in the old school days. Everything is hand drawn. It’s all me,” Uyeda told the Pacific Citizen.
For Uyeda, time was of the essence. He needed to “get it done” in time to submit it for the many film festivals he had in mind. Initially, all of the burden was on him.
“I did every facet of that film, except for maybe like one or two backgrounds in the CG plane. I outsourced that. But everything else, pretty much I did everything. I drew it, I colored it, I did the sound, I did the editing, I did the sound effects. I just didn’t do the voices.”
The voice acting was where Los Angeles County-based actor Ren Hanami entered the picture. As with Uyeda, the pandemic for her meant that she had begun doing more voice acting because it was the kind of work that those in that field could continue to do remotely.
“I was reading the densho.org newsletter, and I saw a little ad from a guy in Arizona that said [he was] looking for voiceover actors for this passion project of his,” Hanami told the Pacific Citizen. “So, I contacted him.”
Things clicked. Not only did Hanami decide to help with the voice acting and casting of voice actors, most of whom she already knew professionally, she became Uyeda’s producing partner after he parted ways with his original producing partner. Uyeda said he was uncomfortable with the changes that first partner wanted to make, changes that he felt were inauthentic and unorganic to the story.
That story, in a nutshell, was related to the issues the elder Uyeda had to deal with following his military service, including the survivor’s remorse he had after one of his friends was killed in battle, as well as the reacclimation into the civilian world after the war’s end and having to deal with the racism he faced despite having served his country.
In addition to helping recruit voice actors Kipp Shiotani and Nicole Gose and casting director Wolfie Trausch, Hanami was able to use her expertise to help the project with fundraising by doing things like applying for grants. She also was able to get Japanese language subtitles added to the movie. “I’ve been studying Japanese now for about four years, finally,” Hanami said. With help from her teacher, the subtitles were added to help Japanese language speakers understand the story.
Since completing the short, Uyeda has entered “Purple Heart for Effect” into several film festivals: the Marina del Rey Film Festival, the Silicon Beach Film Festival, the Jerome Indie Film & Music Festival, the Flagstaff International Film Festival, the Show Low Film Festival, the Mesa International Film Festival and the Silicon Valley Asian Pacific FilmFest. Uyeda also related that “Purple Heart for Effect” was just accepted into the Culver City Film Festival, which runs from Dec. 7-30.
While the short is an achievement of its own, Uyeda and Hanami know that this is just the beginning of what will likely be a long journey, one that will include raising more funds. But he looks at crowdfunding, which has become popular in recent years, as an avenue of last resort.
“I’m hoping that I could reach the Japanese American community,” Uyeda said, adding that he has been working with Japanese American organizations in Arizona, including having “Purple Heart for Effect” screen during the Arizona Japanese Film Festival in November.
“My ultimate goal is, I want the Japanese American community to really, if they can participate, if they can help fund it, I’d like it to be funded by our community if that is possible. . . . I just want to reach as many Japanese Americans as I can to let them know that this project of ours is happening.”
(Editor’s Note: For more information on “Purple Heart for Effect,” visit savmostudios.com. To find out more about the Culver City Film Festival, visit culvercityfilmfestival.com/.)
