P R E S S   R E L E A S E

APA FILM
Press Release 9/30/02
"Charlotte Sometimes" comes to D.C.
http://www.apafilm.org/charlottepress.html

Home grown talent returns to Hawaii with feature film "CHARLOTTE SOMETIMES"for the 2002 Hawaii International Film Festival

Los Angeles, CA - Hawaii native Eric Byler debuts his feature film,
"Charlotte Sometimes" at the 2002 Hawaii International Film Festival November 1-10. Byler wrote and directed the Asian American "anti-romance" which stars Jacqueline Kim, Michael Idemoto, Eugenia Yuan, Matt Westmore and Kimberly-Rose. This micro-budget miracle has garnered top awards at mainland festivals and was recently licensed for broadcast on the Sundance Channel.

The film's crew boasts three Hawaii natives including Byler, a graduate of Moanalua High School, who also produced and edited the film. Production Designer Robert Ito, whose professional name is Robert Shinso, attended Wailua High School, and majored in theater at University of Hawaii, Manoa. Actress Kimberly Wolter, whose professional name is Kimberly-Rose, attended Mid Pacific High School.

"We'are really excited to bring the film home to Hawaii," Byler said. "We've been calling and e-mailing all our friends, teachers, coaches and asking them to come see us and see the film."

Byler returned to the Islands twice in the 1990's to raise funding for his feature film called, "Kealoha: The Loved One" a coming of age story set in a local high school. Despite attracting some name cast, including Jason Scott Lee, Rena Owen,and Keali'i Reichal, Byler was not able to finance the film, and decided to produce "Charlotte Sometimes" instead. Byler met Ito and Wolter during his efforts to produce "Kealoha: The Loved One"and called upon them once again for "Charlotte Sometimes."

The Hawaii International Film Festival is the fourth stop in many weeks for Byler and company. This weekend, it screened at the D.C. Asian Pacific American Film Festival, and at the prestigious Hamptons International Film Festival. Earlier this month, "Charlotte Sometimes" surprised filmmakers and festival-goers alike by winning the award for "Best Narrative Feature"at the San Diego Asian American Film Festival.

Earlier this year, "Charlotte Sometimes"made its impressions at the top film festivals in the world by winning the coveted Audience Award at the South by Southwest Film Festival and the Special Jury Award for Narrative Filmmaking at the Florida Film Festival. The film will appear twice on the Sundance Channel during the last four days of 2002 as part of a festival called, "New Voices for the NewYear."