MFA graduate says ""Konichiwa"" to action-packed filmmaking

Janel Shoun-Smith  | 

Alumni filmmaker Spencer Glover filmed a martial arts action film as his thesis

It’s not unusual for Lipscomb University graduate students to round out their studies with an ambitious thesis project. It is unusual for that project to involve martial arts and explosions.

Spencer Glover (’17), spencerglover.biz, a Nashville-based freelance film editor and director, was a member of Lipscomb’s second group of graduates in its Master of Fine Arts in film and creative media. For his thesis project, Glover filmed a proof of concept trailer, a short film to promote an idea for a future feature film, for his dream project “The Konichiwa Kid,” which is exactly what its title sounds like, a martial arts spectacle.

Glover screened his completed trailer for enthusiastic Nashville audiences at a September gathering of Lipscomb’s Department of Cinematic Arts and at the International Black Film Festival on Oct. 5. Glover hopes “The Konichiwa Kid” trailer will become an important step toward his re-locating to Los Angeles for a continued career in film.

The plot is still evolving, says Glover, but the basic story is about an African American hibachi chef in training in Japan. He’s orphaned at a young age and grows to an adult whose sole purpose is to avenge his father's death, Glover said. He's taken in by his current father figure, Master Chef Yuki, who has taught him to focus his positive energy elsewhere, specifically the art of Teppanyaki, until the man who murdered his father shows up at the restaurant.

“This story is influenced by classic films like Kill Bill, The Karate Kid and Crouching Tiger Hidden Dragon,” Glover said.

Glover spent four days at StagePost Studios in Nashville to film the proof of concept trailer. They filmed on a tight schedule and even had to film a major scene over two days with one actor missing, so Glover’s crew had to make sure that everything on set was exactly the same from the first day of filming.  

A number of Lipscomb students were involved in making “The Konichiwa Kid” come to pass, including:

  • Kariss Forte (’17) and Andrea Turner (’17) served as producers;
  • Katherine Benson, MFA student, art director;
  • Megan Reimer, MFA student, prop master;
  • Phillip Peck, MFA student, and Sarah Kirby, senior, served as production assistants; and
  • Josh Link (’04, MFA ’16), as director of photography.

“It was a tall order that I requested from everybody involved but everyone rose to the occasion in ways that I’m still blown away by.  I’m forever indebted to so many involved,” Glover said. 

“Spencer is an easy guy to root for,” said Link. “He’s a creative director with a propensity for preparation and vision. A gifted cinematographer. But more than those tangible filmmaking skills, he’s got an infectious personality. An innate leader filled with compassion and patience.

“His preparation and dedication to this project was evident in the storyboards; the attention to detail in the set build and design was nothing short of professional; and he was able to perfectly pair his vision and passion together and present it to people in a way that it became almost impossible to not want to jump aboard,” said Link.

Glover tells about filming "The Konichiwa Kid" in his own words

A few weeks after the shoot ended, Link, an MFA classmate of Glover’s and now an assistant professor of film for the George Shinn College of Entertainment & the Arts, sat down with Glover to get insight into how the bold idea of “The Konichiwa Kid” came about:

JL: Well, you’re alive. At least you are here and look alive. How are you feeling post-shoot?

SG: (Stares blankly into the abyss as many directors do after a big shoot.)

JL:  Ok, so let’s start at the beginning. Give me the recap on how this project came about.  Where did the idea for Konichiwa come from?

SG:  It’s funny. Back in my early 20s I went to a hibachi restaurant with some friends down in Atlanta. You typically expect to see Asian chefs, etc. Well out walked this black guy. And I’m thinking he’s busing the table or something. All the sudden he fires up the grill and says, “Konichiwa, my name Fred.” We still crack up about it because he was awful. He was messing up the routine and trying to use Asian accents, it was a mess. 

It wasn’t much more than a funny story for a long time. Well, one night we convinced our directing professor Steve Feldman to have class at the hibachi place over by Lipscomb and he obliged. So I start telling them all about this experience I had had at the restaurant in Atlanta. Everyone was cracking up.  And it was actually Feldman who encouraged me that night to turn it into a short film. 

JL:  So, from there how did the story start to take shape and become what we just shot?  My guess is there were no fight sequences or explosions that night in Atlanta, right?

SG: Well in its early form, “Konichiwa” was very slapstick. It was way different that what we ended up shooting a few weeks ago. It was more gimmicky and had less heart than what we settled on. 

There was something that just didn’t sit right with me early on about the story I had crafted. Everyone loved it and thought it was funny but–I don’t know–I’m half Asian, half Black, and I always want to shine the right light on those who are underrepresented in film. Growing up between cultures, I never had a real good sense of either. I was raised by my mom, who’s Filipino, so there was something special about being able to tap into and take seriously that Asian culture. But with that came the responsibility of avoiding stereotypes and really giving the story and the characters the care and the voice they deserved. 

JL:  I think people will see that in the end. I was amazed at the attention to detail that you and the actors put into the little things. Always striving to put the best foot forward. And there were several moments during the shoot where I saw that heart. It was really inspiring. 

SG:  Thanks man. That was our goal so I really appreciate that.     

JL: You did what has become more common for high-concept ideas—to shoot a proof of concept for what would ultimately become a feature length film. To see so much heart and action packed into an abbreviated medium like this trailer was pretty impressive. 

SG:  Yeah I ultimately went this route because as I started reworking the story, I found an avenue to tell a larger story than I had originally set out to tell with the short film. And because I wasn’t sitting on large stacks of money, there was no way to shoot the feature at this point in time. So, I did this proof of concept in hopes that I could pair it with the feature script, put together a nice pitch package and work towards getting the larger project funded. 

JL:  How are you feeling after pulling this thing off? 

SG:  There’s that old saying that you’ll hear a whole lot of “no’s” before you hear that one “yes” to propel you forward and that definitely applied here. After trying for the last couple of years to make the short film version of this, and constantly running into schedule conflicts, or people dropping out of the project, having a limited budget, and getting a ton of “no’s” along the way, I got enough of the right kind of “yes’s” to keep me going. I couldn’t have done this without the selflessness of our cast and crew and the support I’ve gotten from friends and family. I got a little emotional as we were wrapping up on the shoot because it had finally come together and I was so proud of what we, as a group, had created. I still get chills just thinking about it.