Getting to Know LAAPFF2017 Staff: Alvin Nuval

Erika Vazquez, one of our Communications Associates for the Los Angeles Asian Pacific Film Festival, has a chat with Operations Manager Alvin Nuval. We are looking for people to join our Festival team as a volunteer, so sign up here!

Alvin Nuval is the Operations Manager for the Los Angeles Asian Pacific Film Festival. His main responsibility is to coordinate the general Festival team, supervise the Operation Associates and Volunteer Coordinator, and collaborate with staff to develop a Festival timeline. In short, Alvin’s job is to make sure that everything runs smoothly leading up to and during the Festival.

Alvin enjoying some very good food, and he’s obviously very happy about it.

Where did you go to school? Did you always want to work for film festivals? 
I went to UCLA and graduated with a B.A. in Global Studies and a minor in Education - I never thought that I’d be working for a film festival. After college I worked as an Event Coordinator. I started at Visual Communications as a Volunteer Coordinator for the Festival last year (Spring 2016) and then I helped with another event during the summer. This year will be my second year with the Los Angeles Asian Pacific Film Festival.

What’s your favorite part about your job? 
I get to be creative, and I get to see the creativity of others as well. I’m interested in learning about the different aspects of putting together a festival. Also, just coming into work is great because the staff is friendly.  Everyone is supportive, and it’s inspiring to see what everyone else is working on. Everyone has a wide range of experiences and we can learn from one another. 

What’s something unforgettable about the last time that you worked at the Festival? What’s your favorite part about the Festival? 
Everything is such a blur once it all happens, but there are many things. I think it’s just seeing how festivals are evolving to more than just films; we are finding more ways to be innovative. This year, we are featuring an event with the history of Bronzeville - it’s interesting to know that Bronzeville was the transformation of Little Tokyo into a Jazz town when African Americans migrated to Little Tokyo after Japanese Americans were evicted from their homes and placed into internment camps during World War II.  This is something that can interest a wide range of audiences. The Festival is really evolving. 

After working months for the Festival, what are your feelings once it’s over?
I feel relieved, just seeing everything and everyone’s work come together. I also look at it as a way to bring people together- you know, everyone gets together to come watch the films, and to explore Little Tokyo. At the end I’m just like - Wow, we accomplished this! 

Would you encourage people who have never been to the Festival to go? 
I would, because there’s usually something for different tastes. We have documentaries, narratives, features, international showcases, and shorts - there’s a wide variety of films, and events that are produced for everyone. This year, there’s a children’s program called "Itsy Bitsy Shorts," and it’s basically a mix of shorts for children to watch - after the shorts there will be sort of a “petting zoo”- but instead of animals, there will cameras along with other production equipment to give children a hands on experience, allowing them to get a sense of  what goes on behind filmmaking. This is something that was done a few years back, so we’re excited to bring it back. There’s a wide range of things that the Los Angeles Asian Pacific Film Festival offers. 

Erika Vazquez is an intern with Visual Communications. She is currently a senior at California State University Fullerton, majoring in Communications, Entertainment and Tourism. She looks forward to expanding her knowledge about filmmaking and organizing community events and film festivals.