Lance Mungia Brings Creative Vision to KGEM

From working in the rose fields while growing up in Central California to filming his 1990s cult hit Six-String Samurai in Death Valley, KGEM Executive Director Lance Mungia has always relied on his creative instincts to guide him in his projects.

Prior to his career as a filmmaker, Mungia wrote and acted in plays while growing up in the Delano-McFarland community, where his family operated a rose-growing business. Although Mungia didn’t relish getting up at 5 a.m. to hoe rose fields, he also said the environment was a great place to stimulate his imagination.

As a high school student, Mungia’s creative projects received a wider audience when he worked with the Delano Police Department’s "Just Say No" program. His plays traveled to different schools, and Mungia began to believe that he could also become a filmmaker. 

"Anything to do with media was so far away as a kid," he said. "For me it was like a whole other world."

After Mungia attended junior college in Bakersfield, he enrolled in film school at Loyola Marymount. He set two goals: he wanted his first short film to go to the Sundance Film Festival, and then he wanted his second film to be a theatrical release. And that, said Mungia, is exactly what happened.

His short film, Garden For Rio, was featured at the at Sundance in 1997. Mungia shot it in the same rose fields where he used to work.

He co-wrote his second film, Six-String Samurai, with Jeffrey Falcon, an actor who had starred in Hong Kong action movies. Mungia said that he was in a coffee shop with Falcon one night when the actor tried on his glasses. Mungia noticed he bore a strong resemblance to Buddy Holly. 

"That started the idea of a post-apocalyptic rock-and-roll fairy tale," Mungia said.

Falcon also starred in the film, which they shot in Death Valley on weekends. Although he received donations of film and help from friends, Mungia said that it was very a challenging and expensive project.

Thinking back on his experiences, Mungia marvels at the innovative technology that is available today.

"Now you can shoot HD footage on your phone," he said. "That sort of technology is so liberating.”

After only a few weeks of shooting, he ran out of money. But when his short film hit Sundance, Mungia managed to make contacts with people who helped fund Six-String Samurai.

Mungia even missed his college graduation because he was filming, but it was worth it. Six-String Samurai became a cult phenomenon. It was especially popular in theaters in Seattle, Washington and Austin, Texas, he said. 

Since then, some of Mungia’s other projects have included music videos—such as Tal Bachman’s "She’s So High," and Citizen King’s "Better Days,"—and the fourth sequel to The Crow, The Crow: Wicked Prayer.  Mungia has had the opportunity to work with artists like Macy Gray, Dennis Hopper, and David Boreanez. But, he said, out of all of his projects, Garden For Rio is still probably his favorite.

Throughout his film career, Mungia lived in many different places in the Los Angeles area, and finally found a home when he came to Monrovia.

"I moved to Monrovia and fell in love with the community. There’s a civic pride in Monrovia that I think is rare in a town in L.A.," he said.

Mungia joined the board of Community Media of the Foothills, and eventually applied for a job as the Executive Director of KGEM.

"I had so much fun being involved in this place. What I really love about film is the energy of collaboration and helping people, and that’s what led me to KGEM," Mungia said. "We are open for the community to come in and learn. If they live in Monrovia, all they have to do is show up and say, ‘I want to volunteer.’"  

“I love working with people who don’t know anything about film but are eager to learn. If a volunteer doesn’t have a show idea and wants to learn, we’ll put them to work," he added.

He said that in 2009, many Los Angeles area public access TV stations closed because of new legislation in California. KGEM is one of the few that continues to thrive, he said.

"It’s one of four stations left that does this," he said, "and you can directly thank the city of Monrovia for that."

Mungia and the staff also have worked hard to grow KGEM over the past three years.

"We’ve found ways of making equipment and stuff kind of happen," he said.

KGEM also participates in internship programs with schools like PCC, Cal Poly Pomona, and Cal State Northridge, as well as with students from , Mungia said.

"The great thing about KGEM is it’s a chance to come in and try stuff. As an artist, you’re taking your experience and translating it so that other people can share it,” Mungia said. 

“The potential is here for some kid to walk in and be the next Mozart. I really believe that cream rises," he said. 

Learn more about KGEM’s resources at www.kgem.tv, or call the studio at 626-357-4974. Clips of Lance's previous film work, including Garden For Rio, are available at www.lancemungia.com. To learn more about one of his upcoming creative projects, check out Mungia’s blog at www.wakinguniverse.com.