RAM and the lessons of possibility

2024 was an impressive festival run for RAM (Like the Verb), with twenty-three official festival selections and seven honors, including Best Animated Short at CinekinkNYC and Best Director at the Chinatown International Film Festival. The Amazing Stoner Movie Fest called it “Clever, charming and not the least bit fake,” a nod to the lead character’s struggle with performing identity.

RAM was important for me to produce, as it represented not just all the work that had previously gone into the second season of Pretty Dudes, but it also gave purpose to the funds raised through our successful Seed&Spark campaign. Knowing that all the money and support we had garnered from our backers didn’t result in a finished season weighed heavily on me—especially since much of the footage was lost due to personal circumstances and the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Sion-Raize and Charlit Dae, photographed by Daniel Villegas for Pretty Dudes.

I’ve gone into greater detail on my Patreon and in a Medium article, but realizing that the remaining footage primarily featured our Dude Charlit Dae was quite a revelation. His incredible portrayal of Ram Takada became the foundation of this film, and it gave me an opportunity to showcase post-mortem cameos from season one Dudes Alexander Alexander (Kyle Rezzarday) and Sunji Spencer (Yoshi Sudarso). Charlit and I had developed so much for Ram’s character, and I’m grateful that, even among the new characters introduced in the scuttled season, Ram managed to stand out as a breakout figure—just as he was always destined to.

Traces of Ram and his relationship with Alexander live on in Pretty Dudes: The 626, the upcoming sequel series set in the San Gabriel Valley. Many threads from Ram’s story couldn’t be woven into the arc of the film, and others never made it off the season one script pages. I’m excited to revisit these ideas and carry them to surprising new resolutions in The 626.

The journey of RAM, both as a film and as a character, has taught me that what we perceive as dead ends are sometimes only stoplights. Without the particular sequence of unpredictable events that followed S2’s derailment, I wouldn’t have been inspired to create RAM. Having the time and space to mourn what could have been allowed me to embrace what could be—and what now is.

I’m grateful for the lessons that this film’s journey has taught me, and I’m excited for the final leg of our festival run next year. I’m excited to discover what else is possible.