“I can’t speak to how I am to work with. But I’ve been told by many crew members that I know what I want. I can see the whole project clearly before we shoot—I’m not afraid to move on after the first take if I’ve got what I want. I think a strong vision is a director’s most important job, and I guess not everyone [has that]. I can’t imagine doing it any other way.”

Alberta Poon | Founder Nocturnal Uniform Productions

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Alberta Poon has always been one of those people who sets her mind on something and makes it happen. Not long after picking up her dad’s camcorder, she started making movies, quickly progressing from telling stories with stuffed animals to making dark murder mysteries with the neighborhood kids.

“I was obsessed with movies from a very young age. But it did not seem attainable back then,” says Poon. “I didn’t think someone that looked like me, from where I was from, could make a living in film.”

Although she loved making movies, it wasn’t something she imagined she could pursue as a career. Instead, she got into music, formed a band, and went on to perform throughout the NW music scene for nearly a decade.

“Rock star” seemed like her next best bet. That path brought the Utah native to the Pacific Northwest, and she landed in Portland in the early 2000s. In 2013 she found herself holding a camera again, this time for a lighthearted web series project with a friend. Scorpiono—both Poon and her friend are Scorpios—was about two young women “sharing a house, the same astrological sign, and a penchant for neurotic self-destructive behavior.” They had a blast, and the episodes flowed. That ease caught Poon’s attention.

“Just acknowledging that with no money at all, I’d made this many episodes happen—that’s a feat,” reflects Poon. “I realized that this was a real skill and a really deeply seated passion and that I should maybe pursue this.”


So, when a paid opportunity arose to create some cool visuals for a Next Level production at PICA, she took it. People responded to her trippy, colorful imagery, which was projected on walls during the event. The attendees—and local producers in the creative scene—liked that weirdness, and they came back to Poon for more.

Since then, she’s directed short films, music videos (recently for Sleater-Kinney), commercials for PDX boxing brand Society Nine and activist group Snackbloc, plus videos for TikTok campaigns and She Shreds magazine. Her style is distinguished by her signature sense of humor and weirdness, a bold color palette, and POC talent in front of and behind the camera. As she developed with every new job, Poon became an adept film editor and learned motion graphics—by necessity becoming very multifaceted. She honed her skills in leading a production team and bringing a concept through to the finish line.

When asked what she thinks she brings to each project, Poon prefers to defer that opinion to her colleagues.

“I can’t speak to how I am to work with. But I’ve been told by many crew members that I know what I want. I can see the whole project clearly before we shoot—I’m not afraid to move on after the first take if I’ve got what I want. I think a strong vision is a director’s most important job, and I guess not everyone [has that]. I can’t imagine doing it any other way.”

Storytellers

Author: Lauren Yoshiko
Photos: Emily Bolles
Published: June 2021

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