A documentary filmmaker finds he can stand the heat

Documentary videographer James Young has learned there’s a story to tell almost anywhere you look, whether it’s amid the lively goings-on at an elephant park in Thailand, an exhibition showcasing the skill of a Japanese archer, or within the heat and hustle of an industrial kitchen.

His love of the craft led him to a career in public television and, long after that was over, to trek the globe.

“When I left public television in 1993 after 14 years, I still had a passion for making documentaries, so I traveled. I visited places like Madagascar and Burma trying to capture the experience, then I’d go home and edit my video and make a story about it,” said Young.

In retirement, between projects, Young took noncredit classes at Kapiolani Community College and volunteered to make videos about happenings at the school. One such project on a Japanese archery event garnered 5 million views on his YouTube channel, Pacific Editorial 808.

“That’s when I realized how powerful YouTube can be,” he said.

Then he was asked to document a special culinary event at the school, which gave him access to the kitchens — and all the drama of a hands-on culinary class in action.

As newbies chopped and peeled, mixed and garnished, chef-instructor Daniel Swift barked out orders, doling out doses of reality that are part of a professional kitchen.

“It was such an exciting experience,” said Young. “I was so impressed with the students. There’s a lot of pressure in the kitchen.”

He was hooked.

Young proposed more projects to chef- instructor David Brown, who let him tape patisserie and confiserie — pastry and con­fectionery — classes.

“The whole idea was that I couldn’t interfere,” he said of the documentary work. “I brought in only small gear, and the biggest challenge with that was sound. But I wanted to be a fly on the wall.”

The patisserie project entailed two weeks of shooting, but the confectionery course was an eight-week commitment.

During lessons in pastillage, a sugar mixture that works like paste, students crafted amazing centerpieces. Young’s video chronicles them measuring, slicing, sanding and shaping dozens of large and small pieces that they assembled into intricate sculptures based on detailed sketches. Projects included ornate temples and gazebos, cranes and other flying creatures for which each feather and scale was articulated, and even a replica of a saxophone.

This time, Young found himself as impressed with the teacher as he was with the students.

“It was incredible to watch David take kids who had no experience as artists and teach them to make beautiful pieces,” he said. “He is just amazing, the amount of detail in his head.”

Brown returns the sentiment. He said that Young provided links to his videos, and “it’s been going around and around among students.” He said prospective culinary students watch the videos to help them decide whether the rigorous program is a fit.

And now, with the new Culinary Institute of the Pacific opening, officials with the program are keeping Young in mind for more projects.

As for Young himself, the long process of shooting garnered him the finest compliment of all from his subjects.

“They told me, ‘You were around so much, we forgot you were there.’”