ILLUMINE · Original Musical Film
The words, the story, and the soul of ILLUMINE — shaped by extraordinary people from Bangkok to the Sierra Foothills.
Every story needs people who believe in it before it's finished. Thaila Degusman brings the authentic voice of Bangkok to this screenplay, and Stacy Janco — my friend of over twenty-five years — has given her heart to every page of this novel. I am deeply grateful to both of them.
— Larry Cortez · Creator, Director & Cinematographer, ILLUMINE
Screenplay & Novel Collaborators
Screenplay Collaborator
Screenplay · ILLUMINE
Thaila Degusman is a Bangkok-based screenwriter and filmmaker who holds a Bachelor of Communication Arts in Film from Bangkok University's School of Digital Media and Cinematic Arts — one of Thailand's most respected film programs, whose graduates have gone on to work with Warner Bros. Thailand and major Thai production houses. Her deep knowledge of Bangkok's culture, language, and cinematic landscape makes her an essential voice in bringing ILLUMINE's Thai storyline to life with authenticity and nuance. She is the cultural bridge between Larry's vision and the world the story inhabits.
Novel · ILLUMINE
Stacy Janco is a writer, storyteller, and devoted friend from Placerville, California — nestled in the Sierra Nevada foothills of El Dorado County. She has been Larry's trusted friend and creative confidant since 1998, and brings to the ILLUMINE novel a lifetime of sharp instincts for character, voice, and emotional honesty. Stacy writes local stories rooted in the landscapes and people of the California foothills — and it is precisely that gift for human-scale truth-telling that she brings to every page she edits. Her fingerprints on this novel are invisible in the best possible way: the story simply becomes clearer, truer, and more alive.
Novel Editor
Creator · Director · Cinematographer
Creator, Director & Cinematographer
Larry Cortez is a Hawaiian-Filipino filmmaker with over 30 years of experience as a director, writer, and cinematographer. ILLUMINE is his original creation — a 19-song Disney-style musical film set in present-day Bangkok with Hawaii flashbacks, told from a woman's perspective with full Thai cultural authenticity. The project encompasses a completed novel, a finished screenplay, and 133+ recorded tracks across 14 languages. Larry is based between Bangkok, Thailand and Sacramento, California.
ILLUMINE is built on trust — between a director and his collaborators, between a story and the people who believe it deserves to be told.