For one year, Toshio Ikeda supported himself solely by playing slot machines in Saitama, Japan. He lived comfortably, earning an average of $2,200 a month.

Eventually, fed up with what he described a lazy lifestyle, he decided to take a gamble on studying film in America.

Now 28, he juggles schoolwork, extracurricular film projects and is working as this year’s intern for the School of Media Arts Showcase.

The film production major is known among several departments for showing up out of breath and just in the nick of time.

“He’s not just running to make deadlines,” said Showcase Coordinator Seantel Sanders. “He’s actually promoting a vision.”

For his internship, Ikeda has been tasked to produce the multimedia content for the showcase, an awards ceremony for outstanding students in the SoMA departments. He’s been prepping the showcase since December.

Before coming to City College in Spring 2010, Ikeda was the Production Manager at Dentsu, an advertising agency in Tokyo. There, he shot, edited and occasionally acted in videos.

He ended his four years at the agency when he felt that advertising was not fulfilling.

“The biggest difference between movies and advertisements [is] whether [they’re] lasting or not,” he said.

According to Ikeda, advertisements have a lifespan between a few days and a few months, while people still watch films from the 1960s.

“Those movies continue to move people,” he said. “I just want to do the same thing.”

Curtis Bieber, chair of the film production department, recommended Ikeda for the showcase internship.

“It’s not just about talent,” Bieber said about choosing an intern. He also describes Ikeda as “reliable, dependable, and [having a] good attitude.”

Ikeda brings his own style to the internship, which is characteristic of Japanese culture.

Bieber compared screenshots of his and Ikeda’s work to illustrate their differences of style.

His documentary, “26 Days in Rwanda,” is “very earthy, very gritty, not clean [and] more three-dimensional,” whereas Ikeda’s short film assignment, “Kaleidoscopic Seasons,” is “two-dimensional, clean, more pastel [and] not organic,” he said.

Despite Ikeda’s hard work, SoMA chairs voted to cancel this year’s showcase during a meeting on April 26.

Ikeda said he was disappointed by what he felt was an unnecessary denial of student opportunities.

However, City College’s budget crisis recently slammed SoMA.

“Our decision was driven by last-minute cuts that we chairs have to make in the next few days that will suck up all the planning time we had allocated for the showcase,” said Patricia Stark, chair of the journalism department.

SoMA plans to use Ikeda’s work in next year’s showcase if he signs off on it.

Ikeda is not sure exactly what he will do when he leaves City College after this semester. But he applied for an Optional Practical Training work permit, which allows international students to work in the U.S. for one year post-graduation. He hopes to move to Los Angeles.

“I definitely see him in either film, television, video, or multimedia,” Sanders said. “I don’t see him being a dentist, although he’d be a good one.”

Editor’s Note: This article was originally published May 9, 2012.