Join Us for an #AsAmCreatorRollCall in LA!

The Los Angeles Asian Pacific Film Festival invites you to join us for a special mixer to cap off C3: The Conference for Creative Content to celebrate with our creators.

The event takes place on Saturday, May 5th from 7:00pm – 9:00pm, at Opodz in Little Tokyo Los Angeles (362 E 2nd St, Los Angeles, CA 90012)

The #AsAmCreatorRollCall Mixer is hosted by the Asian Pacific Filmmakers Experience Committee.

REGISTER TO ATTEND HERE!


Presented by Visual Communications, the 34th Los Angeles Asian Pacific Film Festival will be May 3 – May 12, 2018. LAAPFF is the premiere showcase for the best and brightest of Asian Pacific American and international cinema. The largest festival of its kind in Southern California, LAAPFF is also a proud Academy Award®-qualifying film festival for the Short Film Awards.

LEARN MORE:
http://festival.vconline.org/
http://www.vconline.org/
http://www.facebook.com/vcfilmfestival
http://www.twitter.com/vcfilmfestival
http://www.instagram.com/vconline

Kollaboration Brings Asian American Voices to SXSW 2018

For the second year in a row, Kollaboration hosted a series of successful events supporting Asian American arts and media at South by Southwest (SXSW) in Austin, TX. Kollaboration’s 2018 SXSW program started with a mixer and panel that explored Asian American excellence from industry and creative leaders and finished with our 2nd official SXSW Music Showcase celebrating the amazing talent and voices of Asian American musicians!

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Jeff Ho (Pandora), Susan Jin Davis (Comcast), Gingger Shankar (Producer/Composer), Leonardo Nam (Actor, & Minji Chang (Kollaboration) – Photo by HBO

Kollaboration partnered with Pandora, HBO, & the APA Filmmakers Experience to host #AsAmCreatorRollCall in Austin on March 13 – a panel and networking event connecting API creatives during SXSW 2018. Our afternoon included an incredible panel featuring:

Jeff Ho (Design Director, Pandora)
Susan Jin Davis (Chief Sustainability Officer, Comcast)
Gingger Shankar (Composer, Producer)
Leonardo Nam (Actor, HBO’s Westworld)

Moderated by Kollaboration Executive Director Minji Chang.

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2018 HBO APA Visionaries Finalist Huay-Bing Law & Leonardo Nam – Photo by HBO

We also had a sneak peek of the 2018 HBO APA Visionaries finalist Huay-Bing Law followed by an in-depth conversation between him and Leonardo Nam on storytelling and Asian representation. Thank you to our friends at Chi’lantro for the delicious bites!

Thank you to our sponsors Pandora and HBO!

Finally, on March 15, Kollaboration was proud to put on display some amazing Asian American talent at the 2nd ever official SXSW Asian American Spotlight Music Showcase. The lineup, the energy, and the crowd was FIRE all night long with performances by:
Lions Ambition

Lion's Ambition @ Kollaboration Presents: Asian American Spotlight - Photo by Pixeletry Photography
Lion’s Ambition @ Kollaboration Presents: Asian American Spotlight – Photo by Pixeletry Photography


Tim Atlas

Tim Atlas @ Kollaboration Presents: Asian American Spotlight - Photo by Pixeletry Photography
Tim Atlas @ Kollaboration Presents: Asian American Spotlight – Photo by Pixeletry Photography


CLARA

CLARA @ Kollaboration Presents: Asian American Spotlight - Photo by Pixeletry Photography
CLARA @ Kollaboration Presents: Asian American Spotlight – Photo by Pixeletry Photography


Uzuhan

Uzuhan @ Kollaboration Presents: Asian American Spotlight - Photo by Pixeletry Photography
Uzuhan @ Kollaboration Presents: Asian American Spotlight – Photo by Pixeletry Photography


G Yamazawa

G Yamazawa @ Kollaboration Presents: Asian American Spotlight - Photo by Pixeletry Photography
G Yamazawa @ Kollaboration Presents: Asian American Spotlight – Photo by Pixeletry Photography


Ruby Ibarra

Ruby Ibarra @ Kollaboration Presents: Asian American Spotlight - Photo by Pixeletry Photography
Ruby Ibarra @ Kollaboration Presents: Asian American Spotlight – Photo by Pixeletry Photography

 

Shoutout to Tap Room for hosting us and our production partners Mandoo Entertainment! Thank you to everyone who came out to vibe and support our amazing API artists! FOLLOW THEM ALL!

Thank you to all our sponsors and partners!

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Pandora & Kollaboration Present #AsAmCreatorRollCall in Austin – Mixer & Panel

Kollaboration and Pandora are excited to bring together the Asian American community in Austin for South by Southwest to gather, network, and collaborate with fellow leaders bringing positive change in diversity and inclusion to the screen, the boardrooms, and beyond!

#AsAmCreatorRollCall in Austin –  Mixer & Panel
Presented by Pandora
THE TAP ROOM AT THE MARKET
319 COLORADO STREET AUSTIN,TX
3:00PM – 7:00PM

Schedule of Events:

3:00PM-4:00PM – Welcome Mix & Mingle

4:00PM-5:00PM – #AsAmCreatorRollCall Panel w/ Jeff Ho (Pandora), Susan Jin Davis (Comcast Corporation), & Gingger Shankar (Composer)

5:00PM – 5:30PM – Sneak Peek of HBO APA Visionaries 2018 finalist Huay Bing Law’s short film

5:30PM – 6:00PM – “Visionaries” Chat w/ Leonardo Nam & Huay Bing Law

6:00PM – 7:00PM – Networking Mix & Mingle

Food provided throughout the event by Chi’lantro

This discussion is inspired by The #AsAmCreatorRollCall hashtag movement, started by writer/filmmaker Greg Pak , as well as the powerful #AsAmCreatorRollCall in Park City conversation that took place at the Sundance Film Festival during the 2018 APA Filmmakers Experience which included Jon M Chu, director of the upcoming Warner Bros feature film Crazy Rich Asians.

The #AsAmCreatorRollCall movement is a call to action to recognize creators from Asian American community, and for these creators to support one another to create better, and more accurate, representation of Asians and Asian Americans on the screen, page, boardroom, and beyond. #AsAmCreatorRollCall in Austin will be a gathering for creators and leaders to collide and compel each other to take charge of their own narratives to create a better, more diverse world.

CLICK HERE TO RSVP FOR THE EVENT

This event is open to the public (no SXSW badge required) but an RSVP is required for admission

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Kollaboration Presents: Asian American Spotlight returns to SXSW 2018!

Kollaboration is proud to announce that we are producing our 2nd Official SXSW Music Showcase at this year’s festival! Kollaboration Presents: Asian American Spotlight is the ONLY music showcase at SXSW featuring an all Asian American lineup:

*Click on each artist for more information about their SXSW set

Lions Ambition | Seattle, WA - Hip Hop Soul
Lions Ambition | Seattle, WA – Hip Hop Soul

Tim Atlas | Bay Area, CA - Indie Acoustic
Tim Atlas | Bay Area, CA – Indie Acoustic

CLARA | Los Angeles, CA - Electro Pop
CLARA | Los Angeles, CA – Electro Pop

Uzuhan | Atlanta, GA - Hip Hop
Uzuhan | Atlanta, GA – Hip Hop

G Yamazawa | Durham, NC - Hip Hop
G Yamazawa | Durham, NC – Hip Hop

Ruby Ibarra | Bay Area, CA - Hip Hop
Ruby Ibarra | Bay Area, CA – Hip Hop

Our event will be hosted at Tap Room at the Market (319 Colorado St, Austin, TX 78701), on Thursday March 15 at 8pm CT! In addition to this fire lineup there will be a great variety of drinks on tap + cocktails for purchase!

Don’t miss out on this event, it will be one unforgettable evening in which you will be a part of the Kollaboration Movement, filled with moving performances and immense support for the API community!

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#AsAmCreatorRollCall – The 14th Asian Pacific Filmmakers Experience at Sundance/Slamdance

Originally Posted by Visual Communications

 

The 14th Asian Pacific Filmmakers Experience in Park City that took place during Sundance/Slamdance on January 21, 2018 was an amazing success. Thank you to all those who supported the event this past Sunday.

The day highlighted the 60 plus Asian and Asian Pacific filmmakers who made history once again in Park City with their vast array of remarkable films and creative projects at the 2018 Sundance and Slamdance Film Festivals.

 Kollaboration’s Christine Minji Chang moderates the afternoon panel, “#AsAmCreatorRollCall Fireside Chat” as part of the 14th Asian Pacific Filmmakers Experience in Park City at Kickstarter Lodge (from left): Chang, Tiffanie Hsu, Gingger Shankar, Vivian Bang, Andrew Ahn, and John M. Chu. (Photo: Abraham Ferrer/Visual Communications Photographic Archive)

Additionally, a number of leading API community organizations in the arts and media partnered to showcase our artists, creators, and industry leaders who are bringing it.  In support of the recent hashtag, #AsAmCreatorRollCall, initiated by filmmaker/writer Greg Pak, the day’s conversations kept in sync with this year’s overarching theme.

Dedicated to the remarkable IRENE CHO, who guided the Asian Pacific Filmmakers Experience Committee from 2013 through 2017 – this year’s installment was a true testament to her spirit, fierceness, and absolute dedication to insuring the success of our Asian Pacific cinematic creative community will never be forgotten.

 Visual Communications’ Abraham Ferrer and David Magdael of David Magdael & Associates — the longest-tenured organizing members of the Asian Pacific Filmmakers Experience in Park City — recognize the work of the sadly-missed Irene Cho, a vital member of The Experience organizing team from 2013 through 2017. (Photo: Aubrey Magalang /Visual Communications Photographic Archive)

Special thanks to our incredible speakers: Nina Yang Bongiovi, Andrew Ahn, Gingger Shankar, Tiffanie Hsu, Vivian Bang, and Jon M. Chu, moderater Minji Chang, and welcoming remarks by David Magdael. Unfortunately, Jimmy O. Yang was not able to attend due to an unexpected conflict, but we know he was with us in spirit.

Thank you again for all your support and please mark your calendars for the 15th anniversary in 2019 – always the first Sunday at the Sundance/Slamdance Film Festival in Park City!

Warner Bros.
Kickstarter
SAG-AFTRA
Center for Asian American Media (CAAM)
Comcast NBCUniversal

THANK YOU TO OUR HOST ORGANIZATIONS:
Visual Communications
Kollaboration
David Magdael & Associates
Asian Pacific Filmmakers Experience Committee
Coalition of Asian Pacifics in Entertainment (CAPE)
Pacific Arts Movement
A3 – Asian American Artists Foundation
Asians in Hollywood
AAPI members of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts & Sciences

SPECIAL THANKS TO:
Karim Ahmad • Andrew Ahn • Vivian Bang • Minji Chang • Irene Cho • Jon M. Chu • Ethan Nicholas Chyung (son of Irene Cho) • Soo Chyung (partner of Irene Cho) • Francis Cullado • Laarni Rosca Dacanay • Susan Jin Davis • Abraham Ferrer • Elisha Gustafson • Karen Horne • Ellen Huang • Alex Hudson • Vince Johnson • Manpreet Kaur • Lin Kung • Grace Lee • Sierra Lee • Kyra Lewis • Bing Liu • Aubrey Magalang • David Magdael • Merissa Magdael-Lauron • David Ninh • Sue Obeidi • Terra Potts • Angela Rawling • Sapana Sakya • Francisco Sanchez • Gingger Shankar • Michelle Sugihara • Mini Timmaraju • Kenji Tsukamoto •  Lansia Wann • Jo-Ann Wong • Alex Wu • Jimmy O. Yang • Nina Yang Bongiovi • Donald Young • Marvin Yueh

Join us at the 14th Annual Asian Pacific Filmmakers Experience at Sundance 2018!

Asian and Asian Pacific filmmakers are making history once again in Park City with a vast array of remarkable films and creative projects at the 2018 Sundance and Slamdance Film Festivals. Our artists, creators and industry insiders are coming together celebrating a day of discussions and sharing of resources and experience, as we recognize our amazing talent who are out there telling our stories and making media projects that are shifting the landscape. The recent hashtag #AsAmCreatorRollCall initiated by filmmaker/writer

Greg Pak is our overarching theme this year, as the day will feature our Asian Pacific American content creators who are bringing it.

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This year’s edition is lovingly dedicated to the remarkable IRENE CHO, who guided the Asian Pacific Filmmakers Experience Committee from 2013 through 2017. Her spirit, fierceness, and absolute dedication to insuring the success of our Asian Pacific cinematic creative community will never be forgotten.

Join Visual Communications, David Magdael & Associates, Kollaboration, Coalition of Asian Pacifics in Entertainment (CAPE), Asian American Artists Foundation, Pacific Arts Movement, and Center for Asian American Media (CAAM) at ClaimJumper and the Kickstarter House for a full day of activities in celebration and a call to action with vital creatives of our Asian Pacific American communities.

• REGISTER HERE  for the panel BEYOND BORDERS: ASIAN AMERICANS AND THE IMMIGRANT VOICE 

• For programs at the Kickstarter House, REGISTER AT THE OFFICIAL EVENT PAGE HERE 

Asian Americans Break the Silence & Stereotypes Panel – SXSW 2017

For too long, Asian Americans have been underrepresented, stereotyped, or whitewashed in mainstream media & left very much invisible. In recent years, a growing grassroots movement & collaborative effort of Asian American creatives in new media, music, & film have changed the scene & brought this issue to the forefront after years of cultural evolution. This panel will gather some leading Asian American creatives to discuss the layered issues behind the challenges of being pegged as “unmarketable” by Hollywood & proof of how our stories enrich & entertain a universal audience & impact our world.

Recorded live at SXSW 2017 on Sunday March 16,2017

Panelists:
Minji Chang, Kollaboration
Phil Yu, Angry Asian man
Jenny Yang, Disoriented Comedy
Dante Basco, We Own the 8th

Produced & Edited by Zenith Division

Catching up With Ludi Lin, the New Black Ranger

With all the current fervor over diversity in Hollywood , the new film reboot of the popular 90’s tv show Saban’s Power Rangers couldn’t have come at a better time. Premiering Friday, March 24, the film follows five ordinary teens who “must become something extraordinary when they learn that their small town of Angel Grove is on the verge of being obliterated by an alien threat.” Boasting a wildly diverse cast, most notably the first LGBT and on-the-spectrum power rangers, the movie is hoping to show that #togetherwearemore.

A hashtag that we in the Asian American community can get behind right?

While the core Kollaboration team was making us proud in Austin, Texas during this year’s SXSW Conference & Festival, I had the chance to chat to chat with Chinese-Canadian actor Ludi Lin, one of Asia’s rising stars, who plays Zack the Black Ranger in the new iteration of the original Power Rangers team.

Lin told us that he was extremely excited and eager to show Hollywood what Asians can do on the big screen. “I mean it’s like winning the lottery,” he says, “Do you have a weight of going to claim your money? I mean not really because I had so much to say about Asians.”

For Lin, playing Zack wasn’t just about representing the Asian community but also a chance to grow as an actor.

“For Zack I just wanted to really delve into who this person really is-like he’s going through this double life that he has to live. He’s just a person within the world right?”

Of course we as Asians are not naïve enough to believe that people don’t see ‘Asian’ when they see us. But just like Zack in the film, “being Asian is a part of [us]”. Just like Zack, “there’s so many different aspects of [us] and how they relate to each other.”

As Lin so eloquently put it, “I think that each person is a book and he should have the chance for other people to be able to read that book and understand him.”

So what’s a young aspiring Asian American actor to do?

“Welcome people who want to pigeon-hole you, that want to stereotype you because that’s the chance for you to surprise them and break that stereotype.”

Similar to the film’s theme of accepting yourself, flaws and all, Lin believes that one can not a good actor until he discovers and accepts who he is.

“Have fun,” Ludi told us. “Use whatever injustice you feel and have fun with things. Because entertainment is suppose[d] to be fun.”

Some sound advice Ludi!

See Ludi Lin in action in Saban’s Power RangersNow playing!

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Pictures courtesy of Lionsgate

Kollaboration’s Asian American SXSW Music Showcase Featured on NPR’s All Things Considered

Kollaboration’s first ever SXSW showcase was featured  on today’s edition of NPR’s All Things Considered!

Missed the broadcast? Not to worry ~

Check out the audio archive and web article of the segment here!

Stay tuned to Kollaboration.org for more recap coverage of our experiences at SXSW, including highlights from our panel and our showcase! In the meantime, here are some pictures for our showcase.

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Cover photo by Stephanie Vu/Zenith Division

SJ & Ginny and Kollaboration New York presents “Quiet Tiny Asian”

Being a Quiet Tiny Asian has never been easier, thanks to these 5 easy lessons. Join QTA as she teaches her baby niece (and you!) how to successfully to be Asian in America. And if you mess up, don’t worry, people will be sure to correct you!

Kollaboration New York is excited to announce our latest co-production partnership with comedic duo, SJ & Ginny, of Drive-by Street Harassment and “Urban Teach Now” fame.

Read the full interview with the creators at Kollab.NYC

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