Category: Film

Pacific Islanders in Communications Celebrates 25 Years of Funding and Creating Content

It’s a year-long celebration for the Pacific Islanders in Communications (PIC), celebrating 25 years of supporting, developing, and advancing content for and by the Pacific Islander community. The Honolulu-based media arts non-profit organization celebrates creating TV programming, funding documentaries, and having showcases in various Asian American film festivals.

“Some of our goals are to develop the programming, enhance public recognition and appreciation for Pacific Islander history and culture,” Executive Director Leanne Ferrer explained via Skype interview.

PIC is one of five organizations that make up the National Minority Consortia; the others being the Center for Asian American Media (CAAM), the Latino Public Broadcasting, the National Black Programming Consortium, and Vision Maker Media. Prior to PIC’s founding in 1991, many of its producers worked with CAAM (then called the National Asian American Telecommunications Association). The producers were encouraged to create their own organization specifically for Pacific Islander content and to get the Corporation for Public Broadcasting to fund them. After the producers stated their case at a meeting in Honolulu, PIC then started to become a reality.

“It’s a great story because without the help of our Asian counterpart, I don’t think the producers here would have thought about it,” said Ferrer. “So it’s really great to be a part of that tapestry that gives a voice to minorities.”

The funding and support from PIC has been crucial for a number of Pacific Islander content creators – including Ferrer herself, who received funding from them as a filmmaker for two short films back in the early 2000s. She later joined the organization in 2009 as the program manager, before becoming the executive director in 2014.

PIC has grown overtime, thanks in part by partnerships, screenings, and helping out partners whenever possible. They’ve grown so much that they’re now producing various series for TV.

They’re just about to start the fifth season of Pacific Heartbeat; PIC’s first national series, created by Ferrer, where various documentaries that have been made possible by the organization are screened.

“I love Pacific Heartbeat,” she said. “I’m happy I’m able to package that in one place for people just to see the breadth of Pacific Islander stories.”

PIC also produced a second series with Rock Salt Media called Family Ingredients; an eight-part series hosted by chef Ed Kenney that celebrates and explores the world of food and how it plays a role in family history. It begins airing on PBS in July, and will be the first series to screen outside the Asian Pacific American Heritage Month window.

Ferrer named two recent films PIC helped make happen that have been particularly resonating with audiences: Dean Hamer and Joe Wilson’s Kumu Hina and Tony Vainuku and Erik Cohn’s In Football We Trust. She believes that its responses are a succession of PIC’s goal to tell a universal story.

“When we’re funding it or when producers are making it, it’s always in the back of your mind as, ‘Is the general audience going to get it or are we just making to this small section of Hawaii? Are we going to be preaching to the choir?'” she elaborated. “That’s good storytelling when you can give it to a broad audience and get that reaction.”

In a time now where diversity is in demand for heightened quality and quantity, Ferrer believes that the Pacific Islander community should be included in the conversation more.

“I personally don’t think there’s enough [representation] and I think there could be a lot more,” she explained. “In mainstream media, it seems like we get recognized being in football and maybe with beautiful scenic shots of where we live, [but] it still can get better.”

While she acknowledges public figures like Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson for bringing a face to Pacific Islanders as a part of the American tapestry, she hopes to see more exposure, minus the stereotypes.

Ferrer also believes that working together with the Asian American community can help in the long run. She sees the common ground with both communities through cultural similarities and finds them to be a good mesh. However, she doesn’t want to see the two communities being lumped together into one group.

“There are a lot of organizations that serve both Asians and Pacific Islanders, but Pacific Islanders are usually underrepresented,” she stated. “It’s not to say anything bad about those organizations; it’s that you have your hands full with the Asian population.”

For PIC’s 25th anniversary, many events are planned, including the anniversary reception in September and the Hawaii Media Makers Conference in November. There have also been one-minute vignettes posted on their social media, acknowledging 25 people, films, and other organizations that have helped PIC become what it is now.

In the future, Ferrer hopes for more partnerships to form, funding to be raised, training given to Pacific Islander producers to tell the community’s stories, and for PIC to become a go-to source for Pacific Islander content.

In the mainstream media, she hopes for the Pacific Islander community to be integrated more into the American tapestry and have their contributions recognized.

“I want more Pacific Islander content creators,” she said. “I want there to be more content aggregators. I want more people interested in Pacific Islander media and what Pacific Islanders have to say and give to the world.”

logo2

For more information on PIC and what it has planned next, be sure to check out their website as well as their Facebook, Twitter and YouTube.

Samantha Futerman Talks Twinsters and Surfing – Coffee Break with Minji Chang

Samantha Futerman visits us for a Coffee Break to chat about her new project, the Kindred Foundation for Adoption, as well as what life’s been like since finding her twin sister. Sam also shares about how she got into acting and her newfound surfing hobby.

Find out more about “Twinsters” at http://twinstersmovie.com and Kindred Foundation at http://www.kindredadoption.org/

Credits:
Producers: Minji Chang & Marvin Yueh
Director: John Enriquez
Camera Operators: Brianna Kim & Derek Miranda

 

Angie Kim on Spa Night and Chasing Her Acting Dreams – Coffee Break with Minji Chang

We finish our series of interviews with the cast and  crew of “Spa Night” with Angie Kim, who was also in 2015’s K-Town Cowboys. Angie shares her experiences of watching the film for the first time at Sundance as well as what drives her to pursue her acting career. Can you guess who her acting role model is?

Find out more about “Spa Night” at http://www.nonethelessproductions.com/spanight

Credits:
Producers: Minji Chang & Marvin Yueh
Director: Dennis Chang
Assistant Director: Eva Hsia
Production Assistant: Brianna Kim
Camera Operator: John Enriquez
Edited by: Aubrey Magalang

Special thanks to Zenith Division for their assistance in making this video.

A Chat with Joe Seo on his Sundance Breakthrough Performance – Coffee Break with Minji Chang

Joe Seo is having a great year. Besides making his feature film lead debut in Andrew Ahn’s Spa Night, he was also awarded the 2016 Sundance Special Jury Award for Best Breakthrough Performance! Minji Chang sits down with Joe for a Coffee Break to chat about the film and his Sundance experience.

Find out more about “Spa Night” at http://www.nonethelessproductions.com/spanight

Credits:
Producers: Minji Chang & Marvin Yueh
Director: Dennis Chang
Assistant Director: Eva Hsia
Production Assistant: Brianna Kim
Camera Operator: John Enriquez
Edited by: Aubrey Magalang

Special thanks to Zenith Division for their assistance in making this video.

Cementing and Defining Legacies at CAAMFest 2016

The 34th annual CAAMFest (formerly the San Francisco International Asian American Film Festival) was held in San Francisco and Oakland from March 10-20. Though attendees may have left with different impressions following the full program of screenings, panels, and events, I believe the common thread linking the attendees’ experiences was CAAMFest’s exploration of the power of legacy.

Tyrus kicked off the festival in a packed Castro Theater. The audience was visibly absorbed by the moving documentary about Tyrus Wong, a Chinese American artist who overcame numerous obstacles in pursuit of his passion. Despite circumstances that separated him from his mother at age 9 and the racism he endured as a Chinese American, Wong persevered for his art. Whether it be paintings for Hallmark cards, storyboarding for a feature film, or even building an elaborate kite to grace the sky, he applied his artistic vision relentlessly and it was only recently that he’s being celebrated for his lifetime of work.

The 105-year-old Wong, who was in attendance, received a standing ovation following the film’s conclusion. During the Q&A, an audience member shared that he inspired her to live to 105 – which was appropriately met with a round of applause – and that the younger generation should look to Wong for inspiration when pursuing passions in life, despite all odds.

Legacy-defining continued with a presentation made by Pixar animator/director Sanjay Patel and producer Nicole Grindle on the making of the Academy Award-nominated short film, “Sanjay’s Super Team.” Together in one of the smaller theaters of the Alamo Drafthouse, we watched the seven-minute storytelling feast for the eyes come alive with well-timed comedy and beautifully animated action sequences, accompanied by a thrilling Mychael Danna-composed score.

During the Q&A after the screening, Patel and Grindle explained how the film was developed, how the story changed overtime, and how different influences were incorporated into the animation’s appearance. John Lasseter, Pixar’s chief creative officer, had told Patel to “just tell your story,” and the story that came to him was about what it’s like to grow up as the child of Asian immigrants, a narrative that is rarely seen in mainstream media. Even Patel’s father was touched by the film, as shown in a video recorded during a private screening at Pixar. Moved by this, an audience member requested an encore and we wound up watching “Sanjay’s Super Team” a second time around.

Muslim Youth Voices, an organization dedicated to celebrating and telling stories from the Muslim community, hosted a screening of student productions made by Muslim kids from Philadelphia and Minneapolis. Under the guidance of filmmaker Musa Syeed, the young filmmakers dug into the depths of their developing creative sides and brought forth a wide array of short films. From mind control brownies controlling a high school girl, to a short documentary on a spoken word poet, these kids embraced their Muslim identities and were empowered to tell their own unique stories rather than resign to the negative stereotyping of mainstream media.

If I wasn’t convinced before of the theme of legacy at the festival, the screenings I saw on the last day at the New People Cinema certainly did the job. I saw two documentaries, a short and a feature, which were part of the Pacific Showcase from the Pacific Islanders in Communications. John Antonelli’s Roots of ‘Ulu talks about how the ‘ulu (breadfruit) is being revived as a significant food in the Hawaiian culture, while Matt Yamashita’s Sons of Halawa follows the last native Hawaiian of Halawa as he searches for a successor to carry on the teachings of his ancestors. Both were about upholding legacies in people’s consciousness to keep them from disappearing altogether, informed especially from a culture that has withstood colonialism in its past.

Finally, to round out the theme of legacy found in CAAMFest’s programming, I also saw the theme realized in the people who make the festival possible. As an intern for CAAM, I helped with checking in and out volunteers and got to witness everyone who generously gave their time to volunteer. As hard-working as the staff is, this festival wouldn’t succeed without the enthusiasm and desire from these members of the community, some of whom have volunteered for decades. While each volunteer is given a voucher ticket at the end of each shift, there were several who will let it be known that perks are not why they keep returning each year. Rather, it’s the love they have for the festival that drives them to get involved. The volunteers are ultimately extensions of the festival’s constantly growing legacy.

Whether found in a thought-provoking documentary or in the smiling face of a long-time volunteer, CAAMFest was all about solidifying legacies for the younger and future generations to look to for inspiration and drive.

logo2

Cover photo via CAAM/Austin Blackwell

Director Andrew Ahn on the Making of Sundance Hit, “Spa Night”

Director Andrew Ahn’s debut feature-length film, “Spa Night,” goes head first into exploring identity issues, family commitments and personal desires. The Koreatown-centered drama follows an immigrant family who, after being forced to shut down their restaurant, must find other ways of bringing in money.

“David, the son of the family, takes a job at a local Korean spa to help pay the bills, and when he’s at the spa, he discovers this world of underground gay hookups that scares and excites him,” Ahn explained in a phone interview.

This is his second project that has a focus on what it means to be a gay Korean American; his first one being his 2012 short film, “Dol.” Narratives about gay Asian Americans are rarely seen in mainstream media, and Ahn thinks it’s due to the limited number of Asian American filmmakers and hesitation to touch on the subject matter. That’s why he hopes that there can eventually be more filmmakers bold enough to tackle it.

“Homosexuality is a topic a lot of Asian American cultures, especially first and second generation[s], don’t want to deal with it. Whether if it’s because of religion or tradition, it’s hard to talk about,” he contemplated. “There’s a value to learning about people who might have a slightly different experience from you.”

Spa_Night_Still_01

Ahn originally conceived the idea for the film when a friend told him of a hot hookup he had one time at a Korean spa. His first impression of hearing about this experience: disgust.

“It sounded wrong to me because for so much of my life, Korean spas have been a cultural space,” he said. “It’s like a very Korean space. I went as a kid with my family, like with my dad, we would scrub ourselves and it was super tied into my sense of Korean-ness and then also family.”

At the same time, his friend’s story intrigued him. He found the idea of two identities – gay and Korean American – strongly co-existing in the same space fascinating enough for him to visualize it as a feature film almost immediately.

In the early stages of the film’s development, Ahn found support via the Sundance Screenwriting and Directing Labs he participated in. Looking back on the early enthusiasm for it, he believes that despite it being a unique story and in a setting that’s rarely ever seen on screen, there are universal themes that people can connect to; such as the powerful of family, a sense of responsibility to parents, and trying to live an authentic life.

Filming for “Spa Night” took 17 days, with a day and a half for pickup shoots. Ahn said the shoot went very smoothly, especially since he was surrounded by cast and crew members who both understood and cared deeply for the story. He also liked that the producers were able to help him keep on top of his game, especially when faced with emotionally-driven scenes that were inspired by moments from his life.

On the other hand, making the transition from making short films to making a feature-length film was a huge learning experience for him.

Spa_Night_Karaoke_Still_01

“With a short film, you can hold the entire story in your head and know exactly what happens before and after, really quickly and really confidently,” he explained. “With a feature, you’re doing scenes out of order, you have 100+ scenes in the film, and so what you end up having to do is really prepare. Like you really have to know when you get on set: What are the scenes that I am shooting? What are the scenes that come before and after this? What’s the state of the character emotionally?”

That along with pre-production, post-production, and launching a Kickstarter campaign to raise funds for the film was also exhausting work.

But on the evening of its world premiere at the Sundance Film Festival, all the blood, sweat, and tears wound up being completely worth it. It has drawn in a lot of praise and lead actor, Joe Seo, even won the U.S. Special Jury Award for Breakthrough Performance.

“I had so many people come up to me after the screening and told me how much they related to some aspect of the film, whether it was being Korean, or being gay, or being the son or daughter of immigrants,” he described. “It was really great for me to get that kind of response because it’s such a personal story in so many ways. I’m always afraid that people won’t be able to connect to it. But the experience was really wonderful, to be at Sundance and to screen in competition. It’s very validating that what we did has worth and that an organization like Sundance wants to give this film that kind of platform is amazing.”

“Spa Night” has since gained Strand Releasing as its North American distributor. There are plans for a theatrical distribution sometime this fall, but it’ll still be making its way around the film festival circuit before then. Upcoming details for “Spa Night” can be found on its official Facebook page.

logo2

Photos courtesy of Andrew Ahn and “Spa Night”

Tae Song Shares His Journey in Acting – Coffee Break with Minji Chang

Minji chats with Tae Song, one of the actors in the film “Spa Night” in this edition of “Coffee Break.” Tae recounts his journey as an actor, from performing in improv groups in high school and college, to musical theater, and finally to his big screen debut.

Find out more about “Spa Night” at http://www.nonethelessproductions.com/spanight

Let us know what you think of the new series in the comments!

Credits:
Producers: Minji Chang & Marvin Yueh
Director: Dennis Chang
Assistant Director: Eva Hsia
Production Assistant: Brianna Kim
Camera Operator: John Enriquez

Clip courtesy of Andrew Ahn and “Spa Night”

Special thanks to Zenith Division for their assistance in making this video.

logo2

Andrew Ahn Chats About His Sundance Feature Debut – Coffee Break with Minji Chang

Welcome to Coffee Break! Kollaboration’s new interview series where our host Minji Chang, Executive Director of Kollaboration, sits down with the awesome people that we work with in the Asian American and entertainment communities!

For our first interview we welcome Andrew Ahn, director of the Sundance award winning feature film “Spa Night.” Andrew shares his thoughts on making the film, Asian American films, and what kind of television he’s been watching.

Find out more about “Spa Night” at http://www.nonethelessproductions.com/spanight

Let us know what you think of the new series in the comments!

Credits:
Producers: Minji Chang & Marvin Yueh
Director: Dennis Chang
Assistant Director: Eva Hsia
Production Assistant: Brianna Kim
Camera Operator: John Enriquez

Clip courtesy of Andrew Ahn and “Spa Night”

Special thanks to Zenith Division for their assistance in making this video.

Check out more from Kollaboration at www.kollaboration.org

Five Things You Should Know About Tyrus Wong

CAAMFest 2016 is coming up in San Francisco and Oakland, and the film that will have the honor of being this year’s first screening is “Tyrus,” a feature-length documentary that explores the long, fascinating life of Chinese American artist, Tyrus Wong. The documentary dwells into a number of events and experiences that he went through in his life, both good and bad. Without giving too much away, here are just five interesting points that will be covered in “Tyrus” to whet your appetite:

  1. Tyrus was held on Angel Island upon arrival from China.

Born in Guangdong, China, at the age of nine, Tyrus and his father immigrated to the United States. However, due to the Chinese Exclusion Act still being upheld at the time, the two had to go through the immigration station on Angel Island in San Francisco. Tyrus was separated from his father upon arrival and stayed on the island for about a month. Upon his release, they relocated to Sacramento before settling in Los Angeles.

  1. Tyrus began his journey as an artist in junior high.

Despite never being big on school, it was through one of his junior high school teachers who recognized Tyrus’s talent for art. Upon his teacher’s encouragement, Tyrus went out for and received a summer scholarship to the Otis Art Institute. He found the education there benefiting for him as his artistic abilities matured; which is why, with the assistance of his father, he left his junior high and became a full-time student there.

11-7-13-Tyrus-Wong-Bambi2
Tyrus Wong, Bambi (visual development), 1942; watercolor on paper; 10 x 11.5 in. Courtesy of Tyrus Wong Family. ©Disney
  1. Tyrus was the lead artist on “Bambi.”

Out of all his works that he has done over the decades, the one that Tyrus is best well known for is his work on the 1942 Disney animated film, “Bambi.” His lush illustrations of evergreen forest sequences and whimsy, dreamlike drawings of animal inhabitants intrigued Walt Disney; enough to where Tyrus went from cleaning up other animators’ works to being the lead artist on the film. It was also his only stint with Disney, as Tyrus was fired following the outcome of the 1941 Disney animators’ strike.

  1. Tyrus served as a storyboard artist for many live-action films.

Despite no longer working in the House of Mouse, Tyrus’s career in the film industry only grew from there. He went on to work with a lot with live-actions films, creating eloquently drawn storyboards that almost always translate precisely to how it appears in the final product. Films he served as a storyboard artist for include “Rebel Without a Cause,” “The Wild Bunch,” Wake of The Red Witch,” “The Helen Morgan Story,” and “Ice Palace.”

wong7
An exhibit on Tyrus Wong and his art at the WaltDisney Family Muesum – via sfartenthusiast.com
  1. Tyrus also went on to becoming skilled at making kites.

Despite his skill for illustration, Tyrus expanded his artistic scope later in life when he started making these beautiful, elaborate kites. Originally initiated by his wife who told him to “go fly a kite” (because he was getting on her nerve one day), Tyrus borrowed books on Chinese kite building from his local library and ultimately taught himself how to do it. From soaring butterflies to goldfish out of water, he always goes to the beach close to where he lives at least once a month and flies them.

Did we mention that he’s 105 years old and still kicking butt?

“Tyrus” will be kicking off CAAMFest on Thursday March 10th at the Castro Theatre in San Francisco. Director Pamela Tom, Tyrus himself, his family and other members of the film’s crew will be in attendance. Tickets are on sale now.

logo2

Cover image via Disney

Last Week Tonight Asks How Is Hollywood Whitewashing Still a Thing?

Want to know what’s so important about #OscarsSoWhite? Check out this skit by the peeps at Last Week Tonight with John Oliver. “Whitewashing” gives us a cheeky overview of the systematic problem in Hollywood that once again contributed to a lack of actors and actresses of color in the Academy Award nominations.

Whitewashing is a term that can refer to an individual who (intentionally or unintentionally) casts off their cultural practices/background in order to fit into the cultural norms – however, it is used in this video to refer to the act of casting Caucasian actors and actresses as characters that are ethnically non-white. Among the famous examples mentioned in this video, there are a ton of Asian characters including Katharine Hepburn as Jade Tan in “Dragon Seed” (2004), Mickey Rooney as Mr. Yunioshi in “Breakfast at Tiffany’s” (1961) and Emma Stone as Allison Ng in Aloha (2015). They even mention Tom Cruise’s role as Capt. Nathan Algren in “The Last Samurai” (2003) as quite ridiculous, and I have to agree (even though Tom Cruise is great).

The video doesn’t blame the Academy for #OscarsSoWhite, but traces the act of whitewashing roles in Hollywood back to historic roots. It provides an interesting commentary on how the problem is still pervasive today, even in how people react to casting non-white actors and actresses as traditionally white characters (Michael B. Jordan as Johnny Storm in “Fantastic Four” and John Boyega as Finn in “Star Wars: The Force Awakens”).

While whitewashing isn’t as harmful as some of the most stereotypical portrayals from the 40s-60s, it is still an act of oppression. It drowns out the representation of people of color in mainstream media and, ultimately, leads to a lack of representation at The Oscars.

Check out the video below (contains some NSFW language)

logo2

Cover Image via Last Week Tonight/HBO