Atlanta based singer-songwriter and Kollaboration DC Alum Jae Jin stopped by the Green Room during his west coast tour to play some blues.
Hear more from Jae at www.jaejinmusic.com and visit his YouTube channel.
Setlist:
“Grindstone”
“Walk Me Down”
“Don’t Fall Too Late”
For part 2 of our Coffee Break with AJ Rafael, we chat with him about his favorite subject, Disney! AJ and Minji talk about their favorite Disney movies, AJ shows off his Disney themed body art, and shares his experiences auditioning for Disney productions.
See part 1 of this interview here!
See more from AJ on his YouTube channel https://www.youtube.com/user/ilajil
Credits:
Producers: Minji Chang & Marvin Yueh
Director: Dennis Chang
Assistant Directors: Eva Hsia & Brianna Kim
Camera Operator: John Enriquez, Shannon Wong, Jimmy Hang
Special thanks to Zenith Division for their assistance in making this video.
Check out more from Kollaboration at www.kollaboration.org
AJ joins us for a Coffee Break so epic, it needed to be split in two parts. In this first segment, AJ talks about what he’s been up to since going on hiatus and his recent adventures in musical theater!
See part 2 of this interview here!
See more from AJ on his YouTube channel https://www.youtube.com/user/ilajil
Credits:
Producers: Minji Chang & Marvin Yueh
Director: Dennis Chang
Assistant Directors: Eva Hsia & Brianna Kim
Camera Operator: John Enriquez, Shannon Wong, Jimmy Hang
Special thanks to Zenith Division for their assistance in making this video.
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.”
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.
“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.
The Kinjaz have had a very busy 2015, but they found time to perform a very special routine at last year’s Kollaboration Star to close out the first half of the show. Check out the intricate choreography and badass swagger that took the dance world by storm!
Learn more about the Kinjaz and what they’re up to!
Videographers: Derek Lee, Eva Hsia, Lance Heruela, Brandon Kim
Edited by: Marvin Yueh
Special thanks to Zenith Division for production support
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.
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
I grew up reading Ray Bradbury and Philip K. Dick, and learned to suspend my disbelief when I came across time travel, aliens, and things that generally defied the natural laws of the universe. But I could never suspend my disbelief at the lack of people like me in mainstream science fiction creating these stories and populating the universes within them.
It’s odd that a genre dedicated to challenging the realm of possibility seems to have little space for Asian representation. But many Asian American authors have started claiming their rightful places in the world (or dare we say, worlds) of science fiction. Here are just a few to help expand your multiverse, one story at a time.
Ken Liu is nothing short of being a sci-fi rock star. His short story “The Paper Menagerie” is the first work to have won the holy trinity of sci-fi awards: the Hugo, the Nebula, and the World Fantasy Award. “The Paper Menagerie” also appears in his most recent publication, a collection of his best science fiction and fantasy works.
He wears many hats as a lawyer, programmer, and translator of literary works from Chinese to English. His English translation of The Three-Body Problem by Cixin Liu became the first translated work to win the Hugo award for best novel.
A master storyteller, he plays around with the idea of memory, and this theme particularly resonates in his short story “Mono no Aware.”
The same year E. Lily Yu graduated from Princeton University, she also won the John W. Campbell Award for Best New Writer for her short story, “The Cartographer Wasps and Anarchist Bees.” Her work has been published in Terraform, Uncanny, and Fantasy and Science Fiction. She is also set to appear in a cyberpunk anthology called Cyber World, forthcoming in November 2016.
Her piece, “Local Stop on the Floating Train,” illustrates a future where racism still flourishes even after nuclear annihilation.
Alice Sola Kim loves “throwaway ideas in science fiction”. It’s little details such as extinct bananas and tongue-in-cheek remarks like “Don’t worry—there is still racism!” that make her work so human and captivating. Kim’s vision of the future is very much like the present, except with the occasional time-traveling guy obsessed with his daughters; no big deal. This is why her future is scary – but so familiar, and even comforting.
Her fiction has appeared in Tin House, The Year’s Best Science Fiction and Fantasy, Lightspeed Magazine, and elsewhere. She has also received grants and fellowships such as a MacDowell Colony residency.
Read her personal essay on her relationship with Philip K. Dick for an honest look into the person behind the author.
A legend (pun intended) in the YA world, Marie Lu is the author of the Legend series; a trilogy of novels set on a dystopian California coast about two prodigies on the run. Legend received praise from The Los Angeles Times, The New York Times, and The Guardian for a clear trajectory and emotional depth; the latter being an aspect often lacking in many other tried-and-tested teen dystopian works. The series is slated to become a film directed by Jonathan Levine.
Lu is currently in the process of crafting a new series about games and giant robots – “a love letter to all [her] favorite things.” The first novel, Warcross, will be out in Fall 2017.
Yoon Ha Lee writes short stories that often explore the creation and re-creation of history, and has many of them included in his first book, Conservation of Shadows. Two stories from his collection were nominated for both the Locus Award and the Theodore Sturgeon Memorial Award. His work has been featured in Clarkesworld, Lightspeed Magazine and other publications, and has been reprinted in The Year’s Best Science Fiction.
Read “A Vector Alphabet of Interstellar Travel” for a glimpse of Lee’s powerful and economical use of language.
Lee has also written a text-based game called Winterstrike; a poetic and hypnotizing venture into a city that has been plunged into perpetual winter.
Last November, the audience of Kollaboration Star 2015 was treated to a very special performance by ARCHIS, Dia Frampton’s new project with composer/producer Joseph Trapanese. Accompanied by a live orchestra, Dia’s hauntingly beautiful voice enchanted the crowd and left everyone wanting more.
ARCHIS
“Blood”
“Bittersweet”
“Let me Love”
Songs written and performed by: Dia Frampton
Music composed by: Josepg Trapanese
Orchestral Accompaniment: Waraynon Initiative Network
Percussionists: Akemi Imai (Taiko) & Perry Sekigawa (Snare)
Conductor: George Shaw
Videographers: Derek Lee, Eva Hsia, Lance Heruela, Brandon Kim
Edited by: Derek Lee
Special thanks to Zenith Division for production support
Making waves on Broadway after its July 2015 debut, the American musical Hamilton broke expectations for the old school musical. The story of Alexander Hamilton, “the ten dollar founding father,“ is told through hip-hop inspired sounds and a ground breakingly diverse cast filled with people of color. Lin-Manuel Miranda, who wrote the music, lyrics, and book, said that Hamilton is a story of America’s past, told by America now.
The popular musical recently made even more news after their 2016 Grammy performance, live from the Richard Rogers Theater in New York City. One of two musicals to perform at the music award show, the POC cast, energy, and talent of the opening song “Alexander Hamilton” grabbed America’s attention. Once again making headlines for its originality, the Hamilton performance and cast stood out that night, including the leading lady Philippa Soo.
Hamilton is Philippa Soo’s Broadway debut as Alexander’s wife Eliza. Soo, a Juliard alum, spoke to the Hollywood Reporter last November with fellow actress Lea Salonga about being Asian American on Broadway. Soo said that her father, a son of Chinese immigrants, and her mother were very supportive of her pursuing a career in musical theater.
“So I’m half-Chinese and half white, and it wasn’t until being part of this show — even though I’ve been in other mixed race casts — that I have been considered an actor of color,” she told the Hollywood Reporter. “Also, it hasn’t been until now that I received this beautiful letter from this young woman who thanked me for representing Chinese-American people in the theater. That’s never happened to me before! But it’s beautiful because I feel like as amazing as it is to acknowledge, it’s also amazing on the other side that people don’t even think twice about it [in Hamilton].”
Given the importance of Eliza’s character, the New Yorker wrote in an article featuring the women of the story, “And, by implicitly equating Eliza’s acts of narration with (Miranda’s) own, he’s acknowledging the women who built the country alongside the men. You’re left wondering whether the Hamilton of the title isn’t just Alexander, but Eliza, too.”
I haven’t seen Hamilton live— because getting a ticket now is impossible— but after listening to the soundtrack repeatedly, and while I love them all, here are my top five moments in the musical when Soo stole the show and made Hamilton about Eliza.
(Warning, this next section will contain spoilers, but then again, it’s also American history)
Nearly a solo for Eliza, begging Alexander to stay home from the war to be with her and their unborn son, this number tells the story of the young Hamiltons’ marriage. They love each other so much, however Eliza wishes Alexander wasn’t so obsessed with his legacy. Soo’s voice, solid and pure, is beautiful throughout “That Would Be Enough” and successfully kept Alexander home from the war— for a little while.
I can’t listen to this short number without crying. The Hamiltons hold their dying son after he participates in a duel. Not on good terms, Alexander and Eliza are distraught and emotional, which adds and edge to this tense and depressing reprise. Lin-Manuel Miranda, Anthony Ramos (Philip Hamilton), and Soo sing this heartbreaking song together as listeners, I assume, sit quietly and cry to themselves. (Or is that just me?)
Eliza’s first solo in Act I is an upbeat song about when she first sets eyes on Alexander Hamilton. Cute and bouncy, the “how the Hamiltons met” story is the perfect song to sing at the top of your lungs in the shower (or is that just me again). But more importantly, “Helpless” Soo shows off her full, highly impressive, singing ability. Arranged like a pop song, “Helpless” could easily be dismissed as fluff when compared to the heavier styles elsewhere in Act I, but Soo’s range and training as singer make it just as important.
Poor Eliza, but also— wow Philippa Soo. For context, Alexander Hamilton was involved in America’s first public political sex affair after he admitted to cheating on his wife (damn!) in the now infamous Reynolds Pamphlet (damn!). “Burn” is Eliza’s reaction, a sad ballad full of emotion that listeners can hear and see. As she sets Alexander’s letters on fire, Soo again shows off her full range and skills in this beautiful song, a heartbreaking ode to his poor wife.
In Hamilton’s final song, major characters of Act II come out and speak about Hamilton’s legacy in establishing America’s financial system and bringing the new country out of debt. A majority of the song however goes to Eliza who “put’s [herself] back in the narrative,” in another great solo. She tells what she’s done in her life after the loss of her son and husband, collecting Alexander’s writing and making sure his legacy lives on. As the final performer of Hamilton, Soo practically steals the show.
Eliza Hamilton was by no means just a side character in the life of Alexander Hamilton, and Philippa Soo does an amazing job portraying that love, fear, betrayal, and forgiveness in her Broadway debut. Hamilton is a groundbreaking music for this generation and I highly suggest everyone gives it a listen.
A bit of happiness for the Hamilton’s, “Take a Break” shows the young family at home on their son’s birthday. This song tells how focused he is to his career and legacy during the turmoil in Alexander’s political life, and that Eliza won’t have it. I love Eliza scolding Alexander for working through dinner, but then Soo goes on to sing a beautiful duet with Renée Elise Goldsberry that completely steals the song.