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.

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