It’s the End of the World? Akira and Armageddon

  • May 14, 2012 4:00 pm

EUGENE

Previous guest-blogger Eugene Ahn aka Adam WarRock (http://adamwarrock.com) is an indie geek rapper whose new EP, Neo-Tokyo, is an homage to the anime film, Akira. The 7-track record is available for $5 at http://adamwarrock.com/neotokyo, and the the music video is posted below. Why Akira? Let him explain…

Akira was the first time I ever thought about the world ending.

The 1988 seminal anime film, based on the sprawling manga-opus by Katsuhiro Otomo, is regarded by almost everyone as the “first anime,” or more specifically, the first anime to really matter in the US. It came at the tail end of a cold war, where nuclear armageddon was only an abstract notion to most of the pre-teen children who were raised in the shadow of a faceless enemy, baptized in an esoteric notion of nationalism. By the time that most of us saw it, probably rented from a Blockbuster or seen at a friend’s place, it created this weird dissonance inside of you as your brain tried to comprehend this medium, heretofore a “kid’s thing,” now showing you a melange of politics, sci-fi, horror, and mind-twisting psychology, all very much “adult” notions.  Read more...

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SAF Seeking…Meetings without Pants

  • May 2, 2012 1:46 pm

MICHELLA

Michella Rivera-Gravage is a film and interactive media producer that spends most of her time buying really awesome vintage shoes that go with vintage-inspired modern blouses. In her spare time she is producing the SAF Seeking Talk Show for the upcoming YOMYOMF Network on YouTube and trying to teach Beverly how to use Google+. She is a SAF seeking the kind of job fulfillment that only come with a leap of faith.

Darn, I was hoping this was a pants-optional day!

A few years back, I was telling a friend about a meeting I was having the next day and he asked if it was a pants or no-pants meeting. “What exactly do you think I do?,” I asked dryly. He chuckled back that since he works from home most of the time, when a meeting is called among his start-up co-workers it needs to be made clear whether the gathering is a web conference or in-person meeting. The former does not require pants but unfortunately the latter does. I thought that must be wonderful, to just hop on the computer and get to work without ever having to get dressed. It seemed like an exhilarating and untrammeled work life, and I was envious of it!

Now a few years later, I am transitioning from working fulltime at a media organization to working on my own projects, to pursue my own dream of the no-pants meeting and making art. Over the last couple of years, I have strongly felt the itch to strike out on my own, but I grew up in a single-parent immigrant household, where financial stability was always the goal. I have had a fulltime job since I was 18 and I have never been the type to couch surf and work in a cafe while I write my script or album. I have always known and admired folks who could do that but I did not understand how they could do it. Needless to say, even now the thought of giving up a steady paycheck for the tumultuous dance of the artist hustle is scary as hell to me. But I did it anyways.  Read more...

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The Avengers: A Brief Film Guide for Non-Nerds, Hipster Cineastes, and (Generally Speaking) Women

  • April 30, 2012 1:27 pm

DOMINIC

Dominic Mah is a writer, director, rock musical aficionado, and ex-professional gambler. You can check out his film/video stuff here and his disparate thoughts on pop culture, Robotech, and Los Angeles here. He also tweets nerdcore film critiques at @ThorHulkCritic.

The Avengers movie is coming out this week, which is the greatest thing that has ever happened for a small segment of the population, and will likely cause some confusion to the majority of the world (And by “majority of the world,” I mean a) women and b) those not raised within the isolating sphere of comic books) In the coming month, a lot of people are going to get dragged to this movie on a date, but perhaps lack a reference point for WTF is going on with all these superheroes, and have no way of comprehending the massive warm geek-fuzzy that will be experienced by folks like me. So, in the interest of promoting healthy and robust post-movie conversations everywhere, here is a quickie viewers’ guide to the members of the Avengers.

 Read more...

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Living Dangerously in America’s Own Killing Fields

  • April 26, 2012 9:30 am

K.W.

At 82-years-old, K.W. Lee is considered the “Godfather of Asian American journalism.” He immigrated to the U.S. in 1950 on a student visa and became the first Asian immigrant to be hired by a mainstream news daily and has reported for the Kingsport Times and News in Tennessee, the Charleston Gazette in West Virginia and the Sacramento Union. He has covered stories ranging from the plight of coal miners in the Appalachians to the civil rights movement in the Jim Crow South to the unjust incarceration of Chol Soo Lee. K.W. founded the Korea Times English Edition and continues to work and lecture across the country. On the eve of Sunday’s 20th Anniversary of the L.A. riots, K.W. looks back.

With the 20th anniversary of the April 29, 1992 LA Riots just around the corner, it’s déjà vu time again.

On sobering reflection, I dare say that our Sa-I-Gu (Korean for 4-2-9) didn’t explode on that date.

Long before the greatest urban upheaval in modern America, hardy Korean mom and pop storekeepers, along with their long-suffering and stoic Latino and Black neighbors, had been living dangerously every waking hour, seven days a week, all year round in the seething inner-cities.

Only God knows how many of these bedraggled newcomers from Korea — some call them wannabe Kamikazes —have been mugged, robbed, maimed or slain in their dogged pursuit of an elusive dream in America’s own killing fields.  Read more...

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SAF Seeking… Self-Acceptance

  • April 25, 2012 11:01 am

MELODY

Melody Butiu is that type of actor that you see so many times that you stop and say, “I KNOW her!  What did I see her in???  I swear, I know her!!!”  In addition to playing many roles on television from court reporter to nanny to doctor to E.R. nurse; she is also a theatre actress who originated the role of Jennifer Marcus in the premiere of “The Intelligent Design of Jenny Chow“, played to standing ovations at San Diego Rep’s “Long Story Short”, and will be playing ‘Desiree’ in East West Player’s upcoming “A Little Night Music”.  As a SAF, she shares a little about one of her old day jobs which deals with lovelorn people and her own search for love.

“The most terrifying thing is to accept oneself completely.”—Carl Jung

I work for a matchmaking company and I talk about love all the live-long day. It’s not as warm and fuzzy as you might expect, because in talking to people about love, we also talk about fears, failed relationships, regrets, resistance, and doubt. People believe that once they find that special someone, their life will be complete. They want to find that part of their life that’s missing.

I value quality relationships. I love my man with everything that I am. So I don’t begrudge others trying to find love, and I don’t think that there’s anything wrong with asking for help. I just encourage people to look within while they’re on this journey. If you have a string of horrible and failed relationships, you are the common denominator in those relationships, so what can you do to create change?  If you only come across “losers,” people you wouldn’t give the time of day to, how do expect anyone else to give you their time and attention? Do you want to feel special and honored? How often do you make others feel special and honored, regardless of whether or not they are date-worthy? What you put out is what you get back, so what are you putting out there?

Who the heck wants to date a mean girl? Like, really.  Read more...

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SAF Seeking… Learning from Our Parents’ Mistakes

  • April 18, 2012 12:33 pm

DIANE

Diane Tuet is a SAF living in Northern California and making her living as a photographer, artist, Chinese herb specialist, and Food Network follower. She is the quintessential SAF Seeking ‘True Love’. (Other SAFs look for career highs, physical achievements, a really good hairdresser… it all adds up to a certain happiness… but I digress.) Nonetheless, while going through one of her first bad break ups, one of her great lessons of love came from her Chinese mother who came to stay one night with her to help her cope.  She wanted to share the lesson with other SAFs, just in case it might mean something to them.

Beds... where the truth comes out.

In the midst of despair, you wonder how you forget all the important stuff your parents tell you.

I awoke from a surreal dream/nightmare to find my mother had fallen asleep next to me. Just a little bit before, she had told me this story in hopes of comforting me from my broken heart.

Mommy always said, “you don’t get to marry the one you love.”  Read more...

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Why I’m Distributing My Latest Film on Kickstarter

  • April 12, 2012 1:16 pm

DAVE

Tucson, Arizona native Dave Boyle made his feature debut in 2006 with Big Dreams Little Tokyo.  He followed up with White on Rice, which was released in theaters in 2009.  In 2010, he began a multi-film collaboration with musician Goh Nakamura.  The first two films in the series, Surrogate Valentine and Daylight Savings premiered at the 2011 and 2012 SXSW film festivals respectively.  

Franchise.

It’s a word you usually associate with faceless corporations. In the movie world, a “franchise” is a cash cow: Twilight, Iron Man, and budding franchise The Hunger Games all come to mind.

But what about sequels that aren’t made as a blatant cash grab? What if the creative team just felt like they had a really great thing going, and that the story wasn’t over?  Read more...

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Make Your Parents Proud

  • April 9, 2012 4:42 pm

EUGENE

Eugene Ahn really did go to law school, and quit his job as a practicing lawyer to become a rapper. He makes geeky hip hop under the alias Adam WarRock. No, it doesn’t suck.

 

“What do your parents think?!”

It’s been about two years since I quit my job as a lawyer to be an indie rapper, and I still get that question more than any other. To have that answer make sense, let me establish a few things about myself:  Read more...

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Why I Wuv The Princess Bride

  • February 13, 2012 3:34 pm

BRIAN

Brian Watanabe wrote THE ROGUES GALLERY, which turned into the oddball cult film OPERATION: ENDGAME starring Rob Corddry, Maggie Q, and Zack Galifianakis. He’s developed scripts for production companies at Fox and Sony, is an award winning advertising copywriter, and doesn’t live in his mom’s basement, despite previously writing about Star Trek, Star Wars and film nerds.

Chick Flick.

That was my first thought when someone, long ago, insisted I watch THE PRINCESS BRIDE. I mean, really? For a prepubescent boy, there was nothing remotely interesting about that title. Princesses? Brides? Pass.

Inconceivable cast reunion interview & photos from Entertainment Weekly

And I wasn’t alone. Back in the day, when I was a summer fun group leader, they popped in THE PRINCESS BRIDE VHS during movie-time for our 5th & 6th graders. One of the more precocious girls walked up to me with that sassy, 6th grader attitude and asked, “What is this?” I guess she didn’t like the title either.  Read more...

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I’m an Alien, and That’s OK (Adventures in Korea)

  • January 19, 2012 10:27 pm

KURLYKOLLY

A native New Yorker, Colleen, aka Kurlykolly is a loyal reader of YOMYOMF. She is also a fan of future Oscar winner, Sung Kang. Last year, she attended the LA Asian Pacific Film Festival with YOMYOMF, which was the highlight of her entire life (Colleen was one of the winners of our twitter contest). She currently resides in South Korea teaching English to little kiddies. When she is not working for “the Man”, she spends most of her time obsessing about all things Korean. Oh yeah, she is not Yellow, she is Black.

I am writing this guest blog while drinking a bottle of soju in Daegu, Korea. (I’ve just discovered it tastes great with mango juice.) A few years ago, I became obsessed with all things Korean. I’m in love with Korean food, dramas, and music. I cannot speak Korean well so I decided that I would immerse myself in the language completely and move to the “motherland.” This way I can understand So Ji Sub clearly when he confesses his love for me. One week of vacation in Seoul just wouldn’t do, so last January, I made a New Year’s resolution: move to South Korea.

After months of interviews and rejection letters (see the letter below), I left for South Korea in October to become an ESL teacher. Naturally my family was supportive. My father: “Which part of Korea? I can’t bail you out of jail in North Korea.” My mother: “You’re going to end up in a prison camp!” My sister: “God, you really want an Asian man that bad?” Yes.  Read more...

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How to Survive in a TV Writers’ Room

  • January 16, 2012 1:17 pm

COREY

Corey Miller has been interested in the entertainment business since he was a child, much to his mother’s (and often his own) chagrin. After holding an ungodly number of Production Assistant, Production Coordinator and then Writer’s Assistant positions, he got hired as the Assistant to the Show Runner on the television show “CSI.” After impressing his boss (i.e., bugging her until she relented), he got the chance to write a freelance episode. Later hired as a Staff Writer on “CSI: Miami,” he eventually rose the ranks to Supervising Producer. His other writing credits include the indie film “Border To Border” and episodes of the series “The Forgotten” and “NCIS: Los Angeles,” and he sold a spec pilot to The Peter Chernin Company and Fox. He is currently a Writer and Co-Executive Producer on the series “Body of Proof,” which airs Tuesday nights (10/9c) on ABC. Corey is not ashamed to admit that he is an L.A. native. You can follow him on twitter at @toomuchfire. Here, he shares what it’s like inside the writers’ room of a network TV drama.

Everything you need to survive the writers' room.

Pretty much every writer can attest to the fact that the blank page is one of the scariest visions that they face on a regular basis — the harsh, bright-white beacon of their presumed failure, since most assuredly, THIS time the page will remain wordless.

Now picture a conference room bathed in fluorescent light, its walls covered with huge, white dry erase boards, with nary a word on them. Add a group of screenwriters to the mix, and that fear is compounded, with interest. They gaze up at the blank walls and then each other, all thinking the same thing: “You mean, we have to come up with an idea that will sustain a full episode of television? Craft a plot, and character arcs, and have the suspense gradually and realistically build in every act, leading to every commercial break? Oh, and it needs to entertain millions of people, especially in the 18-49 demographic? And we have to justify spending millions of dollars of our employer’s money?”  Read more...

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Everything I learned, I learned in a Chinese Restaurant

  • January 9, 2012 9:11 pm

CURTIS
Curtis Chin is a Motown-born, New York-bred, Los Angeles-based writer, producer and community activist. He’s proud to have co-founded the Asian American Writers Workshop and Asian Pacific Americans for Progress and for writing and producing the documentary Vincent Who? He’s less proud of having started the Young Republicans Club in high school. He’s currently working on a new website with a former ABC and HBO exec, widelantern.com, and developing a teen comedy with director Quentin Lee and producer Chris Lee.

“Everything I learned, I learned in a Chinese Restaurant”

That’s the title of my memoir, if I ever get around to writing it. It’s not an unusual experience if you’re Chinese American. In fact, according to the magazine Chinese Restaurant News, there are nearly 41,000 Chinese restaurants open in the United States. That means a lot of kids, grandkids, siblings, cousins and spouses working for cheap or free.

My family owned a restaurant in Detroit, opened in 1940 by my great-grandfather. I spent countless hours there, working off-and-on for much of my childhood, first as a dishwasher then up to waiter and manager with the occasional delivery boy duty. (I sucked in the kitchen, so being a cook was never in the cards.) And while it was a tough life, I wouldn’t have changed a thing. It taught me a lot of values in life that I use, even today.

Here are the top ten lessons I learned growing up in a Chinese restaurant:  Read more...

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