Takeaways from the Present Future Summit

The Present/Future Summit (March 11) brought together Asian Americans from all corners of media to confront the present and future of Asian Americans onscreen and online.  We had such a lively discussion afterwards, that we thought it would be fun to jot down some of our exchange as an informal Q&A with one another.

Check out these interviews with CAAM Fellows Johanna Lee (participating as a television writer) and Harry Yoon (participating as a featured film editor)!

RESPONSES FROM JOHANNA LEE (TV writer):

What did you take away from the conference?

I’d been aware of the new directions in online video for a while but I was wondering how people are monetizing it. One thing that I didn’t realize, was that people were making money through merchandising. Also, I was reminded how much these videos are driven by a “cult of personality” for their appeal. The summit prompted me to watch a lot of YouTube when I got home and I was again struck by what I saw. A lot of these YouTube stars were young men. They are good-looking, entertaining, Asian men and we’re not getting that on television. It makes sense that there’s a huge audience of Asian Americans watching these stars because they are finding faces they don’t see elsewhere. It’s not like there are a ton of people tuning into YouTube clips of 80 year-olds talking about politics.

Is there any way that this conference made you think about what you want to do with your career writing for television?

It made me come home and ask my animator husband about why we weren’t creating a web series! That said, Quan Phung talked about how in a longer format like an hour-long drama on television, you have more time to explore stories and character arcs, and that really appeals to me. At the end of the day, for me, it’s the content. I think there’s a lot of people tuning into some of the shorter content online because there are characters and subject matter that’s not being represented via traditional television. There may be stories that I want to tell that are perfect for shorter work online, and there are stories that are more suited for TV. So my desire to work in television hasn’t changed, but I could see myself also creating web series and shorter work in addition to what I am doing now.

(Our discussion led us to the topic of comedian Louis C.K.’s enormously successful self-funded release of his “Live at the Beacon Theater” concert video online.)

For me, the reason I bought the show was that I knew his work and loved it. He’s one of the only comedians out there that’s doing material on the down and dirty details of raising kids at his age and it’s hilarious. I also think that his price point was key. I thought for five bucks, that’s an easy decision. If it was twenty dollars, I wouldn’t have done it. Finally, I think Louis was successful because he’d already had two shows on major networks along with a long stand-up career. He didn’t just come out of nowhere.

   

Pictured: (Karin Chien, Quan Phung)  Photos by: Jain Thapa.

RESPONSES FROM HARRY YOON (feature film editor)

What did you take away from the conference?

As someone who works primarily in feature films, it was a little ominous to be reminded that the audience for features might be disappearing, and that next generation audiences are watching content in general, online. I mean, I stream movies from Netflix on my Roku box all the time but I think the discussion made me think about what was really different and compelling to audiences online. And if that work is the future then what is my place in it as editor?

Is there any way that this conference made you think about what you want to do with your career?

To make an independent film you have to go through all these gatekeepers – producers and funders who will help you make your film, and then once the film is made the distributors who will help you get your film seen by an audience. What’s really powerful about what these guys are doing online is that they have direct access to their audience. They don’t need to go through gatekeepers to reach them. And I think that’s why so much of their content feels intimate and personal. It makes it feel like the people making the videos could be your friends – people you could have a beer with. I mean, that’s what makes Facebook so compelling is that it’s not content created by a faceless news or entertainment organization but by your friends. I like that it has that intimate, personal feel.

I also liked the presentation given by Na’alehu Anthony on his Oiwi TV channel in Hawaii. The way he was creating on demand programs for a community that he felt close to, and using the set-top box as a way of getting very specific feedback on what his audiences were watching. This feels “intimate” in its own way. Again, it’s about removing the barriers between you as the filmmaker and your audience.

(Our discussion led us to the topic of comedian Louis C.K.’s enormously successful self-funded release of his “Live at the Beacon Theater” concert video online.)

I think it made a huge difference that Louis funded it, directed it, and edited it himself. I don’t know if I would have bought the video if it was being offered by some big media company. It made a difference to me that he had made it and uploaded it. I loved the letter he wrote about wanting to share his profits with his staff and with worthy charities really humanized the whole experience for people buying the video. It reminded you of the kind of guy you were giving money to. I hate to call that “branding” because it sounds so commercial but I think it’s branding in the best sense. I think Louis’example is a great model for filmmaker’s to shoot for. He’s established a personal brand with his audience and is reaping the rewards from it. I think the future of indie films is going to demand that from its makers.

Source: caamedia.org

A Startup Incubator For Entertainment?

futureoffilm:

By Nick DeMartino
Should there be an incubator for start-ups in the entertainment industry? It’s a question brought into focus by a recent post from IndieWire editor Dana Harris: “8 Film Startups You Should Know from SXSW.”
Lightbulbs

“Film, to put it mildly, is not a priority for tech people,” says Ms. Harris, reporting from the floor of Austin’s interactive conference. Eight film start-ups in a sea of technology suggested that more could be done to address the needs of our industry.

Read More

Keep the Conversation Going

By Samantha Yu, 2012 CAAM Student Delegate

After living in NYC for more than a decade, it’s funny that I would begin my journey in Asian American Media on the other side of the country. As a part of the student delegate program, we have the privilege of flashing our badges to awkwardly begin a conversation with filmmakers and industry workers, through some of these meetings, I have gained a new perspective on the role Asian American Media plays in my life.

For 12 hours a day, over the course of 5 days, we attend 4 scheduled screenings. Now you might think, “Half a day watching movies? How hard can that be?” Well, let me tell first hand that it’s actually quite exhausting. Partially due to jetlag, by the time we reach the last screening of the day, I am ready to check out and hit the hay. When so many films are watched back to back, we don’t receive a lot of opportunities to reflect on everything we’ve just taken in. But at the end of the day, when I really absorb and think about all of the screenings, it only brings me to further appreciate the diversity within the Asian American culture.

WongFu & Ana Serrano at Present/Future / photo by Jain Thapa

Yesterday during our breaks in between screenings, myself and another delegate had an opportunity to attend parts of the Present/Future panel, a conversation about Asian American Media. We received the opportunity to hear many different speakers present, including the guys from WongFu Productions, about where they feel the Asian American media should be headed towards. Phil Wang of WongFu was quick to point out that in the room full of audience, there weren’t many “young people” present, referring to high school students. In fact, since I am the youngest of the student delegates, I am pretty sure I was the youngest one at the presentation. Phil raised a concern that in the midst of trying to reach the younger generation of media consumers, it is incredibly important to begin engaging them at a young age, and the age demographic of the room reflected such concern. It isn’t so much that young Asian Americans aren’t consuming media, because they sure are, but when it comes to caring about the matter and actively participating in and seeking it out, there is still much room for growth.’

Packed room at Present/Future Summit. Photo by Jain Thapa

For reasons unknown to me, I have always kept my Taiwanese identity separate from my American identity, it wasn’t until this past winter when I visited family in Taiwan and realized through my aging grandparents that I could no longer live in the States without embracing my Taiwanese self. Soon after, “Linsanity” hit the Big Apple and the globe, and for the first time ever, it became relevant to talk about Asian American presentation on national television. I have encountered so many people who feel that the conversation is long overdue, but the fact is that it has begun nonetheless. We can’t predict where Asian American Media will end up in the next few years, but these months of relevant conversations are extremely important, and I am grateful to be a part of SFIAAFF this year and participate in some of these conversations. These past few days have led me to a world I never much about, and the fact that I was able to do so through engaging myself in the film medium only adds on to its impact on me.

Source: caamedia.org

The Present/Future Summit

Tomorrow! Sunday, March 11, 1:00p, the Hotel Kabuki, San Francisco! Free!

This summit will bring together Asian Americans from all corners of media to confront the present and future of Asian Americans onscreen and online. Digital technology has fundamentally changed mass viewing habits, as well as mass distribution and production methodologies. And for Asian Americans, these changes are nothing short of revolutionary. In the past five years, a tidal wave of viewers has emerged on YouTube, watching videos made by and starring Asian Americans. These days, the most recognizable Asian American faces may no longer come from Hollywood or network shows, yet the spotlight of “success” still remains on feature films and broadcast television. We have to ask ourselves: are we still looking in the right direction?

So how do we answer this question (or even figure out the right questions) while confronting the massive change in media and spurring innovation within it? The answer is—not on our own. We’ve invited a diverse set of thinkers representing media, technology, arts, business and community perspectives to speak about their view of the present, and to tell us their vision of the future. From YouTube to interactive technology, Hollywood to non-profits, audiences to distribution, this session will aim to make sense of the changing landscape—and opportunities—facing us.

Each speaker will be followed by an open Town Hall question-and-response session. This one-of-a-kind summit aims to generate dynamic, no-holds barred, provocative dialogues, and is a must for anyone invested in or just curious about what’s happening with Asian Americans in media and where we’re all headed. This conversation will not be televised, but it will be live-streamed. So come by in person or join online, ask your own questions and hear what those in the trenches have to say. It starts with your willingness to join the dialogue.

Confirmed participants include:

Nā’ālehu Anthony
Kenyatta Cheese
Gary Chou
Lee Ann Kim
Wendy Levy
Quan Phung, television producer
Ana Serrano
Celine Parrenas-Shimizu
Musa Syeed
Wong Fu Productions
Chi-hui Yang, independent curator and media professor
Shinae Yoon
Rana Cho

Official twitter hashtag: #pfsummit

Sakura Room in the Hotel Kabuki
1625 Post Street, San Francisco Japantown
Please RSVP to Davin Agatep at: dagatep@caamedia.org

Video from MoMA’s Talk To Me Symposium, examining the “relationship between people and things,” October 2011. At about 42:00, check out Present Future speaker Kenyatta Cheese’s presentation, ‘Emotion by Proxy’, about how fans are disobeying the “physics” of traditional storytelling to create new forms of shared experience and communication.

Source: livestream.com