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Ep 130: Breaking into Hollywood - coz Asians Take Sh*t Very Well?! | Alvin Wee (Grammy, CAS & Golden Horse Award-Winning Music Mixer, Encanto)
Meet Alvin Wee: Grammy, CAS & Golden Horse Award winning music mixer from Kuching (now based in LA)!
You might've heard some of his work:
🔸 Disney's Encanto - it won the Grammy!
🔸 "Loyal, Brave & True" - sung by Christina Aguilera in Mulan
🔸 Top Gun: Maverick - with Hans Zimmer
🔸 Kung Fu Panda 3
🔸 Kingsman Series
🔸 "Arena Cahaya" - sung by Zee Avi
🔸 Video games like Final Fantasy XIII, Kingdom Hearts 2.5, Resident Evil XII, PUBG Mobile x Arcane Collaboration & Kena: Bridge of Spirits
As you might have guessed it, all these achievements didn't come overnight.
It took a lot of effort, grit and good luck to get to where Alvin now is.
And we're diving deep into all of them.
Including:
❓ What kept him going as he studied music & waited for hours at the RTM studio for gigs to come?
❓ Was Berklee instrumental to his career?
❓ How did he "break" into Hollywood & get to collaborate with the likes of Han Zimmer, Harry Gregson-Williams, Pharrell, Jay Chou & Yuna?
❓ What was it like performing (+ winning Best Original Song!) at the 53rd Annual Golden Horse Film Awards 2016?
❓ His advice for other Asians who want to "make it" in Hollywood?
Highlights:
- 3:03 Wanting to be called Donald Duck?!
- 6:19 Learning 7 instruments in high school
- 11:41 The vision
- 18:37 Was Berkeley instrumental to Alvin's career?
- 20:53 IMDB
- 22:06 Networking the right way
- 27:10 Being nice in a cutthroat industry?!
- 29:42 Harry Gregson-Williams wrote a letter supporting his US visa application!
- 33:26 Landing his first gig - Final Fantasy 13
- 35:43 Finding the next projects
- 37:27 Working with Harry Gregson-Williams & Hans Zimmer
- 43:19 What's the Hans Zimmer Camp?
- 45:28 Disney's Encanto
- 47:10 Do awards actually impact your career?
- 48:22 Not being pigeon-holed
- 49:56 It's a marathon, not a sprint
- 51:06 Hollywood Writers' Strike
- 53:05 Jared Lee: Is Hollywood really that glamorous?!
📍Show notes: https://www.sothisismywhy.com/130
💌 Weekly STIMY Newsletter that deconstructs how you build a portfolio career to prepare yourself for the future of work: https://sothisismywhy.ck.page/acd5bd1062
✍🏻 Leave a review on STIMY: https://podcasts.apple.com/gb/podcast/so-this-is-my-why/id1521191442
View all episodes
By Ling Yah
4.8
2222 ratings
Meet Alvin Wee: Grammy, CAS & Golden Horse Award winning music mixer from Kuching (now based in LA)!
You might've heard some of his work:
🔸 Disney's Encanto - it won the Grammy!
🔸 "Loyal, Brave & True" - sung by Christina Aguilera in Mulan
🔸 Top Gun: Maverick - with Hans Zimmer
🔸 Kung Fu Panda 3
🔸 Kingsman Series
🔸 "Arena Cahaya" - sung by Zee Avi
🔸 Video games like Final Fantasy XIII, Kingdom Hearts 2.5, Resident Evil XII, PUBG Mobile x Arcane Collaboration & Kena: Bridge of Spirits
As you might have guessed it, all these achievements didn't come overnight.
It took a lot of effort, grit and good luck to get to where Alvin now is.
And we're diving deep into all of them.
Including:
❓ What kept him going as he studied music & waited for hours at the RTM studio for gigs to come?
❓ Was Berklee instrumental to his career?
❓ How did he "break" into Hollywood & get to collaborate with the likes of Han Zimmer, Harry Gregson-Williams, Pharrell, Jay Chou & Yuna?
❓ What was it like performing (+ winning Best Original Song!) at the 53rd Annual Golden Horse Film Awards 2016?
❓ His advice for other Asians who want to "make it" in Hollywood?
Highlights:
- 3:03 Wanting to be called Donald Duck?!
- 6:19 Learning 7 instruments in high school
- 11:41 The vision
- 18:37 Was Berkeley instrumental to Alvin's career?
- 20:53 IMDB
- 22:06 Networking the right way
- 27:10 Being nice in a cutthroat industry?!
- 29:42 Harry Gregson-Williams wrote a letter supporting his US visa application!
- 33:26 Landing his first gig - Final Fantasy 13
- 35:43 Finding the next projects
- 37:27 Working with Harry Gregson-Williams & Hans Zimmer
- 43:19 What's the Hans Zimmer Camp?
- 45:28 Disney's Encanto
- 47:10 Do awards actually impact your career?
- 48:22 Not being pigeon-holed
- 49:56 It's a marathon, not a sprint
- 51:06 Hollywood Writers' Strike
- 53:05 Jared Lee: Is Hollywood really that glamorous?!
📍Show notes: https://www.sothisismywhy.com/130
💌 Weekly STIMY Newsletter that deconstructs how you build a portfolio career to prepare yourself for the future of work: https://sothisismywhy.ck.page/acd5bd1062
✍🏻 Leave a review on STIMY: https://podcasts.apple.com/gb/podcast/so-this-is-my-why/id1521191442
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