In this episode, Pebble Presents Stevie Wong, an award-winning journalist and founder of Asian A.V. Club. Emelia and Stevie discuss how his career evolved from advertising student to an internationally recognized entertainment journalist of 30+ years. They dive into Stevie’s specialized approach to interviewing as a self-proclaimed conversationalist, including his uncanny ability to build rapid rapport with celebrities for interviews. Emelia unearths similarities between Stevie's interviewing approach and qualitative research methods, which they dig into.

Emelia Rallapalli is the founder of Pebble Strategy - a brand strategy and marketing research consultancy. Pebble provides custom-made research programs, marketing strategy consulting, and account planning services. 

Stevie Wong is an internationally recognized journalist who has worked for Sky News, Star Movies Asia, Deadline, HBO Asia, just to name a few. He recently launched Asian A.V. Club — celebrating Asian creatives working in film/tv behind the scenes, and also in front of the camera.

Welcome to Pebble Presents.

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Resources and References 

• Asian A.V. Club - https://asianavclub.substack.com
• Asian A.V. Club on Instagram - https://instagram.com/asianavclub
• Stevie Wong on LinkedIn - https://www.linkedin.com/in/stevie-wong-2331a3/

Show Notes 

0:23 - Emelia introduces today’s topic: the art of entertainment journalism

1:24 - Emelia introduces today’s special guest: Stevie Wong

2:44 - Stevie shares a short history of how he got to where he is today, professionally

11:56 - Emelia and Stevie discuss their professional AND personal fulfillment in their chosen areas of work

15:28 - Stevie shares how he learned the art of working a room for the best interview possible

18:14 - Stevie and Emelia discuss a dependent interview model vs a psychodynamic model, and Stevie describes how there is only room for ONE in his work

23:06 - Emelia and Stevie discuss how they handle vulnerability and emotion in professional interview setting

28:31 - Stevie chronicles some of the seismic shifts he’s witnessed in the journalism and media industries with technological advances

32:49 - Stevie addresses his need to pivot in his career

35:09 - Stevie shares some of the ways he’s taken initiative over the years to become an effective correspondent with deep enjoyment of film (industry and art)

41:33 - Stevie chronicles what prompted him to launch his recent undertaking: Asian A.V. Club

46:03 - Stevie explains his curiosity-based approach to conversational interviewing

48:23 - Stevie shares some of his ideas and plans for the Asian A.V. Club

50:06 - Emelia and Stevie divulge more about their shared background as…choir nerds

51:32 - Episode wrap up

Episode Credits

Executive Produced by Emelia Rallapalli

Produced by Stephanie Watanabe 

Editing and Post Production by Erin Zimmerman

Artwork and Design by Liisa Turan-Walters