Strong Asian Lead

In this episode of Strong Asian Lead Podcast, David interviews Justin Chon whose new film ‘Blue Bayou’ comes out this weekend. David and Justin discuss about the movie ‘Blue Bayou’, the influence of Asian American culture, how Justin got into the film industry, deportation, adoptees, film industry advice and more.

Topics discussed in this episode:

00:18—David’s film watching experience

07:07—Justin Chon’s Asian American influence

10:01—Justin’s entry to film scene

12:04—Why Justin took up directing?

18:35—Problem with Asian storytelling in Hollywood

21:25—Justin’s preparation for Blue Bayou

28:33—Justin’s learning about deportation process while researching for the film

30:16—Filmmaking lessons from Justin’s experience

31:36—Justin’s plans for future

33:14—Creators who inspire Justin

34:09—Justin’s advice for budding artists and filmmakers entering the industry

Buy your tickets HERE!

Follow Justin Chon

IG: @justinchon

IG: @BlueBayouFilm

Thank you Focus Features

SAL Links:

Strong Asian Lead Homepage

Instagram - @strongasianlead_

Crowdfunding - LINK

SAL Podcast Team:

Outreach Manager - Rachel Michiko Whitney (Website / @rachel_michiko)

Podcast Producer - Gina Kim (@gina.sk)

Social Media - Jenilee De La Fuente (@jenilee_dlf) + Kevin Fenix (Website / @k.fenix)

Brand Voice - Rowenna-Riley Ji-Young Kim (@rowennarileykim)

Canva Designer - Dennis-Michael Broussard (Website / @carpe_dm)

Audio Editor - Vanya Shruti (Fiverr / LinkedIn)

Transcript & Shownotes: Mohamed Syed (Fiverr)

Episode Transcript: https://strongasianlead.com/pod-transcripts/transcript-justin-chon

Calls to Action: Sign up for Asian Film Network (Beta) - http://asianfilmnetwork.com

Up In My Jam (All Of A Sudden) by - Kubbi https://soundcloud.com/kubbi Creative Commons — Attribution-ShareAlike 3.0 Unported— CC BY-SA 3.0 http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/ Music promoted by Audio Library https://youtu.be/tDexBj46oNI

We're gonna do a quick check in and let you know what's going on with Strong Asian Lead. We still need a team and need help putting together the podcast and everything else, so this show notes are going to be very sparse. I appreciate your patience I appreciate that there's this might not be the most professional and well put together podcast episode but this is what we got to live with because I can't do everything myself. Which is the reason why we're checking in now because we've been off the air for a few weeks so please keep staying tuned in and be patient with artwork. Will keep coming out content and podcasting but we can only do so much at the same time. Thanks again for tuning in. 

Shout out to Giant Leap Media for putting on a #GoldOpen for Shang-Chi

Get your tickets for Mixed Asian Media Festival - September 15 - 19th. 

Recorded on 8.19.21

This is David. I'm not great at shownotes, so this is what we've got. We need a new shownotes peson, so if you're interested and great at taking notes, please email me at [email protected]

Guests

Tony Giroux

Alex Chester

Lauren Lola

Ryan Alexander Holmes

Jenny Lee-Gilmore

Rachel Michiko Whitney

Naomi Sedgwick

Soma Helmi

TV and Film Recommendations 

Helix 

Shadow and Bone 

Dave - Hulu

Breakshot

100% Half 

So Yong Kim

The Replacements

Almost Asian

Love is a Many Splendid Thing - Film

Love is a Many Splendid Thing  - TV

Queen Sugar

People Mentioned

Tiger Woods

Naomi Osaka

Hines Ward - Football player

Michael Norman  - Sprinter 

Keanu Reeves 

This week David talks with writer and director, Soma Helmi, about the differences in the entertainment and film industries within Indonesia and the United States, why she was drawn to the story-shaping abilities of directing, finding peace with her mixed identity, and the powerful future of Indonesian and Indonesian American stories in Hollywood.

Podcast Show Notes

Guest Title: Soma Helmi

Recording Date: 29-07-2021

Episode Title: Expanding the Asian Diaspora w/ Soma Helmi

Topics Discussed:

Topic 1 - Upbringing in Bali

Topic 2 - Transitioning to different careers

Topic 3 - The story-shaping ability of directing

Topic 4 - Sustaining creativity during a pandemic

Topic 5 - The power of community and coming together

Topic 6 - First small production with Yoshi Sudarso and Miki Ishikawa

Topic 7 - Film industry in Indonesia vs. Los Angeles

Topic 8 - Power and universality of multicultural storytelling

Topic 9 - Being mixed race in Bali and feelings of being “othered”

Topic 10 - Finding peace with her mixed identity

Topic 11 - Indonesian stories in Western media

Topic 12 - The Weekend

Topic 13 - Southeast representation in the entertainment industry

Topic 14 - Closing thoughts

Mentioned Notes:

Future Women of TV of 2020

Yoshi Sudarso

Miki Ishikawa

Ryu Minami

Eat, Pray, Love (Film)

The Weekend Seed & Spark Campaign - www.theweekendshort.com

Links:

Handles:

Soma’s Instagram -

https://www.instagram.com/somahelmi/

Soma’s Twitter -

https://twitter.com/somahelmi

Soma’s Website -

www.somahelmi.com

David's Instagram -

https://www.instagram.com/davidmoriya/

SAL Links:

https://strongasianlead.com/

Instagram - https://www.instagram.com/strongasianlead_ /

Crowdfunding -  https://strongasianlead.com/crowdfunding

SAL’s Feature in Feedspot’s Top 20 Asian Film Podcasts - https://blog.feedspot.com/asian_movies_podcasts/

SAL Podcast Team:

Project Manager - Sanjana DeSilva (www.theangryelephantproductions.com)

Podcast Producer - Kenna Tanouye (Connect with her on LinkedIn)

Episode Transcript: Transcript of the episode’s audio.

Calls to Action: Join the movement, stay tuned and follow us on Instagram!

Recording Date: August 11, 2021 Episode Title: What Hollywood Doesn’t Understand Guests: 

Alex Christian - https://instagram.com/alexchristianfit?utm_medium=copy_link 

Darrick Collins - https://instagram.com/whateverittakesfilms?utm_medium=copy_link 

Upendo William - https://instagram.com/upendomwilliam?utm_medium=copy_link 

Amy Z Chan - https://instagram.com/amyzchan?utm_medium=copy_link 

Vero Nica - https://twitter.com/mateconchipa?s=21 

Topics Discussed: Asian Male Representation Diversity Budgets at Studios White Washing Diversity within our cultures and communities Intersectionality Publishing - Books turning into movies Asian American - North and South America Handles:  D

David’s Instagram - https://www.instagram.com/davidmoriya/  

SAL Links: https://strongasianlead.com/  Clubhouse - StrongAsianLead.club  Instagram - https://www.instagram.com/strongasianlead_ /  Crowdfunding -  https://strongasianlead.com/crowdfunding  SAL’s Feature in Feedspot’s Top 20 Asian Film Podcasts - https://blog.feedspot.com/asian_movies_podcasts/  Up In My Jam (All Of A Sudden) by - Kubbi https://soundcloud.com/kubbi Creative Commons — Attribution-ShareAlike 3.0 Unported— CC BY-SA 3.0 http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/ Music promoted by Audio Library https://youtu.be/tDexBj46oNI Transcripts: https://strongasianlead.com/pod-transcripts/what-hollywood-doesnt-understad

Taking a quick break from our scheduled programming. This week David talks about his journey within the entertainment industry, the brainchild that is ‘Strong Asian Lead’, and what drives him as a storyteller.

Podcast Show Notes

Recording Date: 08-05-2021

Episode Title: David Moriya & Strong Asian Lead

Topics Discussed:

Links:

Handles: 

SAL Links:

SAL Podcast Team:

Episode Transcript: https://strongasianlead.com/pod-transcripts/david-moriya-strong-asian-lead

Calls to Action: Join the movement, stay tuned and follow us on Instagram!

Up In My Jam (All Of A Sudden) by - Kubbi https://soundcloud.com/kubbi Creative Commons — Attribution-ShareAlike 3.0 Unported— CC BY-SA 3.0 http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/ Music promoted by Audio Library https://youtu.be/tDexBj46oNI

Approaching the entertainment industry from a different angle, David sits down to talk with marketing extraordinaire, incredible speaker, and mentor, Henry Ong. Not only does he touch upon his experience helping to launch some of the most successful projects in Hollywood to date, David and Henry dive into the intensity of re-centering your purpose, how influential media is in shaping perception, and the investment we need to have in the next generation of changemakers.

Podcast Show Notes

Guest Title: Henry Ong

Recording Date: 2021-06-18

Episode Title: Chasing Fulfillment w/ Henry Ong

Topics Discussed:

Topic 1 - How Henry sees himself

Topic 2 - Being a son of immigrants and his upbringing

Topic 3 - The story of his parents

Topic 4 - Henry’s evolution of self-identity

Topic 5 - Life-changing moments & re-evaluating current paths

Topic 6 - Asian Americans in the entertainment industry

Topic 7 - Marketing & how media shapes perception

Topic 8 - Authentic storytelling

Topic 9 - Mentoring the next generation of changemakers

Topic 10 - Everyone's on their own path

Topic 11 - The future of equity, inclusion, & representation

Topic 12 - Closing thoughts

Links:

Handles:

Henry’s LinkedIn - https://www.linkedin.com/in/henryong/

Henry’s Instagram - https://www.instagram.com/mrhenryong/

David's Instagram - https://www.instagram.com/davidmoriya/

SAL Links:

https://strongasianlead.com/

Instagram - https://www.instagram.com/strongasianlead_ /

Crowdfunding -  https://strongasianlead.com/crowdfunding

SAL’s Feature in Feedspot’s Top 20 Asian Film Podcasts - https://blog.feedspot.com/asian_movies_podcasts/

SAL Podcast Team:

Project Manager - Sanjana DeSilva (www.theangryelephantproductions.com)

Audio Editor - Ravi Lad (www.itsravilad.com and @itsravilad on Instagram)

Podcast Producer - Kenna Tanouye (Connect with her on LinkedIn)

Episode Transcript: Transcript of the episode’s audio.

Calls to Action: Join the movement, stay tuned and follow us on Instagram!

Up In My Jam (All Of A Sudden) by - Kubbi https://soundcloud.com/kubbi Creative Commons — Attribution-ShareAlike 3.0 Unported— CC BY-SA 3.0 http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/ Music promoted by Audio Library https://youtu.be/tDexBj46oNI

Emphasizing the importance of South Asian representation in the larger Asian American conversation, this week David talks with director, writer, and actress, Sujata Day. They discuss how her debut feature film “Definition Please” came to be, how groundbreaking “Bend It Like Beckham” was, the realities of creating an indie film, and the continuous journey of building your table in Hollywood.

Podcast Show Notes

Guest Title: Sujata Day

Recording Date: 2021-06-23

Episode Title: Building The Table w/ Sujata Day

Topics Discussed:

Topic 1 - Combining both academic and creative endeavors

Topic 2 - Family support and the influence of culture on Sujata’s career

Topic 3 - The journey of “Definition Please”

Topic 4 - Creating short films and gathering her team

Topic 5 - Struggles of financing indie projects

Topic 6 - Incorporating her Indian American heritage into the movie

Topic 7 - Actors of color and secondary characters

Topic 8 - Bengali and South Asian representation in Hollywood

Topic 9 - Studios and agencies need to back BIPOC actors

Topic 10 - The dynamics of the writer’s room

Topic 11 - Building your table

Links:

Handles:

Sujata’s Instagram - https://www.instagram.com/sujataday/

Sujata’s Twitter - https://twitter.com/sujataday

Definition Please Website - https://www.sujataday.com/definition-please

Definition Please Instagram - https://www.instagram.com/definitionplease/

Definition Please Twitter - https://twitter.com/DefnPlease

David's Instagram - https://www.instagram.com/davidmoriya/

Mentioned Notes:

“7th Heaven” (TV Series)

Case Western University

“Awkward Black Girl” (Web Series)

Rabindranath Tagore

“Gook” (Film, Justin Chon)

“Ms. Purple” (Film, Justin Chon)

“Cowboy and Indian” (Short Film, Sujata Day)

LA Asian Film Festival

CAAM Fest

Austin Asian American Film Festival

Tina Mayberry

Debbie Allen

Dino Ray-Ramos

E Film/Company 3

Skywalker Ranch

Masala Lay’s Chips

Thumbs Up Soda

Bend It Like Beckham

Kim Saira & “Spill Your Guts” Petition

“Blowing Up Right Now”

#OscarsSoWhite #EmmysSoWhite

Issa Rae

Matthew Cherry (“Nine Rides”)

Justin Chon

Tanuj Chopra

SAL Links:

https://strongasianlead.com/

Instagram - https://www.instagram.com/strongasianlead_ /

Crowdfunding -  https://strongasianlead.com/crowdfunding

SAL’s Feature in Feedspot’s Top 20 Asian Film Podcasts - https://blog.feedspot.com/asian_movies_podcasts/

SAL Podcast Team:

Project Manager - Sanjana DeSilva (www.theangryelephantproductions.com)

Audio Editor - Ravi Lad (www.itsravilad.com and @itsravilad on Instagram)

Podcast Producer - Kenna Tanouye (Connect with her on LinkedIn)

Podcast Volunteer Intern - Sadia Hussain

Episode Transcript: Transcript of the episode’s audio.

Calls to Action: Join the movement, stay tuned and follow us on Instagram!

This week, David sits down to talk with actor and content creator, Ryan Alexander Holmes to examine and go deeper into how content creation can help you tell your truth, the systemic colorism issues that plague the Asian American community, and the cultural significance of Rush Hour on his Black and Asian identity growing up.

Podcast Show Notes

Guest Title: Ryan Alexander Holmes

Recording Date: 2021-06-15

Episode Title: On Being Blasian w/ Ryan Alexander Holmes

Topics Discussed In This Episode:

Topic 1 - Learning how to make new friendships and the audition process during the pandemic

Topic 2 - Ryan and his identity

Topic 3 - Creating digital content throughout 2020 and 2021

Topic 4 - Breaking down what others see vs. how Ryan sees himself

Topic 5 - Strength in numbers

Topic 6 - Acting and navigating the industry as a multi-ethnic person

Topic 7 - Blasian representation in media

Topic 8 - Colorism in the Asian community

Topic 9 - Representation/role models growing up or lack thereof

Topic 10 - The cultural significance of Rush Hour

Topic 11 - The broken education system

Topic 12 - Closing thoughts

Links:

Handles:

Ryan’s Instagram - https://www.instagram.com/ryanalexh/

Ryan’s TikTok - https://www.tiktok.com/@ryanalexh?lang=en

Emi’s Instagram - https://www.instagram.com/defiant.changemaker/

David's Instagram - https://www.instagram.com/davidmoriya/

Mentioned Notes:

Marlon Wayans & A Haunted House 2 (Film, 2014)

Kim’s Convenience Backlash - https://www.latimes.com/entertainment-arts/tv/story/2021-06-11/kims-convenience-simu-liu-jean-yoon-asian-representation

Adele Lim & Crazy Rich Asians

Dave Chapelle

Politically Incorrect with Bill Maher (Guy Aoki vs. Sarah Silverman) - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VsNoO8xMs04

It Started With Words - https://itstartedwithwords.org/

Rush Hour (Film, 1998)

Yuri Kochiyama & Malcolm X

Black Lawyers Who Fought for Japanese Incarcerated Individuals

13th (Film, Ava DuVernay)

Amend: The Fight for America (Film, Will Smith)

SAL Links:

https://strongasianlead.com/

Instagram - https://www.instagram.com/strongasianlead_ /

Crowdfunding - https://strongasianlead.com/crowdfunding

SAL’s Feature in Feedspot’s Top 20 Asian Film Podcasts - https://blog.feedspot.com/asian_movies_podcasts/

SAL Podcast Team:

Project Manager - Sanjana DeSilva (www.theangryelephantproductions.com)

Audio Editor - Ravi Lad (www.itsravilad.com and @itsravilad on Instagram)

Podcast Producer - Kenna Tanouye (Connect with her on LinkedIn)

Podcast Volunteer Intern - Sadia Hussain

Episode Transcript: Transcript of the episode’s audio.

Calls to Action: Join the movement, stay tuned and follow us on Instagram!

This week, David and Emi met with actress and industry veteran Miki Ishikawa to talk about her upbringing, the in’s and out’s of being a child actor, and continuing her journey to the acting career she has today. They also get into the nitty gritty of the many truths of representation across the Asian and Asian American diaspora, her experience on the set of 'The Falcon and the Winter Soldier' and 'The Terror: Infamy', and why the conversation towards a better future is never ending.

Podcast Show Notes

Guest Title: Miki Ishikawa

Recording Date: 2021-03-19

Episode Title: Authenticity & Acting

Topics Discussed In This Episode:

Topic 1 - How Miki deals with grief and violence against communities

Topic 2 - Miki’s identity and background

Topic 3 - Representation

Topic 4 - Casting in Hollywood

Topic 5 - 'The Terror: Infamy'

Topic 6 - Closing thoughts

Topic 7 - Uplifting marginalized communities

Links:

Handles:

Miki’s Instagram - https://www.instagram.com/mikimou5e/

Miki’s Twitter - https://twitter.com/mikiishikawa

Emi’s Instagram - https://www.instagram.com/defiant.changemaker/

David's Instagram - https://www.instagram.com/davidmoriya/

Mentioned Notes:

The Terror: Infamy (Television Series, 1 season)

Minari (Film)

Yellow Rose (Film)

Lingua Franca (Film)

“No No Boy’ - https://bookshop.org/books/no-no-boy/9780295994048

‘Midnight in Broad Daylight’ - https://www.harpercollins.com/products/midnight-in-broad-daylight-pamela-rotner-sakamoto

‘Looking Like The Enemy’ - https://www.lookingliketheenemy.com/

‘Runaway Horses’ - https://www.waterstones.com/book/runaway-horses/yukio-mishima/9780099282891

‘Klara and the Sun’ - https://www.waterstones.com/book/klara-and-the-sun/kazuo-ishiguro/9780571366217

‘Black, Brown, and Yellow’ - https://www.ucpress.edu/book/9780520245204/black-brown-yellow-and-left

SAL Links:

https://strongasianlead.com/

Instagram - https://www.instagram.com/strongasianlead_ /

Crowdfunding - https://strongasianlead.com/crowdfunding

SAL’s Feature in Feedspot’s Top 20 Asian Film Podcasts - https://blog.feedspot.com/asian_movies_podcasts/

SAL Podcast Team:

Project Manager - Sanjana DeSilva (www.theangryelephantproductions.com)

Audio Editor - Ravi Lad (www.itsravilad.com and @itsravilad on Instagram)

Podcast Producer - Kenna Tanouye (Connect with her on LinkedIn)

Podcast Volunteer Intern - Sadia Hussain

Episode Transcript: Transcript of the episode’s audio.

Calls to Action: Join the movement, stay tuned and follow us on Instagram!