8 Asians

Growing up in Manila in the late 90s and going to international school (long before MP3 file-sharing became the norm), I had an opportunity to hear a wide variety of music most people stateside had never heard of from around the world, a statement that indie music hipster snobs often flaunt to annoy others. Whether it was my Scandinavian friends introducing me to The Shermans and Eggstone, or discovering the Manila underground thanks to news [...] Continue »

Relativity Media’s new comedy 21 and Over hit the theaters over the weekend. The newest project by the writers of The Hangover Jon Lucas and Scott Moore, 21 and Over is an outrageous journey as Jeff Chang (played by Justin Chon) celebrates his 21st birthday with his best friends (played by Skylar Astin, and Miles Teller the night before his medical school interview. Here are 8Questions with Justin Chon about his new film and more [...] Continue »

I can imagine it must be tough to have a wuxia martial arts legend for your mom, but for Eugenia Yuan, being the daughter of the legendary Cheng Pei Pei doesn’t faze her at all. Not only has she pursued her own path as a rhythmic gymnast on the U.S. Olympic Team among other pursuits, she’s even had opportunities to work alongside her mother on various projects like Shanghai Hotel and Flying Dragon, Leaping Tiger. [...] Continue »

Writer, producer, and director Stanley Yung wrote for PBS’s Puzzle Place and produced Quentin Lee’s White Frog, Ethan Mao, and People I Slept With. He graduated from UCLA’s Film School, and his most recent work is on a feature film CHINK, the first ever about an Asian American serial killer. In this 8Questions session with Yung, what I found particularly striking was his discussion of how the serial killer main character, Eddy Tsai, feel so [...] Continue »

As a teen in the early 90s growing up in LA and OC Asian American communities, everyone knew about the murder of Stuart Tay by other high achieving teens. Rumors flew about the computer theft planned, about drama over a girl, about how he was beaten to death and buried. And this is pre-internet and cell phone, so word traveled fast. When I heard about the movie Better Luck Tomorrow and what it was about, [...] Continue »

Writer, director, and producer Quentin Lee was born in Hong Kong, immigrated to Canada as a teen, and is now active in the industry in Los Angeles. He attended UC Berkeley, Yale, and UCLA in the U.S. Lee’s films center around every day realistic Asian American characters that usually don’t get much screen time in Hollywood. His most recent film direction project is White Frog, a coming of age story staring Booboo Stewart and featuring [...] Continue »

Terminator Salvation. Sherlock Holmes 1,2, and 3. Lego: The Piece of Resistance. Godzilla. Stephen King’s It. Death Note. Justice League. What do all these disparate movies past, present, and future have in common? One amazing Taiwanese American producer, Dan Lin. And you might have heard of his latest film Gangster Squad, an LAPD period movie about a battle to take back LA from the mafia. Named back in 2008 by Variety as one of top [...] Continue »

The first time I heard of Keni Styles, one of the first heterosexual Asian male porn stars in America, I felt pride. Because there was someone out there who was breaking the stereotype that Asian males are sexless, effeminate, weird, and/or all of the above. He was proving that Asian American males could be sexy, great lovers, and desired. And he was doing it in the adult film business of all places! According to Wikipedia, [...] Continue »

Nancy Vu is a high school senior in San Jose, California and the creator of the blog Just Little Things, a tumblr about the little things in life that give her joy.  Her postings showed up so often on pinterest, twitter, and FaceBook that a book publisher approached her about creating a book based on her blog.  Nancy’s book, Just Little Things: A Celebration of Life’s Simple Pleasures, will be available in May 2013, published [...] Continue »

Meet my fellow Trojan and 8Asians writer Koji Steven Sakai. Since his latest film CHINK is in post production and will be coming out soon, I thought it was a great opportunity to interview him. Sakai is a super passionate writer who really will stop at nothing to tell the Asian American story through film. Many loyal 8Asians readers have probably noted that Sakai is a very prolific 8Asians writer, with many of his posts [...] Continue »

Jay Chen is a small business owner who grew up in my hometown of Hacienda Heights, graduating from my rival high school across town and going on to study at Harvard. He won a seat on the local Hacienda la Puente School District Board, a public school district that he is a proud product of. Aside from being on the cast of the Vincent Who? documentary of Asian American Empowerment, Chen is most known for [...] Continue »

I openly admit I am a gangsta rap fan. So I have to constantly remind myself that there is more music out there than 2Pac, Dr. Dre, and/or Snoop Doggy Dog. One talented hapa artist I’ve been following (that isn’t a gangsta rapper) is Jessi Malay. I have been lucky enough to have gotten to know her in the last couple of years and have found her to be more than just a “pop” singer. [...] Continue »