Father’s Day Video: “Thanks, Dads”

8A-2014-06-15-ThanksDadsDirector Hieu Tran put together this video just in time for Father’s Day.

Although the family here is portrayed by actors, the sentiment reflected is real nonetheless for plenty of kids with gay parents.

Happy Dad’s Day!

From the Director’s Statement:

There is a saying I learned in my college parenting class: Biology makes babies, but it doesn’t make parents.

Thanks, Dads was a spontaneous idea that was inspired by my father and some gay couples I know. It is a video to thank all dads – gay or straight – all over the world for doing their best to raise their children.

I believe parenting is arguably the toughest job in the world, a lifelong commitment with no vacations and constant on-call duty. I saw the struggles of my parents as they raised four children, especially my dad’s countless night shifts and overtime hours just to make ends meet. Yet, he still managed to have the energy and time to teach me math, how to ride a bike, read, and reviewed my homework. I owe him – and my mother too – a huge debt of gratitude.

This video makes me think about my own future. I am turning 25 years old soon and when I scroll on Facebook, many of my friends from college are getting married and welcoming their newborn sons and daughters. When my partner and I have kids, I hope we will work together to be good and proud parents, just like my own parents. I want to guide our future children to reach their potential and love them unconditionally. I want them to be better versions of us.

In a run-and-gun mode, we shot this video in less than four hours. Post production took three days with color correction, editing, recording music and doing the voice over. Funding for this project was covered in full by revenue generated from Squared (2013) sales, which paid for actors, props, and a super fast memory card.

Posted in Family, LGBT | Leave a comment

Asian American Commercial Watch: Progressive Insurance: Superport

http://youtu.be/5jSKXCY5aos

8A-2014-06-AACW-ProgressiveIn the latest Progressive Insurance commercial, actor Aaron Takahashi plays the role of a father waiting at the airport, playing around with his tablet, checking out insurance quotes online. The mother who doesn’t have any lines is actress Angela Ai. The son is played by Ryan C Lee. I’m not sure why the mother and son at the end of the commercial are dressed up as a Progressive Insurance representative. At the end, there is a reference to a garlic festival. The only garlic festival I am aware of is the Gilroy Garlic Festival, which happens at the end of July in Gilroy, California (about 30 miles south of San Jose and 80 miles south of San Francisco).

Posted in Comedy, Entertainment, TV | 2 Comments

What You Might Not Know about Ann Curry, Recipient of the 2014 V3con Vision Award

V3con_Honorees_2014

By Eugene Hung

This post is part of a series that will introduce 8Asians readers to some of this year’s V3 Digital Media Conference (V3con) honorees, speakers, panelists, and performers. The V3con Opening Awards Reception will be held on Friday, June 20, 2014 and the V3 Digital Media Conference will be held on Saturday, June 21, 2014 at the Japanese American National Museum in Little Tokyo, Downtown Los Angeles.

Pictured: Ann CurryIt seems strange to suggest that any of us should need an introduction to Ann Curry, the recipient of this year’s V3con Vision Award.

She’s been one of the lead faces of NBC’s news division for more than two decades, anchoring and reporting from all corners of the globe for its most prominent programs, including Dateline NBC, Today, and NBC Nightly News. These high-profile gigs, and a ton of hard work and determination, have helped Ann become one of the most recognizable newswomen in America. Consider merely her Twitter followers: at 1.44 million, the number of Ann’s followers exceeds that of the legendary Barbara Walters (1.3 million), Katie Couric (1.08 million), Diane Sawyer (356,000), and Meredith Vieira (88,000).

But there’s a side to Ann that many of us may not know.

Continue reading

Posted in Community, Southern California, TV | 3 Comments

Priscilla Chan Gives First Television Interview

Visit NBCNews.com for breaking news, world news, and news about the economy

At the end of May Priscilla Chan – most known for being Facebook founder & CEO Mark Zuckerberg’s wife – gave her first television interview ever, on the heels of a recent announcement by Mark & Priscilla’s donation of $120 million to some San Francisco Bay Area schools:

Priscilla_Chan_Today“Zuckerberg and his wife, Priscilla Chan, have made headlines with big charitable gifts before: He gave $100 million to help schools in Newark, N.J., and the couple later donated stock worth more than $1.5 billion to a fund administered by the Silicon Valley Community Foundation — which made them the nation’s biggest charitable donors in 2013. The fund at the community foundation is intended to finance a variety of projects over many years, including a multimillion-dollar grant for health research and $5 million provided earlier this year to an East Palo Alto medical clinic. The latest gift, which also comes from that fund, will help “improve education for underserved communities” over the next five years, Zuckerberg said. Some of the $120 million will help start new public and charter schools in the Bay Area while the rest will pay for equipment, training and other programs at existing schools. The first $5 million will go to needy schools in the Ravenswood and Redwood City school districts and other “high-need” neighborhoods of San Francisco.”

Additionally, on the Today website, Chan reveals a few additional things about her life. In the past, there have been a few photos of Chan – especially when she was traveling to China with Zuckerberg, and a few unflattering things said about her in the past. In her Today interview, I found Chan thoughtful and well spoken, and certainly not unattractive.

Posted in Education, Local, San Francisco Bay Area, Tech, Technology, TV | 5 Comments

Chloe Bennet’s Chinese Pop Music Video

After finding out that Marvel’s Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. star Chloe Bennet was actually a popstar in China as a teen, I was curious and searched for some videos of her singing in Chinese, and here it is, posted above. Very bubblegum, very pop, of course. Personally, I enjoyed this one a lot more.

Posted in Comics, Entertainment, Music, TV | Tagged , , , , , , | 1 Comment

Doodle 4 Google 2014 Winner: Audrey Zhang

On Monday, June 9th, Google had a new doodle on their homepage. That doodle was part of an annual competition. Google held their 7th annual “Doogle 4 Google” competition where they asked kids in K-12 tell Google what they’d like to invent to help make the world a better place. 11-year old Audrrey Zhang of New York won. There were over 100,000 submissions from all 50 states. The description of Zhang’s artwork was:

doodle“To make the world a better place, I invented a transformative water purifier. It takes in dirty and polluted water from rivers, lakes, and even oceans, then massively transforms the water into clean, safe and sanitary water, when humans and animals drink this water, they will live a healthier life.”

Google wound up helping to animate her doodle as well, and inspired by her artwork, donating $20,000 in her name to charity: water toward providing clean water to schools in Bangladesh. Audrey also won a $30,000 college scholarship from Google, which also gave a $50,000 tech grant to her school, Island Trees Middle School in Levittown, New York.  Congrats to Audrey and her school!

Posted in Current Events, Education, Entertainment, Tech, Technology, The Arts | 1 Comment

LA Ticket Giveaway: 2014 V3 Digital Media Conference

V3con_Honorees_2014

AAJA-LApresentsV3-logo

V3 Digital Media Conference is coming up right around the corner. The event kicks off on Friday June 20th with an Opening Awards Reception. Then, the all day conference takes place on Saturday June 21st. Both events are being held at the Japanese American National Museum in Little Tokyo (LA). Here is the website for more info: http://v3con.com/.

Registration includes admission to Friday’s Opening Awards Reception and Saturday’s all day conference, including breakfast and lunch on Saturday. Check out the full schedule and the list of speakers.

Broadcast journalist Ann Curry, Pulitzer Prize-winning food critic Jonathan Gold and singer-songwriter Judith Hill will be honored at the 2014 V3 Digital Media Conference, presented June 20-21 in celebration of Asian American contributions to media and culture.

The third annual conference, presented by the Los Angeles Chapter of the Asian American Journalists Association, recognizes the “Vision. Visibility. Voice” of Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders in digital and social media, with the goal of showcasing the most influential and interesting Asian Americans online while connecting diverse communities and building new media skills.

The two-day event, which drew more than 500 attendees in each of its first two years, will consist of a gala evening awards reception Friday, June 20, to be followed by an all-day conference on Saturday, June 21, both at the Japanese American National Museum in Little Tokyo in downtown Los Angeles.

“As in past years, we are privileged to bring together such prominent and influential honorees,” said Jocelyn “Joz” Wang, founder and executive director-advisor of V3con. They have taken diverse paths toward a common destination of advancing the stature of Asian Americans and our culture.”

The three “V” awards given at V3con recognize the contributions, talents and values of path-breaking individuals who have enabled Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders to become recognized as a significant force in media and the broader community. This year’s recipients will be recognized at the Friday event for their roles in significantly raising the profile of the AAPI community in the mainstream.

Five lucky 8Asians’ readers will each win a pair of registrations to the upcoming V3con!

Ok, ok, so you think you’re ready to enter? Read on!
Continue reading

Posted in Community, Lifestyles, Nonprofit, Promotions, Southern California | 1 Comment

Indicted Leland Yee Gets 320,000 Votes Even After Dropping out of the CA Secretary Race

YeeVoteLeland Yee has been arrested on a number of corruption charges and dropped out of the California Secretary of State race, but 323,000 people managed to do what is pictured here as of the most recent count of California’s primary election held on June 3, 2014.  It was too late to remove his name from ballots by the time he dropped out, but Yee still managed to get 9.6% of the vote as of June 7This article and others ask – why did that happen?

Some possibilities have been outlined by the Mercury News and SFGate articles:

1. Some people don’t believe the charges
2. Some voters didn’t know about the charges
3. Some voters have a perverse sense of humor, and don’t care about the office
Continue reading

Posted in Current Events, Politics | Tagged , , | 5 Comments

East West Players Announces its 50th Anniversary Season, GOLDEN

8A-2014-06-EWP-50th-Anniversary_1050x420

East West Players (EWP), the nation’s largest producing organization of Asian American artistic work and the longest-running professional theater of color in the country, announces its extended 50th Anniversary Season, GOLDEN, a celebration that will take place over the next two years. On the heels of a record-breaking Visionary Awards Gala, Producing Artistic Director Tim Dang, announces the shows that comprise the GOLDEN season, which will take place from Fall 2014 through Summer 2016.

“We are proud to offer eight innovative and inspiring productions to celebrate our Golden Anniversary,” said Tim Dang, East West Players’ Producing Artistic Director. EWP’s actual 50th Birthday is June 26, 2015. “We’re excited to choose a season that will be absolutely global, a season that dares to be different, a season like you’ve never experienced at any other theater in the US because we are leading the charge to encourage diversity for all theaters to open up their storytelling and include the stories of the world in which we live. The future is here. This is the next chapter of East West Players.”

Continue reading

Posted in Entertainment, Music, Nonprofit, Southern California, The Arts | Leave a comment

Asian American Commercial Watch: Samsung Experience Shop — Countdown to Upgrade

http://youtu.be/81d009GtJWs

If you haven’t been to a Best Buy recently, it’s hard not to notice the Samsung store-within-a-store set-ups that Samsung has. As you may know, the Samsung Galaxy S5 launched a few months ago, and now Samsung is promoting their trade in program available at Best Buy. The “upgrader” in this case happens to be a familiar actor I’ve blogged about in other commercials before, notably Vince Foster.

Vince_Foster_Samsung_adI think I first noticed Foster in a McDonald’s commercial where he was described as the “Egg McMuffin of Boyfriends,” which I thought was the first time I had seen an Asian American Male (AM) with a White Female (WF)as a romantic couple in a television commercial (I’ve blogged about how White Male / Asian Female is the most common interracial couple represented on TV.) The most interesting and recent AM/WF commercial that I recall has been the Old Spice one.

Anyways, back to Samsung. In retrospect, I had actually first noticed Foster in a series of Samsung Galaxy “Next Big Thing” ads when Samsung started to directly mock die hard Apple iPhone fan boys (& girls). I was reminded of those ads recently because in the latest Apple vs. Samsung patent lawsuit, an email was disclosed at how those ads drove Phil Schiller, SVP of Worldwide Marketing at Apple, crazy – as described in the Wall Street Journal in a headline titled, Has Apple Lost Its Cool to Samsung?

Posted in Entertainment, Technology, TV | 1 Comment

Asian Americans non-voters: “Too Busy to Vote”

8a-voteDespite Asian Americans complaining about being treated badly politically with bills like SCA5, they simply haven’t been turning out to vote. This analysis of Census Data from the Pew Research Center says that over time, Asian American turnout is about 33% lower than whites percent and Blacks by 25%, at the same level as Hispanics. The trend since 1990 seems to be steadily be getting worse. The most commonly cited reason for not voting: “too busy.”
Continue reading

Posted in Politics | Tagged , | 1 Comment

Douglas Kim Parodies Jay-Z’s “Young Forever” with “Forever Hyung”

8A-2014-05-DouglasKimForeverHyungDouglas Kim previously released his “I’m Asian American” music video and now he (and a bunch of friends) are back with “Forever Hyung”, a parody of the Jay-Z song “Young Forever”.

It’s a satire of recent media that has been released by Koreans about Koreatown, LA, serving as a sort of music video mockumentary. It features cameos of Joe Jo and Bart Kwan of JK Films, Yuri Tag, James Kyson Lee, Jun Kim, Peter Jae, Elizabeth Sung, Alexis Rhee, Nikki Soohoo, Christina Lee, Allura Lee, Steve Huang, and occasional 8Asians contributor Lianne Lin.

Posted in Comedy, Entertainment, Music, Southern California | 1 Comment