The good folks at KoreAm are graciously helping us get the word out about a new initiative to support our community of aspiring filmmakers. And who is “us,” I hear you asking? We’re Youoffendmeyouoffendmyfamily.com (a.k.a. YOMYOMF), a fairly new pop culture blog founded by director Justin Lin (Better Luck Tomorrow, Fast & Furious) and featuring a roster of Asian Americans in the industry including actors Sung Kang (Fast And Furious: Tokyo Drift) and Roger Fan (Better Luck Tomorrow), Oscar-nominated screenwriter Iris Yamashita (Letters From Iwo Jima), former Fox/HBO exec Elaine Chin and a bunch of others collectively known as the Offenders. Our extended family of “Guest” Offenders include everyone from The Simpsons/The Office writer Danny Chun to Playboy Playmate Grace Kim to KoreAm’s very own Michelle Woo.
On May 2 (this coming Sunday) at the DGA, we will be presenting a FREE filmmaking panel entitled
INTERPRETATIONS: So You Really Want To Make Films? as part of the Los Angeles Asian Pacific Film Festival. We’ll be launching INTERPRETATIONS at the event. This is a program we’ve created to try to identify and support talented filmmakers who otherwise might not have access to Hollywood. The panel is SOLD-OUT, however, there will be a limited number of rush tickets on the day of the event so come on by and we’ll do our best to get everyone in. If you can’t make it, check our blog and here at KoreAm after May 2 and we’ll have all the details on how you can get involved.
But if you do come out on May 2, what can you expect?
First off, a panel of heavyweight industry professionals who will talk about the qualities they look for in filmmakers:
Rowena Arguelles (Creative Artists Agency, agent)
Trevor Groth (Sundance Film Festival, Director of Programming)
Jeffrey Kirschenbaum (Universal Pictures, Executive Vice President of Production)
Dan Lin (Producer, Sherlock Holmes, Terminator Salvation)
We’ve also commissioned a few filmmaker friends to make their own short films to help us launch this initiative and we’ll be screening some of them at the panel. Three of these filmmakers will be hand to talk about their work and INTERPRETATIONS:
Danny Pudi (star NBC’s Community)
Mora Stephens (director Conventioneers, winner of the Independent Spirit Awards’ John Cassavettes Award)
And the aforementioned Iris Yamashita
In addition, there will also be a special screening of YOMYOMF Films’ Car Talk, introduced by star Sung Kang. You can actually watch it below but come on out to hear what Sung has to say about it. See how excited he looks at the prospect:
Your MC for this event will be Roger Fan and Justin Lin and all the L.A.-based Offenders will be in attendance so come out and meet the gang. We’ll try our best to make it fun and informative for everyone in attendance!
You can also check our Twitter and Facebook pages regularly for the latest updates. And if you can’t make it, but have a question for our panelists above, leave it here or email it to: mailbag@yomyomf.com
Thanks to Toyota for not only being the Title Sponsor for INTERPRETATIONS, but the panel itself, allowing us to make it FREE to all.
Oh yes, and here’s Car Talk starring that guy from Tokyo Drift:
