Hyphen in Hollywood

Chris Naoki Lee, Imani Hakim, Kara Wang, Kausar Mohammed and Allison Paige (Director and Cast of DINNER PARTY)

In this special episode of the Hyphen in Hollywood podcast, director Chris Naoki Lee made his return to the podcast - and he brought some friends too. In this actor's roundtable podcast, we were able to get the main cast of dinner party - Chris Naoki Lee, Imani Hakim, Kara Wang, Kausar Mohammed and Allison Paige - together in the same room to record an actor's roundtable reflecting on their experience working on DINNER PARTY, Chris's directorial debut, and a personal passion project for years. A film firmly rooted in our time, DINNER PARTY poses a simple, blunt question: If you met up with your high school friends today, would you still fuck with them? This sentiment was expressed with aplomb during our fascinating actor's roundtable, with each of the cast members parlaying their unique perspective on the countless social themes, discomforts and realities expressed within the film. We're excited to share this raw, honest and ultimately hopeful mediation on the role art can in healing a lot of our society's great ails. Thank you to Chris, Imani, Kara, Kausar and Allison for sharing your experience.

Emily Teera (SOUL FOOD)

Emily Teerasuphaset (เอมิลี ธีรสุภะเสฏร์) (she/her), the writer and director of the upcoming short Soul Food, joined the Hyphen in Hollywood podcast to discuss her project, whose crowdfunding campaign is currently active [https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/soulfoodmovie/soul-food?ref=project_link] and nearing its target goal.  The short is a Thai language drama about a mother and daughter reconciling the love and hurt in their relationship in a place between our world and the next. Emily and her team believe this personal and cathartic story has something to offer those with difficult family relationships and will make for an honest, mystical slice-of-life film. Emily and I go way back, having met as co-workers at Creative Artists Agency and realizing our common passion in broadening the representation of Asian Americans in entertainment, along with our closest friends. It's an honor to amplify Emily and her story and watch her promising directorial career bloom.  Please consider supporting Soul Food's crowdfunding campaign: https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/soulfoodmovie/soul-food?ref=project_link

Daniel Park (IDOL: THE COUP, CCO of Transparent Arts)

Daniel Park, co-founder and CCO of Transparent Arts sat down with Christian to discuss his latest TV production venture, a K-drama series, IDOL: THE COUP, which is currently airing on JTBC every Monday and Tuesday and streaming worldwide on iQIYI [https://www.iq.com/album/idol-the-coup-2021-1mz1xhra0bl?lang=en_us]. IDOL: THE COUP is unique in premise due its specific focus on a failing k-pop girl group who must band together to produce one more success in the face of countless professional and personal challenges. The series has garnered acclaim for its honest take on issues such as mental health within the k-pop industry and features of cast of former and current k-idols, including Exy (formerly of WJSN) and Ahn Sol-Bin (currently of Laboum). Outside of his work with IDOL: THE COUP, Daniel has expressed passion for multicultural stories is in numerous film/tv, music videos, commercials, and online video content. Some of the artists that he’s worked with include Ty Dolla $ign, YG 400, Tiffany Young (SNSD), Jay Park, and Jong-hyun Kim (SHINee). About Transparent Arts: Transparent Arts [https://transparentarts.com/] is an innovative 360 entertainment company specializing in amplifying Asian culture and talent on a global stage.  Founded by Far East Movement (The first Asian American group to reach Billboard #1) and co-founder Daniel Park (Filmmaker and Creative Director), their vast collective knowledge has led to many diverse creative endeavors.   The company’s mission is to develop international entertainment projects. We thank Daniel for taking top to stop by the podcast and sharing his experience and story.

Maureen Bharoocha (SAVED BY THE BELL, GOLDEN ARM)

South Asian director Maureen Bharoocha stopped by the podcast to chat about her recent work directing an episode in the upcoming second season of “Saved by the Bell," now available on Peacock. Maureen is part of NBCU’s Female Forward program that aims to create gender parity in scripted television, and along with its counterpart the Emerging Director Program, they are the first programs in the industry to guarantee that participating directors will helm an episode of television during the program. Maureen discussed her comical relationship with intersectional identity, building a coalition of female directors, and the her recent feature film directorial debut, "Golden Arm," which made waves at SXSW 2020 for its hilarious take on a classic underdog story.

Justin Chon - BLUE BAYOU (Focus Features)

Writer, director, actor and secret tattoo artist Justin Chon dropped by the Hyphen in Hollywood podcast to discuss his latest film, BLUE BAYOU, which hit theaters Friday, 9/17. We discussed the timely and resonant themes his films address and the power film has in operating as a vehicle for urgent social change.