music

Leading Community and Japanese Lifestyle Site to Develop Free Phone Application, Onsite Mobile Scavenger Hunt, Photo Studio and Convention Livecast for AM2 LOS ANGELES, Calif. (March 25, 2011) ­ The summer¹s most anticipated Anime, Japanese music and manga event, AM2 announces a partnership with leading community and Japanese lifestyle site Ani.ME to develop a free phone application for attendees which will have voting capabilities (i.e. film festival and competition, Masquerade, World Cosplay Summit, AMV¹s), instant convention schedule updates and additional convention information on Guests and other activities. 

In addition, the popular fan community will also have a physical convention presence with a Livecast and a onsite photo studio for cosplayers.  More info and attendee registration can be found at www.am2con.org <http://www.am2con.org>

It’s highly likely that you’ve heard of Jay Chou before—he’s the Taiwanese singer-songwriter behind hits such as “Cute Girl (Ke Ai Nu Ren),” “Simple Love (Jian Dan Ai),” and “Silence (An Jing).” If you haven’t heard the original songs, you may have seen YouTube covers by Mandarin and non-Mandarin speakers alike (our favorite: sisters Riney and Bam, who used Chou’s music to learn Chinese), or heard his catchy melodies while singing karaoke.

If you’re a fan (or if you grew up in Asia), you may have even caught him on the big screen. He’s acted in movies such as “Initial D” and “Curse of the Green Flower,” and even directed a movie called “Secret” in 2007, with a sequel planned for next year.

But if you haven’t heard of Jay Chou before, get ready to get introduced to him in January, with his first foray into Hollywood as Kato in “The Green Hornet.”

Far East Movement reaching the No. 1 spot on Billboard's Hot 100 this fall with "Like a G6," a musical high-five to better living through beautiful women and bottle service, probably didn't strike most pop-music listeners as pioneering. It's the latest in a long line of hits celebrating playboy partying and living stretch-limo large.

But for Eric Nakamura, publisher/editor of Giant Robot, a magazine devoted to Asian pop culture, who also launched Giant Robot retail outlets in Los Angeles and San Francisco, it's so much more. Far East Movement, who came together in Los Angeles' Koreatown neighborhood and are of Chinese, Japanese-Korean and Filipino ancestry, is the first Asian-American hip-hop act to break through to a wide audience.

Nakamura compares it to Jeremy Lin signing with the Golden State Warriors in July to become the first Asian-American in the NBA since 1947, back when it was known as the Basketball Association of America.

"I didn't know when it was going to happen but I knew it was going to happen and they made it happen this year," he enthuses. "These are amazing times. There've been amazing changes."

 
Last month was exciting in terms of entertainment news. Musicians made Asian American history, San Diego hosted its annual Asian Film Festival, Jon M. Chu’s career took off, Yao Ming returned to the basketball court, and Brenda Song received an award. Let’s get started!
Making beautiful music — for the mainstream!

For the week of Oct. 30, members of Far East Movement became the first Asian Americans to hit the top of the Billboard charts. Even more exciting was the fact that the number two spot was held by singer-songwriter Bruno Mars, who is of Filipino and Puerto Rican descent.
Far East Movement is made up of Kevin Nishimura “Kev Nish,” James Roh “Prohgress,” Jae Choung “J-Splif,” and Virman Coquia “DJ Virman.”
In a New York Daily News story, Oliver Wang, an assistant professor of sociology at California State University-Long Beach, said, “Far East Movement and Bruno Mars didn’t come just out of nowhere. There’s been a slow push to make it happen through social media. It’s finally hit that tipping point.”

San Diego’s Asian Film Festival: action-packed!

Far East Movement, the Los Angeles electro/rap group, reached a notable milestone recently. Not only did its third album, "Free Wired," debut at #24 on the Billboard charts, one of the highest charting debuts by any all-Asian American group, but its latest single, “Like a G6,” is the #1 single in the country (having already crowned digital charts for weeks).

By coincidence, on Oct. 12, 2010, the day "Free Wired" dropped, TV’s "Glee" featured Asian American actors Jenna Ushkowitz (Tina) and Harry Shum Jr. (Mike) joyfully singing and dancing their way through “Sing!” from "A Chorus Line." Three nights earlier, "Glee" star Jane Lynch hosted "Saturday Night Live" with musical guest Bruno Mars, the Filipino-Puerto Rican crooner whose iTunes-topping “Just the Way You Are” was just pushed aside by "Like a G6.”

This confluence seemed to be a long time coming. Prior to FM, the last group of Asian Pacific Islander descent to run the dance floor might have been the Jets, the Tongan-German, Minneapolis-based family band that had a string of dance/R&B hits, including “Curiosity” and “Crush on You.” That was back in 1985.

LOS ANGELES, CA - Visual Communications is proud to present a special screening of the 1916 Chinese American film, THE CURSE OF QUON GWON, on Saturday, Nov. 6, 2010, 3:00 pm, at the National Center for the Preservation of Democracy, in Little Tokyo, to celebrate the release of a limited-edition DVD anthology by renown filmmaker Arthur Dong.

The earliest known Chinese American feature film, THE CURSE OF QUON GWON was directed in 1916 by Marion Wong of the Mandarin Film Company in Oakland, Calif. One of the few films directed by a woman at that time, the 36-minute silent film is about the assimilation of Chinese in the United States. It stars the director, her sister-in-law Violet Wong, mother-in-law Chin Shee and Harvey Soo Hoo.

THE CURSE OF QUON GWON, A 1916 CHINESE AMERICAN SILENT FILM, WILL HEADLINE NOVEMBER 6 DVD RELEASE SCREENING AND RECEPTION

LOS ANGELES, CA - Visual Communications is proud to present a special screening of the 1916 Chinese American film, THE CURSE OF QUON GWON, on Saturday, Nov. 6, 2010, 3:00 pm, at the National Center for the Preservation of Democracy, in Little Tokyo, to celebrate the release of a limited-edition DVD anthology by renown filmmaker Arthur Dong.

The earliest known Chinese American feature film, THE CURSE OF QUON GWON was directed in 1916 by Marion Wong of the Mandarin Film Company in Oakland, Calif. One of the few films directed by a woman at that time, the 36-minute silent film is about the assimilation of Chinese in the United States. It stars the director, her sister-in-law Violet Wong, mother-in-law Chin Shee and Harvey Soo Hoo.

AAIFF'10 LAUNCH PARTY
Thursday, June 17, 7:30pm - 12:00am
Gaslight Lounge
(400 West 14 St. 9th Ave)

ACV invites you to celebrate the launching of our 33rd Asian American International Film Festival.

Come mingle with the staff and volunteers of AAIFF'10 and hear more exciting news about this year's lineup and special events. Bring friends and families for a night of awesome drinks, music and the best company and be the first to buy tickets to your favorite films!

** $5 Drink specials from 8pm- 9pm **
 

Korean singer Park Jae-beom, former leader of popular boy band 2PM, has signed with U.S. online media company Digital Media Wire (DMW) to manage his career.

DMW announced on its official website (www.dmwmedia.com) Friday (U.S. time) that its CEO and entertainment lawyer Ned Sherman will be "representing artist Jay Park with respect to his global entertainment career."

"We are thrilled to be working with Jay," said Mr. Sherman in the post. "He is incredibly talented and has the work ethic, talent, charisma and fan support to have a big career on a global level."

He went onto say that it is "rare that you come across an artist like Jay. He really loves and cares about his fans and it shows. We are working on a number of big projects which we will be announcing soon.”

Schema Magazine presents a monthly series of web writing workshops and speakers, featuring some of the most pioneering, innovative and ethnic cool voices on the Internet. In the world of social networking and Web 2.0, having an online presence on the web is becoming more and more important. Social media gives us the tools to be a part of this growing conversation, but how do we define our voice on the web as a writer, a producer and as a blogger?

iWriteAboutMe.com showcases dynamic web personalities, social media gurus, bloggers and writers who will talk about how they transformed their personal stories and diverse identities into an online brand.

Since the Asian American film burst onto the scene thirty something years ago, many of those filmmakers, such as, Christine Choy, Wayne Wang, Mira Nair, Ang Lee, Justin Lin and among others are now comfortably part of the American cinematic mainstream.

Each year, hundreds of filmmakers from around the Asian Diaspora submit their short films to Asian American film festivals. They have given us stories of immigration and assimilation, adversity and triumph, motivation and inspiration of all genres: narrative, documentary, experimental, animation, music video.

Common reoccurring themes include identity politics, alienated youth, hypersexualization, math nerds, over-achievers, stereotypes, suburban alienation, and kung-fu waiters. 
Been there? Done that?

Tell us YOUR Asian American story.

Thursday, January 28 2010
8pm @ Orpheum Theatre
Tickets at Ticketmaster.ca 604-280-4444
$42-$54

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GY9WKzUILH8

“Powerful, dynamic and unique” -Time Out
“Extraordinarily talented…incomparable muscular zeal” -Chicago Tribune
“This is a show of rare excellence … Run, don’t walk to the box office.” - Edinburgh Evening News
“(It’s) an evening of rhythm, beats, sweaty bodies, melody, dynamic shape, and extraordinary precision.
Tao is inspiring, uplifting and theatrical.” -The New Zealand Performing Arts Review

Ken Choy and Mavericks of Asian Pacific Islander Descent announce an open call for submissions for OSOJI.
OSOJI is an innovative theater experience which will have a world premiere at Breaking the Bow 2 scheduled to be held at Highways Performance Space October 2010. Artistic groups will develop and work on individual pieces which will then be weaved together to create a larger theatrical extravaganza exploring spiritual, political, cultural, and physical cleansing. Based on the year-end Japanese ritual of housecleaning prior to the start of the new year, OSOJI will implement a multitude of artistic forms and genres.

Asian Pacific Islander groups, organizations, companies, troupes, collectives, and any and all ad hoc formations working in theater, dance, improvisation, comedy, music, API cultural expressions, and performance are encouraged to submit general proposals. Large and small; established and new are desired to collaborate on the work.

Hong Kong, SAR, China (Thursday, November 12, 2009).

Hong Kong’s original fantasy web series LUMINA jumps from the little screen to the big screen at this past weekend’s Clockenflap Music & Multi-Media Arts Festival held at Hong Kong’s Cyberport. An estimated 3,500 festival attendees had the opportunity to view the Saturday and Sunday screenings of the first LUMINA webisode, which to date has been available exclusively online.

When Indian students arrive in Australia, probably the last thing they think they will end up doing is taking to the streets in a series of boisterous protests.

First, they were voicing anger over a spate of muggings and attacks in Melbourne, Sydney and Adelaide. Police confirm there have been 97 attacks since late-May, although the true figure is probably much higher since many assaults go unreported.

San Francisco  - SF Ballet Company’s Yuan Yuan Tan, the company’s first Asian American principal soloist will tour with the company, when they make their debut in China this October.

San Francisco Ballet, the oldest professional ballet company in America, has been invited on a three-city tour to Shanghai, Beijing and Suzhou, China this fall as part of the official celebrations for the 60th anniversary of the founding of the People’s Republic of China and the 30th anniversary of the establishment of official diplomatic relations between the USA and the People’s Republic of China.

Hong Kong, SAR, China - Creating worlds is a passion and one that writer and director Jennifer Thym enjoys. When she entered the film world in July 2008, the investment banker turned filmmaker decided to take a novel approach to reaching her audience.

“With LUMINA we wanted to go beyond the conventional format of short film,” says Jennifer Thym, “and create an online fantasy series with wonderful potential for interactivity with its viewers.”

As theatrical and DVD sales fall around the world, viewers are increasingly turning to the web for entertainment.

“The online audience is already there. To me, it’s about connecting to them with an engaging and beautifully told story.”

“LUMINA will open your minds cinematically, and the story will open your hearts to the impossible,” says producer Sommer Nguyen.

Asian Week - A night on the town with music, dinner, and friends, a benefit for SF Hep B Free 

Two beautiful up and coming Asian Pacific American female musicians - Odessa Chen and Alice Tong, have joined the San Francisco Hep B Free Campaign to help promote awareness about the impact of the hepatitis b virus (HBV) on Asian Pacific Americans.  The two will be performing at “An Unexpected Encounter: A night on the town filled with music, dinner & friends” on Friday Aug. 21, from 6 to 9pm at Jillians, located at 101 4th St., inside the San Francisco Metreon. 

Koreanet - Thanks to the Korean wave, or "Hallyu" boom, movie lovers can see more Korean movie stars in Hollywood films these days.

Most recently on July 29, a group of Japanese fans flocked to Seoul to see Korean actor Lee Byung-hun at a press conference to mark the launch of his latest movie “G.I. Joe: The Rise of Cobra” with his co-stars Sienna Miller and Channing Tatum and the director Stephen Sommers (who made "The Mummy 3" (2008)).

Lee Byung-hun captured the hearts of Asian fans on the popular SBS drama "All In" (2003) co-starring Song Hye-gyo, and also his movies including "A Bittersweet Life" (2005) and "The Good, the Bad, the Weird" (2008). Lee's filmography has attracted the attention of other Hollywood film directors like Steven Spielberg and James Cameron.

Hokubei - On Saturday and Sunday, Aug. 8-9, the 36th annual Nihonmachi Street Fair takes over San Francisco’s Japantown.

The fair celebrates the diverse Asian American and Pacific Islander communities here in the Bay Area, and has established itself as a summertime tradition in the city.

This event is organized entirely by volunteers, who work with non-profit community service organizations to offer Asian food booths, a broad assortment of arts and crafts vendors, and even a Children’s World activity area, where kids can learn Asian crafts and games.

That commitment to community service is what gives the Nihonmachi Street Fair a unique perspective among Bay Area urban festivals. The fair’s broad goal is to support the programs and services of non-profit organizations.

(U.S. ASIAN WIRE SAN FRANCISCO) The Filipino American Arts Exposition (FAAE) presents the largest celebration of Filipino Americans in northern California as the 16th Annual Pistahan Parade and Festival and 2nd Annual Filipino American Jazz Festival takes place this Saturday and Sunday August 8-9 at the Yerba Buena Gardens in San Francisco.

FAAE selected Marily Mondejar as Hermana Mayor to lead the 2009 Pistahan celebration and this year the festival is dedicated to the memory of former Philippine President Corazon Aquino.

The Pistahan opening ceremonies begin at 10 a.m. on Saturday August 8 on Beale Street followed by the parade at 11 a.m. featuring beautifully themed floats and nearly 100 contingents.

Over 50,000 attendees are expected and will experience and discover the best of Filipino culture and entertainment as this two-day event showcases exhibits, workshops and demonstrations in art, dance, music and food in various pavilions throughout Yerba Buena Gardens.

NEW YORK (26, 2009) – Asian CineVision (ACV) announced the award winners of the Asian American International Film Festival (AAIFF) tonight at Chelsea’s Clearview Cinemas in New York. Executive Producer Liliana Chen bestowed the honors to five filmmakers as part of the Festival’s closing ceremonies.

First announced was Iemi Hernandez-Kim, director of the short film Ayi’s Story and winner of the One to Watch award, an audience voted award that recognizes talent in filmmakers under the age of 21. Ayi’s Story follows the journey of a teenaged girl from Brooklyn to numerous destinations in China, capturing her experiences in documentary and video-journal style.

Kim Snyder, director of the short film Crossing Midnight, won the award for Excellence in Short Filmmaking. Her documentary on the efforts of health workers to treat Burmese refugees deals with the issue of human rights through the lens of medicine.

FATE SCORES, a film by Chinese-Canadian director and actor Albert M. Chan, will have its New York premiere on Sunday July 26th, 2009, at 2:15pm at the Museum of Chinese in America (215 Centre St. New York, NY) as part of the 32nd Annual Asian American International Film Festival (AAIFF).

The film has also screened this year at the Boston International Film Festival, the Wisconsin Film Festival, On Location: Memphis International Film Festival, and the Southeast New England Film, Music & Arts Festival.

FATE SCORES explores themes of isolation, connection, and chance, and is a thoughtful look at the seemingly random interactions between ten strangers on a city park bench, eventually culminating into something extraordinary.

Cinevision - The Asian American International Film Festival (AAIFF) announced a number of non-screening events, including workshops, panels and parties, to be held throughout the Festival in addition to feature and short film screenings. AAIFF will run from July 23 through 26 at Clearview’s Chelsea Cinemas, the Visual Arts Theater and the Museum of Chinese in America.

AAIFF offers in-depth panels and workshops for film enthusiasts as well as the general public. This year’s Work-in-Progress workshop, which leads filmmakers toward the final stages of a film production, will present a new documentary on Anna May Wong, the first Chinese American actress to reach critical acclaim in Hollywood. New this year is a workshop on Red One cameras, a new tool in digital recording that makes filmmaking technology substantially more accessible and affordable to the general public.

RockGinger and Sommertime Productions are proud to announce that the LUMINA Web Series Official Trailer is now available to view online at www.luminaseries.com in the new High Definition YouTube format.

LUMINA is a daring thriller web series starring JuJu Chan (Jiu Jo Remix MV for Terence Yin and 24 Herbs, TVB People's Choice Award for Miss Chinatown USA 2009) as Lumina Wong, a young lonely Hong Kong woman who has a chance encounter with the mysterious Ryder Lee, played by Michael Chan, star of the viral YouTube sensation, Wall Street Fighter IV.

LUMINA’s diverse international cast includes Vince Matthew Chung, recent winner of The Amazing Race Asia 3, as Lumina’s best friend, T

U.S. ASIAN WIRE - Charlottesville's Tim Be Told confection of catchy hooks and positive vibes, is a band on the rise. They combine a variety of eclectic elements to create a form of soulful pop-rock of their own, similar to Maroon 5 and The Fray.  The multicultural band comprises of frontman Tim Ouyang, drummer Jim Barredo, guitarists Andrew Chae and Luan Nguyen, and bassist Parker Stanley.

Skynews - L'Oréal has been found guilty of racial discrimination after it hinted that it only wanted young, white women to sell its shampoo in France.

France's highest court heard how a fax was sent saying Garnier hostesses, part of L'Oréal's beauty division, should be 18 to 22 years old, size 8 to 12 and "BBR".

BBR or "bleu, blanc, rouge" are the colours of the French flag - widely understood to be a code for white, French people born to white, French parents.

Prosecutors said Garnier wanted to exclude ethnic minority candidates because they would be less likely to sell its shampoo in French shops.

The fax was sent by an employee of recruitment company Adecco, who was also found guilty of racial discrimation and fined £25.5k.