Category Archives: los angeles

ComedyZen – December 2010

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ComedyZen - December 2010

Back by popular demand, Comedy Zen is back!!
Get ready for jokes of fury. Comedy Zen returns with stuntman, Steven Ho, who will be putting our comedians through different stunts. He was the most booked guest during Conan’s era of the Tonight Show and will be sharing some behind scenes stories about Conan. (see some of Steven Ho and Conan’s antics – Round 1, Round 2, and Round 3) Finally up is headliner Joe Wong, who is also a self-proclaimed “All American immigrant.” Many of you have seen him in the Late Show with David Letterman, The Ellen Degeneres Show, and the 2010 White House Annual Correspondents’ Dinner. Also in the show is Jay Phillips from BET and Comicview. Catch this great show at a new venue which now has booze and food!

Comedy Zen will be held at

The Downtown Independent Theater
251 S. Main Street
Los Angeles, CA 90012
Date: Friday, December 3, 2010
Time: 8:00pm – 10:00pm

Buy Tickets
Use discount code: APA for $3 off your tickets

ComedyZen – December 2010

2010 CAPE Soiree

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2010 CAPE Soiree front2010 CAPE Soiree back

The Coalition of Asian Pacifics in Entertainment (CAPE) presents its highly-anticipated “CAPE Soiree” at Vibiana (210 S. Main Street, Los Angeles, CA 90012), December 2, 2010; 6:30-11:00pm. Added to the list of stars is Mark Dacascos of Iron Chef: America. Dacascos competed in the 9th season of Dancing With the Stars. He joins his DWTS judge at this year’s star-studded Soiree. This year’s celebration honors Comedian Ken Jeong (The Hangover) and CBS President of Entertainment, Nina Tassler, for their efforts in advancing Asian Pacific Americans in front of and behind the camera.

Besides the awards show, the evening includes a silent auction, red carpet photo opportunities, and cuisine provided by some of LA’s finest dining establishments. Each year the “CAPE Soiree” provides an electrifying evening with opportunities to mingle with your favorite stars and studio executives. Also slated to appear are He’s Just Not That Into You’s Leonardo Nam, Fifty First Date’s Amy Hill, Twilight’s Justin Chon, CSI’s Archie Kao,Gilmore Girl’s Keiko Agena, Heroes’ James Kyson Lee, The People I’ve Slept With’s Karin Anna Cheung, Dinner for Schmuck’s Randall Park, Saving Face’s Michelle Krusiec, Ugly Betty’s Alex Mapa, and Disturbia’s Aaron Yoo. If you’re in Los Angeles, rub elbows with your favorite Asian American celebrities. Mix it up with

Tickets are $75.00 for CAPE Members; $95.00 for Nonmembers. A special Soiree Combo Ticket is also available. Ticket purchase and detailed information are available here.

2009 CAPE Soiree


About CAPE: Founded in 1991 in Los Angeles, CAPE is a non-profit organization dedicated to advancing diversity and creating social change by actively developing, promoting, and positioning Asian Pacific Americans for key artistic and leadership roles in the entertainment industry and media arts.

Pixel Pushers: An Exploration of 8-Bit Digital Media

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Pixel Pushers: An Exploration of 8-Bit Digital Media

“Pixel Pushers” is a group show curated by Giant Robot’s Eric Nakamura, centering around the Famicom inspired custom Scion art car which will project the Giant Robot produced video game, Return of the Quack. The exhibition will feature not only video game inspired art, but a bank of retro custom pachinko machines in a pachinko parlor-like installation, an interactive environment by a renowned digital conceptualist artist, 8-bit sculptures, projected digital visuals, and 4 mini game consoles. The featured artists are: *Jude Buffum, Matt Furie, Zach Gage, Len Higa, Chevy Ray Johnston, Nullsleep, Daniel Rehn, Shawn Smith and Kohei Yamashita.*

The opening reception takes place on *November 13, 2010 at 7 — 10 p.m*. at Scion Installation L.A., 3521 Helms Ave. (at National), Culver City, CA 90232. The reception is free with complimentary valet parking and an open bar. Exhibition is free and open to the public.

Artists will be in attendance. The exhibition will run until December 11, 2010.

Pixel Pushers: An Exploration of 8-Bit Digital Media

About the artists/
*Jude Buffum*’s clients have included the New York Times, HBO, the Los Angeles Philharmonic Orchestra, and Courtney Love. His design and illustration have received awards from Graphis, Communication Arts, AIGA, Print, and American Illustration. http://www.judebuffum.com

*Matt Furie *generates richly detailed and hyper colored illustrations and paintings that reflect the crossbreeding of the primal creativity of Fraggle Rock and Labyrinth with the unrestrained violence of Chuck E. Cheese. http://www.mattfurie.com

*Zach Gage* is a designer, programmer, conceptual artist, and video game designer from New York City. http://stfj.net

*Len Higa* was born and raised in Hawaii and has worked for a few automotive companies specializing in research and development, racing, prototypes and concepts. He specializes in metal fabrication, prototyping/conceptualizing and auto/motorcycle building. http://onimotorworks.blogspot.com

*Chevy Ray Johnston* is a 21-year-old freelance game developer living in Vancouver. He has been developing video games for 7 years and is the creator of FlashPunk, a tool to make developing web games easy and more accessible to a wider audience. http://chevyray.com/

*Nullsleep *is the alias of Jeremiah Johnson, an electronic musician whose style could best be described as post-cyberpunk. Nullsleep is the cofounder of 8bitpeoples, an artist collective interested in the audio-visual aesthetics of early home computers. http://www.nullsleep.com

*Daniel Rehn *is the director of LA Game Space, a non-profit center for game development, research, and culture. He co-founded Playpower, a foundation enabling the creation of 8-bit learning games for developing countries. http://re.danielrehn.com/

*Shawn Smith *has received artist-in-residencies from the Kala Art Institute in Berkeley, CA and the Cite Internationale des Arts in Paris, France. He’s also been the recipient of the Clare Hart DeGolyer grant from the Dallas Museum of Art and has exhibited extensively throughout the US. http://shawnsmithart.com

*Kohei Yamashita *manufactures and markets characters and character goods that recall old-school sensibilities, aesthetics, and execution. He has also designed work for the likes of Isamu Nogochi, Pilot pens, LEGO, and the Ueno Park Zoo. http://mountain-mountain.com/

More information on this, and past exhibitions is available at http://www.scionav.com/art

About the curator
*Eric Nakamura * is the publisher of Giant Robot Magazine. Giant Robot Magazine began in 1994 as a stapled-and-folded zine and has grown into a full-fledged bi-monthly magazine available at most stores and newsstands. Giant Robot opened its first store in 2001, and formulated a combination of pop culture goods, ranging from Japanese import toys, graphic design and art books, and monthly art exhibitions. Giant Robot has since opened stores and galleries in San Francisco and New York City, and also operates a restaurant called gr/eats in West Los Angeles. Curating the exhibition is the publisher/co-editor and owner, Eric Nakamura who curates most of the exhibitions Giant Robot presents annually and the Giant Robot Biennale at the Japanese American National Museum

About Scion Installation L.A.
Dedicated to fostering independent artistic expression, Scion Installation L.A. is space that allows artists to explore their creative visions. Scion Installation L.A. hosts art shows and art-related events for cutting-edge contemporary artists from across the globe. One-hundred percent of all sales go directly to the artists. Gallery hours are Wednesday through Saturday 11 am to 6 pm and by appointment: 310.815.8840.

That’s What She Said web series

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That's What She Said web series

That’s What She Said (TWSS) webseries is the first major project of Pearl Girls Productions. The series chronicles the lives of five fictional characters–Leslie, Rae, Shin, Baby, and Nic–within the queer sphere of the greater Los Angeles area.

TWSS was created out of a desire to see positive Asian representations in the media, as well as to give voice to the often-untold stories of queer Asian women. As it is, Los Angeles holds one of the largest Asian populations in the United States (second only to New York), and is historically significant as a center for media and entertainment. Yet, save for a few examples, they are hard-pressed to find complex, multi-dimensional portrayals of queer Asian experiences.

For more information and updates, visit official website for That’s What She Said here.

That’s What She Said Trailer

About Pearl Girls Productions:

Pearl Girls Productions was created through the inception of the webseries, That’s What She Said. As six queer and queer-allied Asian women (and so much more), their hope is that their efforts will positively impact social consciousness through the power of media–in particular (though certainly not restricted to) the spread of positive representations of queer Asians.

My Name is Seven Casting Call

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Director John P. Raposas, the guy behind Lexationships and the short Mother, has written a new short dance film that is shooting next week starring members of Quest Crew (America’s Best Dance Crew Season 3 champs) and Yuri Tag of Kaba Modern 6 (the team that competed on America’s Best Dance Crew). They are in desperate need of extras in the Los Angeles Area. This is a rare opportunity for you to dance along side with top Asian American dancers. If you can dance and are in the LA Area, here’s the info to audition:

An independent short urban dance film to be shot Monday, October 25 and Tuesday, October 26 in Los Angeles is looking for dancers (Monday and Tuesday) and background extras (Tuesday) for two scenes, a dance studio scene and dance party/cypher.

Tuesday should be exciting as we will have a dance battle/cypher scene where the protagonist has to show his stuff to get the girl. Background dancers should be versed in hip-hop/urban dance choreography. Please indicate if you can freestyle (not needed) as well.

Copy, credit, and food only.

Send emails to mynamesevenfilm@gmail.com with your experience and/or
reel. In the subject line of your email, please put “Seven: Background
Dancer” or “Seven: Background Extra” depending on what role you are replying for. More details to follow.

To give you a sense of his writing abilities, watch John P. Raposas’ Mother

2010 ID Film Fest

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2010 ID Film Fest

ID Film Fest, a program of the Japanese American National Museum, is set to kickoff on Friday October 8, 2010 through October 10, 2010 in Little Tokyo, Downtown Los Angeles. This unique cinema festival – a weekend of Asian / Asian American film presentations and workshops, will open with the Los Angeles premiere of the critically acclaimed film Kit Hui’s FOG, starring Terrence Yin and Eugenia Wan. Hirokazu Koreeda’s much talked about film AIR DOLL is slated as the fest’s Centerpiece film and Ian McGruder’s THE THINGS WE CARRY will close out the three-day movie feast.

ID Film Fest was founded in 2008, by filmmakers Koji Steven Sakai and Quentin Lee who wanted screen compelling Asian / Asian American works that have not yet had a chance to show in Los Angeles. Now in its third year of running, ID Film Fest is a festival by filmmakers and for filmmakers who create Asian American content and/or of Asian descent.

“Los Angeles is a postmodern collage of cultures and identity,” says founder/filmmaker Quentin Lee. “Even within the broader umbrella of the ‘Asian American’ community, there are Japanese, Korean, Chinese, Filipino, Vietnamese, Laotian and Cambodian Americans. Further diversifying the community are the divisions between first generation immigrants and those who were born here. A crisis of identity is inevitable and necessary even though we fantasize a more utopian unity. ID Film Fest is proud to present contemporary works that examine, explore or celebrate the identity crisis in our diverse global Asian community.”

“Everyone’s struggle with identity is totally unique, but at the same time there are commonalities,” shares co-founder/filmmaker Koji Sakai, “What Am I? Am I Japanese American? Am I Asian American? Am I American? ID Film Fest is meant to explore those similarities and differences; and through both, my hope is that everyone will be able to answer the basic question: ‘What are you?’”

Previous filmmakers and artists who have participated at ID Film Fest include: Justin Lin, Michael Aki, Eric Nakamura, Margaret Rhee, Tony Huang, Ann Kaneko, Chris Chan Lee, Tad Nakamura, Jason Tobin, Rea Tajiri and Ming Lai.

This year’s ID Film Fest filmmakers and actors will include: PJ Raval, Jessica Sanders, Brent Anbe, William Lu, Feodor Chin (Golden Boy), James Huang (R E P R E S E N T and The New Adventures of Johnny Karate & Golden Delicious), Kerwin Berk, Hirokazu Koreeda, Kit Hui, Ming Lai (Journey of a Paper Son), Eugenia Wan and Terrence Yin.

One of this year’s ID Film Fest highlights will be the BATTLE OF THE PITCHES 2 and The API PILOT SHOOT OUT where filmmakers will get a chance to participate in a live screenwriting pitch session with industry execs and the finalists for the API PILOT SHOOT OUT will present trailers of their work in competition.

This year’s Centerpiece film, AIR DOLL from Hirokazu Koreeda, is based on the popular manga series Kuuki Nigyo. The film premiered at the Cannes Film Festival 2009 and revolves around a middle-aged man whose closest friend is a life-sized doll. This isn’t just any sex doll though; it was made with a heart. So when the man goes to work during the day, the doll goes out and explores the world. The doll is played by the amazingly talented and beautiful Bae Donna (from the Korean film “The Host”). AIR DOLL portrays the loneliness and lack of human connection in not only Japan, but all industrialized big cities around the world. Koreeda remains of Japan’s most funny, poignant and prolifically skilled filmmakers.

ID Film Fest will run October 8 thru October 10, with all events taking place at the at downtown Los Angeles’ National Center for the Preservation of Democracy located at 111 N. Central Avenue, Los Angeles, CA 90012.

“I Make Films Because…” ID FIlm Fest 2010 Trailer

The Things We Carry trailer (closing night film)