This past weekend played host to the second annual V3con, a digital media conference presented by the Los Angeles chapter of the Asian American Journalists Association. V3con focuses on vision, visibility and voice (hence the V3) and its aim is to “highlight and expand multi-platform Asian American and Pacific Islander (AAPI) communications by gathering thought-provoking AAPI online journalists, creative social media communicators, seasoned bloggers and those interested in engaging on digital platforms.”
This year’s V3con presented an impressive lineup of interesting and educational panels and workshops, filled with industry experts. The panel that I want to share with you is entitled “Asian Visibility in Hollywood and Globally Online,” a topic that aligns with Asians On Film’s current efforts of promoting Asian-American talent.
The panel was moderated by co-anchor of ABC7’s Eyewitness News, David Ono, and attended by panelists Parvesh Cheena, Lynn Chen, Pradeepa Jeeva and Lawrence Yee. Pradeepa Jeeva is the head of production at the online entertainment channel YomYomF and Lawrence Yee is the managing editor at TMZ spin-off toofab.com. I’m sure you recognized Lynn Chen and Parvesh Cheena as they are veteran actors with numerous credits under their belts.
The impeccably dressed and well-spoken David Ono opened the panel with a warm welcome and quick introductions, and dove straight into the topic of Asian-American visibility in the online world. The general consensus from the panel was that Asian-American visibility on the internet was strong, mostly because digital distribution is quick, relatively easy and doesn’t contain the roadblocks of more traditional mediums such as casting and production/publication costs.
Now let’s say you’ve got your YouTube channel and blog up and running. How do you make money from it all? The panelists agreed that knowing your audience was the key to monetization. If you’re able to understand what your audience wants, then you’re able to give them more of it! Throw in a dash of “you”, that thing that makes you special, and you’re well on your way to building a strong and supportive following.
After some hilarious anecdotes and thoughtful insight from the panelists, David Ono finally asked the question we all wanted an answer to: How do we increase Asian visibility in Hollywood? I smiled in agreement as Lawrence Yee took the mic and shared with us the simple yet seemingly unpracticed solution of aggressively seeking out Asian-American talent to promote and share. Lawrence continued with an example of when he attended a press junket for an upcoming film and wanted to speak with the Asian actors featured in the film, but the studio couldn’t fulfill his request because they hadn’t scheduled any of the Asian actors to be present. This is why being aggressive is important because the studios aren’t fighting to serve up Asian-American talent on a platter. He also mentioned the film 21, which starred Kevin Spacey. The original story revolved around an Asian professor and a group of Asian students beating the Las Vegas casinos, but after it went through the studio system, only one Asian character made it to the final product. If we’re not demanding more visibility for Asian-American talent, I can guarantee you that no one else is either.
There aren’t any scientific answers on how to increase visibility for Asian-Americans or how to grow or monetize your online world, but one theme was constant throughout the discussion: be “you”, be persistent and be consistent. If you can master these three qualities, everything else will fall into place with time and a little luck.
I left the “Asian Visibility in Hollywood” panel feeling inspired and better equipped to face the fast-paced, increasingly digital entertainment industry. I hope that you too are motivated by this article to take action towards better Asian visibility in Hollywood and globally online.
V3con did a fantastic job in bringing together informed panelists at a well produced, professional event. I highly recommend that you attend next year’s V3con so that you can experience panels like this for yourself and come away with a new energy and resolve.
~ Andrew Chen, AOF Content Editor
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