Last Sunday, the Nokia Club was packed with fans lined up to see this year’s Verizon’s APAHM tour headliner, Jay Park. Even hours before the concert, the diverse fans–most of them non-Korean–eagerly waited for the former 2pm leader’s first tour in the states.
The crew traveled from East to West hitting up major cities like DC, NYC, San Francisco, and of course, Los Angeles. For the West Coast tour, Jay teamed up with AJ Rafael, a Filipino-American artist with a huge following on Youtube, and Blush, a five-member Pan-Asian pop group. Jay performed selections from his first full length solo album and a mix tape he produced exclusively for the tour for his adoring fans–both in English and Korean.
The tour marked Jay Park’s successful crossover from kpop to the US music scene. It seems mobile companies are increasingly targeting Asian American audiences (AT&T and Wongfu just released a web series). Who do you think should headline next year’s APAHM tour?
Check out our video interview with Jay Park below!
AM2 (Animation, Music, and Manga) are looking for attendee models (male and female) to strut down the AM2 runway for various Japanese brands (Putumayo, Sikh) during the three day convention event at the Anaheim Convention Center. Interested parties can register online and those selected will receive a one (1) day fast-pass/Passport and will receive all benefits associated it for themselves and a friend. All participating models selected MUST show up for a scheduled fitting prior to the event.
Deadline to be considered is May 15th, 2012. More info and model registration can be found here.
Follow AM2 on Facebook and Twitter!
About AM2:
Located in Anaheim, California – AM2, established in 2010, is a multi-day (3 days) 24 hour event with no general attendance/badge purchase requirement and is aspiring to be a key meeting place for fans that share a common interest in Asian music, Animation/Anime, and Comics/Manga. Nominal fees are charged for certain activities that attendees choose to participate in. AM2 will be held on June 15-17, 2012 at the Anaheim Convention Center in sunny Anaheim, California. More information can be found at www.am2con.org.
Ravi Kapoor’s The 5
The Indian Film Festival of Los Angeles (IFFLA) is back, this time celebrating its 10th anniversary, April 10-15, at Arclight Hollywood cinemas. IFFLA showcases the best in Indian alternate cinema and focuses on cultivating a diverse international audience for Indian films.
Opening Night Film: CHITTAGONG
Opening night is the world premiere of Bedabrata Pain’s drama CHITTAGONG and stars award-winning actor Manoj Bajpayee (PINJAR). The film is set against the backdrop of 1930’s British-occupied Chittagong on the brink of a youth led revolution, and tells the story of 14-year-old Jhunka who comes of age as he is faced with the ultimate questions of sacrifice, love, and the quest for true freedom.
Closing night’s festivities will begin with the screening of director Prashant Bhargava’s richly woven award-winning drama PATANG. PATANG tells the story of Delhi businessman Jayesh and his daughter as they journey back to his childhood home in Ahmedabad for a family reunion during India’s largest kite festival. Under the kaleidoscope of colorful kite-filled skies, a Pandora’s box of family drama and past conflict is exposed. PATANG has become a festival favorite playing to sold-out audiences worldwide and is making its Los Angeles premiere at IFFLA.
Umesh Vinayak Kulkarni’s THE TEMPLE (DEEOL)
Among the eight feature films screening will be India’s 2011 official submission in the Oscar™ foreign language category, Salim Ahmed’s poetic drama ABU, SON OF ADAM (ADAMINTE MAKAN ABU). US premieres include Rajan Khosa’s critically acclaimed GATTU which won a special mention this year at the 62nd Berlinale for capturing the ironies, the complexities and the vitality of India, and Umesh Vinayak Kulkarni’s inspirational satire THE TEMPLE (DEOOL).
Documentaries include the world premiere of Ruchika Muchhala and Faiza Khan’s fascinating look into Indian society with THE GREAT INDIAN MARRIAGE BAZAAR and the US premiere of Raffaele Brunetti’s MOTHER INDIA which intertwines four distinct stories about India’s booming fertility industry.
Back by popular demand are two shorts programs consisting of 13 films, including the world premiere of Anirban Roy’s AUDACITY (AASHPORDHA).
10th Anniversary Retrospective: LOINS OF PUNJAB PRESENTS
In honor of its 10th year, the festival is bringing back three of its past award winners as part of a 10th ANNIVERSARY RETROSPECTIVE. Throughout 2011 the festival asked the public to vote online for their favorite film from the past decade. The films that received the most votes and selected by the public to be screened in the retrospective are past Jury Award winners for Best Narrative Feature UDAAN (2011) and BLACK FRIDAY (2005) as well as Audience Choice Award winner for Best Feature LOINS OF PUNJAB PRESENTS (2008).
Bollywood by Night: AGENT VINOD
Also returning is the crowd pleasing BOLLYWOOD BY NIGHT sidebar which includes the highly anticipated AGENT VINOD directed by Sriram Raghavan and starring Bollywood superstars Saif Ali Khan and Kareena Kapoor and Abhinay Deo’s DELHI BELLY produced by acclaimed Indian actor/director/producer Aamir Khan.
Source: Indian Film Festival of Los Angeles
TICKETS AND PASSES
The 10th Annual Indian Film Festival of Los Angeles (IFFLA) runs April 10-15 at ArcLight Hollywood located at 6360 W. Sunset Blvd between Vine and Ivar. Festival and All Access passes may be purchased via the festival website.
ABOUT IFFLA
Now in its 10th year, the Indian Film Festival of Los Angeles (IFFLA) is a nonprofit organization devoted to a greater appreciation of Indian cinema and culture by showcasing films, honoring entertainment industry business executives and promoting the diverse perspectives of the Indian diaspora. For more information: www.indianfilmfestival.org.
I’m a fan of food tours.
I get to indulge in my absolute favorite activity in the world — eating — but not feel so guilty about it because walking around to get to the places to eat justifies the pig out. It’s also fun meeting new people on the tour and discovering more about places I’d normally just drive to.
Six Taste’s food tours give you all of that satisfaction and more.
IceLink, a Swiss-based luxury timepiece and jewelry brand, opened its two-story flagship boutique next to Fred Segal Melrose with a private VIP launch on January 11, 2012. Celebrity appearances included singer Lance Bass, model Josie Maran, Indian Canadian Vik Sahay of Chuck, and Filipino American rapper and the evening’s talented DJ apl.de.ap of The Black Eyed Peas.
My first impression of Victor King was that he is “down-right-sexy.” Many of the celebrities I’ve interviewed agree that Victor is, indeed, attractive and a dreamer. Check out our video below to hear more of what celebs like Chester See, Ryan Higa, J.R. Aquino, Andrew Garcia, D-Trix, AJ Rafael, Wong Fu Productions, Dumbfoundead, Jennifer Chung, Jason Yang, Michelle Phan, Joseph Vincent, JK Films, Cathy Nguyen, David So, Quest Crew and Poreotics, both champions from MTV’s America’s Best Dance Crew had to say about Victor:
It was great to see so many people out and support him on what is obviously a huge accomplishment. Congratulations Victor, I hope for you the best!
Just in time for the season of giving and charitable events comes the 10th annual Unforgettable Gala. The gala will be hosted by the creators of KoreAm, the oldest and most widely circulated English-language monthly magazine for the Asian American community. Unforgettable is set to benefit the Mixed Roots foundation, an organization that serves as a resource to the adoptee community aiming to create more awareness of the adoption experience.
The event will take place on Saturday, December 3 at the legendary Park Plaza Hotel in Los Angeles; and hosted by actor/comedian Randall Park.
KoreAm is set to honor four individuals with achievement awards, including football player Hines Ward, Chef Roy Choi, actor Sung Kang, and director Jennifer Yuh Nelson. The evening will include performances by: Ameriie, Dia Frampton, Jay Park, I.AM.ME, and KINJAZ. An after party presented by Hite/Jinro will follow immediately after the gala with an open bar and Kogi BBQ Truck tacos.
This star-studded affair promises to be one of the premiere entertainment events of the year in the Korean American community.
The event is SOLD OUT, but we still have tickets for the after-party! For tickets and more even information, visit: http://www.iamkoream.com/unforgettable2011/
Clear your schedule for next Saturday folks because the Korean Cultural Center, Los Angeles (KCCLA) is bringing to the Ford Amphitheater its highly anticipated production of Rhythm and Passion of Korea, a fusion of Southern Korean tradition and modernity through music and dance.
When LA closed down one of its major freeways in mid-July, many Los Angelenos were–in this order– freaked out, surprised, relieved and ecstatic about how nice it was to face the city traffic-less.
For those of us still suffering Carmageddon-withdrawals, check out Ross Ching, who also directed the Harry Shum, Jr. short 3 Minutes, re-imagining LA Running on Empty (of cars, that is).
Running on Empty (Revisited) from Ross Ching on Vimeo.
It’s eerie, peaceful and beautiful all at once.
It’s almost here!
For those of you who don’t know what it is, Kollaboration was founded in 2000 by Paul “PK” Kim as an Asian and Pacific Islander (API) organization and movement as an annual event to foster API talent, professionals, and youth and bring them into mainstream media under the mantra and its mission statement Empowerment Through Entertainment.
I was fortunate enough to be on the Boston team, and believe me, this show is worth your time and money.
Here are the contestants in a music video of a cover of Yael Naim‘s New Soul.
This year, there will be a special guest performance by singer Priscilla Ahn and comedian KT Tatara. VIP ticket holders will get preferred seating and have a meet & greet opportunity with Priscilla Ahn.
DETAILS:
Date: Friday, June 17, 2011
Time: 8:30PM (Doors Open 6:30PM)
Venue: Ford Amphitheatre
2580 Cahuenga Blvd, East, Hollywood, CA 90068
Ticket Prices:
$20 General Admission, $30 VIP Admission (preferred seating)
Get your tickets now!
