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You can also subscribe to Giant Robot Podcasts to iTunes by Clicking at this link. It’s been over a decade since the documentary film, SlamNation expanded the Slam Poetry movement. Growing up during the same expansive period was an Asian American, born in Oklahoma and schooled in New York City. In the late 90s, Beau Sia was a Black Cat brick of firecrackers with a mic in his hand. His energy sucked up everyone’s oxygen and his words and cadence both expanded minds and dropped jaws. The sheer power he projects in the many Def Poetry Jam videos on Youtube is monumental. [youtube]diNLPGHZbGM[/youtube] A few years later, Sia’s Rosie O’Donnell video in response to her “Ching Chong” comment went large and she apologized. It was a big deal. He appears occasionally in films like Jonathan Demme’s Rachel Getting Married. He does performances based on special events of occurrences like the Alexandra Wallace video, Asian in the Library, or a special for Fred Korematsu day. His explosiveness now appear in new ways, it’s via intellect, dialogue and understanding. As he says in his sincere and sometimes comical voice, “I’m still dangerous.” [youtube]VJCkHu3trKc[/youtube] Currently, he’s working on various projects from music to writing and spends plenty of time thinking. In our talk, Beau Sia explains his past work and where it comes from, hip hop, current projects, insecurities, and his future. His words are thoughtful and his explanations are detailed. music on podcast by Goh Nakamura
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I was hanging out by the JANM about a month ago and was approached/suckered into “auditioning” for a Vonage commercial by a lady with a clipboard. She said there could be some money involved. I had just come from a bar after a few beers and figured “why not?” She explained the premise of the commercial to me: A conversation between a Japanese musician calling his friend in Japan from his tour bus, explaining how great Vonage international calling is. She had me read some lines from a script: “Hey, How’s Tokyo?” “Just kicking’ it on the tour bus” “I’m still using Vonage, but now I can call you from my cell phone with my International Rock Star Plan!” “Yeah, you hear that? Just some groupies…” “Yup, loving’ it. Every night. Bright lights, Big City!” The lady seemed nice at first, but the more I read, the more annoying she got. I have to admit, any enthusiasm I had dissipated after reading it the first time, but she got more and more aggressive and bossy each time. She somehow got me to read it about 5-6 times, recording each take. I was trying to be a good sport about it, until I saw the top of the page: “to be read in an accent” I stopped her and said “Woah. Accent? Sorry, this is a deal breaker. I’m wasting both of our time if I have to do some horrible accent in the actual commercial.” She apologized, and said that she understood. My friend, who had been watching from afar and heard the whole thing go down recently sent me a link. “Hey, remember that annoying Vonage lady and the commercial?” [youtube]60ceHuueMUw[/youtube] I have a lot of thoughts about this commercial, you can probably guess them. The whole thing reminded me of the hilarious movie, “Hollywood Shuffle” by Robert Townsend. It came out in 1987 and blew my mind as a kid… and with that, I’ll leave you with this clip: [youtube]xKX4LktBI5o[/youtube]
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Director Dave Boyle with his next film budget. Dave Boyle has made three feature films including Big Dreams, Little Tokyo, White on Rice, and Surrogate Valentine which is currently touring film festivals. Surrogate Valentine stars musician Goh Nakamura and debuted at the South By Southwest Film Festival in Austin and has shown at film festivals including Cleveland International, Seattle International, Dallas International, Bamfest, and San Francisco International Asian American. In this podcast, Boyle explains how he’s fluent in Japanese, why his films feature Asian Americans, how he’s come up with his movie ideas, filmmaking, and what projects he’s working on next. Giant Robot Podcast: Director Dave Boyle by realgiantrobot
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Put it up on the glass: Surrogate Valentine poster framed and hanging in Brooklyn Academy of Music’s cinema.
Surrogate Valentine debuted in New York last Thursday at the Brooklyn Academy of Music‘s BAMCinemaFest of new films. The film’s stars came out and shone along with all the East Coast Asian Pacific American stars.
Director Dave Boyle (left) and star Goh Nakamura (right) introduce the film, explain they’ll be drinking during the screening but will return after for a Q&A.
The film’s over and they’re back, joined by co-executive producer, Michael Lerman.
The women of Surrogate Valentine step up: left to right, Di Quon, Mary Cavett and Lynn Chen. Co-writer Joel Clark has snuck in on the far right.
Di gets goofy.
Goh is the best. He’s like when Beyonce is both the guest star and the musical guest on SNL.
Tomo Nakayama from Grand Hallway Some peeps Goh Nakamura [nggallery id=59] Photos by Tad Nakamura
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