HARRISONBURG, Va. -– Hundreds of students from across Virginia stood in the cold outside James Madison University’s Grafton-Stovall Theater. Instead of waiting for a popular musician or actor, they were anticipating the members of Wong Fu Productions, an Asian-American filmmaking group that has become a hit online and on college campuses throughout the U.S.
Currently on their Autumn 2009 college tour, the members of Wong Fu Productions -– Philip Wang, Ted Fu and Wesley Chan -– spoke to their audience about their journey as filmmakers and showed new video clips exclusive to the tour.
“We didn’t set out to be the ‘heroes’ of Asian-Americans,” Fu said. "It just happened by accident. But now that we’re given this huge responsibility, I feel like it’s our duty to take it seriously.”
The tour has taken the group from Connecticut and Virginia to Indiana and Texas. The guys have hit some major cities along the East Coast:
• Boston
• New York
• Philadelphia
• Washington, DC
The group’s work has ranged from music videos for upcoming Asian-American musicians to a feature-length film called “A Moment With You.” They have a special Chinese series called “The One Days: HK” -– several short films set in Hong Kong, each shot in just one day. The group’s popularity arose in 2006 with a short film titled "Yellow Fever,” about interracial dating between Asian-Americans and whites.
Wong Fu’s films, known for the portrayal of events and emotions that can occur to anyone, have been featured in major film festivals like the Cannes Film Festival.
“I think they are the epitome of young Asians in the media,” Michael Urgel, a student at James Madison University, said. “They’re growing filmmakers and a lot of the students here really love what Wong Fu is doing.”
Wong Fu Productions originated at the University of California at San Diego in 2004. Since then, the filmmakers have become a YouTube sensation. By using the Internet as their resource, the trio gets thousands of hits every day and has millions of fans across the US and the globe.
But it has not always been easy.
Wong Fu was given an opportunity to shoot another feature length film called “The Sleep Shift” when complications with potential producers arose.
“There were some issues since our male lead was an Asian male,” Chan said. “The producers thought it wouldn’t be profitable, so the project was shelved.”
Fortunately, the setback did not disappoint the Wong Fu members for long. Instead, it made them more determined to make a difference. Wong Fu released a merchandise line pulling inspiration from the concepts of their videos. A percentage of their proceeds are donated to a different charity each month. October’s charity was the Susan G. Komen for the Cure Fund.
Recent videos feature collaborations with other popular Asian-American YouTube stars, such as KevJumba, Happyslip and David Choi. Fans can expect more work from Wong Fu Productions as they push for more Asian-Americans in mainstream media.
Original article
