Creators of independent film production company Wong FuProductions spoke to more than 300 students Thursday about establishing both a name and an identity within the entertainment industry.
Phillip Wong, Wesley Chan and Ted Fu, who started producing videos in 2003 while attending the University of California, San Diego, drew a crowd from Georgetown, Johns Hopkins University, The George Washington University and the University of Maryland in the Intercultural Center Auditorium.
The speakers began the talk with a recollection of their humble beginnings.
“I met these guys at our third year of college. All of us were visual arts majors taking the same class,” Wong said. “Initially, we were making videos and uploading them online just for fun, and that’s how our video started to spread around.”
The group felt that UCSD was not the best place to major in film, but Wong said the lack of resources trained the friends to produce videos under all circumstances.
“We had friends who went to actual film schools,” he said. “They told us they needed $15,000 to produce a film that required huge crews, insurance and permits. A few years go by, and they haven’t produced any movies yet.”
After graduating from UCSD found themselves unemployed and unable to pay their rent, but they continued to make videos.
“A lot of people think we had specific goals when we started Wong Fu or we just decided to try to become famous on the internet,” Wong said. “There wasn’t any plan, but things just naturally fell into place as we [tried] our best to adapt.”
Though Wong Fu’s films tend to address Asian stereotypes, the founders insist that their productions can and should appeal to a broader audience.
“A lot of people told us, you are representing Asian Americans, but we never thought of that and didn’t start Wong Fu to represent Asians at all,” Wong said. “But we do have a lot of Asian merits in our films, which may be a shock to a society that doesn’t usually see a lot of Asian faces on the bigscreen.”
Taiwanese American Student Association President Wei-In Lin (COL ’13) said in the past, the group has largely held lectures on political issues, like Chinese-Taiwanese relations.
“The topics were mainly on politics, but not so much on culture and identity,” Lin said. “I thought it’d be a good idea to lighten up a bit by bringing a group that a lot of people can identify with.”
The event was sponsored by TASA, along with the Chinese Student Alliance, Asian American Students Association, Japan Network, Korean Students Association and Vietnamese Students Association.
“This is the first time that this many Asian clubs came together to support an event,” Lin said. “With all the clubs backing up the event, we were able to get the funding not only from the Lecture Fund, but also the Students of Colored Alliance, Georgetown University Student Association, Diversity Action Council, Georgetown Program Board and [the Department of] Asian Studies.”
CSA Treasurer Kevin Fong (SFS ’13) and Lin said that the goal of inviting Wong Fu Productions to campus was to create an awareness of the Asian American identity.
“It’s a very understated subject that isn’t ever touched upon, here at Georgetown,” Fong said. “WongFu presents and deals with Asian stereotypes in a way that is humorous, yet truthful.”
