"...laughs, near tears and realizations happening all around the room." New Blood launch!

TVNZ launched their New Blood talent development web series last week, and The Han Chronicles is one of the exciting new shorts on offer. 

Made with TVNZ's development lab, Chye-Ling Huang (PAT co-founder) had the idea of sharing her Dad's unique immigration stories in a way that was fresh, fun and relatable.

With regards to the go-to immigrant story, Chye-Ling wanted to veer away from the norm. "My Dad's story is so similar to many other Chinese or Asian immigrant stories - the loneliness and hardship of coming to a new country alone was definitely a huge part of his journey. In Christchurch in the 70's many people had never seen an Asian guy in real life, but he was accepted by an amazing group of friends whom he shared lifelong bonds with."

With influences from director Calvin Sang, Huang's series are a mix between Comedy Central's 'Drunk History' with the 70's styling of 'Everybody hates Chris'. She said, "I wanted to focus on something different with this webseries - my Dad is a really positive, colourful character, so it made sense to highlight the wild and funny experiences he had."

Read about the launch below, and watch the two episode pilot here:

Watch both episodes on TVNZ on demand: https://www.tvnz.co.nz/shows/the-han-chronicles

Youtube:

Episode 1 - Duck: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R3_Yh2uUWsM&t=6s
 

Episode 2 - Glenda: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R3_Yh2uUWsM

 

TVNZ launches New Blood, gets experimental with short-form content

By Erin McKenzie

This week, TVNZ’s New Blood initiative went live, as more than 20 pieces of short-form content found a home on TVNZ.co.nz, YouTube and Facebook.

The pieces are a result of a collaboration of local talent—including producers, directors, writers, filmmakers, comedians, and actor—some of whom are new and emerging, and to celebrate they gathered over a few beers and pizza at Brother’s Brewery on Monday to watch previews of the content. There were laughs, near tears and realisations happening around the room—and that’s exactly what TVNZ was hoping for.

TVNZ’s digital commissioner, Amie Mills, says it wanted to create content that is different, provocative and champions diversity—through a range of voices, ethnicities, genders, sexuality, beliefs—as well as authenticity.

Han Huang stars in The Han Chronicles.

“New Blood is TVNZ’s way of reaching viewers who might not be engaging with our content like they used to," she says.

The newly launched titles include 30 days (a one-off sketch where an office worker has an existential crisis trying to remember the date by Simon Ward), The Han Chronicles (a two-part true story of an Asian man assimilating into life in New Zealand in the 1970s by Chye-Ling Huang ) and Girl Interrupted - The Masty  (a sketch series about women dealing with first-world problems by Jessica Joy Wood and Kura Forrester).

Covering so many topics, New Blood is also about experimenting with distribution methods and being specific and considerate about where content lives. While web series have been a popular result of the internet's many distribution platforms, that format can be constraining so the decision was made to widen the scope around how stories can be made. There's one-off comedy sketches, documentaries, two-part stories, stand-up specials and comedy web series.

“What makes this work exciting is that content formats are defined by the story being told, rather than having to stick to a particular format. We’re looking forward to seeing how our viewers react and engage with the work as it will inform what we create in the next phase of production,” says Mills.

An example of its willingness to enter new territory is, Re:, an alternative socially-driven news brand launched under the New Blood initiative. It’s been making a home for itself on social news feeds for nine weeks now, but at the launch event on Monday, Tasha Impey, who’s at the helm of Re:,introduced it and explained that its name, in a longer sense, means “relate, represent, responsibility, react, reach and respond to issues that affect young New Zealanders”.

Each week sees a new issue tackled and so far it's covered sexual health, drugs, suicide, immigration and education.

So far, those choices have proven popular, as Re:'s content has reached 8.6 million news feeds in its first eight weeks, as well as achieving 3.2 million social video views. Impey was also proud of the 1.8 million minutes that have been viewed, showing that people are watching the videos in their entirety, not just continuing to scroll after a few seconds.

The content is also averaging 120,000 engagements per week including likes, shares and comments.

While the Re: team is currently made up of TVNZ staff, it's building a contributor model that will open it up for emerging talent who have unique stories to tell.  

And there's plenty out there if the New Blood web series competition is anything to go by. It saw 150 submissions of pilot episodes for potential web series. Funded by NZ On Air, it asked for Kiwis to vote for their favourite pilot to be made into a full web-series.

It was Ashleigh Reid and Isla Macleod who won, with their Oddly Even series receiving 24 percent of the final vote. It will be available on tvnz.co.nz later this year.

New web series by Chye-Ling, Calvin and TVNZ!

The Han Chronicles is here!

TVNZ presents a 2 part web series pilot about a young Chinese immigrant arriving in Christchurch in the 70's, created by Chye-Ling Huang and directed by Calvin Sang. 

Created using her own Dad's true stories, we follow Han Huang on his journey of making friends, getting in trouble, falling in love and cooking a mean duck soup, all with a 70's twist!

"And that was our inception into New Zealand lore." - Han Huang

Jarrod Lee as Han Huang in The Han Chronicles.

Watch it now on TVNZ OnDemand! 

https://www.tvnz.co.nz/shows/the-han-chronicles/episodes/s1-e1

Or on Youtube:
Episode one: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T3rOyQ3WrFY
Episode two: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R3_Yh2uUWsM

Brian Choi and Genevieve Kent in The Han Chronicles.

"Talking about sex on camera isn’t easy, but imagine interviewing your dad about it." Show me Shorts feature!

We are stoked that Asian Men Talk About Sex, our 3 minute doco, was chosen as one of Show me Shorts favourite Loading Doc's films!

Here's what they said:

KIWI DOCUMENTARIES: LOCKED AND LOADED

CLAYTON BARNETT

on August 30, 2017 at 1:45 pm

The Loading Docs initiative produces ten short (3-minute) New Zealand documentaries each year. They’ve just unveiled the new films, and our team at Show Me Shorts is super impressed with the boldness and diversity.

I’ve picked my three favourites of this year’s crop for you here. Funny, moving and joyous, these shorts introduce us to real New Zealanders with something to say about culture, conservation, connection, sex, death, fear and hope.

Calvin Sang shoots Yoson An shooting hoops.

Talking about sex on camera isn’t easy, but imagine interviewing your dad about it. Director Chye-Ling Huang had a frank conversation with hers – on the culturally taboo subject of sex. The result is a cracking short full of sparkling energy and wry humour.

All eight men interviewed in Asian Men Talk About Sex provide candid and often hilarious answers to questions about Asian stereotypes in film, TV and real life.

Old and young, straight and gay, they quickly dispel notions of themselves as a homogenous group of sexless math-whizzes with small… um, equipment.

Director Huang is a co-founder of the the Proudly Asian Theatre company. Her first documentary is well-handled, bold and consistently entertaining. We look forward to more.

Check out the full article here:

http://www.showmeshorts.co.nz/kiwi-documentaries-locked-and-loaded/

"We just went for it." The Wireless interview

The wireless caught up with Calvin Sang, DOP and Editor, and Chye-Ling Huang, director, of our new 3 minute documentary!

Asian Men Talk About Sex has been released as part of Loading Docs - a launchpad for short New Zealand documentaries. Watch it here!

The Wireless: DIRECTOR INTERVIEW with Chye-Ling Huang

by Chev Hasset

When did you start getting involved with film?

I run a theatre company called Proudly Asian Theatre. I started off as actor when I did a Bachelor of Performing and Screen Arts at Unitec, and the comedian James Roque was in my class. We were the only Asians and we were facing our final year at Unitec.

We were freaking out that there was not much hope for us with representation in the industry. So we started Proudly Asian Theatre, which basically tells Asian stories in the New Zealand landscape, providing positive, truthful and interesting representations for Asian stories.

Huang embarks on her film directing debut with Asian Men Talk About Sex

How did the doc come about?

Loading Docs came along as an opportunity when someone said to us this year’s theme is diversity. Even though diversity is kind of a dirty word these days, I think it has opened up a lot of doors even if it is problematic at times.

We just went for it. We sat down as a group and asked what was missing in film and television especially New Zealand. We were looking at how you can count on one hand the Asian men we saw on TV. So we decided to come up with something that talked about the demasculinisation and desexualisation of Asian men. We wanted to do it simple and truthful; hopefully something incredibly real and readily accessible for everyday people.

How did you find interviews?

I definitely learnt a lot about sex. I consider myself a super sexual and liberal person. I guess I learnt about the world of sex; it is so layered and nuance, there are so many factors. Interviewing ten guys -eight of them will be in the Loading Docs version - listening to their conversations raised a whole bunch of questions.

Chye-Ling Huang interviews Aram for Asian Men Talk About Sex

Lastly, does this film help change the stereotype of Asian men?

I really hope so. This is what the film is kind of about. It has two points: opening a conversation about sex and also debunking a lot of those stereotypes which is truthful. These guys are everyday dudes and I really hope it does change people's’ perceptions about Asian men.

Stuff: Why these Asian men really want to talk about sex

Woo hoo! We've reached over 3000 views on our short and sweet doco this week - Asian Men Talk About Sex!

Stuff.co.nz chatted to Calvin Sang, DOP and editor, and Chye-Ling Huang, director, about how getting all the Asian men we knew into one room and opening up a conversation about sex got the ball rolling into a bombastic new film.

Check it out here! 

Or check out excerpts below:

Why these Asian men really want to talk about sex 

GLENN MCCONNELL

When an email lands offering the chance to interview Asian men about sex, you can't say no. This initial thought is this could be hilarious.

It isn't really that funny, though. There are laughs, but the documentary Asian Men Talk About Sex has a serious core.

It all stated as a potluck dinner party, where the subject of conversation was sex. Chye-Ling Huan, a Chinese-Pākeha director, had pulled together all the Asian men she knew to get their thoughts on sex.

Yoson An, Han Huang and James Roque talk sex

Her dad was there, sitting next to her friends from drama school, and she passed round a basket filled with questions about sex.

"It was surprisingly not that awkward when we got everyone in the room," she said. The gathering was literally every Asian man Huang could find. At the table, crunching down on a broccoli sesame seed salad, fried rice and a pile of other foods, was one of the most diverse groups you could find.

James Roque (centre) sits next to Chye-Ling Huang's father during the dinner party that started it all.

Gay Asian men, fathers and a Singaporean man who had made it past his half century sat talking with a cast of creative types to keep the conversation following. "That was the first time I'd ever talked to my dad about sex," Huang recalled.

Huang held the gathering because she believed there was a serious problem in the media, where Asian men were severely desexualised. 

"When you are desexualising someone, you're dehumanising them too because you're putting them in a box," she explained.

The documentary Asian Men Talk About Sex features the stories of a diverse cast of Asian men living in Auckland.

She teamed up with editor Calvin Sang to create a short documentary featuring interviews with Asian men wanting to talk about sex.

Kelly Gilbride, Calvin Sang and Chye-Ling Huang at the launch of the Loading Docs films for 2017

The men featured opened up about having sex in a portaloo. Huang's father told her about having sex against a wall to keep the door closed.

Their film was aimed to combat the traditional representations of Asian men by showing a diverse cast talking about sex, Huang said.

Chye-Ling Huang invites all the people she can find to kick-start a discussion about the sexual representations of Asian men.

As a young actor starting out, Huang said she looked around the industry and saw only stereotypes. She co-founded the Proudly Asian Theatre Company with comedian James Roque to foster acts that went against that tide.

"We realised if we didn't create our own work then we weren't going to have work because we're Asian actors," she said.

Their latest documentary, the company's first stab at film, was about showing accurate portrayals of Asian men and sex. "That's not what we see a lot, we see a lot of caricatures and stereotypes," she said.

Sang, a filmmaker of Chinese descent, said it was inexcusable for New Zealand to be showing the same stereotypes as the rest of the world - especially as there was such a strong Asian community here.

"Shortland St, where are all the Asians? How many Asians are in real life hospitals versus how white Shortland Stis," he asked.

Trying to list Asian men in the media, Sang came up with comedian Raybon Kan and "the spray and walk away guy". 

The documentary team spent 45 minutes interviewing each Asian man willing to tell his story.

He said the under representation was bad enough, as it created a sense that the Asian community didn't contribute to New Zealand. The problem compounded, Sang said, when Asian actors managed to get a role that was stereotypical and often harmful.

"The common stereotype I hear a lot of is that Asian dudes are quite nerdy, they spend a lot of their time at gaming cafes," musician Tristan Hemi Colenso explained in the film.

"All the stereotypes I encounter as an Asian guy are things like I am sexually or romantically inept," Roque continued. 

Asian Men Talk About Sex was published as part of the Loading Docs project, and received $4000 of funding while raising about $2000 of its own funding. The crew behind the short film said they hoped to create an extended play, or series, based of the many interviews they filmed.