COMMUNITY SUPPORT OF "RED DOORS"
US ASIANS: Have the Asian/Asian Pacific American communities (i.e. artists, media, communities, leaders, etc.) been uniformly united (despite the various “flaming wars” in supporting "Red Doors?"

JACQUELINE KIM: It can always be more. I would love to see enthusiasm outweigh critique. Making films is hard -- support is the best way to get more made and with more, the quality is bound to grow.

Tzi Ma

MIA RIVERTON: I don’t think the Asian Pacific American communities have been “uniformly united” on any issue including films, but I don’t think any community ever is – there are so many different perspectives, agendas, etc within each community. However, I think that’s a good thing, because it proves that there are diverse opinions and ideas within our Asian Pacific American community – it would worry me if everyone categorically “voted the party line” on everything without thinking about it. That said, I do think it’s important to focus on constructive and productive ways to deal with issues and debates, rather than just trying to rip each other down or prevent each other from succeeding. We have much better ways to spend our time and a lot of work ahead of us if we want to achieve our common goals, including broader representation in mainstream media.

US ASIANS: What would one’s “official” responses to Asian/Asian American males lamenting on the Asian Pacific American woman and a White man relationships – as noted by many online comments?

MIA RIVERTON: We have explained our casting process multiple times, but the bottom line is that the race of the male love interest characters in RED DOORS was secondary to the essence that we needed for each character. So we began with two of the young male characters being played by Asian Pacific American actors (Leehom Wang and Leonardo Nam), and ended up with two Caucasian actors (Rossif Sutherland and Sebastian Stan) due to circumstance (both Asian Pacific American actors dropped out at the last minute to pursue other projects). Interracial relationships are a fact of modern life, as are "intraracial" relationships. To criticize any one film for “wrongly” portraying relationships based on the race of the actors is trivial and reductive. Georgia’s previous short films have featured Asian Pacific American male/Asian Pacific American female relationships (EDUCATED) and Asian Pacific American male/white female relationships (DIAGNOSIS). None of these portrayals is more “correct” than the other, they just depict different facets of our lives as Asian Pacific Americans living in modern society.

US ASIANS: What would your words be to all the well-intentioned parties/APA Media Advocacy organizations that were battling over each other in FOX TV's "Bonzai" incident where the Asian American executives (Wenda Fong - former President of CAPE) championed/"green-lighted" a summer replacement show that prompted various Asian Pacific American media advocacy organizations (APA Media Coalition/Karen Narasaki, MANAA and a divided SAG's APA Caucus were constantly sparring one another on the same issue?

ELAINE KAO: It reinforces how divided we can be in the community and how we are lacking a unified stance and objective which impedes our progress and strength as a whole.

US ASIANS: Should the Asian Pacific American communities have a Al Sharpton-type personality person to galvanize that has the attention of the America media?

ELAINE KAO: I think that’s difficult because as I mentioned in the question above we have no unified vision of what it is we are going after. Therefore, how can one person give voice to a diverse group who are not seeking the same goals?

CRITICISM & CRITICAL THINKING
US ASIANS: Do you feel that criticisms (such as the “flaming wars” experienced by yourself, Eric Byler and others regarding the very old issues of WF/AF relationships) of a creative piece of work (i.e. theater, television, films, music, etc.) become inherently more dangerous when they focus on a work of art's content as opposed to the aesthetics?

ELAINE KAO: I think it sets us back as a community when we continue to criticize our artists on the content of their work instead of applauding the effort and guts it takes to actually create something and bring it forth into the world. One can disagree with an artist’s concept or vision but the artist has a right to express his/her own truth.

US ASIANS: It has been stated that without any unique vision, style and/or attitude unique to the Asian/Asian Pacific American communities - as oppose to the Black and Hispanic communities, it will be hard for any artists of Asian descent to achieve tangible success in the U.S.?

ELAINE KAO: I disagree with that. I think an individual artist can achieve success if he/she can create a strong and unique vision/work which resonates and appeals to an audience. The level of success attained depends on how broad and wide an audience the artist can reach.

COMEDY & ASIAN PACIFIC AMERICAN COMMUNITIES
US ASIANS: Having had the privileged of working with George Wallace, Steven Wright, Judy Tenuta, Emo Phillips, Charles Fletcher and others (along with being a great fan of Robin Williams, Richard Pryor, etc.), comedy is truly great for the soul. Comedy works best on people that are secure about themselves. Could this be the reason why there are not a great number of Asian/Asian Pacific American comics beyond Margaret Cho/Henry Cho/Bobby Lee/Rob Schneider/etc.?

US ASIANS: Having had the privileged of working with George Wallace, Steven Wright, Judy Tenuta, Emo Phillips, Charles Fletcher and others (along with being a great fan of Robin Williams, Richard Pryor, etc.), comedy is truly great for the soul. Comedy works best on people that are secure about themselves. As a result, do you think that the Asian Pacific American communities are "secure" about themselves - collectively? Could this be the reason why there are not a great number of Asian/Asian Pacific American comics? CARRIE ANN INABA: Great point there my friend!! For more info, click HERE

ELAINE KAO: I think that is starting to change. There are many Asian Pacific American comics who are working in the Comedy and Improv clubs although they may not be a “name” yet. There are also many Asian Pacific American sketch comedy groups such as Cold Tofu, 18MMW, OPM, etc. I think an obstacle some of them might have is performing material that may not reach a broader audience, such as dealing only with stereotypes or issues that only we as Asian Americans would find funny.

JACQUELINE KIM: Long live Bobby Lee! I have a date with him every Saturday night at 11pm. He brings so much joy to my sometimes overloaded and serious life. I think with the growth of Asian actor visibility, more comedians will be known. It must be difficult to be a comedian and have the ethnic card staring right at you all the time. I remember when Steve Park and I used to hang out -- he was always the "Asian" on "In Living Color," but to me just a very funny friend.

US ASIANS: As a result, do you think that the Asian Pacific American communities are not "secure" about themselves be the result of the communities still largely immigrant-based, people are unaware/uninterested in community issues and/or lack of knowledge of their communities in the United States?

ELAINE KAO: I think that most first generation immigrants either have a desire and a need to assimilate into the “white mainstream culture” thereby not becoming involved in Asian Pacific American community organizations OR they stay secluded in their own ethnic communities remaining on the periphery of the mainstream. Also, many Asian Pacific American communities are so segregated into specific ethnicities i.e. Chinese-American, Korean American, Japanese-American, etc. that it’s hard to define exactly what is the Asian Pacific American identity.