EDWIN A. SANTOS
  • HOME
  • NEWS
  • BIO
  • ACTOR
    • DEMO REEL
    • RESUME
    • HEADSHOTS
    • STAGE (Improv & Sketch)
  • CONTENT CREATOR
    • PRODUCER: Mad Cowgirl (Feature Film)
    • WRITER (Interviews, Op-Eds, Blogs)
  • talk journey films
    • FOUNDER: Filipino Hollywood Actors Panel
    • DIRECTOR: BehindLIFE (Short Film)
    • CREATOR: No Regrets (Episodic Web Series)
    • HOST: Filipino Americans in NFTs (Panel)
  • PRESS
    • INTERVIEWS
    • PODCASTS
    • PHOTOS LINKS
    • BLOG
    • GALLERY
  • CONTACT

"Awesome Asian Bad Guys" Film Release (DVD & VOD)

6/24/2015

0 Comments

 
“I'm like a fine wine. I get better with age. The best is yet to come.”
― Richelle Mead, 
Blood Promise  


“I'm like a fine wine..."

Having seen the laugh-riot action comedy Awesome Asian Bad Guys written by Milton Liu, starring and co-directed by Stephen Dypiangco and Patrick Epino (National Film Society) and executive produced by Phil Yu (Angry Asian Man) at the 30th Annual Los Angeles Asian Pacific Film Festival in 2014,  watching the film again with all of my friends and colleagues was an experience!   
"I get better with age."

The National Film Society and Angry Asian Man along with Visual Communications presented a Special Screening of Awesome Asian Bad Guys, a Kickstarter-funded, web based series turned feature length film starring Tamlyn Tomita, Randall Park, George Cheung, Dante Basco, Yuji Okumoto and Al Leong at East West Players' David Henry Hwang Theater in Little Tokyo, Los Angeles last night to celebrate the film's DVD & VOD release that same day.   And there were a few things I got out of it. 
Picture
(1)  When was the last time you saw a mainstream American film where the filmmakers and high profile leads are Filipino Americans?   

(2)  At the afterparty at Far Bar in Little Tokyo, I was hanging out with not just the co-directors of Awesome Asian Bad Guys but also with filmmakers Gene Cajayon (2000's The Debut) and Patricio Ginelsa, Jr. (2003's Lumpia).  While Gene and Patricio were directing films about varying Filipino American experiences, I was producing films about other people's experiences such as my first produced film, 2002's Soap Girl).  So I felt a kindred spirit among them.  However, until I acted in Edward J. Mallillin's 2008 Filipino American film, Brown Soup Thing that I decided that if I do another project, Asian Americans, but specifically Filipino Americans, will be prominent.  And, that began with my web series, 2014's No Regrets where the leads were Filipino Americans with a universal appeal.  I will do other Filipino American themed projects later this year.  With Filipino Americans as the second largest Asian American group in Los Angeles, I don't see why not.   In a way, Gene, Patricio and other FilAm filmmakers who made an impact a decade ago have paved the way for Stephen, Patrick and others of this millennial generation of filmmakers to carry on and reach higher than ever before (thanks now to the tools we have that are accessible as well as social media to reach a hungry audience looking for new voices...and, in turn, become the "Voice of the Voiceless" themselves).  Asian American representation in film and television has gotten better since the 1990s (i.e. Fresh Off The Boat) but it has also hit below the belt (i.e. Aloha).
Picture
Pictured here with ‪"Awesome Asian Bad Guys‬' Al Leong ("Rapid Fire," "Die Hard," "The Scorpion King," "The Replacement Killers," "Lethal Weapon").
Picture
Pictured here with ‪"Awesome Asian Bad Guys‬' George Cheung ("Rambo: First Blood: Part 2," "Rush Hour")
(3)  There was this running joke in Awesome Asian Bad Guys where Stephen and Patrick would repeat names of movies and TV shows in the 1980s and 1990s of where both saw George Cheung and Al Leong in.  And, the joke would end with Stephen exclaiming the CBS TV show, Simon & Simon starring Gerald McRaney and Jameson Parker with the maddening look of an Overly Attached Girlfriend...  
Picture
I'm a bit older than them when I say that I have seen George Cheung on prime-time television shows since the mid-1970s or when my Dad thought I was old enough to watch Mannix.   In fact, my Dad loved action movies especially the Rambo and Die Hard films.  He was with me in spirit last night meeting these two iconic actors.  

And, the only time we saw these two legendary actors were only once every prime-time television show and / or blockbuster movie.  This was hilariously addressed during the Q&A when my friend asked "has all Asian American actors appeared in Simon & Simon?   One of the leads in Awesome Asian Bad Guys, Dante Basco jokingly mentioned that every year, all Asian American actors are called in to various TV casting offices to audition for that TV show's one Asian-themed episode.  This is true.   One audition I was called in for was a costar role for the Matthew Perry show, Go On -- and there I saw Dante Basco...and James Kyson...and so on.  

Here is a fun fact.  The first film I ever worked on was in 1992's Rapid Fire starring Brandon Lee, Nick Mancuso, Dustin Nguyen, Powers Boothe, Kate Hodge, Al Leong, Raymond J. Barry, Tony Longo and Tzi Ma (in the summer of 1991). I just finished my third year at California State University, Northridge and wanted to start making money to pay back my student loans so I did background work only that summer before beginning my final year at CSUN.  Thanks to my best friend who was studying at UCLA at the time who saw the ad.  Al Leong is the second actor I met from Rapid Fire and I remember seeing him on-location at the UCLA campus.  Nick Mancuso was the first actor I met from that same film when I co-executive produced 2011's Violent Blue (in 2010).   
Indeed the gathering last night was a different experience for me compared when I first saw it last year at the LA Asian Pacific Film Festival...and I could right now type a much lengthier critique as to why it is -- the lack of Asian American representation in Hollywood to this day despite making still small stepping stone strives.  But, during the Q&A session after the screening, Dante Basco put me at ease when he said...

" [Awesome Asian Bad Guys
] is a cool way for us...celebrating our history as Asians in Hollywood...not complaining about stereotypical things that happened in the past but,  a funny way for us and our community to comment about the past and celebrate about the past without complaining about it..."


The best is yet to come.”

To which, I'd like to add, let's keep this momentum going by creating original content, producing projects and create & accept roles that best represent who we are as Asian Americans.  

In the meantime, get your hands on the Awesome Asian Bad Guys movie right here:  
http://nationalfilmsociety.com/  

A possible sequel - Awesome Asian Bad Girls -- could come next! 
0 Comments



Leave a Reply.

    Authors

    Andy Chang
    Roberto Montoya
    Abigail Rhode
    Edwin A. Santos

    Archives

    August 2022
    June 2022
    April 2022
    January 2022
    November 2021
    October 2021
    September 2021
    August 2021
    July 2021
    May 2021
    April 2021
    March 2021
    December 2020
    November 2020
    October 2020
    September 2020
    August 2020
    April 2020
    May 2019
    October 2018
    August 2018
    June 2018
    May 2018
    April 2018
    March 2018
    February 2018
    December 2017
    November 2017
    October 2017
    September 2017
    June 2017
    May 2017
    April 2017
    March 2017
    February 2017
    September 2016
    August 2016
    June 2016
    May 2016
    March 2016
    February 2016
    November 2015
    October 2015
    September 2015
    August 2015
    July 2015
    June 2015
    May 2015
    April 2015
    March 2015
    February 2015
    November 2014
    October 2014
    September 2014
    August 2014
    May 2014
    April 2014
    March 2014
    February 2014
    January 2014
    December 2013
    October 2013
    September 2013
    August 2013
    July 2013
    June 2013
    May 2013
    April 2013
    March 2013
    February 2013
    January 2013
    December 2012
    November 2012
    October 2012
    September 2012
    August 2012
    July 2012
    June 2012
    May 2012
    April 2012
    March 2012
    February 2012
    January 2012
    November 2011
    October 2011
    September 2011
    June 2011
    May 2011
    April 2011
    March 2011
    February 2011
    January 2011
    December 2010
    November 2010
    October 2010
    September 2010
    August 2010
    April 2010
    March 2010
    February 2010
    November 2009
    October 2009
    September 2009
    August 2009
    July 2009
    May 2009
    November 2008
    September 2008
    August 2008
    July 2008
    June 2008
    March 2008
    February 2008
    December 2007
    September 2007
    August 2007
    April 2007
    February 2007
    December 2006
    November 2006
    October 2006
    June 2006
    March 2006
    January 2006
    December 2005
    June 2005
    March 2005
    October 2004
    July 2004
    June 2004
    June 2003
    January 2003
    November 2002

    Categories

    All
    Beyond The 4th Wall
    Events
    Filipino Hollywood
    Films
    Improv
    Interviews
    My Interviews With ...
    On Demand
    Photos
    Press
    Producer
    Television
    Theater
    Web Series
    Web Series

    RSS Feed

Powered by Create your own unique website with customizable templates.
  • HOME
  • NEWS
  • BIO
  • ACTOR
    • DEMO REEL
    • RESUME
    • HEADSHOTS
    • STAGE (Improv & Sketch)
  • CONTENT CREATOR
    • PRODUCER: Mad Cowgirl (Feature Film)
    • WRITER (Interviews, Op-Eds, Blogs)
  • talk journey films
    • FOUNDER: Filipino Hollywood Actors Panel
    • DIRECTOR: BehindLIFE (Short Film)
    • CREATOR: No Regrets (Episodic Web Series)
    • HOST: Filipino Americans in NFTs (Panel)
  • PRESS
    • INTERVIEWS
    • PODCASTS
    • PHOTOS LINKS
    • BLOG
    • GALLERY
  • CONTACT