Episode 8 – Hollywood and Storytelling with Justin Ching

Show Notes

On This Episode:

This week in The SituAsian Room, Emilie and Zach welcome Justin Ching to talk about Asian and minority representation in Hollywood, Justin’s production company J-school, intersectionalism, storytelling, and more. Justin Ching is a filmmaker, Forbes 30 Under 30 in Media, and has worked for Disney/ABC, Fox, and Youtube.

Introduction Topics:

Key Topics of the Episode:

The Mission of j-school and empowering underrepresented groups to tell their own stories
The importance of diversity behind the camera
How the 2016 election influenced the stories that get told in Hollywood
Chadwick Boseman’s death
The importance of not conflating the struggles of different communities
Justin’s JAY-Z Quote reference

I do this for my culture, to let them know
What a brotha look like when a brotha in a roaster
Show them how to move in a room full of vultures
Industry is shady, it needs to be taken over
JAY-Z, Izzo (H.O.V.A.), The BluePrint

Standing on the shoulders of those who came before us and rejecting the model minority stereotype
Intersectionality
Finding your own voice
Being open to mentorship outside of your community and Justin’s mentors Tim McNeal and Rich Ross.

You don’t choose your mentor, your mentor chooses you.
Ryan Murphy

Calling Asian Americans white and the challenges of being ethnically ambiguous
Conflating Americanness with whiteness
How Asian Americans can sometimes perpetuate that Asianness and Americanness are mutually exclusive when we reject something we don’t view as “Asian Enough” and call it white
The newness of Asian America
Not giving up on your dreams and taking risks to tell stories by rejecting what’s practical

Resources Mentioned, Suggested Readings, Social Media Handles:

Social Media:
- Justin’s Instagram @justinrching
- Justin’s Twitter @justinrching
j-school
Z Dream
Trevor Noah, Dave Chappelle and being interesting

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