Honest Opinion of Film School and Creativity from USC Film Director | Ethan Go

Welcome to episode 5 of The First Act Break podcast, the show where we dive into the art, business, and hustle of breaking into the film industry. Today, we bring on Ethan Go, a USC film director and editor who has a passion for genre filmmaking. We chat about his philosophy when it comes to creativity, fun life stories, and his honest opinion on USC film school.

Episode Transcript

Speaker 05 (00:00):
Hey everyone, for this episode, we do delve into
some sensitive topics, includingtopics in mental health and
some struggles that we mighthave had and our guests might
have had in the past or present.
And because of that, listenerdiscretion is advised.
So yeah, enjoy the episode.

Speaker 01 (00:21):
And then- and then afterwards, someone showed me a
picture, you showed me apicture, and it was like, that
guy in the blue jacket is RobertZemeckis.
I was like, that was the guy Iwas screaming at for all of the-
But, um, apparently he liked myphone, according to sources
that, um, are Alex.
It's hard, and it takes itstoll, so throughout the year, I
just started to feel like I wasdrooping, drooping, drooping.

(00:44):
Um, and at the very end, thespeech was the explosion, and so
I exploded out on stage, I wascursing everybody out, and some,
like, random influencer guyapproached us from out of the
blue and was like oh look atthis diverse group of people
like this will be good for atiktok i was like floored i was
like what the did you just iwould have preferred to live my

(01:04):
life to the fullest and diewithin a year of my life than to
like go through this bull of oflike oh let me do school and oh
i have to read this book andpretend i give a and everything
and it's like just to forget itafterwards

Speaker 05 (01:15):
Welcome everyone to episode 5 of the First Act Great
podcast where we break down theart, business, and hustle of
breaking into the film industrytoday.
Today we have a special guestwith us today, Ethan

Speaker 06 (01:28):
Go.
He is a USC film director,editor, and just creative person
in general who has rich storiesand we're excited to hear them.

Speaker 00 (01:38):
Thank you.
Thank you.
Cool.
I don't know what y'all

Speaker 01 (01:42):
want.
All right.
Here I am.
All right.
All right.
much discussion um with thebanner looking fantastic
everybody back home check outfor a sec break of course got to
um but yeah sorry

Speaker 06 (01:53):
no dude no take it whatever you want to say
whatever

Speaker 01 (01:56):
i want to

Speaker 06 (01:57):
say this is a judgment judgment zone

Speaker 01 (02:01):
yeah i'm still recovering from 310 oh i can
talk about that i can talk aboutrecovering from 310 bro i'm
only like 50 we were just

Speaker 06 (02:08):
on that a minute ago so on the other side of the
310s um experience How was itfor you?
And for the viewers who don'tknow, 310 is a junior thesis
film class where you make threefilms in a semester with two
other people.
And you did it the same time Idid it and the same time as our

(02:33):
previous guest.
And the previous guest overthat, BN and Octavian, did it.
Oh,

Speaker 01 (02:38):
I love BN and Octavian.
They're awesome people.

Unknown (02:44):
So...

Speaker 06 (02:45):
um yeah i mean i mean i would love to hear your
experience on that

Speaker 01 (02:51):
um my experience honestly on 310 bring back a lot
of stuff well i mean just asi'm sure bianna and octavian
have talked about it's just likea insanely heavy workload with
with a really tight turnarounddates for um deadlines and
deliverables that we're supposedto have on um you know our film
and stuff like that so it wasjust The intention of the class

(03:13):
is that it's supposed to be areally stressful class, and they
accomplish that, I will say.
That has been accomplished, andyou get kind of broken up into
groups of three, which arecalled trios, and then you
proceed to, throughout the spanof the 15 weeks that makes up
that one semester, Yeah, justmake three different films

(03:33):
across that period of time, witheach of the trio members
directing their own films, andthen we swap positions between
each one of them.
But in terms of my experience,it was an okay team.
We got stuff done.
That was pretty much our motto,too, was that we did it.
It is done.
And not really like from aplace of let's celebrate because

(03:55):
we were a team and we lockedthis.
It was like, it's done.
I don't have to see you foranother project.
So there was that.
A little bit about personalissues off to the side as well.
but that's pretty much it yeah

Speaker 05 (04:08):
was there anything anything um positive you'd like
to share that what's somethingthat you took away from this
experience that you can takefrom the next project and make
it better because of 310

Speaker 01 (04:18):
i will say 310 like kind of uh performed like a like
a pressure chamber in the sensethat you know i i went in one
end uh completely unsure aboutmy abilities to do like a lot of
the producing thingscinematography i'm still not the
strongest at i shot adocumentary um but yeah it's
like coming out the other endit's like all of the necessary

(04:39):
steps that the untold storybehind film, you know, of like,
you know, calling up all theselocations and whatnot and like
managing all the logistics toget something made.
Like that's something that Ifeel much more confident about
now having done the class.
And also I think it's just,it's, it was valuable in the
sense that it allowed me to kindof reevaluate, you know, like

(05:02):
the importance of like thework-life culture and whatnot.
It's like, because of courseit's an intense industry and we
have like our fair share ofcontroversies and whatnot, but
it's like, you know, it's likebeing able to know when I need
to like spare time for myself tolike recuperate or like when
not to like burn myself up.
But yeah, I grew, I grew fromthe class a lot and just learned

(05:24):
to value myself more.
So I'm in my bathrobe, I'mchilling.

Speaker 06 (05:29):
Yeah, you're going to a nude spa after this.

Speaker 01 (05:32):
I'm going to a nude spa after this with hopefully
three people, not two.
Otherwise, it'll seem like adate.

Speaker 05 (05:37):
I remember taking you...
We went together to NewportBeach Film Festival.
Talk about that experience andhaving your...
Was it your film that helpedyou get into USC?

Speaker 01 (05:49):
Yeah, so basically...
That's still a really coolmemory of mine too.
I think about that every nowand then.
But yeah, the Newport Beachthing...
It was so like, what happenedessentially was because to apply
to film school, you have tomake like an application film.
Every school has their own likespecifications on like how long
it should be or what it shouldbe about.

(06:10):
But USC's is you need to makefive minutes of something.
And so I did that.
And that was, I was quite proudof that film coming out of my
senior year of high school.
And after my freshman year, Ikind of just submitted it
everywhere.
Like, I don't know how tosubmit my films to film
festivals properly.
So I kind of just like, was onmy Film Freeway account and they
have all the discounted optionsand shit like that.

(06:33):
And so to avoid paying anyactual, like any real money, I
was like, oh, 90% off, 90% off.
And then I just, and I paidlike five bucks for every film
festival.
And then I ended up like, itwas like a sweep because they're
all like film festivalsnobody's heard of that require a
90% discount.
So yeah, it did very well.
And among one of thosefestivals is the Newport Beach

(06:54):
Festival.
and um yeah at first it waslike well I was going through a
breakup at that point too myfirst ever girlfriend hope
you're doing okay I don't Idon't think there's no way she's
gonna be watching this but

Speaker 06 (07:08):
you never know

Speaker 01 (07:09):
yeah that is true

Speaker 06 (07:11):
you never know

Speaker 01 (07:13):
hope you got an animation now I have um yeah
that's a whole other thing butum sorry where was I

Speaker 06 (07:20):
you said you just broke up

Speaker 01 (07:22):
oh we just broke up so I wasn't feeling it And that
was when we were living atAnnenberg House, right?
And I remember just being like,they kept on sending me emails
like, oh, Ethan, if you want toparticipate in the Newport Beach
events, you have to sign up nowor we're going to run out of
space.
And I was like, nah.
And the event being like, itwas a filmmaker's meet on a
yacht.

(07:42):
And I was like, my ass waslike, oh, I'm too tired to go to
that event.
And so I didn't for the longesttime.
But I think, I don't know, as Iwas kind of weaning off of the
breakup, I got another emailfrom them again, right?
And it's like, they were like,oh, we're going to be screening
your film at Regal.
And I was like, I know whatRegal is.
That's cool.
And so I reached out on mystory asking if anybody has a

(08:08):
car that can drive me toNewport.
And then you responded.
That was like one of the firsttimes we really hung out.

Speaker 05 (08:13):
Yeah, that's right.
Yeah.
It was, what, two years ago nowalmost?

Speaker 06 (08:16):
one year

Speaker 05 (08:17):
ago one year ago one and a half one and a half i
don't even remember man

Speaker 01 (08:21):
when i was a it's been a minute 290 um i think

Speaker 05 (08:24):
i think it's fall last year over a year ago

Speaker 01 (08:28):
over a year ago at this point i

Speaker 05 (08:29):
think it was fall so it was over a year ago

Speaker 01 (08:31):
yeah yeah but that that was crazy i i really did
appreciate you like

Speaker 05 (08:35):
i was also going through something something so i
think we connected with thatyeah yeah But yeah, that was a
cool experience.

Speaker 01 (08:43):
It was, yeah.
And then like, so we went.
My movie was on the screen.
And I got to meet a lot of thefreshman film production people.
Oh, wow.
Daisy, I met her there.
I don't know if you remember.

Speaker 05 (08:55):
Daisy was there?

Speaker 01 (08:56):
Daisy was there.
She was one of the winners.
Yeah, that was standing upfront.

Speaker 05 (08:59):
What?
I don't remember that.
She was there?

Speaker 01 (09:02):
Yeah, she was there.
I don't remember

Speaker 05 (09:03):
that.

Speaker 01 (09:04):
Her film was, no.
Her film was about like makingart or something.
Like that documentary aboutherself.
That was her?
That was her! Daisy, you don'tremember me, but what

Speaker 05 (09:14):
up?
I thought the first time I mether was on another film that I
produced.
Really?
Yeah.
That's crazy.
That's such a small world.
Yeah, yeah.

Speaker 01 (09:24):
But it's like with the OC connections and whatnot.
That's true.
I mean,

Speaker 05 (09:27):
OC has, yeah, we talked about this earlier in the
episode.
But yeah, that's cool.
Yeah.
But I mean, was that the firsttime you saw your film on big
screen?

Speaker 01 (09:36):
That was actually, that was pretty cool.
I didn't know how to feel.
I think to this day, I stilldon't know how to feel just
because I don't feel that I'm aspracticed as I should be.
Like I have all this time andI'm a junior now.
I'm like, what, like made likethree official films over the
course of my time here.
And it's like, I'm still, it'sstill sinking in and they feel
very amateur-ish.

(09:57):
And I was talking about it onstage.
So I went up and they handed methe microphone.
I was like, yo, I might dropout of film school.
And so I said that on stagewith all of the Newport Beach
attendees and whatnot.
So that was kind of where I wasstanding with film then.
And now it's been a journey andI've kind of been navigating it

(10:18):
um and i there has been a lotof growth i think definitely if
you ask anybody that i knoweverybody can say that i've
grown quite a bit since like myfreshman year so um and i would
like to say so too i'd like toacknowledge that i've grown
myself even though all i i havea tendency to doubt myself a lot
but not in this case not inthis case

Speaker 06 (10:41):
dude i mean you really have i feel like
personally and professionally, Ithink your films consistently
get better.
You know, your latest film,Asian Invasion, one of the
biggest fans in the audience wasRobert Zemeckis himself.
So tell me about yourexperience making that movie.

Speaker 01 (10:58):
I was like...
And then I kept on cheering forall my friends, but he would

(11:22):
never turn his head.
And then afterwards, someoneshowed me a picture.
You showed me a fuckingpicture.
And it was like, that guy inthe blue jacket is Robert
Zemeckis.
I was like, that was thefucking guy I was screaming at
for all of the...
Because literally everybody inthe front row was kind of
laughing or kind of looked backa little bit, like smiling when
I was yelling from the theateraudience, except for him.

(11:44):
But apparently he liked myphone, according to sources that
are...
Alex, that was in Trio withRobert Zemeckis' kid, he also
gave it a nod, according toAlex.

Speaker 06 (11:55):
A nod.

Speaker 01 (11:56):
That's

Speaker 06 (11:56):
very important body language, I feel like.
If you analyze it...

Speaker 01 (12:01):
No, it is, it is! It's like, it's a really big
thing, too.
In the sense that, you know,Robert Zemeckis is someone who
I've looked up to for all theseyears and whatnot, right?
What's your

Speaker 05 (12:14):
favorite Robert Zemeckis film?

Speaker 01 (12:16):
Forrest Gump.
I agree.
Robert Zemeckis.
I grew up with his films.
I still haven't fully sunk inthat he saw my film.
Because I'm hearing this.
It's hearsay.
He nodded at my film.
He's kind of the reason why Igot into film in the first

(12:37):
place.
People like him.
And it's like...
it's kind of like a full circlemoment that hasn't fully sunk
in yet or maybe i don't knowmaybe it's like chill because i
didn't see it so he might nothave done it too so i don't know

Speaker 06 (12:49):
i mean after the screening of your film you gave
a speech and um i would love tohear about your uh the the
iconic 310 speech you made

Speaker 01 (12:58):
the iconic 310 speech that i made I was like
cooking and thinking about whatto say in my speech since like
you were thinking aboutpreparing something.
And so there were multipleiterations of it throughout the
semester.
I think as I experiencedpersonal issues, the speech was
altered as the year went on too.
And so it was like, it was awhole thing.

(13:19):
And you know, as you progressthrough 310 too, it's like, it's
an experience within itself.
It is like Hollywood bootcamp.
They call it Hollywoodbootcamp.
And it really is that justbecause it's like you get put,
um, And like this in thepressure chamber of like a
professional Hollywood standardsand whatnot.
And you're expected to justkind of like turn these films

(13:40):
one after the other.
Turn them out one after theother.
And...
it's hard and it takes itstoll.
So throughout the year, I juststarted to feel like I was just
drooping, drooping, drooping.
Um, and at the very end, thespeech was the explosion of
that.
Like it was the climax of mebeing edged with depression.
Yeah.
And so I exploded out on stage.

(14:02):
I was cursing everybody out.
I was like, I do whatever thefuck I want.
I earned my time on this stage,which I did.
And I believe that I have, I,I, I made a really strong three
10 and I should be proud of thatbut that still has yet to sink
in

Speaker 06 (14:19):
i mean i would like to hear because that really
relates to your thoughts on theusc film school um talk a little
bit about that you know was itwhat you expected what are some
things you know that you wouldchange about it and just your
honest opinion on the filmschool and people curriculum etc

Speaker 01 (14:38):
honestly I'm not really sure at some point I met
with one of the counselors whowere also kind of asking me too
because I was like in myjournals because 310 requires us
to write journals every week.
People would think that myjournals were quite dramatic.
You guys, I've been complainingabout the SCA system to you
guys the whole time since I wasa freshman.

Speaker 06 (15:00):
What are three things that you don't like and
three things you love about SCA?

Speaker 01 (15:03):
I think it's probably just quicker if I go
through the likes and everythingelse.
I can kind of go on a rant.
Three things I love about SCAis definitely the community.
I think there's a fantastic...
Just a conglomerate of reallyinteresting minds that have all
come together to learn how toexpress themselves in ways that
they never have.

(15:24):
They're chasing the dream.
It's like La La Land.
So it's really cool.
And I think for the first timein my life, honestly, since
coming to college, this isprobably the most...
camaraderie that I felt with mypeers just because in high
school I was like really shutdown and whatnot and I didn't
feel that my friends were allthat close it was like it was
really hard for me to socializeback then but yeah now so that's

(15:47):
one thing though the cohort thepeople not even the cohort but
just everybody in film ingeneral like the professors for
the most part are very cool butlet's see what's something the
second thing is the resourcesthat we have I think also it's
like We have all thesescreenings and whatnot.
And we have resources.

(16:07):
We could have more resources,but I mean, I'm not here to
complain.
I am paying for it though, for80K's worth of tuition every
year.
But it's like, yeah, we get alot of cool resources, like
certain shooting stages,professional looking shooting
stages.
We can rent out lights andwhatnot.
And we have like...
A wealth of software and loginsand whatnot that would normally

(16:29):
cost money.
All of that for film.
Film faculties that wouldtypically cost money beforehand.
So resources, the people, andthe third one would be...
I don't know, just the factthat it's college.
I think with it being filmschool, it's like a lot of
people have this...
um have this like preconceivednotion that oh they have to like

(16:52):
remain in the bounds of of scaand whatnot right and like
you're only supposed to dedicateyour time to that but like
college serves i mean it is likea specialized bachelor's degree
bachelor of fine arts degreebut it's like the experience of
college within itself Issupposed to like help you mature
into the adult that you want tobe from childhood, right?

(17:14):
Because we have our high schoolversions of ourselves, which I
can proudly now say that I'm sodifferent from And it's just
like all the time that we havehere and just the resources and
people outside of film Like Iwas acting and stuff.
I joined a 3d printing club umI joined the I joined a frat I
joined the filipino club um iacted in multiple short films

(17:40):
and went to multiple screeningsand i that's like that's i'm
barely scratching the surface ofwhat usc has to offer but even
then that in itself because itcan become a whole competition
too right where like i think i'mvery much um i very much
inhabit the uh the uh thementality that like oh if you if
you're if this something isavailable to you and you don't
access it then you're Stupidwhich is something I'm working

(18:02):
on but it's like, you know, likethere are things like musicals
and stuff like that I wassupposed to go to a musical
audition yesterday But thatended up falling through just
because I was feeling like justkind of up And so that's kind of
knowing where my like limitsare and stuff But yeah, I know
just the the school has beenawesome.
I've many parties.
I mean, what do you

Speaker 06 (18:22):
think was your biggest inspiration you know
getting into film because youalso have that one thing that
sparks us creatively right likewhat was that for you

Speaker 01 (18:33):
it's interesting just because my background in
film is like very complex i meanas is all the filmmakers of
this age i feel like we don'tonly have movies to work off of
but film can be like consideredin so many different mediums and
it can take so many differentforms um and i think i grew up
with a lot of like youtube likeuh skits and like different
genres of stuff and i'm tryingto remember that because i've

(18:55):
Watched a lot of YouTube as akid.
So I'm trying to pinpoint theexact person that like would
have inspired me my first like Ithink channel obsession that
made me want to make my ownvideos was Dan TDM bro the
diamond minecart.
I don't know if y'all know thatMinecraft youtuber.

Speaker 06 (19:14):
Yeah, I've heard

Speaker 01 (19:14):
him.
Yeah.
Yeah but it's like it's hewould just be playing in his
Minecraft world and stuff likethat.
And he would have like avillager friend and whatnot
called Dr.
Triorus.
And then he would have like a,he had like a little skeletal
dog from like a mod that hedownloaded from Minecraft that
he called Grim.
And so they would go on likedifferent adventures, exploring
different mods and whatnot.

(19:35):
And he'd set up like elaboratestories.
So it wasn't just like, this iswhat the mod is.
And it's like, they, he playsout these whole stories, but it
was the first time where like, Ikind of fully realized to
myself that I can also makesomething like this.
It wasn't maybe something asgrand as a feature-length movie

(19:56):
or a short film, but it's likethis form of entertainment that
I enjoyed so much throughDanTDM.
I could hop on Minecraft.
I could make a base and thenfabricate all these storylines
and whatnot to the enjoyment ofall these people.
And that was a very coolfeeling to me that I could do
that.
And so that was kind of myforay into...
into film.

(20:16):
And then I started the YouTubechannel, and then a lot of
shitty Minecraft videos that nolonger exist, I can't find them.
But after that, I built on it,and then it became skits, and
then submissions for high schoolfilm class homework.
And then eventually, you know,just where we are today.

Speaker 06 (20:36):
That's awesome.
And one of your favoriteaspects of filmmaking is
editing, right?
Or at least that's one of yourstrongest...
Fields.
I have this

Speaker 01 (20:45):
motherfucker edit all the time.

Speaker 06 (20:46):
Yeah, he does.

Speaker 01 (20:48):
I do.
But he's a fantastic editor.
You're a good editor.
Thank you.
I think we have different

Speaker 06 (20:53):
eyes.
But yeah, sorry.
One of the biggest highlightsof Asian Invasion was the
editing, the pacing.
And also, honestly, all yourfilms.
Talk to me about what reallygot you into really liking
editing versus cinematography orproducing.
Why editing?

Speaker 01 (21:08):
I mean, that's a curious...
I don't know if it's like a...
a matter of alternative.
Like, because I got intoediting, I didn't get into
cinematography.
Like, why do you think you gotinto cinematography?
I like

Speaker 06 (21:20):
shooting stuff.

Speaker 01 (21:21):
You just like shooting stuff in a show?
Yeah, I think for me, I likerearranging everything in a way
that, like, makes sense.
And, like, because anybody canshoot.
I think I grew up and my dad,like, had a camera.
And, like, every other shitthat we took, he would take a
picture of.
And we have, like, entirefucking hard drives of, like,
when I was a kid and stuff likethat.
So that's...
I mean, it's good.

(21:43):
I can look through it.
But then it's like the libraryof Alexandria of my tiny baby
dick.
I don't want to have to flipall the way through that.
But yeah, it was like theYouTube I really liked.
It was like, wow, they pace it.
It's not just one continuousstream of motion.
And it's like I also wanted todo that.

(22:04):
That was really cool.
That made or break the film.
Especially when I startedediting, too.
It was like...
I recorded the sequence for myfirst Minecraft video in which I
had my brother get possessed bysome evil sword or something
and he proceeds to beat me todeath over and over again.
I had the footage, but it wasjust raw.

(22:28):
footage of Minecraft gameplay.
And I was like, this fuckingsucks, bro.
And so I went through and thenlike, I started editing it a
little bit and it gave me moreclarity to like, oh, the story
was starting to come out.
I know how I want to pace thisa little bit because I was like
a big movie kid growing up too.
So it was like, these thingswere kind of like, they feel
very intuitive just becausethey're kind of like my

(22:49):
background.
And yeah, from then on, it waslike, wow, I feel like I can
edit better than Normal peopleand I was like, you know what?
Let me kind of try this it outand like so for like school
assignments like big projects,you know where people have to do
it's like oh you can do a bigdiorama where you can do a film
I do the film because it's likeit was another opportunity for

(23:12):
me to practice film and I likekind of didn't even decide to do
film until my junior year inhigh school in which like
because just Asian parents,

Speaker 06 (23:22):
you

Speaker 01 (23:22):
know Womp womp.
How did you convince yourparents to let you do film in
college?
Well, what happened was I wasgetting a lot of backlash
initially.
It was like, I didn't know whatelse I wanted to do.
It was like, I felt like I wasreally dumb to really accomplish
anything.
Like, what, was I going to be ascientist or something?
Or like an engineer?
Like, I fucking hate physicsand math and I always got graded

(23:43):
so poorly on them.
And it took like almost, Iliterally learned that I had
ADHD and that's why I wasstruggling so long in the
assignments.
But I was always made to feelthat I was inadequate and that I
wasn't doing enough.
But yeah, I think when the filmthing came around, it was
honestly because high school,there was this really cool

(24:04):
teacher, Brett Barris.
Brett Barris, the man.
I'm going to send him thisshit.
I'm going to send him thepodcast.
And maybe to all the TASstudents there listening,
because Barris may or may notshow this to you guys.
I believe in you.
Y'all got it.
But anyways, sorry, my brain isall over the place.

(24:27):
But yeah, with entering highschool, I encountered this one
art teacher that specialized infilm.
And so he was the one that kindof guided me through my film
journey and made me decide like,hold on, this is kind of fun.
Like I want to be able to dothis professionally.
And so, yeah, I started withfreshman year and it was just

(24:49):
like some intro to film class toknock out my high school GE
requirements because we also hadthose in high school too.
And so I did that and then itwas like, whoa, this is kind of
fun.
And I kept on getting a lot ofcompliments, which was not very
common.
um in my line of existence anduh yeah and it just kind of kept

(25:09):
growing from there and everytime an opportunity like showed
itself i i took upon it and uh ikept on building to my
portfolio and i felt reallyconfident about telling the
movies that i thought would bereally cool that i thought would
be really cool if i were tohave seen it you know and it's
like i was able to make that andthat made me very proud
although my cinematography iskind of dog well it's not dog

(25:30):
but it's just very substandardand yeah and it doesn't look
perfect you can tell that it's ashort film a student short film

Speaker 06 (25:37):
That's okay.
I mean, you know, we are stillin film school trying to get
better and everything.
And this isn't your firstinteraction with the podcast.
You have a boss named Brandon,who you edit for.
And tell me a little bit aboutthat.
How did you get like, how didyou end up with that job?

Speaker 01 (25:57):
That was crazy.
I remember in freshman, justbecause I had this mentality of
like, because I was so depressedthroughout my entire high
school.
Because like in order to focuson getting good grades and stuff
like that it required that Ilike kind of like myself and
like you know if oh you gottapull all night or not to finish
studying for this test then doit anyways like who who cares

(26:18):
like no nothing is gonna stopand wait for you to like oh like
boohoo ethan kind of a thingbut um oh sorry i forgot what
the question was yeah

Speaker 06 (26:25):
how did you meet brandon and oh get into that
whole job

Speaker 01 (26:28):
yeah but yeah so like i i graduated high school
with a lot of regrets regretsright and it was like i wish i
did that i wish i was in moreclubs i wish i was talking to
more people and so coming to uscit was like an automatic
recognition of the fact that Ihad to get myself out there and
experience as much.
I'm nowhere in hell.
I'm going to go through thesefour years, another four years,

(26:50):
and then look back on it and belike, I just wasted another four
years.
That's some bullshit.
I remember I was going crazy myfreshman year, just doing a
whole bunch of stuff.
That was when I acted the most.
That was when I joined the 3Dprinting club.
Honestly, most of theextracurricular stuff, besides
the frat, stuff I did in myfreshman year.

(27:10):
So like I was acting, I waslike joining communities.
I went to a couple APCA things,but...
And so eventually, yeah, one ofthe opportunities that also
came my way was me and and mygood friends, Evan, Tammy, and
Solly.
And so that was kind of likethe first major friend group

(27:30):
that I made in my first year ofcollege too.
And so we were all just hangingout towards the end of the year
and some like random influencerguy approached us from out of
the blue and was like, oh, lookat this diverse group of people.
Like, this will be good for aTikTok.
I was like floored.
I was like, what the did youjust like, what are you telling?
But anyways, it consisted ofthis lady who called herself the

(27:52):
college expert that would go oncampus and ask people about
their college experience.
And so she asked us, I thinkthe thing about film schools
too, is like in terms of theprogression of the learning
curve, If you're taking afour-year traditional college
route, it's like the first twoyears, you're just kind of
dicking around.
You are a film major, but youdon't really do...

(28:15):
You aren't participating inmany classes where it's all that
production intensive.
I think now we've gotten to thepoint where I'm satisfied with
the amount of film education I'mgetting now.
But yeah, first two years,weren't really doing anything.
So I was complaining about thatto him.
He was like, you know what?
If USC is not training you,then I will.
And you can be my intern.

(28:35):
I was like, for sure.
Because I don't miss out on anopportunity because I don't want
to look back on this and belike, I regret it.
And so, yeah, we got to knoweach other.
I called him at the end of theyear.
I told him that I was going tobe in Taiwan temporarily because
Taiwan is where I'm from.
But I would return to theStates during the second half of
my freshman summer break.

(28:57):
So I called him and we werelike, yeah.
I'm thinking about shooting acouple.
I think about doing this thing.
Well, he's a model photographertoo.
He's kind of like a jack of alltrades where he just kind of
does social media managing Ithink his main source of income
comes from taking model digitalsof people.
That's just basically whereyou're taking professional model

(29:20):
looking photos of people.
That's where he gets his money,but I think he tried to branch
out and he wanted to teach anonline class where that teaches
people how to become models andbecome influencers in today's
modern day and age.
And so I was there and I wasthe cameraman and I did all the
DP efforts for that.
So it was like a docuserieskind of a thing where he would

(29:44):
be explaining, oh, this is howyou want to pose.
And before I take pictures of amodel, I make sure to like...
I have them fake laugh, youknow, so that...
So get the nervousness out andstuff like that.
He has all these tips andtricks and whatnot.
But yeah, so from then heproceeded to give me a makeover
because he thought I was ugly asballs.

(30:04):
Which he did for free, whichwas very nice.
So for the price of beingcalled like ugly as

Unknown (30:10):
,

Speaker 01 (30:11):
I think that was pretty good.
That was a pretty good returnon investment there.
And he gave me a Ronin, aself-balancing gimbal thing.
And so I've

Speaker 06 (30:24):
been working for him a little bit.
ever since.
But you know, you had anotherjob at the time, which was at
the law school, right?
Yeah.
Talk a little bit about thatexperience.
How did you get the law schooljob?
You were the OG friend in thefriend group who worked at the
law school.
After you, everyone worked atthe law school.

Speaker 01 (30:39):
Pretty much.
We're all getting kind of liketaken out one by one and getting
fired here, but otherwise...
Due to

Speaker 06 (30:45):
budget issues, not personal

Speaker 01 (30:47):
issues.
Yeah, yeah.
Oh yeah, so for the school oflaw, I worked on communications
team for USC's law school.
And so how I actually cameabout that was, and I was
actually really proud of myselffor like finding a job in my
freshman year.
Cause I'm like, that's kind ofunheard, at least for my
standards too.
Yeah.
And it was like, uh, I, I did,I went to an APCA meeting was

(31:10):
what happened.
And the lead of APCA at thetime was Matt Olfess, who also
worked in Google communication.
They were looking for newpeople.
And so through that connection,I got to, I got the job and I
got recommended.
And then I went in for myinterview.
I met all these amazing peopleand it was, yeah, it was kind of
a journey.
I would just take photos andmake little social media posts

(31:32):
for them and stuff.
Do

Speaker 06 (31:35):
you miss that job ever?

Speaker 01 (31:37):
I miss certain aspects about the job because a
lot of the times it did feellike it wasn't creatively
engaging enough.
They were just telling us to docertain things.
When it came to things likeediting, like taking photos,
that I had so much fun justbecause getting to know like
this whole other like communityof the USC lawyers and whatnot

(31:59):
and I was there actually kind ofphotographing like the like
some masters grad school levelcohort of lawyers.
They're like Because I was herefor the summer too Like kind of
the the whatchamacallit theOrientation it you know when

(32:21):
they show the new collegestudents I was there taking
photos for them for that whilethey were doing all these like
icebreaker activities and stuffand I I I doubt any of them
knows me anymore, but I waspretty chill with a lot of them.
And so that was really cool,just to kind of get to know new
people through these connectionsand experiences.
A lot of times they want me tophotograph dinners at the Town

(32:44):
and Gown Hall, which at USC isthis very luxurious looking Ivy
League hall.
But yeah, whenever I would goto take photos for them, they
would give me free food to eat.
So that was pretty cool.
And also editing the videos fortheir social media was really
cool.
But like Besides that, it feltlike I was just being kept on
just for the sake of being kepton.

(33:05):
You know, it was like a lot ofthis like boring work, like the
intern work, which I guess Itechnically was.
But yeah, I think I'm at apoint in my life where I want to
kind of explore differentthings.
Also, it's hot as f*** in here.
Okay, transformation.

Speaker 05 (33:21):
Oh, no, you're good.
I remember freshman year, therewas, you know, you mentioned
law school and all that, but...
I remember there was a periodof time where you were pretty
unsure about whether to stay ornot.
You said in high school, youknow, you wanted to take film
seriously as a career.
What happened there that madeyou doubt it and what made you
ultimately choose to stay?

Speaker 01 (33:43):
I think I had a lot of talks with my therapist about
something like this too, whereit just felt like being at
college was like an extension ofmy high school experience,
where all you did was like theGEs and like filling your brain
full of, because at this point,it's hard for me to retain all
this information.
And like, I would just go up tothese GE classes and like, take
notes and then like just studythe night before the exam and

(34:05):
then regurgitate it and thenforget it after.
I can't tell you anything aboutwhat I learned in my freshman
year besides the fact that Iread like the Parable of the
Sour.
I don't even know whathappened.
I just remember it's calledParable of the Sour.
And I just got reminded of itbecause I was watching an Abbott
Elementary episode and they'relike reading the same book too.
So yeah.
But so yeah, it was like Ialways thought that it was like
that.

(34:25):
And yeah.
Eventually, I was kind of onthe borderline of dropping.
I'm like, wow, this is what I'mdedicating all my time to.
Wouldn't I much ratherliterally, quite literally do
anything else just because I'man adult now and as much as my
parents want to control what myfuture plans and my current
agenda is, I'm going to be anadult.

(34:47):
You're going to send me awayunless you're going to keep me
as a zainan or some shit likethat in the house forever.
I get to make my own decisions.
I would have preferred...
to live my life to the fullestand die within a year of my life
than to go through thisbullshit of like, oh, let me do
school and oh, I have to readthis book and pretend I give a
shit and everything and it'slike just to forget it

(35:07):
afterwards.
It felt stupid and my entirechildhood and my coming of age
felt like I was just doingthings because other people told
me to and not because I wasdoing the things I wanted to.
And film was supposed to be oneof the things that I was
pursuing out of my own passion.
And so when I came here and Irealized that, oh, actually,

(35:28):
they were like, you here's this.
This is a we join CTCS 190intro to film cinema, cinema,
cinema.
And they're going to tell uswhat cinematography means.
I'm like, oh, no.
But, um.
Yeah, I think after a certainamount of time, I think
definitely I've experienced alot of emotional growth.

(35:50):
My therapist can attest tothat.
And also, just the curriculumhas kind of like taken up more,
taken on more film productionelements.
And so now it's just, it's morefulfilling.
And it's like, at the end ofthe day, I just needed an
undergraduate degree.
And yeah.
USC has hella connections inthe industry and whatnot.
And it's like, might as welljust stick it through.

(36:10):
Like, why don't we transfer toNYU now and like meet a whole
bunch of new people?
Because by then I had met youguys already.
And I was like, yeah, I

Speaker 06 (36:17):
was really nervous that you're going to just leave
us, you know, because you'regoing to be my roommate next
year.
Yeah.
And you're like, wait, but Iwant to drop out.
And I was like, but no.
Tell me about what made youchange your mind.
Like the because you had thatone.
Did you go to a bar with ourguys?
Professor or do

Speaker 01 (36:35):
you go to oh, that's right.
Yeah.
So at the end of my freshmanyear, we took the 285 class,
right?
Which is lateral thinking andfilmmaking or something like
that.
And so they had But it's likethey they had a whole bunch of
guest lecturers that yearincluding Ben Ben Hansford Which
is he's the the current active285 lead but I think that was

(36:56):
his first year and um he wasyeah that was really cool it was
an interesting class because itwas the first form of a
production class that we weretold to take that was required
in the curriculum but then itwas like oh film off your
iphones we were like what i pay80k to like film off my iphone
are you serious and um and solike i i was like this is such a

(37:19):
joke you know i was like why ami wasting time here i already
know what wasted time feels likefrom high school it's like i
don't i'm not like anticipatingum a return to that but uh yeah
it was like that happened andthe class was kind of bullshit i
acted in a lot of people'sshort films kind of like a it's
really cool jay and you have acollection of all of them too
you can do like a super cut orsomething for for the show at

(37:41):
some point that would beinteresting but yeah i i like
participated in a lot of um likeacting in these short like
iphone movie roles and stufflike that And then at the end of
the class, I was like feelingdisgruntled and like, wow,
that's my first year of USC.
And I shot something on myiPhone.
I was like, God.
So what ended up happening wasI reached out to one of the

(38:04):
other lecturers, MitchMcLaughlin.
actually cool ass motherfuckeri haven't seen since love

Speaker 06 (38:09):
that guy

Speaker 01 (38:10):
yeah fantastic guy amazing amazing work too um and
yeah i just wanted to see whathis approach was on i'm just
gonna like throw him a coupleideas and whatnot and be like
yeah i think i might drop outbecause it feels like bullshit
and i told him that oh actuallyum our the tuition is 80k and
they're like we did not knowthat So they don't even know.

(38:31):
I don't, yeah, genuinely, it'slike, but yeah, I asked them and
I forgot what he said exactly,but I just remember that being a
very cool interaction justbecause, and no dirt on Mitch,
but he seemed like kind of likea moody, like a quieter
individual.
And just like, because I reallyrelated with that at my
freshman year.

(38:51):
And I think a part of me stilldoes.
It's like, you know, how am Igoing to navigate an industry
that's about connection andwhatnot if, if like I'm afraid
to put myself out there.
And it's like, I think he wastalking to me about it and he
kind of put me on an equilibriumwhere it's like, actually maybe
wait one more year before youdrop out and just see where
things go.
And so I waited one more yearand then I ended up talking to

(39:13):
the guy that accepted me intoUSC.
Just cause in film production,we submit our application films
and if they like it enough thenone of the school sca
representatives will um willcontact you individually and do
a zoom call and like do aninterview carry out an interview
and decide whether or notyou're a good fit for the school
so mine was james okifa i thinkis his name james okifa he's uh

(39:35):
um i haven't i i gotta check upon him see how he's doing but
he's a really cool like southerngentleman i asked him i told
him too that Hey, you were theone that let me in.
Did you see something inparticular that incentivized you
to put me in this school?
And so it was like, honestly,it was...

(39:56):
Yeah, I can think back to itnow.
And honestly, none of theseprofessors gave me the answer.
At the end of the day, Idecided myself, of course, as it
always is.
But yeah, the talk with theprofessor was nice.
He was like, oh yeah, film issuch a cool thing.
This is what you want to spendthe rest of your life doing,
which were all things that I wasalready considering.

(40:18):
But yeah, what was the pointwhere I decided to stay?
Well, I think it was also justa matter of I was too lazy.
Did I really want to run awayfrom everything and live off the
grid?
I was finishing my...
my first semester of mysophomore year and Yeah, it was

(40:40):
just that and also at the startof the next year Yeah, I just
decided to stay just because itwas too much trouble.
Yeah

Speaker 06 (40:49):
Hey, I'm really glad you did because we would be
missing out a lot of oh, yeahfun memories without you, you
know And you do talk about yourapplication.
What do you think made you getinto USC film school?

Speaker 01 (41:00):
It sounds cocky to say but I think to a certain
extent everybody that got intofilm production was good at what
they do, like a certain elementof what they do, right?
I thought that my editing wasvery strong.
And also like, if I'm enteringa film school and whatnot, I was
putting a lot of thought intolike, what are some of the
approaches I wanna take withentering the school?
It's like, this is, film is avisual medium, right?

(41:24):
And I know that Chapman hadtheir prompt and it was like
Chapman being the, like one ofthe other film schools that's
supposed to be pretty good, butnot really.
But yeah, it's like theirprompt included like a two to
three minute short film aboutmaking a decision there couldn't
include any audio No, umdialogue.

Speaker 03 (41:42):
Yeah,

Speaker 01 (41:43):
and I was like, huh that might because it's like
it's a film school The emphasiswould be on the visuals and kind
of the pictures you're creatingSo I was like, what is the
trippiest possible combinationof things I can like assemble
together in a film and so it waslike I remember just
experiencing a very poor night'ssleep which is very common for
me just because i have reallyheavy insomnia um i was like god

(42:05):
i can't sleep but what if i wasawake right now what if i what
if i um no what was it again ican't sleep but it's like oh
actually what what if methinking that i wasn't asleep
was part of my dream you knowand it was like oh some like
stupid ass inception shit likegave me a whole bunch of like
wiggle room to be like oh okayand so there's a clock demon

(42:26):
because he represents time anduh this is a piece about my
depression and whatnot and howhow school work fucking tears me
down and time is alwayscatching up and like the the
black sludge and just a wholebunch of like honestly if you
look back at parasomniac it'sjust like a collection of of
like film stereotypes, whichis...

Speaker 05 (42:46):
Well, it's like subverting them, right?

Speaker 01 (42:47):
It's a little bit like the black sludge I feel
like has been done a milliontimes before.
The clock face monster man justdoesn't seem very original.
I feel like it's come fromsomewhere.
I

Speaker 06 (42:57):
haven't seen something like

Speaker 01 (42:58):
that.
You haven't seen that?
But yeah, it's just basicallyhow I approach film is just like
I approach it and it's kind oflike People say don't steal on
art, but at the end of the day,that's impossible and not true.
Just because to a certainextent, art is a product of your
environment and what you grewup with surrounding you too,
right?
So it's like I grew up watchingthe movies and genres that I

(43:22):
really liked.
And honestly, I can't say thatthat's completely divorced from
my film style.
It's very heavily involved inthat.
I remember doing like an80-page...
google doc of references toother movies to convince my
teacher that like oh yeah i cando this one shot because it's
just i comp it out and and wheni was like masking in premiere

(43:43):
pro it's like yeah all the ittybitty stuff and so i was like
yeah that's cool um let me justinclude as many fucking
metaphors in here as as i can itwas a story that meant
something to me of course um ButI think the priority there was
that, yeah, it was like, ooh,what are some cool shots that I
can include?
And so we open on the mugs,like, all kind of collecting on

(44:04):
the table and whatnot.

Speaker 05 (44:05):
All right, so I know you're into, like, graphic
novels or even comic books.
So I know that's a large partof your creative input.
So talk a little bit about howthat influences your filmmaking
because I see a lot of that inAsian Invasion and also your–
It's

Speaker 01 (44:22):
interesting because a lot of people make the
comparison with my work to like,oh, this is very comic book
style-y, which I don't includein any of the...
I don't in any way indicatethat it's supposed to be comic
books.
But it wasn't until that Istarted working with Peter that
one summer on Chambered, whichmay or may not come out.
But yeah, I was doing that andhe was telling me that a lot of

(44:46):
his composition...
and frames and cinematic framesthat he like kind of dreams up
is very comic book inspired andI was kind of thinking back to
my own beginnings to like beforeYouTube videos I remember being
really into the captain americanot the captain america the
captain underpants series whereit was about those kids with

(45:08):
adhd um that like love makingrandom stupid comic books all
the time and so i actuallystarted making graphic novels
before i started making filmsit's like i wish that i could
bring some with me but i thinkthat it's probably best if i
just keep them in taiwan butit's like i literally just take
in my spare time at school ijust take like a couple pieces
of paper fold them in halfstaple it together and then just

(45:29):
kind of like just improvise anentire fucking graphic novel.
I'm like, oh, it feels like Iwant this panel to look like
that.
And then the next one, let medo a circle.
And then it's like that.
And then these comic books, Ihonestly, it's been too long
since I've read one of them, butthey were received very well by
my classmates and stuff likethat.
It was funny too, because itwas like, that's what the kids

(45:52):
in the Captain Underpants seriesdid also.
And so I was like, oh, I kindof want to be like that.
And so I think that, Buthonestly, moving forward from
that, not too much comic bookstylization.
I think I didn't return to thecomic book look until...
When I watched my first animein freshman year of high school,

(46:17):
it was My Hero Academia, whichis fucking fantastic in spite of
all the stigma surrounding thefandom now.
It's fucking dope as shit.
And I remember how they framedthe shots.
It was like nothing I've everseen before.
And that was kind of mirroredalong with my interest in Rise,
the film.
And so I think maybe that alsoaffected it.

(46:40):
But yeah, just comic books.
I would read comic books everynow and then, but not very
often.
So it's surprising that thecomic book thing is a part of my
art style and everything.

Speaker 06 (46:51):
And I think it makes your work so unique.
It's so beautiful.
Thank you.
And speaking on that, I thinkyou're very creative of a
person, right?
But I do want to hear youropinions on what does creativity
mean to you?
How do you approach creativity?
And what are some advice forpeople to get more creative?

Speaker 01 (47:12):
It's...
Creativity is a thing that I'vebeen thinking about for a while
now, too.
Just because I'm in film schooland I'm still in a little bit
of a rut.
I've demonstrated a lot ofgrowth since graduating from
high school, but there's stilldays like today where I spent
all of...
all of the sunlight in my room.

(47:34):
And I was like, wow, that makesme feel kind of shitty.
But yeah, so it's somethingthat I've been struggling with.
But the idea of creativity, Ifeel like everybody has a
different definition for whatthat means.
Just that's what makes thecreative so special because I
always considered myselfcreative.
I was always called creative.
So it's even weird now, like,As I call myself creative, I've

(47:57):
made films and I've demonstratedcapacity to be creative.
But it doesn't feel like I ownthat word.
I'm only creative because allof these other people said so.
My high school film teacher,Mr.
Barris, said, wow, this is agreat cut, Ethan.
My friends said, well, this isa very cool YouTube video.
And people applauding at the310 screening.

(48:18):
It's like, those are allindicators that I'm creative,
but I...
It hasn't fully sunk in yet orI'm not unleashing it to the
potential that I want to.
But being creative is justhonestly just like making the
world how you want to make it,you know?
It's in a way that's easy forme to understand because that's

(48:41):
how I've come to understand.
I feel like creativity is aforce that flows through
everybody, but it manifestsdifferently depending on who you
are.
And I think in my particularcase, it's because I grew up and
I love DIY making shit.
Showing that I can make thingsmyself, whether that be posters
or Halloween costumes.

(49:02):
I have some sick-ass Halloweencostumes I made as a kid that
I'm quite proud of.
And it's like...
I think just that element ofwanting to create and make the
world in my image.
Everybody has a different ideaof what that looks like.
If I handed you the script forAsian Invasion and for you to
direct it the way that youwanted it to, it would be an
entirely different movie.

(49:23):
Creativity is just, at acertain point, is about...
acceptance maybe and like howcomfortable you are with
yourself and your ideas andwhatnot i think i have some i
don't think there ever is a badidea um people people say that

(49:46):
and generally it's like well ican get into a whole other thing
like what is good and bad umbut no just honestly it's like
we're all a reflection of ourenvironment where we came from.
And so honestly, this idea ofcreativity flowing through all
of us and us channeling itthrough ourselves only applies.
I'm getting this from RickRubin's The Creative Act, too,

(50:09):
by the way.
I love that book.
Where it's like, yeah, that wassomething that really resonated
with me where it's likecreativity is a force in the
world and we are the filtersthrough which it manifests.
Because we all live in the sameworld Context right we all live
as human beings In Americagoing to USC, you know And it's

(50:31):
like all these things with thezeitgeist of what's happening
right now to of like, you knowJust like news newsworthy items
and like we all experience thosethings and as a result of
experiencing everything that isgoing on right now it gets like
Distilled into a solid form of Iguess it gets distilled and

(50:54):
into like this concentratedpiece of art and that's what I
love so much about creativitytoo because it's like it's such
an acknowledgement of who youare and if you make honest art
right that's reflective of whoyou are and that means you are a
good artist and you allowedthat creativity to flow through

(51:14):
you and distill the art that youcreated like Asian Invasion
itself if i were to havedirected that like maybe a year
later or a year before or ifthat was p1 as it was supposed
to then like it would becompletely different because i
was in a completely differentmental state right like i was
depressed and uh and just all ofthese things and uh yeah and i

(51:37):
i made the film that i did

Speaker 05 (51:38):
what's uh what's next for you in terms of
projects or i

Speaker 01 (51:41):
i don't know because it's like this conversation of
creativity and reading rickrubin's book it's like Having an
agenda feels so pointless justbecause life is so
unpredictable, right?
And I think that what I'verealized is that I want to be an
artist.
I was put here to be an artist.
I'm not here to be some fuckingengineer or some shit like that
or some scientist.
I want to make stuff, and Ilove making stuff.

(52:04):
It's about being able tosanitize that filter of all of
the things in which I see theworld wrong.
Just because everybody hastheir own misconceptions about
things.
I'm highly insecure.
I'm really anxious anddepressed all the time.
But it's like that's the lensthrough which I see the world.
And so it gets reflected in alot of my work.
But to be able to make workthat is true to me, I need to be

(52:27):
able to re-evaluate, justre-examine that lens itself and
what it's supposed to be withoutall of the insecurity and
without all of the yearning andwhatnot.
And so I want to be...
The best version of myself thatI can be.
The most, so not even the best,but just because I hate the

(52:47):
word the best, just becausewe're idealizing things here.
But just everybody has apersonality and I want to be the
most of myself that I can be.
I want to have reached fullEthan potential.
And I think with all of myabilities unlocked and shit like
that, I can make some reallyinteresting stuff.
As to what that is, I'm notsure.

(53:07):
I'm thinking about making likea web series in my room called
Sanctuary that's like depictingmy experience in 310 and just
how like my dorm room was kindof like a moment.
It was like a place of refugeand sanctuary for me.
Besides that, nothing else.
I'm just like living life.
I'm going to try to Involvemyself in the frat more, you

Speaker 05 (53:29):
know, they say the more personal you get with your
films The more people are goingto connect with it.
So I think that's a really goodpoint you brought up, you know
figure yourself Yourself outfirst, you know, what do I want
to be, you know be the bestwe're not best but you know the
most optimal or most optimisticversion of yourself and then
bring the truth of how you feltduring 310 or some of other

(53:52):
periods in your life and bringthat forth and people are gonna
connect with it.
So I think that's a reallygreat point.

Speaker 01 (53:58):
I think, yeah, when it comes to making art too, like
a lot of times, Like just intalking about like that filter
of creativity as it comes outinto art, it's like it's dirty
with like a whole bunch ofthings like expectations from
other people.
And like during my 310, it waslike a lot of people were
telling me, oh, this is notgoing to work.
It's going to look really bad.
And it's like, you're not goingto be able to do this.

(54:18):
And it's about kind ofunderstanding the lens enough
yourself to be like, okay,that's just a dirty patch.
Like it's not actually how myfilter is.
It's just...
You

Speaker 06 (54:32):
know, Ethan, I really like what some of your
approaches to filmmaking is.
Our previous guest, Octavian,during his podcast, he was
talking about how when heapplied to USC, he saw the
personal statement prompt andbended it into a whole nother
thing.
creative project where he hadfonts of different like fonts he

(54:52):
had a screenplay format he tooka picture of the words and put
it into the essay and that ifeel like is what i see you when
you make your films you takethese you know prompts these um
instructions and you bend itinto your world which is so
unique and so original toyourself that i've never seen
any other filmmaker do and ifeel like The ultimate goal is

(55:16):
just to tell your own stories.
Tell stories that are true toyou and tell stories that people
aren't able to tell.
Right.
So I really appreciate a lot ofthe work you do.
I think it's really beautiful.
And one day, like more and morepeople will see.
Oh, absolutely.
Yeah.
Just keep creating.
Yeah.

Speaker 01 (55:34):
We'll see.
Yeah.
I think I have to work onclearing my filter right now,
but otherwise I should be ontrack.
I have, I have faith in myselfthat I will eventually, but
right now it still feels likethings are a little messy, but

Speaker 06 (55:47):
one step at a time, baby steps.
Yeah.
You know, once you come back tothis podcast, uh, in a few
months, we're going to see wholenew Eden.
When you made Parasomniac,right?
One of the people that watchedit was Film Riot.

Speaker 01 (56:03):
Oh, that's right.
Shit, I forgot about that.
Oh, no way.
Yeah, yeah.

Speaker 06 (56:06):
Talk a little bit about that.
It

Speaker 01 (56:08):
was really weird because my mom has this
connection out in LA that I needto reach out to for internship
soon.
But yeah, she heard about thislittle Halloween film
competition coming out, whichwas around the same time I
wrapped my application film.
And so it was like, submit atwo-minute short film of
something and so basically Ilike just found the best two

(56:31):
minutes of Parasomniac and likesubmitted it and it was like I
forgot what place I got but umit was like there was a panel of
judges composed of likeindustry professionals so the
film riot guy was i don't forgetwhat he's called though ryan
ryan connelly ryan connelly ryanconnelly saw my film and he he
reacted the way he did also uhpeter sarah finowitz who i'm a

(56:54):
huge fan of actually also was onthe panel he's like he's the
sommelier and um And John Wick2, and he's also that one grumpy
fucking guy in Guardians of theGalaxy.
What else is Peter Serafin?
He's also in a lot of EdgarWright movies.
He's a very British actor.
He's the fucking, the tick.
I haven't seen it, but I hearit's pretty good.

Speaker 06 (57:13):
Nice, dude.
And I want to talk about,because you're...
Born in Taiwan.
Grew up in Taiwan.
But you seem very, veryAmericanized.
First day I met you.
And that was when you just gotto the U.S.
Talk a little bit about yourtransition from Taiwan to the
States.
Was it a huge cultural shock?
Or how did you adapt so fast?

Speaker 01 (57:34):
Honestly, it's not even a matter of adapting.
It's just...
what I am, just because both ofmy parents are so heavily
American.
My mom grew up in Taiwan, butshe went to an American
international school.
And my dad was just straightfrom NorCal.
And so, yeah, I'm just aproduct of that.
I wasn't speaking Chinese athome because my dad could barely

(57:55):
fucking understand that shit.
Going through the elementaryschool, I was sent to local
Taiwanese schools, institutions.
And so I grew up speakingChinese at the schools, but when
I went home, it would beEnglish.
And so, yeah, I just becamevery Americanized, at least
through both my language and mybackground and growing up, just

(58:19):
because I was exposed to a lotof the movies that my dad
watched when he was a kid, andwe would come to the States
every summer.
And so I felt like I had thegeneral mannerisms down, but
since coming to USC, honestly,it's like I can kind of feel a
divide, just because it's like Ihave certain...
I don't know if it's like aTaiwanese thing or if it's just
me specifically and there aremany more ways in which I can

(58:42):
grow.
But just like sometimes I feela disconnect with the people
here.
Like I talk to somebody and Ifeel like they're just kind of
like nodding along or I don'tknow what to say.
Like maybe culturally Ishouldn't be talking about some
of these things or maybe peopledon't care about them as much.
But yeah, that's still anongoing journey.
I think I'm finding what I'mcomfortable doing and what works

(59:04):
for me.
And yeah, it's been interestingbecause people forget I'm
international all the time.
They're like, oh wait, you'refrom Taiwan.
Like, well, when'd you move tothe States?
I'm like, since I startedcollege.
And so it's like, yeah, it's...
And I'm also just very big intomemes and shit like that.
So I got my dose of Americathrough the brain rot.

(59:25):
Through meme culture.
Through meme culture.
Through brain rot.
Yeah, yeah.
And fucking Vine and shit likethat.

Speaker 05 (59:30):
That's almost like a point where I feel like
international students canconnect with locals on online
culture.

Speaker 01 (59:37):
Yeah, yeah.
It's a big part of it now.
It's just slightly differentnow.
Also, like, given...
covid too it's like i meanthere was there was like a whole
i mean of course people werestill there on the internet
maybe more uh more proliferatedthan ever but in terms of
person-on-person interactions ithink there were a lot of
subtleties that the theamericans picked up in that like

(59:58):
two year or however many yeartime span Whereas I just am not
aware of how to interact.
I

Speaker 06 (01:00:05):
don't know.
I just don't know how tointeract normally, too.
You know what?
Be yourself, man.
Don't lose who you are tryingto conform into society because
you'll never get anywhere withthat.
You'll just be like anyoneelse.
And you really will regretliving a life where you conform.
And I think I know you, a bigthing you are is not regretting

(01:00:25):
the things you do.
So I really love that approach.
Be yourself, right?

Speaker 01 (01:00:30):
Yeah, yeah.
And it's...
I mean, there's still lows, butit's been overall pretty good.

Speaker 06 (01:00:37):
Exactly.
So, hey, Ethan, we've beenasking you questions the whole
night.
Is there any questions you wantto ask us about the film
industry or our personal lives?

Speaker 01 (01:00:46):
Personal lives...
Where do you think we'll all bein 20 years time?
So we'll be 40.
And so I'm asking both of youthat quick because you guys will
each have your own idea on whatit is.
Like kind of think about itnow.

Speaker 05 (01:00:59):
So in 20 years, I'll be 40, 42 precisely.
I don't know.
I mean, I hope I am working on,I have a job that I enjoy.
Ideally something inentertainment or in film.
Okay.
Okay.
I would love to be a workingdirector in TV or film.

(01:01:41):
But I think producing is alsosomething I've become more
passionate about.
I still create.
I still love writing and allthat.
Yeah, I just love the idea oflike...
Because the world is in noshortage of great ideas and
great screenplays and all ofthat.
And what I've learned throughthe years is like...
A lot of what producing is,it's like...

(01:02:04):
filtering through all of themand seeing what works at what
time and right figuring out thelogistics and the you know all
of that and then pull ittogether and present it to an
audience that's pretty excitingto me and hopefully by the time
i'm 42 that's something i'vedone and i continue to do okay
if not hopefully i'm i don'tknow i i could also see myself

(01:02:27):
as an entrepreneur of some kindso maybe i have my own you know
okay production company orsomething okay

Speaker 02 (01:02:32):
okay I

Speaker 01 (01:02:33):
have a follow up to that but I'm going to let
Jiayang talk first and then I'llask both of you guys to follow
up because I think this will beinteresting

Speaker 06 (01:02:41):
yeah so I mean in 20 years I'll be 40 I think we'll
be at a place where we want tobe because I am a strong
believer in that if you set yourmind to it it will happen if
you really genuinely believethat you want that thing you
will make it happen and for me Ithink in 20 years I hope I

(01:03:02):
think a big one is having afamily of my own.
Close relationship with myparents and my loved ones and
friends.
Keeping up with therelationships is important to
me.
Career-wise, I hope having myown production company and
producing, directing...
you know feature filmshopefully and hope to have a

(01:03:25):
community on the first act breakand on my personal platform of
just aspiring filmmakers andhelping them you know tell their
own stories you know buildingin a base where people can all
go and help each other I thinkit's super important to me and
yeah just be happy I think

Speaker 01 (01:03:44):
yeah I think something that's so important to
art especially such acollaborative craft as film is
the connections that we havewith people like where do you
think relationship wise all ofus will be in 20 years like I'm
not there's no limits I'm notsaying just in this room but
also like the people in thehouse the people associated with

(01:04:07):
our mammoth trips like when wewould go out and like dude like
where do you think we're allgonna end up and like how do you
think those relationships aregonna be 20

Speaker 05 (01:04:13):
years I think there's still gonna be a whole
bunch of us who are working inthis industry and just the
nature of that is gonna keep uscloser with each other although
I will say out of the collegeenvironment it's definitely
gonna be a little bit more notdifficult but it's just time
wise there won't be as much timebeing spent together.

(01:04:36):
Right now, everyone's alreadygot their own schedule, but once
people disperse, once peoplefind work that's maybe not in
LA, maybe some move back home.
So in terms of that, it mightbe difficult, but just by the
nature of our industry, I think,a lot of it is about being a
community, right?
And so I think that part of itwill keep us pretty close

(01:04:58):
together.
A lot of it is about fosteringlong-term relationships.
You look at a lot of thecollaborations in film, Martin
Scorsese and Leonardo DiCaprio.
People say some people are inyour life briefly and they
support you along the way andthey disappear.
Maybe that's true to someextent, but I think if you
really want to keep the peopleyou want close to you, then

(01:05:20):
there's always a way.
Even if it means just onceevery three months, four months,
a year, with your closestfriends you don't talk to them
for maybe a year you grab coffeeor dinner and it feels like you
guys have never that yeardidn't exist and you just jump
right back where you left off

Speaker 01 (01:05:37):
I

Speaker 05 (01:05:38):
think that's also a part of it

Speaker 06 (01:05:40):
so Ethan that was a really depressing question

Speaker 01 (01:05:43):
I was thinking about it too and I was like oh boy
what did I

Speaker 06 (01:05:47):
it is sad to think about to think about a world
where we're not with each othereveryday is quite sad but coming
back to that other idea whereif you want it to happen, it'll
happen.
You know, if you want to stayclose to the same people, you
will get to be close with thesame people.
You know, life gets in the way,but at the end of the day,

(01:06:08):
everything comes from yourdesires really.

Speaker 02 (01:06:11):
Yeah.
Yeah.

Speaker 06 (01:06:12):
And I picture all of us 20 years later to have our,
all, all of us to have our ownfamilies, people we love, people
we take care of.
And I picture us hanging out,Whether it's we go on a road
trip together with our kidstogether or we go to premieres
together.
I think we will have ampleopportunities.

(01:06:35):
And what makes ourrelationships unique is that we
are all in the same field.
Because if we were doctors,engineers, you do get dispersed
all over the country.
But since we all want to workin film, it is very possible
that we're all in L.A.
We could all potentially justlive on the same street.

(01:06:57):
We visit each other, and wewill keep making memories.
The things we love...
Tell that in time.

Speaker 01 (01:07:06):
I think definitely there's a depressing way to feel
about that question.
And I realized that halfwaythrough your talking, it was
like, oh, we're not going to seeeach other once every three
months.
And I was like, oh, god damn.
That's going to be such a shiftfrom how it is now.
But I think what I was moretrying to get at was just in
terms of...
Because our futurerelationships are defined by...

(01:07:30):
by the things that we do todayand in the next couple of days
and just in this time periodwhere we're all like attending
college right so it's like ofcourse we'll reach points in our
lives where people will be morebusy but like I think the
foundation of this friendship islike I fuck with both y'all bro
like y'all are both y'all bothmy homies so like it's just I

(01:07:52):
feel like I don't know how youguys feel about just like this
particular dynamic in general orjust like of the larger like of
our in circle well yeah we'veexperienced so many things
together we have a lot of bigmajor firsts.
So you've seen like integralpoints of where I am.
And I think as we move forwardas friends too, it's like, of
course we can never like sayexactly how we're all going to

(01:08:16):
turn out and like what parts ofthe country and like how
available we are to each other.
But I think what will beimportant is that like this
community that we fostered herealready will be the reason why
we see each other, that we'reokay with seeing each other
every three months.
It's because we made thesebonds and you guys have made
this podcast and I'm kind ofthere sometimes on some of the

(01:08:39):
stuff you guys do.
But yeah, I think that for meand what I think in terms of
like, Where all of us will endup in 20 years I'm thinking like
in a more poetic sense likewouldn't it be cool if like in
20 years Like we decided likemaybe every winter we like all
meet up like at the house atmammoth or some shit like that

(01:09:01):
You know, and we redo the thingsthat we did and we yeah We may
be all chipping on one singularcabin that we can all share and
it's just it's just generated bythat point hopefully we all
have families and um, and likeyou know our kids get to
intermingle and like I don'teven know what that'll look like
but just the movie nights thatwe'll have bruh like the popcorn
more fucking Swiss Miss hotchocolate but yeah and just like

(01:09:24):
we'll all of course be doingour own things and like we
cannot maintain I think the onlytrue person that you maintain
like consistent super strongrelationship with is probably
your your spouse or like theperson that you marry but it's
like I think with friends Ithink what makes this so special

(01:09:45):
is like because we're allfriends like we'll care for each
other regardless of whathappens and as kind of we
advance into the future notknowing what's what what is
exactly is about to transpireit's like we know that we'll
have the support of each otherand just like these tough
experiences that we all wentthrough together that kind of

(01:10:06):
define who we are now.
I can say for me specificallytoo, um, like the, the trips
that we went on was like, was sosolidifying for me because I
got to like know you guysindividually as people.
I think I got to know, I got toknow Jayang first and then
Richard later on.
Last Day of Jenny was like thestart of a new chapter guys.
And it's like, we've, startedso many chapters in the past and

(01:10:29):
it's like i i do want to takethis time to to thank you for
for like your guys's presence inmy life like i feel like yeah
it's just i don't even know howto how to say this but it's just
It's nice.
You guys are really goodfriends.
And I think growing up, I neverreally had that.
And coming here and being withyou guys was where I learned how

(01:10:51):
that was something that waspossible.

Speaker 05 (01:10:52):
For me, the feeling is mutual.
I also had a time in highschool where I was like, who am
I ever going to hang out with?
I was the only person who wasreally into film.
And coming here and meeting youand Jiayang and everyone in
this community has been...
such a great experience so it'sa

Speaker 06 (01:11:13):
completely beautiful feeling yeah and dude that was
really beautiful like that imageis gonna the image of us all
being in the cabin you knowswiss myth coffee in our hands
and kids running fireplacecrackling yeah kids running
around our our own moviespremiering on the screen the
posters we have our own like scaposters of like our movies and

(01:11:34):
shit like that yeah you knowlike yo i directed uh jaws 14
you know you want to see anadvanced yeah like stuff like
that you know i will definitelythat will be stuck in my head
until the day it becomes realityyou know yeah because i
genuinely do believe in that and

Speaker 01 (01:11:50):
that's awesome

Speaker 06 (01:11:51):
this is yeah our friendship and with the house
and the mammoth groups you knowthose are genuinely the best
friendship i've ever had Youknow, a group of people that
really gets you, reallyunderstands you and are there
for you all the time.

Speaker 01 (01:12:06):
At the end of the day, I think that my experience
in film and creativity itself islike very much tied to like you
guys even just because we workon so much shit.
And I think that watching youguys being so entrepreneurial,
about like your attitude andlike producing content like this
fucking podcast is a great ideayou guys have a fantastic

(01:12:28):
fucking banner too it's likewe're a community we share ideas
and we give each other feedbackand we influence what the other
people do you know like who weare as people is a result of
like the trips that we went onand the interactions that we've
had and all of that contributesin some like muted way to the

(01:12:48):
art that we produce so like ifwe make something there's gonna
be a little bit of fuckingRichard Jiayang

Speaker 05 (01:12:54):
Ethan thank you so much for coming on this has been
a really enlighteningexperience

Speaker 06 (01:12:59):
and we are and I'm sure the audience are as well
looking forward to the next timeyou come on the podcast

Speaker 01 (01:13:06):
we'll see what that is we'll see how yeah how I'm
sure I've grown by then thatpoint you guys have outro music
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