hi I'm Eugene Lee yang I'm a video
producer at BuzzFeed motion pictures and
this is my life story when I was in
seventh grade I was at that point just a
huge art kid so I was doing everything
from theater to quired to dance to
illustration to writing and I didn't
know that film was an option for me
because you know as a small kid in Texas
I just imagined that Hollywood was this
world that was really foreign and far
away and I didn't see many Asians on
screen so I had no idea that I was could
even be a part of it a favorite story of
mine about my father is that you know he
seems like any other strict Korean
parent an Asian man who's just like
every every other whole world Asian man
he's just very like confident and strong
and silent and he you know has this
talent where I saw him one day drawing
his rows is this gorgeous illustration
of this rose and I remember being so
surprised so shocked that he could draw
this this well I said dad oh my god like
how did you draw this who who drew this
I didn't even think it was him drawing
it why didn't you tell me that you could
draw up and then he just looked me right
in the eye and said because no one ever
asked and that's always kind of
character to me this idea no one ever
asking if you can do something because
the assumption is that we don't need to
ask because we don't need to see these
faces or these talents for these voices
we don't ask Asian Americans if they can
do something and that really is the
bottom line I was finally asked can you
just be on camera and it's so simple can
you be on camera can just try this movie
sit there no one in traditional
Hollywood has asked me to be on camera
but here a buzz we the first day it was
just like a good on camera we can you
just do it and that whole underlying out
aspect of just ask someone can you do
something what can you share with us
that is still powerful when it comes to
diversity I feel like there's a
difference between the way traditional
media approaches it where they kind of
see everything one is numbers and
they're trying to
both the percentages of people being
represented and how that translates to
profit and the thing that viral media
and social media even have you know just
nailed on the head because there aren't
like there's this red tape there aren't
these like all white men deciding
everything is that you just put someone
out there who's just being authentic and
just being themselves and then you kind
of just let the audience decide that
this is something that's valuable and
they want to see more there shouldn't be
a formula to it it really is just when
we do things at BuzzFeed sometimes we
just have to grab co-workers to do a
video because we don't have enough
people or time to create something and
so you use people around you and you
know our company is diverse and the
world is diverse most young people have
a diverse four friends so it really is
just a direct reflection of our reality
Asian American men and Asian men in
general in Hollywood have been some of
the most poorly portrayed people just
because of this idea of the sort of
emasculation of the Asian male where
your ball is your your funny
side joke you're a character that should
run around and be laughed at it's a it's
sort of like a it's very bottom the
barrel comedy but it as you've seen has
sort of trickled into the sort of
accepted comedy culture about Asians and
I don't see myself as sexy in any way
it's it so one of the series that many
people know me from is the try guys
where it's myself and three of my best
friends where we essentially put ourself
in situations that many people would not
be willing to do but we go in with an
open mind in that cast dynamic I tend to
be sort of centered on is like I guess
the sexy one which is very weird because
I've never been that in my entire life
not my family not my friends
I'm not and I don't think of myself that
way as an individual now as an Asian
American on screen I see value in it
I don't shy away from it if anything
I've been more purposeful to embrace my
sexier side for the cameras but it's
funny because I'm not thinking they're
thinking like I'm gonna be sexy and I'm
you know like get out the girls and boys
to like me out there I'm literally just
hoping that by suiting self-confidence
people will find it attractive if I have
any advice for aspiring asian-american
filmmakers or artists it's to not
compromise your vision because someone
else is telling you to do things a
certain way especially if it deals with
your Asian Asst I realized at some point
and there was a great interview recently
with out Yang who produce masters
Mountain
he discussed the idea that he used to
write scripts for him like as a writer
he wrote scripts and then specifically
wrote the main characters to be white
but it was his experience because it
would sell and I was guilty of that too
when I was in film school everything
pointed to the direction of write write
your story but make it white because
that's what's gonna sell don't do that
don't ever ever ever do that even if
someone's telling you it's going to sell
better even someone's telling you that
it's going to be you know you're just
going to hear this a lot in your career
that you're Asian Asst is something that
can be used as a sort of tool and that
it has to be crafted a certain way and
all I say is that the best thing you can
do is be completely honest with your
experience and to express it as
creatively as possible I do want to say
that we could look back on this and say
that the change has happened and that
it's that we're just at the start of
this wave that's beginning to crest and
I hope to be part of that wave and to
not only write it but to help like
create more waves of Asian American
influencers and artists coming in and
creating great content and reaching
especially young people out there who
might have been afraid to take that step
and choose to groove back I have because
they didn't think that there's a world
out there for an audience but I hope
that things like this interview and the
work I do a BuzzFeed and the work I will
be doing for BuzzFeed whether it be you
know unscripted or narrative pieces
about my life about on people's lives
will affect young Asian Americans
positively and they'll want to pursue
this type of career
they know that there's a job
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