Spotlight: The Rise of Wong Fu Productions

Spotlight: The Rise of Wong Fu Productions

On October 25^th 2011 Wong Fu Productions created a special video to celebrate their 1 millionth subscriber. In the video they satirized their own seemingly slow pace to reach this great milestone. Filled with cameos from other well known Youtube giants such as NigaHiga, KevJumba and FreddieW, it made for a great short and a great laugh. It was a fitting way to end the year and for me, it was an accomplishment long overdue. 

This weeks spotlight highlights the rise of our much beloved Wong Fu Productions (WFP).

History:

(If you want the quick version, skip to the Impact section)

It all began at UC San Diego (UCSD) in Southern California where friends came together to do something we know and love, have some fun and catch it on camera. In this case, it was Freshman Philip Wong lip syncing to “Senorita” by JustinTimberlake. Equipped with nothing more than a great group of friends, boundless energy and a bit of dance, Phil Wong had created a silly and entertaining video, and perhaps unknowingly, simultaneously launched WFP. It was 2003 (no Youtube back then, I know a crazy thought huh?). The video reached a mini viral level (again no Youtube) and Phil would follow it with several other lip sync videos (“Sunday Morning” by Maroon Five, “Qing Fei De Yi” by HarlemYu, and “What If” by Babyface just to name a few). Still, these videos differed little from the thousands of other lip sync videos floating around.

It was in 2004 that the Wong Fu we know today took shape when Phil met Ted Fu and Wesley Chan in a visual arts class at UCSD. At the time, the three were considering vastly different career paths, Wes in animation, Ted in mechanical engineering and Phil in economics. The trio began working together on class assignments and created short videos in their spare time. By 2005, the three were consistently working together on music videos to popular songs as well as more complex short films. Most notable perhaps was their “I'm Yours” (Jason Mraz) video made for a friend's wedding, and the Eighth of April short, one of Wong Fu's earliest attempts at a more serious, heart felt piece. The “I'm Yours” video cleverly depicted the almost identical average day life of the bride and groom split screen while the Eighth of April brought viewers to tears. 

Then in 2006 in their last year of college, Wong Fu came out with two pieces that would throw them into the spotlight. The first was “Yellow Fever” posted on Youtube in January of 2006. The video satirized the idea that Caucasian males were unfairly snatching up all the Asian girls while Asian guys were left on the sidelines. The sentiment seemed to hit home for many fans and the video became an instant hit, launching Wong Fu onto the Youtube scene and into the hearts of thousands of viewers. The second was a highly anticipated (even if only by fans at the time) feature length film called “A Moment With You.” It was a project the three worked on all senior year and the film showed at UC San Diego and the San Diego Asian Film Festival. It was and still is also available to purchase on the group's website. Check it out!

The group graduated in June of 2006 and posted their last video as college kids, a lip syncing video of Neyo's “Stay” complete with dancing and a farewell. For many, this seemed like the sad and premature end of WFP. Fortunately, Wong Fu put out their first “talk to the fans video” in September of that year. They told fans that WFP was “alive and kickin” and living together in LA. They even took the time to poke fun at Phil's first lip syncing videos. In the end of that video, Ted tells us “Wong Fu has a lot in store for us” and if anything, this would become a huge understatement. 

In late 2006 the group expanded their horizons by embarking on their first tour, visiting 25 schools across the United States to screen and promote their feature length film. In doing so they also crossed a new threshold, reaching out and meeting thousands of fans in person for the first time. WFP's next big move came early in 2007 in the form of a 3 part miniseries entitled “Just a Nice Guy” speaking to the perils that so many of us guys have experienced as the “nice guy.” The guy who is always there for the girl, the trusted confidant, the shoulder to cry on, the calm headed adviser but ultimately always the friend, not the boyfriend. It was a great twist on the friend zone concept. The series was a resounding success and would spark the creation of the Nice Guy clothing brand based on a shirt designed by Wes that Phil wore throughout the series.
 The success of the brand that followed allowed the team to focus more on their own video work and less on the freelance work they did to scrape by in LA as young, poor film makers. In 2007 WFP linked up with famed Far East Movement in a series called “You've Got a Friend” made to promote Far East Movement's single with the same title. The collaboration solidified a partnership that would benefit Wong Fu and Far East Movement for years to come and be a gateway to collaborations culminating in the International Secret Agents concerts (learn more about ISA here)

In 2008 WFP released a concept trailer for their planned second feature length film, The Sleep Shift. The movie was to revolve around a restless young adult stuck working the graveyard shift in his family's convenient store. The anxiety leads to a sleepwalking problem that proves far more complex than one could imagine (watch the trailer here). Fans across the globe eagerly awaited Wong Fu's next big project. Yet by late 2008 it seemed that the project was losing focus and Wong Fu productions felt they were losing control of what they originally wanted. The film was shelved for the time being.

Although a disappointment, the shelving opened new doors for Wong Fu as they redirected their attention to Youtube. WFP began branching out. 2009 and 2010 produced some of Wong Fu's most famous collaborations. They would make highly viewed music videos for David Choi, and AJ Rafael, boosting their careers respectively,as well as continue to meet, befriend and collaborate with an ever rising number of other well known Youtubers (Kevin “KevJumba”, Cathy Nguyen, Christine “Happyslip” and Ryan “NigaHiga.” The collaborations rapidly expanded Wong Fu's presence and fan base while simultaneously building deep friendships between much of the Asian American Youtube community.

2011 was an impressive year for WFP. First they were hired by multiplatinum Taiwanese American pop singer Wang Leehom to direct his upcoming music video. It was an incredible opportunity and honor for the rising production team and Leehom flew the three to Taiwan to shoot the video. The result was spectacular and well received by both fans and new viewers. 2011 also produced incredible shorts filmed in Taiwan and France. WFP continued its Vloging series called Wong Fu Weekends and moved into a bigger office.

WFP's annual Spring tour brought the group past its 100^th event and Phil's longer short entitled “Strangers, Again” about love became the most viewed WFP video ever. Harry Shum Jr. of Glee appeared in 3 hilarious shorts and WFP held 3 ISA concerts, one in San Francisco,one in LA and one in a new location, Seattle. LA's ISA brought in ISA's largest crowd ever, a sold out 4000 fans. Finally, WFP got the chance to meet the President of the United States at the White House's Holiday reception during Christmas time. It was unexpected by Wong Fu and highlighted WFP's influence on America.

Into its 10^th year, WFP has become a small but successful production company, earning its money from Youtube, its clothing line, public speaking and music video production.

Impact:

WFP has produced more than 100 short films and music videos which have gathered millions of views. They have over a million subscribers and counting and are a well known presence on Youtube.

Although perhaps not part of their original goals, WFP has had a decisive affect on the Asian American community, especially with the younger tech savy generation. As online media continues to grow as a primary source of entertainment, news and communication, WFP has become a symbol of that new media. Within the context of advancing Asian American causes, many of Wong Fu's pieces depicted Asian Americans in lead roles and as everyday Americans as opposed to the stereotyped roles Asians played in most Hollywood movies and TV shows. As producers they have perhaps unknowingly stepped into the role of promoting, encouraging and emboldening other Asian American activists, artists, musicians and comedians. As part of the new media generation, WFP has used new media such as Youtube and Vloging to reach a wide ranging audience globally and one that is ready to watch, listen and act. Yes WFP does videos that Asian Americans can specifically relate to but they also show stories that everyone can relate to regardless of race. It is an aspect the group has made a point of.

As a young Asian American adult, an Asian American activist and avid new media follower (still got to get in on Tweeting), I can truthfully say Wong Fu has had a profound affect on me. I discovered them back in 2006 with Yellow Fever and have followed their journey since. They had broken into a field with little Asian American representation. They highlighted issues that Asian Americans went through as well as depicted Asian Americans as normal Americans. Finally we weren't just shop keepers with accents, martial arts fighters or braniacs. Instead, we were just average college kids growing up, or people struggling with the issues of everyday life: love, friendship, heartbreak, work, and death. WFP showed that young Asians could follow their dreams and succeed outside of more traditional parent encouraged career choices. WFP helped unite, connect and promote so many up and coming Asian Americans who have good hearts and great talent. They have become a model for Asian Americans wanting to enter the entertainment business as well. But ultimately for me, WFP represented activists and artists that turned dreams into reality. They were not just another activist group complaining against stereotypes in the media. They were part of the entertainment industry itself destroying those stereotypes one video at a time and getting stronger and more influential by the day. They filled a gaping hole in the entertainment industry creating good, likable media that showed Asian Americans as we were, normal Americans.

All in all, their power to help other up and coming artists, the quality of their work, their devotion to bettering the image of Asian Americans in the media and their activism have rightly put them as some of the most influential Asian Americans of our generation.

NEW NEWS:

Most recently (2012) WFP informed fans of an opportunity that could change the future of Wong Fu Productions forever. They had been approached by FreemantleMedia to develop an idea for a web series that could be transformed into a for television series. Wong Fu describes the opportunity best on their website. The series is called “Home is Where the Hans Are” and involves the complexities of life that comes when a Caucasian college age son returns home after years abroad to find that his mom has remarried an Asian man who has children himself. I took a look at the series and it looks quite promising. The writing is clever, characters likable and believable and I am eagerly awaiting each episode.

That pretty much sums up Wong Fu Productions. I hope you will check them out. There are dozens of videos I didn't have time to mention and you can watch them all right here.

As 2012 begins, I know WFP has a great year ahead of them especially with this hopeful TV opportunity. And as I sat watching WFP's 1 millionth subscriber video remembering all their collaborations, the new friends they have made and pondering their influence, I cant help but follow in Ted's footsteps, throw up the W and shout Wong Fu 4 life ! (watch the video if you're confused)