First Act Break
Insights on finding success in the film industry — by young filmmakers, for young filmmakers. Hosted by USC film directors Jiayang Liu and Richard Li.
First Act Break
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.
Hey everyone, for this episode, we do delve into some sensitive topics, including topics in mental health and some struggles that we might have had and our guests might have had in the past or present. And because of that, listener discretion is advised. So yeah, enjoy the episode.
Speaker 01:And then- and then afterwards, someone showed me a picture, you showed me a picture, and it was like, that guy in the blue jacket is Robert Zemeckis. I was like, that was the guy I was screaming at for all of the- But, um, apparently he liked my phone, according to sources that, um, are Alex. It's hard, and it takes its toll, so throughout the year, I just started to feel like I was drooping, drooping, drooping. Um, and at the very end, the speech was the explosion, and so I exploded out on stage, I was cursing everybody out, and some, like, random influencer guy approached us from out of the blue and was like oh look at this diverse group of people like this will be good for a tiktok i was like floored i was like what the did you just i would have preferred to live my life to the fullest and die within a year of my life than to like go through this bull of of like oh let me do school and oh i have to read this book and pretend i give a and everything and it's like just to forget it afterwards
Speaker 05:Welcome everyone to episode 5 of the First Act Great podcast where we break down the art, business, and hustle of breaking into the film industry today. Today we have a special guest with us today, Ethan
Speaker 06:Go. He is a USC film director, editor, and just creative person in general who has rich stories and we're excited to hear them.
Speaker 00:Thank you. Thank you. Cool. I don't know what y'all
Speaker 01:want. All right. Here I am. All right. All right. much discussion um with the banner looking fantastic everybody back home check out for a sec break of course got to um but yeah sorry
Speaker 06:no dude no take it whatever you want to say whatever
Speaker 01:i want to
Speaker 06:say this is a judgment judgment zone
Speaker 01:yeah i'm still recovering from 310 oh i can talk about that i can talk about recovering from 310 bro i'm only like 50 we were just
Speaker 06:on that a minute ago so on the other side of the 310s um experience How was it for you? And for the viewers who don't know, 310 is a junior thesis film class where you make three films in a semester with two other people. And you did it the same time I did it and the same time as our previous guest. And the previous guest over that, BN and Octavian, did it. Oh,
Speaker 01:I love BN and Octavian. They're awesome people.
Unknown:So...
Speaker 06:um yeah i mean i mean i would love to hear your experience on that
Speaker 01:um my experience honestly on 310 bring back a lot of stuff well i mean just as i'm sure bianna and octavian have talked about it's just like a insanely heavy workload with with a really tight turnaround dates for um deadlines and deliverables that we're supposed to have on um you know our film and stuff like that so it was just The intention of the class is that it's supposed to be a really stressful class, and they accomplish that, I will say. That has been accomplished, and you get kind of broken up into groups of three, which are called trios, and then you proceed to, throughout the span of the 15 weeks that makes up that one semester, Yeah, just make three different films across that period of time, with each of the trio members directing their own films, and then 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 a place of let's celebrate because we were a team and we locked this. It was like, it's done. I don't have to see you for another project. So there was that. A little bit about personal issues off to the side as well. but that's pretty much it yeah
Speaker 05:was there anything anything um positive you'd like to share that what's something that you took away from this experience that you can take from the next project and make it better because of 310
Speaker 01:i will say 310 like kind of uh performed like a like a pressure chamber in the sense that you know i i went in one end uh completely unsure about my abilities to do like a lot of the producing things cinematography i'm still not the strongest at i shot a documentary um but yeah it's like coming out the other end it's like all of the necessary steps that the untold story behind film, you know, of like, you know, calling up all these locations and whatnot and like managing all the logistics to get something made. Like that's something that I feel 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 kind of reevaluate, you know, like the importance of like the work-life culture and whatnot. It's like, because of course it's an intense industry and we have like our fair share of controversies and whatnot, but it's like, you know, it's like being able to know when I need to like spare time for myself to like recuperate or like when not to like burn myself up. But yeah, I grew, I grew from the class a lot and just learned to value myself more. So I'm in my bathrobe, I'm chilling.
Speaker 06:Yeah, you're going to a nude spa after this.
Speaker 01:I'm going to a nude spa after this with hopefully three people, not two. Otherwise, it'll seem like a date.
Speaker 05:I remember taking you... We went together to Newport Beach Film Festival. Talk about that experience and having your... Was it your film that helped you get into USC?
Speaker 01:Yeah, so basically... That's still a really cool memory of mine too. I think about that every now and then. But yeah, the Newport Beach thing... It was so like, what happened essentially was because to apply to film school, you have to make like an application film. Every school has their own like specifications on like how long it should be or what it should be about. But USC's is you need to make five minutes of something. And so I did that. And that was, I was quite proud of that film coming out of my senior year of high school. And after my freshman year, I kind of just submitted it everywhere. Like, I don't know how to submit my films to film festivals properly. So I kind of just like, was on my Film Freeway account and they have all the discounted options and shit like that. And so to avoid paying any actual, like any real money, I was like, oh, 90% off, 90% off. And then I just, and I paid like five bucks for every film festival. And then I ended up like, it was like a sweep because they're all like film festivals nobody's heard of that require a 90% discount. So yeah, it did very well. And among one of those festivals is the Newport Beach Festival. and um yeah at first it was like well I was going through a breakup at that point too my first ever girlfriend hope you're doing okay I don't I don't think there's no way she's gonna be watching this but
Speaker 06:you never know
Speaker 01:yeah that is true
Speaker 06:you never know
Speaker 01:hope you got an animation now I have um yeah that's a whole other thing but um sorry where was I
Speaker 06:you said you just broke up
Speaker 01:oh we just broke up so I wasn't feeling it And that was when we were living at Annenberg House, right? And I remember just being like, they kept on sending me emails like, oh, Ethan, if you want to participate in the Newport Beach events, you have to sign up now or we're going to run out of space. And I was like, nah. And the event being like, it was a filmmaker's meet on a yacht. And I was like, my ass was like, oh, I'm too tired to go to that event. And so I didn't for the longest time. But I think, I don't know, as I was kind of weaning off of the breakup, I got another email from 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 what Regal is. That's cool. And so I reached out on my story asking if anybody has a car that can drive me to Newport. And then you responded. That was like one of the first times we really hung out.
Speaker 05:Yeah, that's right. Yeah. It was, what, two years ago now almost?
Speaker 06:one year
Speaker 05:ago one year ago one and a half one and a half i don't even remember man
Speaker 01:when i was a it's been a minute 290 um i think
Speaker 05:i think it's fall last year over a year ago
Speaker 01:over a year ago at this point i
Speaker 05:think it was fall so it was over a year ago
Speaker 01:yeah yeah but that that was crazy i i really did appreciate you like
Speaker 05:i was also going through something something so i think we connected with that yeah yeah But yeah, that was a cool experience.
Speaker 01:It was, yeah. And then like, so we went. My movie was on the screen. And I got to meet a lot of the freshman film production people. Oh, wow. Daisy, I met her there. I don't know if you remember.
Speaker 05:Daisy was there?
Speaker 01:Daisy was there. She was one of the winners. Yeah, that was standing up front.
Speaker 05:What? I don't remember that. She was there?
Speaker 01:Yeah, she was there. I don't remember
Speaker 05:that.
Speaker 01:Her film was, no. Her film was about like making art or something. Like that documentary about herself. That was her? That was her! Daisy, you don't remember me, but what
Speaker 05:up? I thought the first time I met her was on another film that I produced. Really? Yeah. That's crazy. That's such a small world. Yeah, yeah.
Speaker 01:But it's like with the OC connections and whatnot. That's true. I mean,
Speaker 05:OC has, yeah, we talked about this earlier in the episode. But yeah, that's cool. Yeah. But I mean, was that the first time you saw your film on big screen?
Speaker 01:That was actually, that was pretty cool. I didn't know how to feel. I think to this day, I still don't know how to feel just because I don't feel that I'm as practiced as I should be. Like I have all this time and I'm a junior now. I'm like, what, like made like three official films over the course of my time here. And it's like, I'm still, it's still sinking in and they feel very amateur-ish. And I was talking about it on stage. So I went up and they handed me the microphone. I was like, yo, I might drop out of film school. And so I said that on stage with all of the Newport Beach attendees and whatnot. So that was kind of where I was standing with film then. And now it's been a journey and I've kind of been navigating it um and i there has been a lot of growth i think definitely if you ask anybody that i know everybody can say that i've grown quite a bit since like my freshman year so um and i would like to say so too i'd like to acknowledge that i've grown myself even though all i i have a tendency to doubt myself a lot but not in this case not in this case
Speaker 06:dude i mean you really have i feel like personally and professionally, I think your films consistently get better. You know, your latest film, Asian Invasion, one of the biggest fans in the audience was Robert Zemeckis himself. So tell me about your experience making that movie.
Speaker 01:I was like... And then I kept on cheering for all my friends, but he would never turn his head. And then afterwards, someone showed me a picture. You showed me a fucking picture. And it was like, that guy in the blue jacket is Robert Zemeckis. I was like, that was the fucking guy I was screaming at for all of the... Because literally everybody in the front row was kind of laughing or kind of looked back a little bit, like smiling when I was yelling from the theater audience, except for him. But apparently he liked my phone, according to sources that are... Alex, that was in Trio with Robert Zemeckis' kid, he also gave it a nod, according to Alex.
Speaker 06:A nod.
Speaker 01:That's
Speaker 06:very important body language, I feel like. If you analyze it...
Speaker 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 these years and whatnot, right? What's your
Speaker 05:favorite Robert Zemeckis film?
Speaker 01:Forrest Gump. I agree. Robert Zemeckis. I grew up with his films. I still haven't fully sunk in that he saw my film. Because I'm hearing this. It's hearsay. He nodded at my film. He's kind of the reason why I got into film in the first place. People like him. And it's like... it's kind of like a full circle moment that hasn't fully sunk in yet or maybe i don't know maybe it's like chill because i didn't see it so he might not have done it too so i don't know
Speaker 06:i mean after the screening of your film you gave a speech and um i would love to hear about your uh the the iconic 310 speech you made
Speaker 01:the iconic 310 speech that i made I was like cooking and thinking about what to say in my speech since like you were thinking about preparing something. And so there were multiple iterations of it throughout the semester. I think as I experienced personal issues, the speech was altered as the year went on too. And so it was like, it was a whole thing. And you know, as you progress through 310 too, it's like, it's an experience within itself. It is like Hollywood bootcamp. They call it Hollywood bootcamp. And it really is that just because it's like you get put, um, And like this in the pressure chamber of like a professional Hollywood standards and whatnot. And you're expected to just kind of like turn these films one after the other. Turn them out one after the other. And... it's hard and it takes its toll. So throughout the year, I just started to feel like I was just drooping, drooping, drooping. Um, and at the very end, the speech was the explosion of that. Like it was the climax of me being edged with depression. Yeah. And so I exploded out on stage. I was cursing everybody out. I was like, I do whatever the fuck 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 that but that still has yet to sink in
Speaker 06:i mean i would like to hear because that really relates to your thoughts on the usc film school um talk a little bit about that you know was it what you expected what are some things you know that you would change about it and just your honest opinion on the film school and people curriculum etc
Speaker 01:honestly I'm not really sure at some point I met with one of the counselors who were also kind of asking me too because I was like in my journals because 310 requires us to write journals every week. People would think that my journals were quite dramatic. You guys, I've been complaining about the SCA system to you guys the whole time since I was a freshman.
Speaker 06:What are three things that you don't like and three things you love about SCA?
Speaker 01:I think it's probably just quicker if I go through the likes and everything else. I can kind of go on a rant. Three things I love about SCA is definitely the community. I think there's a fantastic... Just a conglomerate of really interesting minds that have all come together to learn how to express themselves in ways that they never have. They're chasing the dream. It's like La La Land. So it's really cool. And I think for the first time in my life, honestly, since coming to college, this is probably the most... camaraderie that I felt with my peers just because in high school I was like really shut down and whatnot and I didn't feel that my friends were all that close it was like it was really hard for me to socialize back then but yeah now so that's one thing though the cohort the people not even the cohort but just everybody in film in general like the professors for the most part are very cool but let's see what's something the second thing is the resources that we have I think also it's like We have all these screenings and whatnot. And we have resources. We could have more resources, but I mean, I'm not here to complain. I am paying for it though, for 80K's worth of tuition every year. But it's like, yeah, we get a lot of cool resources, like certain shooting stages, professional looking shooting stages. We can rent out lights and whatnot. And we have like... A wealth of software and logins and whatnot that would normally cost money. All of that for film. Film faculties that would typically cost money beforehand. So resources, the people, and the third one would be... I don't know, just the fact that it's college. I think with it being film school, it's like a lot of people have this... um have this like preconceived notion that oh they have to like remain in the bounds of of sca and whatnot right and like you're only supposed to dedicate your time to that but like college serves i mean it is like a specialized bachelor's degree bachelor of fine arts degree but it's like the experience of college within itself Is supposed to like help you mature into the adult that you want to be from childhood, right? Because we have our high school versions of ourselves, which I can proudly now say that I'm so different from And it's just like all the time that we have here and just the resources and people outside of film Like I was acting and stuff. I joined a 3d printing club um I joined the I joined a frat I joined the filipino club um i acted in multiple short films and went to multiple screenings and i that's like that's i'm barely scratching the surface of what usc has to offer but even then that in itself because it can become a whole competition too right where like i think i'm very much um i very much inhabit the uh the uh the mentality that like oh if you if you're if this something is available to you and you don't access it then you're Stupid which is something I'm working on but it's like, you know, like there are things like musicals and stuff like that I was supposed to go to a musical audition yesterday But that ended up falling through just because I was feeling like just kind of up And so that's kind of knowing where my like limits are and stuff But yeah, I know just the the school has been awesome. I've many parties. I mean, what do you
Speaker 06:think was your biggest inspiration you know getting into film because you also have that one thing that sparks us creatively right like what was that for you
Speaker 01:it's interesting just because my background in film is like very complex i mean as is all the filmmakers of this age i feel like we don't only have movies to work off of but film can be like considered in so many different mediums and it can take so many different forms um and i think i grew up with a lot of like youtube like uh skits and like different genres of stuff and i'm trying to remember that because i've Watched a lot of YouTube as a kid. So I'm trying to pinpoint the exact person that like would have inspired me my first like I think channel obsession that made me want to make my own videos was Dan TDM bro the diamond minecart. I don't know if y'all know that Minecraft youtuber.
Speaker 06:Yeah, I've heard
Speaker 01:him. Yeah. Yeah but it's like it's he would just be playing in his Minecraft world and stuff like that. And he would have like a villager 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 he downloaded from Minecraft that he called Grim. And so they would go on like different adventures, exploring different mods and whatnot. And he'd set up like elaborate stories. So it wasn't just like, this is what the mod is. And it's like, they, he plays out these whole stories, but it was the first time where like, I kind of fully realized to myself that I can also make something like this. It wasn't maybe something as grand as a feature-length movie or a short film, but it's like this form of entertainment that I enjoyed so much through DanTDM. I could hop on Minecraft. I could make a base and then fabricate all these storylines and whatnot to the enjoyment of all these people. And that was a very cool feeling to me that I could do that. And so that was kind of my foray into... into film. And then I started the YouTube channel, and then a lot of shitty Minecraft videos that no longer exist, I can't find them. But after that, I built on it, and then it became skits, and then submissions for high school film class homework. And then eventually, you know, just where we are today.
Speaker 06:That's awesome. And one of your favorite aspects of filmmaking is editing, right? Or at least that's one of your strongest... Fields. I have this
Speaker 01:motherfucker edit all the time.
Speaker 06:Yeah, he does.
Speaker 01:I do. But he's a fantastic editor. You're a good editor. Thank you. I think we have different
Speaker 06:eyes. But yeah, sorry. One of the biggest highlights of Asian Invasion was the editing, the pacing. And also, honestly, all your films. Talk to me about what really got you into really liking editing versus cinematography or producing. Why editing?
Speaker 01:I mean, that's a curious... I don't know if it's like a... a matter of alternative. Like, because I got into editing, I didn't get into cinematography. Like, why do you think you got into cinematography? I like
Speaker 06:shooting stuff.
Speaker 01:You just like shooting stuff in a show? Yeah, I think for me, I like rearranging everything in a way that, like, makes sense. And, like, because anybody can shoot. I think I grew up and my dad, like, had a camera. And, like, every other shit that we took, he would take a picture of. And we have, like, entire fucking hard drives of, like, when I was a kid and stuff like that. So that's... I mean, it's good. I can look through it. But then it's like the library of Alexandria of my tiny baby dick. I don't want to have to flip all the way through that. But yeah, it was like the YouTube I really liked. It was like, wow, they pace it. It's not just one continuous stream of motion. And it's like I also wanted to do that. That was really cool. That made or break the film. Especially when I started editing, too. It was like... I recorded the sequence for my first Minecraft video in which I had my brother get possessed by some evil sword or something and he proceeds to beat me to death over and over again. I had the footage, but it was just raw. footage of Minecraft gameplay. And I was like, this fucking sucks, bro. And so I went through and then like, I started editing it a little bit and it gave me more clarity to like, oh, the story was starting to come out. I know how I want to pace this a little bit because I was like a big movie kid growing up too. So it was like, these things were kind of like, they feel very intuitive just because they're kind of like my background. And yeah, from then on, it was like, wow, I feel like I can edit better than Normal people and I was like, you know what? Let me kind of try this it out and like so for like school assignments like big projects, you know where people have to do it's like oh you can do a big diorama where you can do a film I do the film because it's like it was another opportunity for me to practice film and I like kind of didn't even decide to do film until my junior year in high school in which like because just Asian parents,
Speaker 06:you
Speaker 01:know Womp womp. How did you convince your parents to let you do film in college? Well, what happened was I was getting a lot of backlash initially. It was like, I didn't know what else I wanted to do. It was like, I felt like I was really dumb to really accomplish anything. Like, what, was I going to be a scientist or something? Or like an engineer? Like, I fucking hate physics and math and I always got graded so poorly on them. And it took like almost, I literally learned that I had ADHD and that's why I was struggling so long in the assignments. But I was always made to feel that I was inadequate and that I wasn't doing enough. But yeah, I think when the film thing came around, it was honestly because high school, there was this really cool teacher, Brett Barris. Brett Barris, the man. I'm going to send him this shit. I'm going to send him the podcast. And maybe to all the TAS students there listening, because Barris may or may not show this to you guys. I believe in you. Y'all got it. But anyways, sorry, my brain is all over the place. But yeah, with entering high school, I encountered this one art teacher that specialized in film. And so he was the one that kind of 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 do this professionally. And so, yeah, I started with freshman year and it was just like some intro to film class to knock out my high school GE requirements because we also had those in high school too. And so I did that and then it was like, whoa, this is kind of fun. And I kept on getting a lot of compliments, which was not very common. um in my line of existence and uh yeah and it just kind of kept growing from there and every time an opportunity like showed itself i i took upon it and uh i kept on building to my portfolio and i felt really confident about telling the movies that i thought would be really cool that i thought would be really cool if i were to have seen it you know and it's like i was able to make that and that made me very proud although my cinematography is kind of dog well it's not dog but it's just very substandard and yeah and it doesn't look perfect you can tell that it's a short film a student short film
Speaker 06:That's okay. I mean, you know, we are still in film school trying to get better and everything. And this isn't your first interaction with the podcast. You have a boss named Brandon, who you edit for. And tell me a little bit about that. How did you get like, how did you end up with that job?
Speaker 01:That was crazy. I remember in freshman, just because I had this mentality of like, because I was so depressed throughout my entire high school. Because like in order to focus on getting good grades and stuff like that it required that I like kind of like myself and like you know if oh you gotta pull all night or not to finish studying for this test then do it anyways like who who cares like no nothing is gonna stop and wait for you to like oh like boohoo ethan kind of a thing but um oh sorry i forgot what the question was yeah
Speaker 06:how did you meet brandon and oh get into that whole job
Speaker 01:yeah but yeah so like i i graduated high school with a lot of regrets regrets right and it was like i wish i did that i wish i was in more clubs i wish i was talking to more people and so coming to usc it was like an automatic recognition of the fact that I had to get myself out there and experience as much. I'm nowhere in hell. I'm going to go through these four years, another four years, and then look back on it and be like, I just wasted another four years. That's some bullshit. I remember I was going crazy my freshman year, just doing a whole bunch of stuff. That was when I acted the most. That was when I joined the 3D printing club. Honestly, most of the extracurricular stuff, besides the frat, stuff I did in my freshman year. So like I was acting, I was like joining communities. I went to a couple APCA things, but... And so eventually, yeah, one of the opportunities that also came my way was me and and my good friends, Evan, Tammy, and Solly. And so that was kind of like the first major friend group that I made in my first year of college too. And so we were all just hanging out towards the end of the year and some like random influencer guy approached us from out of the blue and was like, oh, look at this diverse group of people. Like, this will be good for a TikTok. I was like floored. I was like, what the did you just like, what are you telling? But anyways, it consisted of this lady who called herself the college expert that would go on campus and ask people about their college experience. And so she asked us, I think the thing about film schools too, is like in terms of the progression of the learning curve, If you're taking a four-year traditional college route, it's like the first two years, you're just kind of dicking around. You are a film major, but you don't really do... You aren't participating in many classes where it's all that production intensive. I think now we've gotten to the point where I'm satisfied with the amount of film education I'm getting now. But yeah, first two years, weren't really doing anything. So I was complaining about that to him. He was like, you know what? If USC is not training you, then I will. And you can be my intern. I was like, for sure. Because I don't miss out on an opportunity because I don't want to look back on this and be like, I regret it. And so, yeah, we got to know each other. I called him at the end of the year. I told him that I was going to be in Taiwan temporarily because Taiwan is where I'm from. But I would return to the States during the second half of my freshman summer break. So I called him and we were like, yeah. I'm thinking about shooting a couple. I think about doing this thing. Well, he's a model photographer too. He's kind of like a jack of all trades where he just kind of does social media managing I think his main source of income comes from taking model digitals of people. That's just basically where you're taking professional model looking photos of people. That's where he gets his money, but I think he tried to branch out and he wanted to teach an online class where that teaches people how to become models and become influencers in today's modern day and age. And so I was there and I was the cameraman and I did all the DP efforts for that. So it was like a docuseries kind of a thing where he would be explaining, oh, this is how you want to pose. And before I take pictures of a model, I make sure to like... I have them fake laugh, you know, so that... So get the nervousness out and stuff like that. He has all these tips and tricks and whatnot. But yeah, so from then he proceeded to give me a makeover because he thought I was ugly as balls. Which he did for free, which was very nice. So for the price of being called like ugly as
Unknown:,
Speaker 01:I think that was pretty good. That was a pretty good return on investment there. And he gave me a Ronin, a self-balancing gimbal thing. And so I've
Speaker 06:been working for him a little bit. ever since. But you know, you had another job at the time, which was at the law school, right? Yeah. Talk a little bit about that experience. How did you get the law school job? You were the OG friend in the friend group who worked at the law school. After you, everyone worked at the law school.
Speaker 01:Pretty much. We're all getting kind of like taken out one by one and getting fired here, but otherwise... Due to
Speaker 06:budget issues, not personal
Speaker 01:issues. Yeah, yeah. Oh yeah, so for the school of law, I worked on communications team for USC's law school. And so how I actually came about that was, and I was actually really proud of myself for like finding a job in my freshman year. Cause I'm like, that's kind of unheard, at least for my standards too. Yeah. And it was like, uh, I, I did, I went to an APCA meeting was what happened. And the lead of APCA at the time was Matt Olfess, who also worked in Google communication. They were looking for new people. And so through that connection, I got to, I got the job and I got recommended. And then I went in for my interview. I met all these amazing people and it was, yeah, it was kind of a journey. I would just take photos and make little social media posts for them and stuff. Do
Speaker 06:you miss that job ever?
Speaker 01:I miss certain aspects about the job because a lot of the times it did feel like it wasn't creatively engaging enough. They were just telling us to do certain things. When it came to things like editing, like taking photos, that I had so much fun just because getting to know like this whole other like community of the USC lawyers and whatnot and I was there actually kind of photographing like the like some masters grad school level cohort of lawyers. They're like Because I was here for the summer too Like kind of the the whatchamacallit the Orientation it you know when they show the new college students I was there taking photos for them for that while they were doing all these like icebreaker activities and stuff and I I I doubt any of them knows me anymore, but I was pretty chill with a lot of them. And so that was really cool, just to kind of get to know new people through these connections and experiences. A lot of times they want me to photograph dinners at the Town and Gown Hall, which at USC is this very luxurious looking Ivy League hall. But yeah, whenever I would go to take photos for them, they would give me free food to eat. So that was pretty cool. And also editing the videos for their social media was really cool. But like Besides that, it felt like I was just being kept on just for the sake of being kept on. You know, it was like a lot of this like boring work, like the intern work, which I guess I technically was. But yeah, I think I'm at a point in my life where I want to kind of explore different things. Also, it's hot as f*** in here. Okay, transformation.
Speaker 05:Oh, no, you're good. I remember freshman year, there was, you know, you mentioned law school and all that, but... I remember there was a period of time where you were pretty unsure about whether to stay or not. You said in high school, you know, you wanted to take film seriously as a career. What happened there that made you doubt it and what made you ultimately choose to stay?
Speaker 01:I think I had a lot of talks with my therapist about something like this too, where it just felt like being at college was like an extension of my high school experience, where all you did was like the GEs 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 to these GE classes and like, take notes and then like just study the night before the exam and then regurgitate it and then forget it after. I can't tell you anything about what I learned in my freshman year besides the fact that I read like the Parable of the Sour. I don't even know what happened. I just remember it's called Parable of the Sour. And I just got reminded of it because I was watching an Abbott Elementary episode and they're like reading the same book too. So yeah. But so yeah, it was like I always thought that it was like that. And yeah. Eventually, I was kind of on the borderline of dropping. I'm like, wow, this is what I'm dedicating all my time to. Wouldn't I much rather literally, quite literally do anything else just because I'm an adult now and as much as my parents want to control what my future plans and my current agenda is, I'm going to be an adult. You're going to send me away unless you're going to keep me as a zainan or some shit like that in the house forever. I get to make my own decisions. I would have preferred... to live my life to the fullest and die within a year of my life than to go through this bullshit of like, oh, let me do school and oh, I have to read this book and pretend I give a shit and everything and it's like just to forget it afterwards. It felt stupid and my entire childhood and my coming of age felt like I was just doing things because other people told me to and not because I was doing the things I wanted to. And film was supposed to be one of the things that I was pursuing out of my own passion. And so when I came here and I realized that, oh, actually, they were like, you here's this. This is a we join CTCS 190 intro to film cinema, cinema, cinema. And they're going to tell us what cinematography means. I'm like, oh, no. But, um. Yeah, I think after a certain amount of time, I think definitely I've experienced a lot of emotional growth. My therapist can attest to that. And also, just the curriculum has kind of like taken up more, taken on more film production elements. And so now it's just, it's more fulfilling. And it's like, at the end of the day, I just needed an undergraduate degree. And yeah. USC has hella connections in the industry and whatnot. And it's like, might as well just stick it through. Like, why don't we transfer to NYU now and like meet a whole bunch of new people? Because by then I had met you guys already. And I was like, yeah, I
Speaker 06:was really nervous that you're going to just leave us, you know, because you're going to be my roommate next year. Yeah. And you're like, wait, but I want to drop out. And I was like, but no. Tell me about what made you change your mind. Like the because you had that one. Did you go to a bar with our guys? Professor or do
Speaker 01:you go to oh, that's right. Yeah. So at the end of my freshman year, we took the 285 class, right? Which is lateral thinking and filmmaking or something like that. And so they had But it's like they they had a whole bunch of guest lecturers that year including Ben Ben Hansford Which is he's the the current active 285 lead but I think that was his first year and um he was yeah that was really cool it was an interesting class because it was the first form of a production class that we were told to take that was required in the curriculum but then it was like oh film off your iphones we were like what i pay 80k to like film off my iphone are you serious and um and so like i i was like this is such a joke you know i was like why am i wasting time here i already know what wasted time feels like from high school it's like i don't i'm not like anticipating um a return to that but uh yeah it was like that happened and the class was kind of bullshit i acted in a lot of people's short films kind of like a it's really cool jay and you have a collection of all of them too you can do like a super cut or something for for the show at some point that would be interesting but yeah i i like participated in a lot of um like acting in these short like iphone movie roles and stuff like that And then at the end of the class, I was like feeling disgruntled and like, wow, that's my first year of USC. And I shot something on my iPhone. I was like, God. So what ended up happening was I reached out to one of the other lecturers, Mitch McLaughlin. actually cool ass motherfucker i haven't seen since love
Speaker 06:that guy
Speaker 01:yeah fantastic guy amazing amazing work too um and yeah i just wanted to see what his approach was on i'm just gonna like throw him a couple ideas and whatnot and be like yeah i think i might drop out because it feels like bullshit and i told him that oh actually um our the tuition is 80k and they're like we did not know that So they don't even know. I don't, yeah, genuinely, it's like, but yeah, I asked them and I forgot what he said exactly, but I just remember that being a very cool interaction just because, and no dirt on Mitch, but he seemed like kind of like a moody, like a quieter individual. And just like, because I really related with that at my freshman year. And I think a part of me still does. It's like, you know, how am I going to navigate an industry that's about connection and whatnot if, if like I'm afraid to put myself out there. And it's like, I think he was talking to me about it and he kind of put me on an equilibrium where it's like, actually maybe wait one more year before you drop out and just see where things go. And so I waited one more year and then I ended up talking to the guy that accepted me into USC. Just cause in film production, we submit our application films and if they like it enough then one of the school sca representatives will um will contact you individually and do a zoom call and like do an interview carry out an interview and decide whether or not you're a good fit for the school so mine was james okifa i think is his name james okifa he's uh um i haven't i i gotta check up on him see how he's doing but he's a really cool like southern gentleman i asked him i told him too that Hey, you were the one that let me in. Did you see something in particular that incentivized you to put me in this school? And so it was like, honestly, it was... Yeah, I can think back to it now. And honestly, none of these professors gave me the answer. At the end of the day, I decided myself, of course, as it always is. But yeah, the talk with the professor was nice. He was like, oh yeah, film is such a cool thing. This is what you want to spend the rest of your life doing, which were all things that I was already considering. But yeah, what was the point where I decided to stay? Well, I think it was also just a matter of I was too lazy. Did I really want to run away from everything and live off the grid? I was finishing my... my first semester of my sophomore year and Yeah, it was just that and also at the start of the next year Yeah, I just decided to stay just because it was too much trouble. Yeah
Speaker 06:Hey, I'm really glad you did because we would be missing out a lot of oh, yeah fun memories without you, you know And you do talk about your application. What do you think made you get into USC film school?
Speaker 01:It sounds cocky to say but I think to a certain extent everybody that got into film production was good at what they do, like a certain element of what they do, right? I thought that my editing was very strong. And also like, if I'm entering a film school and whatnot, I was putting a lot of thought into like, what are some of the approaches I wanna take with entering the school? It's like, this is, film is a visual medium, right? And I know that Chapman had their prompt and it was like Chapman being the, like one of the other film schools that's supposed to be pretty good, but not really. But yeah, it's like their prompt included like a two to three minute short film about making a decision there couldn't include any audio No, um dialogue.
Speaker 03:Yeah,
Speaker 01:and I was like, huh that might because it's like it's a film school The emphasis would be on the visuals and kind of the pictures you're creating So I was like, what is the trippiest possible combination of things I can like assemble together in a film and so it was like I remember just experiencing a very poor night's sleep which is very common for me just because i have really heavy insomnia um i was like god i can't sleep but what if i was awake right now what if i what if i um no what was it again i can't sleep but it's like oh actually what what if me thinking that i wasn't asleep was part of my dream you know and it was like oh some like stupid ass inception shit like gave me a whole bunch of like wiggle room to be like oh okay and so there's a clock demon because he represents time and uh this is a piece about my depression and whatnot and how how school work fucking tears me down and time is always catching up and like the the black sludge and just a whole bunch of like honestly if you look back at parasomniac it's just like a collection of of like film stereotypes, which is...
Speaker 05:Well, it's like subverting them, right?
Speaker 01:It's a little bit like the black sludge I feel like has been done a million times before. The clock face monster man just doesn't seem very original. I feel like it's come from somewhere. I
Speaker 06:haven't seen something like
Speaker 01:that. You haven't seen that? But yeah, it's just basically how I approach film is just like I approach it and it's kind of like People say don't steal on art, but at the end of the day, that's impossible and not true. Just because to a certain extent, art is a product of your environment and what you grew up with surrounding you too, right? So it's like I grew up watching the movies and genres that I really liked. And honestly, I can't say that that's completely divorced from my film style. It's very heavily involved in that. I remember doing like an 80-page... google doc of references to other movies to convince my teacher that like oh yeah i can do this one shot because it's just i comp it out and and when i was like masking in premiere pro it's like yeah all the itty bitty stuff and so i was like yeah that's cool um let me just include as many fucking metaphors in here as as i can it was a story that meant something to me of course um But I 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 the table and whatnot.
Speaker 05:All right, so I know you're into, like, graphic novels or even comic books. So I know that's a large part of your creative input. So talk a little bit about how that influences your filmmaking because I see a lot of that in Asian Invasion and also your– It's
Speaker 01: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 include in any of the... I don't in any way indicate that it's supposed to be comic books. But it wasn't until that I started working with Peter that one summer on Chambered, which may or may not come out. But yeah, I was doing that and he was telling me that a lot of his composition... and frames and cinematic frames that he like kind of dreams up is very comic book inspired and I was kind of thinking back to my own beginnings to like before YouTube videos I remember being really into the captain america not the captain america the captain underpants series where it was about those kids with adhd um that like love making random stupid comic books all the time and so i actually started making graphic novels before i started making films it's like i wish that i could bring some with me but i think that it's probably best if i just keep them in taiwan but it's like i literally just take in my spare time at school i just take like a couple pieces of paper fold them in half staple it together and then just kind of like just improvise an entire fucking graphic novel. I'm like, oh, it feels like I want this panel to look like that. And then the next one, let me do a circle. And then it's like that. And then these comic books, I honestly, it's been too long since I've read one of them, but they were received very well by my classmates and stuff like that. It was funny too, because it was like, that's what the kids in the Captain Underpants series did also. And so I was like, oh, I kind of want to be like that. And so I think that, But honestly, moving forward from that, not too much comic book stylization. I think I didn't return to the comic book look until... When I watched my first anime in freshman year of high school, it was My Hero Academia, which is fucking fantastic in spite of all the stigma surrounding the fandom now. It's fucking dope as shit. And I remember how they framed the shots. It was like nothing I've ever seen before. And that was kind of mirrored along with my interest in Rise, the film. And so I think maybe that also affected it. But yeah, just comic books. I would read comic books every now and then, but not very often. So it's surprising that the comic book thing is a part of my art style and everything.
Speaker 06:And I think it makes your work so unique. It's so beautiful. Thank you. And speaking on that, I think you're very creative of a person, right? But I do want to hear your opinions on what does creativity mean to you? How do you approach creativity? And what are some advice for people to get more creative?
Speaker 01:It's... Creativity is a thing that I've been thinking about for a while now, too. Just because I'm in film school and I'm still in a little bit of a rut. I've demonstrated a lot of growth since graduating from high school, but there's still days like today where I spent all of... all of the sunlight in my room. And I was like, wow, that makes me feel kind of shitty. But yeah, so it's something that I've been struggling with. But the idea of creativity, I feel like everybody has a different definition for what that means. Just that's what makes the creative so special because I always considered myself creative. I was always called creative. So it's even weird now, like, As I call myself creative, I've made films and I've demonstrated capacity to be creative. But it doesn't feel like I own that word. I'm only creative because all of these other people said so. My high school film teacher, Mr. Barris, said, wow, this is a great cut, Ethan. My friends said, well, this is a very cool YouTube video. And people applauding at the 310 screening. It's like, those are all indicators that I'm creative, but I... It hasn't fully sunk in yet or I'm not unleashing it to the potential that I want to. But being creative is just honestly just like making the world how you want to make it, you know? It's in a way that's easy for me to understand because that's how I've come to understand. I feel like creativity is a force that flows through everybody, but it manifests differently depending on who you are. And I think in my particular case, it's because I grew up and I love DIY making shit. Showing that I can make things myself, whether that be posters or Halloween costumes. I have some sick-ass Halloween costumes I made as a kid that I'm quite proud of. And it's like... I think just that element of wanting to create and make the world in my image. Everybody has a different idea of what that looks like. If I handed you the script for Asian Invasion and for you to direct it the way that you wanted it to, it would be an entirely different movie. Creativity is just, at a certain point, is about... acceptance maybe and like how comfortable you are with yourself and your ideas and whatnot i think i have some i don't think there ever is a bad idea um people people say that and generally it's like well i can get into a whole other thing like what is good and bad um but no just honestly it's like we're all a reflection of our environment where we came from. And so honestly, this idea of creativity flowing through all of us and us channeling it through ourselves only applies. I'm getting this from Rick Rubin's The Creative Act, too, by the way. I love that book. Where it's like, yeah, that was something that really resonated with me where it's like creativity is a force in the world and we are the filters through which it manifests. Because we all live in the same world Context right we all live as human beings In America going to USC, you know And it's like all these things with the zeitgeist of what's happening right now to of like, you know Just like news newsworthy items and like we all experience those things and as a result of experiencing everything that is going on right now it gets like Distilled into a solid form of I guess it gets distilled and into like this concentrated piece of art and that's what I love so much about creativity too because it's like it's such an acknowledgement of who you are and if you make honest art right that's reflective of who you are and that means you are a good artist and you allowed that creativity to flow through you and distill the art that you created like Asian Invasion itself if i were to have directed that like maybe a year later or a year before or if that was p1 as it was supposed to then like it would be completely different because i was in a completely different mental state right like i was depressed and uh and just all of these things and uh yeah and i i made the film that i did
Speaker 05:what's uh what's next for you in terms of projects or i
Speaker 01:i don't know because it's like this conversation of creativity and reading rick rubin's book it's like Having an agenda feels so pointless just because life is so unpredictable, right? And I think that what I've realized is that I want to be an artist. I was put here to be an artist. I'm not here to be some fucking engineer or some shit like that or some scientist. I want to make stuff, and I love making stuff. It's about being able to sanitize that filter of all of the things in which I see the world wrong. Just because everybody has their own misconceptions about things. I'm highly insecure. I'm really anxious and depressed all the time. But it's like that's the lens through which I see the world. And so it gets reflected in a lot of my work. But to be able to make work that is true to me, I need to be able to re-evaluate, just re-examine that lens itself and what it's supposed to be without all of the insecurity and without all of the yearning and whatnot. And so I want to be... The best version of myself that I can be. The most, so not even the best, but just because I hate the word the best, just because we're idealizing things here. But just everybody has a personality and I want to be the most of myself that I can be. I want to have reached full Ethan potential. And I think with all of my abilities unlocked and shit like that, I can make some really interesting stuff. As to what that is, I'm not sure. I'm thinking about making like a web series in my room called Sanctuary that's like depicting my experience in 310 and just how like my dorm room was kind of like a moment. It was like a place of refuge and sanctuary for me. Besides that, nothing else. I'm just like living life. I'm going to try to Involve myself in the frat more, you
Speaker 05:know, they say the more personal you get with your films The more people are going to connect with it. So I think that's a really good point you brought up, you know figure yourself Yourself out first, you know, what do I want to be, you know be the best we're not best but you know the most optimal or most optimistic version of yourself and then bring the truth of how you felt during 310 or some of other periods in your life and bring that forth and people are gonna connect with it. So I think that's a really great point.
Speaker 01:I think, yeah, when it comes to making art too, like a lot of times, Like just in talking about like that filter of creativity as it comes out into art, it's like it's dirty with like a whole bunch of things like expectations from other people. And like during my 310, it was like a lot of people were telling me, oh, this is not going to work. It's going to look really bad. And it's like, you're not going to be able to do this. And it's about kind of understanding the lens enough yourself to be like, okay, that's just a dirty patch. Like it's not actually how my filter is. It's just... You
Speaker 06: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 he applied to USC, he saw the personal statement prompt and bended it into a whole nother thing. creative project where he had fonts of different like fonts he had a screenplay format he took a picture of the words and put it into the essay and that i feel like is what i see you when you make your films you take these you know prompts these um instructions and you bend it into your world which is so unique and so original to yourself that i've never seen any other filmmaker do and i feel like The ultimate goal is just to tell your own stories. Tell stories that are true to you and tell stories that people aren't able to tell. Right. So I really appreciate a lot of the work you do. I think it's really beautiful. And one day, like more and more people will see. Oh, absolutely. Yeah. Just keep creating. Yeah.
Speaker 01:We'll see. Yeah. I think I have to work on clearing my filter right now, but otherwise I should be on track. I have, I have faith in myself that I will eventually, but right now it still feels like things are a little messy, but
Speaker 06:one step at a time, baby steps. Yeah. You know, once you come back to this podcast, uh, in a few months, we're going to see whole new Eden. When you made Parasomniac, right? One of the people that watched it was Film Riot.
Speaker 01:Oh, that's right. Shit, I forgot about that. Oh, no way. Yeah, yeah.
Speaker 06:Talk a little bit about that. It
Speaker 01:was really weird because my mom has this connection out in LA that I need to reach out to for internship soon. But yeah, she heard about this little Halloween film competition coming out, which was around the same time I wrapped my application film. And so it was like, submit a two-minute short film of something and so basically I like just found the best two minutes of Parasomniac and like submitted it and it was like I forgot what place I got but um it was like there was a panel of judges composed of like industry professionals so the film riot guy was i don't forget what he's called though ryan ryan connelly ryan connelly ryan connelly saw my film and he he reacted the way he did also uh peter sarah finowitz who i'm a huge fan of actually also was on the panel he's like he's the sommelier and um And John Wick 2, and he's also that one grumpy fucking guy in Guardians of the Galaxy. What else is Peter Serafin? He's also in a lot of Edgar Wright movies. He's a very British actor. He's the fucking, the tick. I haven't seen it, but I hear it's pretty good.
Speaker 06:Nice, dude. And I want to talk about, because you're... Born in Taiwan. Grew up in Taiwan. But you seem very, very Americanized. First day I met you. And that was when you just got to the U.S. Talk a little bit about your transition from Taiwan to the States. Was it a huge cultural shock? Or how did you adapt so fast?
Speaker 01:Honestly, it's not even a matter of adapting. It's just... what I am, just because both of my parents are so heavily American. My mom grew up in Taiwan, but she went to an American international school. And my dad was just straight from NorCal. And so, yeah, I'm just a product of that. I wasn't speaking Chinese at home because my dad could barely fucking understand that shit. Going through the elementary school, I was sent to local Taiwanese schools, institutions. And so I grew up speaking Chinese at the schools, but when I went home, it would be English. And so, yeah, I just became very Americanized, at least through both my language and my background and growing up, just because I was exposed to a lot of the movies that my dad watched when he was a kid, and we would come to the States every summer. And so I felt like I had the general mannerisms down, but since coming to USC, honestly, it's like I can kind of feel a divide, just because it's like I have certain... I don't know if it's like a Taiwanese thing or if it's just me specifically and there are many more ways in which I can grow. But just like sometimes I feel a disconnect with the people here. Like I talk to somebody and I feel like they're just kind of like nodding along or I don't know what to say. Like maybe culturally I shouldn't be talking about some of these things or maybe people don't care about them as much. But yeah, that's still an ongoing journey. I think I'm finding what I'm comfortable doing and what works for me. And yeah, it's been interesting because people forget I'm international all the time. They're like, oh wait, you're from Taiwan. Like, well, when'd you move to the States? I'm like, since I started college. And so it's like, yeah, it's... And I'm also just very big into memes and shit like that. So I got my dose of America through the brain rot. Through meme culture. Through meme culture. Through brain rot. Yeah, yeah. And fucking Vine and shit like that.
Speaker 05:That's almost like a point where I feel like international students can connect with locals on online culture.
Speaker 01:Yeah, yeah. It's a big part of it now. It's just slightly different now. Also, like, given... covid too it's like i mean there was there was like a whole i mean of course people were still there on the internet maybe more uh more proliferated than ever but in terms of person-on-person interactions i think there were a lot of subtleties that the the americans picked up in that like two year or however many year time span Whereas I just am not aware of how to interact. I
Speaker 06:don't know. I just don't know how to interact normally, too. You know what? Be yourself, man. Don't lose who you are trying to conform into society because you'll never get anywhere with that. You'll just be like anyone else. And you really will regret living a life where you conform. And I think I know you, a big thing you are is not regretting the things you do. So I really love that approach. Be yourself, right?
Speaker 01:Yeah, yeah. And it's... I mean, there's still lows, but it's been overall pretty good.
Speaker 06:Exactly. So, hey, Ethan, we've been asking you questions the whole night. Is there any questions you want to ask us about the film industry or our personal lives?
Speaker 01:Personal lives... Where do you think we'll all be in 20 years time? So we'll be 40. And so I'm asking both of you that quick because you guys will each have your own idea on what it is. Like kind of think about it now.
Speaker 05: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 in entertainment or in film. Okay. Okay. I would love to be a working director in TV or film. But I think producing is also something I've become more passionate about. I still create. I still love writing and all that. Yeah, I just love the idea of like... Because the world is in no shortage of great ideas and great screenplays and all of that. And what I've learned through the years is like... A lot of what producing is, it's like... filtering through all of them and seeing what works at what time and right figuring out the logistics and the you know all of that and then pull it together and present it to an audience that's pretty exciting to me and hopefully by the time i'm 42 that's something i've done and i continue to do okay if not hopefully i'm i don't know i i could also see myself as an entrepreneur of some kind so maybe i have my own you know okay production company or something okay
Speaker 02:okay I
Speaker 01:have a follow up to that but I'm going to let Jiayang talk first and then I'll ask both of you guys to follow up because I think this will be interesting
Speaker 06:yeah so I mean in 20 years I'll be 40 I think we'll be at a place where we want to be because I am a strong believer in that if you set your mind to it it will happen if you really genuinely believe that you want that thing you will make it happen and for me I think in 20 years I hope I think a big one is having a family of my own. Close relationship with my parents and my loved ones and friends. Keeping up with the relationships is important to me. Career-wise, I hope having my own production company and producing, directing... you know feature films hopefully and hope to have a community on the first act break and on my personal platform of just aspiring filmmakers and helping them you know tell their own stories you know building in a base where people can all go and help each other I think it's super important to me and yeah just be happy I think
Speaker 01:yeah I think something that's so important to art especially such a collaborative craft as film is the connections that we have with people like where do you think relationship wise all of us will be in 20 years like I'm not there's no limits I'm not saying just in this room but also like the people in the house the people associated with our mammoth trips like when we would go out and like dude like where do you think we're all gonna end up and like how do you think those relationships are gonna be 20
Speaker 05:years I think there's still gonna be a whole bunch of us who are working in this industry and just the nature of that is gonna keep us closer with each other although I will say out of the college environment it's definitely gonna be a little bit more not difficult but it's just time wise there won't be as much time being spent together. Right now, everyone's already got their own schedule, but once people disperse, once people find work that's maybe not in LA, maybe some move back home. So in terms of that, it might be 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 it will keep us pretty close together. A lot of it is about fostering long-term relationships. You look at a lot of the collaborations in film, Martin Scorsese and Leonardo DiCaprio. People say some people are in your life briefly and they support you along the way and they disappear. Maybe that's true to some extent, but I think if you really want to keep the people you want close to you, then there's always a way. Even if it means just once every three months, four months, a year, with your closest friends you don't talk to them for maybe a year you grab coffee or dinner and it feels like you guys have never that year didn't exist and you just jump right back where you left off
Speaker 01:I
Speaker 05:think that's also a part of it
Speaker 06:so Ethan that was a really depressing question
Speaker 01:I was thinking about it too and I was like oh boy what did I
Speaker 06:it is sad to think about to think about a world where we're not with each other everyday is quite sad but coming back to that other idea where if you want it to happen, it'll happen. You know, if you want to stay close to the same people, you will get to be close with the same people. You know, life gets in the way, but at the end of the day, everything comes from your desires really.
Speaker 02:Yeah. Yeah.
Speaker 06:And I picture all of us 20 years later to have our, all, all of us to have our own families, 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 kids together or we go to premieres together. I think we will have ample opportunities. And what makes our relationships 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 work in film, it is very possible that we're all in L.A. We could all potentially just live on the same street. We visit each other, and we will keep making memories. The things we love... Tell that in time.
Speaker 01:I think definitely there's a depressing way to feel about that question. And I realized that halfway through your talking, it was like, oh, we're not going to see each other once every three months. And I was like, oh, god damn. That's going to be such a shift from how it is now. But I think what I was more trying to get at was just in terms of... Because our future relationships are defined by... by the things that we do today and in the next couple of days and just in this time period where we're all like attending college right so it's like of course we'll reach points in our lives where people will be more busy but like I think the foundation of this friendship is like I fuck with both y'all bro like y'all are both y'all both my homies so like it's just I feel like I don't know how you guys feel about just like this particular dynamic in general or just like of the larger like of our in circle well yeah we've experienced so many things together we have a lot of big major firsts. So you've seen like integral points of where I am. And I think as we move forward as friends too, it's like, of course we can never like say exactly how we're all going to turn out and like what parts of the country and like how available we are to each other. But I think what will be important is that like this community that we fostered here already will be the reason why we see each other, that we're okay with seeing each other every three months. It's because we made these bonds and you guys have made this podcast and I'm kind of there sometimes on some of the stuff you guys do. But yeah, I think that for me and what I think in terms of like, Where all of us will end up in 20 years I'm thinking like in a more poetic sense like wouldn't it be cool if like in 20 years Like we decided like maybe every winter we like all meet up like at the house at mammoth or some shit like that You know, and we redo the things that we did and we yeah We may be all chipping on one singular cabin that we can all share and it's just it's just generated by that point hopefully we all have families and um, and like you know our kids get to intermingle and like I don't even know what that'll look like but just the movie nights that we'll have bruh like the popcorn more fucking Swiss Miss hot chocolate but yeah and just like we'll all of course be doing our own things and like we cannot maintain I think the only true person that you maintain like consistent super strong relationship with is probably your your spouse or like the person that you marry but it's like I think with friends I think what makes this so special is like because we're all friends like we'll care for each other regardless of what happens and as kind of we advance into the future not knowing what's what what is exactly is about to transpire it's like we know that we'll have the support of each other and just like these tough experiences that we all went through together that kind of define who we are now. I can say for me specifically too, um, like the, the trips that we went on was like, was so solidifying for me because I got to like know you guys individually as people. I think I got to know, I got to know Jayang first and then Richard later on. Last Day of Jenny was like the start of a new chapter guys. And it's like, we've, started so many chapters in the past and it's like i i do want to take this time to to thank you for for like your guys's presence in my life like i feel like yeah it's just i don't even know how to how to say this but it's just It's nice. You guys are really good friends. And I think growing up, I never really had that. And coming here and being with you guys was where I learned how that was something that was possible.
Speaker 05:For me, the feeling is mutual. I also had a time in high school where I was like, who am I ever going to hang out with? I was the only person who was really into film. And coming here and meeting you and Jiayang and everyone in this community has been... such a great experience so it's a
Speaker 06:completely beautiful feeling yeah and dude that was really beautiful like that image is gonna the image of us all being in the cabin you know swiss myth coffee in our hands and kids running fireplace crackling yeah kids running around our our own movies premiering on the screen the posters we have our own like sca posters of like our movies and shit like that yeah you know like yo i directed uh jaws 14 you know you want to see an advanced yeah like stuff like that you know i will definitely that will be stuck in my head until the day it becomes reality you know yeah because i genuinely do believe in that and
Speaker 01:that's awesome
Speaker 06:this is yeah our friendship and with the house and the mammoth groups you know those are genuinely the best friendship i've ever had You know, a group of people that really gets you, really understands you and are there for you all the time.
Speaker 01:At the end of the day, I think that my experience in film and creativity itself is like very much tied to like you guys even just because we work on so much shit. And I think that watching you guys being so entrepreneurial, about like your attitude and like producing content like this fucking podcast is a great idea you guys have a fantastic fucking banner too it's like we're a community we share ideas and we give each other feedback and we influence what the other people do you know like who we are as people is a result of like the trips that we went on and the interactions that we've had and all of that contributes in some like muted way to the art that we produce so like if we make something there's gonna be a little bit of fucking Richard Jiayang
Speaker 05:Ethan thank you so much for coming on this has been a really enlightening experience
Speaker 06:and we are and I'm sure the audience are as well looking forward to the next time you come on the podcast
Speaker 01:we'll see what that is we'll see how yeah how I'm sure I've grown by then that point you guys have outro music 雪花飄飄 北風小小 天地 一片蒼茫