Wong Fu Productions entertains crowd with stories and videos

| Student Life Staff

Ted Fu steps into College Hall on Saturday, November 12 with his camera. Fu was promoting Wong Fu Productions along with Wesley Chan and Phillip Wang.Kristy Okada | Student Life

Ted Fu steps into College Hall on Saturday, November 12 with his camera. Fu was promoting Wong Fu Productions along with Wesley Chan and Phillip Wang.

College Hall was packed with over 300 students on Saturday night waiting to hear Wong Fu Productions, a team of three young independent filmmakers, speak about their experiences in filmmaking and new media.

Students lined up more than an hour before doors opened to get seats for the event, which was sponsored by the Asian American Association (AAA).

The three members of Wong Fu Productions, Wesley Chan, Ted Fu and Philip Wang, opened the event by showing a short summary of their work, a compilation of clips that ranged from moments of romantic melodrama to slapstick comedy. The rest of the evening consisted of Wong Fu talking about personal experiences, interspersed with other videos that it has produced, including several unreleased ones.

“My favorite part of the event was the candid nature with which they talked to everyone,” Internal Vice President of AAA Erin Woo said. “They’re not afraid to push the envelope or put themselves out there.”

The members of Wong Fu met in a college filmmaking class at the University of California, San Diego. Their work has since blossomed into a full-blown production company. Although they now own several lines of business, including a stuffed animal line, clothing brand and YouTube channel, Wong Fu described the hardships involved in pursuing a career in new media entrepreneurship and embarking on a career path that, in their own words, “didn’t exist.”

“My parents still think I’m in law school,” Wang joked.

Jason Chang, president of AAA, said that he was pleased with how the event turned out.

“The event went really well. I was really happy with the things that they talked about. I wasn’t too sure about what they were going to talk about beforehand,” Chang said. “I liked the session about being Asian American at the end. The way they brought it up and what they said—they addressed it in a serious way but with humor.”

Throughout the night, Wong Fu emphasized the importance of their fans and expressed their appreciation for their encouragement.

“I was surprised at how down-to-earth they were. Throughout the whole event, it didn’t feel like there was a lot of distance between us and them. It was just like talking to some kid on the street or some kid on campus,” Chang said.

While many students who came to the event had watched at least one Wong Fu video, less than half followed Wong Fu consistently. Some, like sophomore Steven Qian, were learning about Wong Fu for the first time.

“I went into it knowing nothing about them, but I’m glad I went. It was good,” Qian said.

Much of the crowd remained after the talk was over to take pictures with Wong Fu and get autographs from the three members.

“From the way the event was received, I think it was a success,” Chang said.

Check out a Q & A with Wong Fu Productions on Page 6 in Cadenza.

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