Michael Kang and West 32nd

By Joanne Lee for AIA - November 2007

Director Michael Kang (center), working with Jun Kim and John Cho.

Exploring one's culture and identity is often a right of passage for many who grow up in America but come from a heritage outside the United States. Michael Kang is one such individual, but he's taken this exploration to the edge by delving into the hidden underworld of Korean America. AIA writer Joanne Lee was able to spend a few minutes with Michael and talk about the result of this exploration, embodied in his new film "West 32nd."

How did you and your co-writer come up with the idea of West 32nd? Why did you feel compelled to tell this story?

Kang: I originally heard about a case of an actual 14-year-old boy who was accused of a murder in New York through a friend of mine who worked in the non-profit sector. This had been spinning in my head for a while when I met Edmund Lee, who was a reporter for the Village Voice at the time. He had done a yearlong expose on the Korean underground at that point, following a street-level gangster for a year. It seemed like a natural fit.

On a personal level, the film deals with identity and the relationship of 2nd and 1.5 generation Korean Americans. I grew up in New England where there weren't a lot of Koreans. When I came to New York, I discovered all these enclaves of Koreans in Flushing and Fort Lee. It was eye-opening but also jarring for me. This movie is really an exploration of my own relationship to my culture.

Not having grown up among many Koreans, was there any difficulty in getting Koreans and Korean Americans to take you seriously when you decided to do this film?

I don't think my upbringing has much to do with it. I think that it is hard for Koreans to take anyone in the arts seriously (unless they play a string instrument). Overall though, I think the support from the community has only gotten better. Being a filmmaker is still a very new career path for Korean Americans. I don't blame people for not understanding.

Did you get any flak from the Korean community about showing such a dark side of the Korean-American culture in your film?

Kang: Only from one jerk who was trying to extort us after we asked to use his place for a location. He was a real nut. If you were around that summer when we were shooting, you might have noticed all the posters and the full- page ads in the Korean paper saying we were out to make the Korean community look bad. It was all because this one nut got upset that we couldn't afford to use his place. He asked for twice our entire location budget for a half day in his restaurant!

In Flushing, we were greeted with open arms. There was a buzz because people there were excited that we were telling a story about their world. And as soon as we showed up on West 32nd St with Jeong Jun Ho, the whole attitude of the street changed. He is a huge star in Korea so I think that helped people realize that we were not as evil as the one nut was making us out to be.

How were you able to get Jeong Jun Ho? Was there a personal connection there or did you just send him a script?

I met Jeong Jun Ho through CJ Entertainment. It was actually just a social event but as soon as I saw him I said I wanted him in the film. To me, he represents a really subtle theme in the film. He is the last true connection to Korea in the movie. It was essential to get someone who is an icon in Korea for the part. I was already a big fan of his work and could only dream of having the chance to work with him. It was really a stroke of luck getting him to work on the film.

How was your experience of directing this film compared to that of your first film, The Motel?

Kang: One big difference was that because I worked with a lot of 20-year- olds on this film, we partied a lot more. Other than that, the actual process of making a film is pretty much the same. On this film, I got some bigger toys to play with and the crew was a bit bigger, but in both cases, I didn't have as much resources as the film called for. We were underdogs in both cases.

John Cho and Jun Kim (Middle).

What were some of the major obstacles you had encountered in getting West 32nd made? In general, do you find that there are more obstacles in making an Asian-themed film with all or mostly Asian actors than a non-Asian film? How did you overcome these obstacles?

Kang: I was really fortunate to get a great team together for both of my films. I think that it is hard to make films regardless of your race and I would hate to be known as a crybaby about how much harder it is to get my stories made. I think in general it is harder when you are trying to do something that is personally meaningful to you and try to keep it true to that. Hollywood is run by money. The bottom line is that they actually don't care what you say as long as it makes money.

I would say that the most discouraging thing to me would be to hear haters from the Asian American community. This happened to Spike Lee when he started out; the African American community would complain that his films didn't represent them perfectly (which is impossible). I think that there are some folks out there in the Asian American community who hold an unrealistic standard for Asian American filmmakers and then on the flip side go out and gobble up the Hollywood garbage with glee. I think the only way to change Hollywood is for the community to actually become a financial force. With West 32nd, I was lucky to be able to work with Korean financiers. I didn't have to explain the cultural content of the film to them. They understood it and also believed in the cause.

How did you get John Cho and Grace Park to star in your film?

Kang: The script. They read the script and were immediately attracted to the project. I think we have similar aesthetics; we all think it is first and foremost important to entertain the audience. If you do that, then you are allowed to smuggle in all the subversive ideas and deeper issues of identity. The characters Cho and Park played were compelling and complex, and at the same time, people close to them and their experiences.

What is the ultimate goal(s) or message(s) that you are trying to accomplish or send with this film?

Kang: West 32nd is a very funny film because what it means depends on the audience that is is watching the film. For Americans, I think it is an homage to the movies I loved growing up, those classic crime dramas of the 70's like Serpico and Dog Day Afternoon. To Koreans, it is a love letter to Korea and the current Korean cinema. In both cases, I hope to build a bridge of communication, showing them people they don't usually get to see on film.

The biggest compliment I get is when people who grew up in Flushing tell me that I represented them correctly. I ultimately want to tell a good story and hopefully all the deeper messages that people walk away with is just gravy.

How has the experience of making this film changed you?

Kang: I don't think it has changed me much but I do think people's perception of me has changed. I still drive the same hoopti I came to L.A. with and am struggling to get the next thing going.

Grace Park.

But you just said this is an exploration of your relationship of your culture. What have you learned?

I don't think the film was the cause of change in my personal journey but more so it acted as a marker in the road. I continue to explore these issues everyday and I think I will continue to for a long time to come. I think there is a part of me that feels like it is missing something when it comes to my culture and I am very hungry to learn more about Korea. Growing up, my father stressed needing to be aware of Korean culture and history. But I am most attracted to finding out about contemporary Korean culture. I am very attracted to that world.

What is your next project? What are your future plans??

Kang:I have a few things in development. Some I can talk about, and some I can't yet. I am attached to direct a great script by a writer in New York that has nothing to do with Asian/Asian American issues. It's an African story set in Somalia called Sea of Tranquility. I am also working with producer Damon Ross on an adaptation of Gene Yang's awesome graphic novel American Born Chinese. With the writer's strike going on right now, my plans are a bit screwed up. I am also going to put on the producer hat for the first time and produce my friend Woody Han's script Love Buzz in Korea. I am hoping that by the time we finish that project, the WGA and AMPTP would be finished duking it out.

What is your favorite aspect of filmmaking: writing, directing, producing, etc.?

Kang: I love the collaborative process of filmmaking, which encompasses all of the different components that you just mentioned. The most amazing thing to me about film is that except for architecture, there isn't another medium that would take that many people to create. It's this collective energy that inspires me.

For more information on West 32nd, please visit www.w32nd.com