Source: Tiger Startups, May 31, 2012
http://www.tigerstartups.com/blogs/399/asian-jersey-shore-reality-series-k-town-premieres-only-on-youtube
"Asian Jersey Shore" Reality Series K-Town Premieres Only On Youtube
In 2010, MTV reality series Jersey Shore was riding upon a wave of popularity. Viewers turned in weekly to see the misadventures of the show’s self-proclaimed “guidos” and “guidettes,” and like a trainwreck that can’t be looked away from, the show continued to rise in popularity until inevitable talk of imitations began to emerge. Chief among these was the self-proclaimed “Asian Jersey Shore,” also known as K-Town. The show, oddly promoted and produced by actor and model Tyrese Gibson, promised to document the fast lives of a bunch of 20-something Korean Americans in Los Angelas K-Town, offering viewers a substantial amount of booze, drama, and requisite sexual tension. After gaining a large amount of buzz on the internet, particularly from Asian Americans, a pilot episode of the show was filmed. And then, strangely enough, all news of the series vanished off of the face of the Earth for about two years.
K-Town, however, has now risen up from the depths of development hell, with a recent press release stating that the first episode of the show will premiere this July 2nd. There is, however, one big difference in this recent resurrection of the series--instead of premiering on primetime television, it will instead be broadcast strictly on Youtube, through the LOUD pop culture channel owned by media company Electus. According to the press release, the LOUD channel “will be the newest home for fresh, edgy, entertaining series featuring celebrities as well as popular Youtube talent,” and Tyrese Gibson, still promoting the show after two years, promises that aside from the show being exciting, “LOUD is the perfect platform for chronicling the social rituals of this unique Asian American subculture.”
While K-Town has now fully embraced its online-only status with a raunchy new trailer that takes pride in advertising “the reality show that no TV network could show you,” one has to wonder why no primetime companies ended up purchasing the show. While the show’s promotional material promises a questionable portrayal of Asian Americans, similar to the party-all-day stereotype of Italian Americans that Jersey Shore successfully pushed into the mainstream, the intentions of the show’s creators seem to be in the right place, at least. The show’s executive producer, Mike Le, states that K-Town is meant to shatter preconceived notions of Asian Americans, showing the world that “it's not just about playing the piano and being great at math. [Asian Americans] are also sexy, stylish, have swagger, and can party with the best of them." So why, then, did no TV network choose to pick this up, especially after the success of Jersey Shore? Is the world not yet ready for this new portrayal of Asian Americans, or is it better that this show remain Youtube-only, instead of promoting new ethnic stereotypes?
In the end, however, one thing is for sure: With Asian Americans currentlydominating the Youtube scene, K-Town will surely find the audience it craves online. But with other Asian American reality shows also popping up in internet-only form, one just has to wonder what it would take for these shows, however borderline insulting they might be, to break free of their niche online constraints and actually make it onto American television. Apparently, the time just isn’t right yet.
5/31/2012
LA News Talk Radio
Source: LA News Talk Radio, May 31, 2012
http://lanewstalk.com/?p=6980
Oh, this will be glorious: the Koreatown reality show K-Town is officially a go and will launch on July 2online. We first reported on the kids-leading-crazy-lives-in-Ktown concept way back in April 2010 (asJersey Shore fever ravaged America) and met the cast in July that year, around the time the pilot was shot. Finally now The Hollywood Reporter reports that the studio Electus has greenlit the show for 10 episodes to run on its new LOUD YouTube channel; executive producers will also include former model Tyrese Gibson (and his partners Mike Le, Eugene Choi, and Eddie Kim) and Liz Gately and Tony DiSanto of Jersey Shore and The Hills. Meaning this will be some damn good trainwreck TV. Here’re some of the people we’ll see falling down drunk at Bobo’s in just a few months: “a trouble-making former exotic dancer, a gossip blogger who moonlights as a bartender and a club promoter.” Episodes will only be 10 minutes each, but the show could eventually “cross over into television.”
http://lanewstalk.com/?p=6980
LA Reality: Preview the K-Town Reality Show, Premiering This Summer
Oh, this will be glorious: the Koreatown reality show K-Town is officially a go and will launch on July 2online. We first reported on the kids-leading-crazy-lives-in-Ktown concept way back in April 2010 (asJersey Shore fever ravaged America) and met the cast in July that year, around the time the pilot was shot. Finally now The Hollywood Reporter reports that the studio Electus has greenlit the show for 10 episodes to run on its new LOUD YouTube channel; executive producers will also include former model Tyrese Gibson (and his partners Mike Le, Eugene Choi, and Eddie Kim) and Liz Gately and Tony DiSanto of Jersey Shore and The Hills. Meaning this will be some damn good trainwreck TV. Here’re some of the people we’ll see falling down drunk at Bobo’s in just a few months: “a trouble-making former exotic dancer, a gossip blogger who moonlights as a bartender and a club promoter.” Episodes will only be 10 minutes each, but the show could eventually “cross over into television.”
Kineda
Source: Kineda, May 30, 2012
http://www.kineda.com/k-town-reality-series-to-premier-july-2-on-youtube-channel-loud/
http://www.kineda.com/k-town-reality-series-to-premier-july-2-on-youtube-channel-loud/
K-Town Reality Series to Premier July 2 on YouTube Channel LOUD
After months of trying to get signed onto a cable TV network, the producers of the K-Town reality series will instead premier on YouTube. The unscripted show has been greenlighted by production company Electus, and will launch on July 2nd on their new YouTube channel LOUD. TV programming executive Liz Gateley’s comment about the K-Town reality series to The Hollywood Reporter:
“Everyone is looking for subculture, subculture, subculture, and no one has really ever explored this sort of Asian-American world in L.A., so it was just perfect timing,” she said. “We’re so excited about it.”
There will be 10-episodes of K-Town with each running about 10 minutes long. The goal is to hopefully show enough potential to cross over into TV.
5/29/2012
USA Today
Source: USA Today, May 29, 2012
Mobile Devices Star in Prime Time at Home
His kids might commandeer the TV before bedtime, but online game designer John Comes still gets his prime-time fix. Just on a smaller screen.
Using his iPad, he can watch content from traditional TV and cable
channels such as ABC, TBS and HBO,
as well as newer options such as Hulu and Netflix. As for the family's 46-inch HDTV
at their Seattle area home, "I watch it when (they) are asleep for items I
can't watch on my iPad," says Comes, 37.
Internet video is changing the face of prime time. Online junkies are no
longer turning to cyberspace just to watch cute clips of kids, pets and movie
trailers on YouTube.
New research made available exclusively to USA TODAY shows how consumers
are using tablets, smartphones, game consoles — and, yes, Internet-connected
televisions — to devour live sports, network TV and cable fare. And most of
this is happening during the same prime-time hours that were dominated decades
ago by the major networks' over-the-air TV broadcasts.
Meet the new prime time. Same as the old prime time. What is changing is
that smaller screens on mobile devices are being used at home more than ever
expected. And, surprisingly, people are watching longer and longer videos on
their mobile devices, even the smallest screens.
This new cyber audience that has grown up with on-demand video and DVR
time-shifting scorns appointment TV in favor of a user-generated viewing
experience in which they are in control. "People are consuming their
content at the time they prefer, on the devices they prefer and increasingly in
the context they prefer," says Jay Fulcher, CEO of Ooyala, the video
management company for networks, broadcasters and content providers that shared
its user consumption data with USA TODAY.
The newfangled prime time extends beyond
weeknights. To the digital viewer, Saturday night is increasingly a prime
viewing time. Those watching aren't necessarily glued to the 50-inch television
in the living room, and if they are, they still often peek at the tablet on
their lap.
Video
viewing on tablets rises in the morning, tails off midday, then surges again in
the evening, according to first-quarter data compiled by Ooyala. On a typical
weekday, one-third of tablet video-watching occurs from 7 to 11 p.m., with only
about 17% of computer video viewing taking place at that time.
Viewers
on connected TVs watch nearly one-third more video from 4 to 11 p.m. on
Saturdays than on a typical weekday evening. Ooyala's takeaway: Programmers
should remember this when they plan content and monetization strategies.
Whenever and wherever you are
ESPN
is among the more than 1,000 global clients that rely on Ooyala to help power
their online video, and it takes the findings to heart. If you already
subscribe to ESPN through the likes of Time Warner,
Comcast, Verizon or Bright House
Networks, you can take advantage of the free Watch ESPN app on an
iPad to watch the network's sports programming on the go.
"The
way we look at this is about trying to serve sports fans whenever and wherever
they are," says Damon Phillips, who heads ESPN's digital/Web video content
strategies and product development. To Phillips, that means delivering
programming, often live sporting events, to the "best available
screen."
During
the workday, he says, that's likely the computer at your office. If you're
commuting, it could be an iPad or smartphone. But even at home, it might not be
the traditional TV, especially if you lose the battle over the remote control
to your spouse or your kids. "We call it subways and sofas," says
Ooyala's Fulcher.
The
trend of mobile devices serving up prime-time video at home is corroborated by
a survey from research consulting firm Frank N. Magid Associates. More than
half (52%) of all smartphone video is viewed at home, according to its survey
of 1,010 adults who watch video weekly on smartphones, tablets or
Internet-connected TVs. The peak viewing happens from 8 to 11 p.m.
"Mobile
isn't just mobile anymore. It is happening in the house," says Doron
Wesly, head of market strategy for online advertising company Tremor Video,
which commissioned the Magid survey. "When they are on their couch or
watching something else, they are actually watching video as well on their
mobile device."
While
the in-home TV and computer remain the most popular devices for watching video
content, more than half (56%) of people with online access say they watch video
on a mobile phone at least once a month and 28% at least once a day.
Another
mobile-viewing shift: Smartphone viewers have historically gravitated toward
short-form content, but long-form video — full-length TV shows and movies — now
accounts for nearly 40% of smartphone video viewing every week, Magid found. In
a similar finding, Ooyala found that videos lasting longer than 10 minutes
accounted for half the total time folks spent watching online video. And video
viewing on tablets jumped 26% after Apple released the latest iPad in March. In
all, iPads account for 95% of all tablet viewing, Ooyala says.
Smart thinking
All
this runs counter to what we thought Internet-connected devices would be used
for: snacking on short videos while (mostly) away from the home TV. It also
makes the strategies of Netflix, Hulu and YouTube — to create original content
for their networks — look smart.
Netflix
led the drive to create original content with its resurrection of the
acclaimed-but-canceled Fox series Arrested
Development with new episodes scheduled for next year. It has already
released Lilyhammer starring
Steven Van Zandt (The Sopranos)
and has three other original series in the works.
YouTube
is spending $100 million to create up to 100 channels with the likes of Jay-Z
and Madonna. Among the upcoming launches is the July 2 debut of K-Town, a reality series based in the
Koreatown section of Los Angeles.
The show, from actor Tyrese Gibson's HQ Productions, will play on the Loud
pop-culture channel masterminded by Ben Silverman,
former NBC Entertainment president and The
Office executive producer.
Across
all devices, more than half of YouTube viewing in the U.S. takes place during
traditional prime-time evening hours. "In prime-time hours, you're more
inclined to kick back and watch for a while," says Shiva Rajaraman, a
director of product management at YouTube.
Video
game entertainment network Machinima, which has one of the most-viewed channels
on YouTube, has been adding longer, episodic series, such as zombie action show
Bite Me and sci-fi series RCVR, to its steady stream of game
demos, reviews and tips videos. More and more viewers are watching content on
the iPad and tablets, says CEO Allen DeBevoise.
"The
old television model was: You go home and watch TV when they want you to,"
he says. "Our model is: You can be anywhere in the world, on any device
you want, and we'll let you watch the content whether it's on a mobile phone, a
tablet, a computer or a connected television."
The
lean-back experience of regular TV compared with computers or even smartphones
is why Alok Ranjan, the founder of ifood.tv, says viewers of the company's
connected TV channels — delivered via Samsung connected TVs, Google TV
and Yahoo television platforms or on Roku and Boxee set-top boxes — are likely
to watch three to four instructional cooking videos for 15 to 20 minutes. That
compares with a website or app viewer willing to devote about five to seven minutes
to watch one or two video recipes.
Video
snacking still persists on Hulu, and the best Saturday Night Live skits are favorites, says
Andy Forssell, senior vice president of content. But Hulu is also investing in
long-form programming with the half-hour series Spoilers, a show about movies starring filmmaker Kevin Smith.
Its debut is Monday.
A forum for new ideas
Net
video is a bit like the independent film scene a decade ago, Forssell says,
where "a creator has an idea and wanted to get the story told. In
traditional TV, that hasn't (usually) been the case. Here, there's a chance for
that (idea) to bloom."
As
mobile devices become more entrenched, he says, "I think you are seeing
the U.S. start to edge toward something like the Japanese situation where you
have kids watching a movie on a smartphone 10 feet from a 60-inch TV."
Ooyala's
Fulcher says, "We see traditional media businesses who didn't necessarily
want to embrace this (online video) trend now being motivated to make
investments and get their state of readiness around reaching consumers more
effectively." And there's untapped opportunity for online video publishers
to grow revenue by serving more digital ads, especially on the longer-form
content.
Gartner
media analyst Mike McGuire
agrees. "In terms of advertising, TV is still the king," he says.
"Advertising dollars are increasingly social and going online but are
fractions of (regular TV)."
More
programming and better mobile apps will lead to increases in video viewing.
Smartphone users plan to increase consumption by 36% in the next 12 months,
tablet users by 32%, Magid found. People with smartphones find themselves
"folding the smartphone into the media ecosystem in (their) living
room," says Magid senior analyst Andrew Hare.
A
smartphone and iPad help Dallas event coordinator Mike Duchock keep the peace
with his girlfriend. When she wants to watch Grey's Anatomy on his 50-inch plasma HDTV, he
uses his mobile devices. "Just the other night I watched my South Carolina
Gamecock baseball game on the Watch ESPN app while I half-watched Glee with (her)," he says.
"There have even been occasions where I had one game on my iPad, another
on my iPhone, and something else on TV."
Networks ultimately benefit by making content
available in multiple ways. That way viewers don't have to choose between
beloved content and their beloved. "Watching shows on my iPad,"
Duchock says, "means we still get to be together, vs. me going to another
room to another TV."
5/28/2012
C21 Media
Source: C21 Media, May 28, 2012
http://www.c21media.net/archives/82460?utm_source=C21Media&utm_campaign=59e14c2895-&utm_medium=email
Ben Silverman of Electus talks to David Jenkinson about his frustration with the lack of creativity around deal-making in the digital age and his plans to roll out Fashion Star globally as a locally produced format.
Electus founder and chairman Ben Silverman is bidding to create a next-generation content production business. Whether he will manage it or not remains to be seen, but the template is certainly fit for purpose.
It is significant that he highlights the company’s YouTube channels initiative and his views on connected television at the start of our conversation, before moving through his development slate, rather than getting to the digital bit at the end.
“We’re a young company with ambitious plans,” he says. “We’ve put a great team together and brought in a number of assets quickly. We are launching three YouTube channels in association with Google targeting popular culture, Hispanic and food [via the Loud, Nuevon and Food channels, respectively] and have a robust amount of business with Yahoo! in addition to owning College Humor. So at the heart of the company is a strong digital presence and an understanding of how streaming media works, which will be a real differentiator as time goes on.”
With Loud going live on July 2, content for the diginet was announced this month: K-Town is a reality show that will follow the lives of Asian Americans living in Koreatown, Los Angeles, and is being made by HQ Productions, Electus and DiGa.
“Additionally, we are one of the few companies to not be bound by any specific genre but produce across all genres,” adds Silverman. This approach sees a diverse production slate nurtured at the LA-based operation.
On the programming front, Electus is making music specials for NBC with Michael Buble’s Christmas Specials and the primetime reality competition Fashion Star, featuring Elle McPherson, Nicole Richie and Jessica Simpson, among others. NBC renewed its commitment to Fashion Star this month by confirming it in the Sunday 20.00 slot for mid-season 2013.
On the drama slate, Marco Polo is being developed for Starz (in association with The Weinstein Company), while the company’s latest unscripted cable bid, King of the Nerds for TBS, has recently been greenlit.
Elsewhere, Mob Wives on VH1 (with a spin-off show based in Chicago pending) and I’m Not Dead Yet for TV Land (from writer John Sherman, of Fraiser fame, and based on Israeli drama Zanzuri) and Blue Natali for Lifetime (written by Dexter’s Wendy West) are also rolling.
Meanwhile, Oxygen is developing Longest.Date.Ever from Electus and 5x5 Media, a show that sends couples on first dates that last an entire week, and Silverman’s team is also developing a reality series called The Hero with action movie star Dwayne ‘The Rock’ Johnson.
http://www.c21media.net/archives/80466
Silverman will be looking to push the business out further this year, backed by former Reveille colleagues Chris Grant, now CEO of Electus, and John Pollak, appointed president of Electus International in January. Also on the team are exec VP of advertising Laura Caraccioli-Davis, previously at Starcom, and former Yahoo! Originals head Drew Buckley, now chief operating officer and head of digital at Electus.
This month, two more executives crossed over from Shine International to work for Electus: Cyrus Farrokh has been hired as executive director of international distribution and production and Diego Piasek is now director of international distribution and production. Furthermore, Tim Puntillo has joined the team, after Electus acquired his one-man New York production outfit Mannahatta Productions.
Fashion Star will be the focus this year, with McPherson on hand to convince the international market of the format’s remake potential, following a raft of finished programme sales. “Fashion Star is really fresh and has incredible promise as a local adaptation,” says Silverman.
Electus International has concluded sales of the US show in Australia (Network Ten), French Canada (TVA/Mlle), Korea (CJE&M) and Brazil (Globosat), Latin America (Fox International Channels Latin America), Canada (CTV2) and Asia (Diva). In the local production space, IAC-backed Electus has also secured format deals with Ten, as well as Germany’s Tresor TV, Shine France and Turkey’s Sera Films
King of the Nerds is a recent addition to the catalogue. “It is a celebration and reality competition around nerd culture,” says Silverman. “Nerdom is the new hipdom, and this show celebrates smarts and their quirkiness.”
Aside from rolling out its new shows, Electus will also be on the hunt for ideas to package and roll out globally. “But that’s getting more difficult,” admits Silverman. “It is a more mature market and therefore a more sophisticated market. You really need the right talent to make the idea happen.
“When I look at what we did with Ugly Betty I realise now how key it was to bring in Salma Hayek and cast America Ferrera to make that possible. I felt the same way when I found and bribed Greg Daniels into The Office, and cast Steve Carell. Those were moves that were uniquely available to us as producers with relationships, which continues to give us an advantage.”
So assuming talent is the key, along with pushing more into digital and developing a broad slate, what are the barriers to growth in the current content market?
“In the current market the approach people have to digital is frustrating. Everyone is trying to control everything, and it is all a little bit fear-driven, which makes deal-making a total pain in the ass. People are being so difficult on the deal, rather than just being fair. I feel ‘fair’ usually should be the way deals get made, where both sides feel good. More and more people are fighting hyper-aggressively. People need to recognise that being partners in something that is successful is much better than owning 100% of things that don’t happen.
“We are now in the second innings of what technology-enabled opportunities are presenting – like streaming, compression technology and broadband distribution getting better. And this has by no means demonstrated a cannibalisation of television; if anything it seems to be a new form of syndication for TV as you see the robust deals that Netflix and Amazon are offering.
“My instinct is to make the best content possible and people will want it. Will those people be different from the ones that wanted it before? And are we going to shift some of the attention from the traditional networks to the digital platforms? It’s possible. There is no question that over time more and more people will have internet-enabled television sets and they will be able to watch content on them. We want to be at the forefront of that.”
http://www.c21media.net/archives/82460?utm_source=C21Media&utm_campaign=59e14c2895-&utm_medium=email
Fashionable thinking
Ben Silverman of Electus talks to David Jenkinson about his frustration with the lack of creativity around deal-making in the digital age and his plans to roll out Fashion Star globally as a locally produced format.
Ben Silverman
Electus founder and chairman Ben Silverman is bidding to create a next-generation content production business. Whether he will manage it or not remains to be seen, but the template is certainly fit for purpose.
It is significant that he highlights the company’s YouTube channels initiative and his views on connected television at the start of our conversation, before moving through his development slate, rather than getting to the digital bit at the end.
“We’re a young company with ambitious plans,” he says. “We’ve put a great team together and brought in a number of assets quickly. We are launching three YouTube channels in association with Google targeting popular culture, Hispanic and food [via the Loud, Nuevon and Food channels, respectively] and have a robust amount of business with Yahoo! in addition to owning College Humor. So at the heart of the company is a strong digital presence and an understanding of how streaming media works, which will be a real differentiator as time goes on.”
With Loud going live on July 2, content for the diginet was announced this month: K-Town is a reality show that will follow the lives of Asian Americans living in Koreatown, Los Angeles, and is being made by HQ Productions, Electus and DiGa.
Fashion Star
“Additionally, we are one of the few companies to not be bound by any specific genre but produce across all genres,” adds Silverman. This approach sees a diverse production slate nurtured at the LA-based operation.
On the programming front, Electus is making music specials for NBC with Michael Buble’s Christmas Specials and the primetime reality competition Fashion Star, featuring Elle McPherson, Nicole Richie and Jessica Simpson, among others. NBC renewed its commitment to Fashion Star this month by confirming it in the Sunday 20.00 slot for mid-season 2013.
On the drama slate, Marco Polo is being developed for Starz (in association with The Weinstein Company), while the company’s latest unscripted cable bid, King of the Nerds for TBS, has recently been greenlit.
Elsewhere, Mob Wives on VH1 (with a spin-off show based in Chicago pending) and I’m Not Dead Yet for TV Land (from writer John Sherman, of Fraiser fame, and based on Israeli drama Zanzuri) and Blue Natali for Lifetime (written by Dexter’s Wendy West) are also rolling.
Meanwhile, Oxygen is developing Longest.Date.Ever from Electus and 5x5 Media, a show that sends couples on first dates that last an entire week, and Silverman’s team is also developing a reality series called The Hero with action movie star Dwayne ‘The Rock’ Johnson.
http://www.c21media.net/archives/80466
Silverman will be looking to push the business out further this year, backed by former Reveille colleagues Chris Grant, now CEO of Electus, and John Pollak, appointed president of Electus International in January. Also on the team are exec VP of advertising Laura Caraccioli-Davis, previously at Starcom, and former Yahoo! Originals head Drew Buckley, now chief operating officer and head of digital at Electus.
This month, two more executives crossed over from Shine International to work for Electus: Cyrus Farrokh has been hired as executive director of international distribution and production and Diego Piasek is now director of international distribution and production. Furthermore, Tim Puntillo has joined the team, after Electus acquired his one-man New York production outfit Mannahatta Productions.
Fashion Star will be the focus this year, with McPherson on hand to convince the international market of the format’s remake potential, following a raft of finished programme sales. “Fashion Star is really fresh and has incredible promise as a local adaptation,” says Silverman.
Electus International has concluded sales of the US show in Australia (Network Ten), French Canada (TVA/Mlle), Korea (CJE&M) and Brazil (Globosat), Latin America (Fox International Channels Latin America), Canada (CTV2) and Asia (Diva). In the local production space, IAC-backed Electus has also secured format deals with Ten, as well as Germany’s Tresor TV, Shine France and Turkey’s Sera Films
King of the Nerds is a recent addition to the catalogue. “It is a celebration and reality competition around nerd culture,” says Silverman. “Nerdom is the new hipdom, and this show celebrates smarts and their quirkiness.”
Aside from rolling out its new shows, Electus will also be on the hunt for ideas to package and roll out globally. “But that’s getting more difficult,” admits Silverman. “It is a more mature market and therefore a more sophisticated market. You really need the right talent to make the idea happen.
“When I look at what we did with Ugly Betty I realise now how key it was to bring in Salma Hayek and cast America Ferrera to make that possible. I felt the same way when I found and bribed Greg Daniels into The Office, and cast Steve Carell. Those were moves that were uniquely available to us as producers with relationships, which continues to give us an advantage.”
So assuming talent is the key, along with pushing more into digital and developing a broad slate, what are the barriers to growth in the current content market?
“In the current market the approach people have to digital is frustrating. Everyone is trying to control everything, and it is all a little bit fear-driven, which makes deal-making a total pain in the ass. People are being so difficult on the deal, rather than just being fair. I feel ‘fair’ usually should be the way deals get made, where both sides feel good. More and more people are fighting hyper-aggressively. People need to recognise that being partners in something that is successful is much better than owning 100% of things that don’t happen.
“We are now in the second innings of what technology-enabled opportunities are presenting – like streaming, compression technology and broadband distribution getting better. And this has by no means demonstrated a cannibalisation of television; if anything it seems to be a new form of syndication for TV as you see the robust deals that Netflix and Amazon are offering.
“My instinct is to make the best content possible and people will want it. Will those people be different from the ones that wanted it before? And are we going to shift some of the attention from the traditional networks to the digital platforms? It’s possible. There is no question that over time more and more people will have internet-enabled television sets and they will be able to watch content on them. We want to be at the forefront of that.”
Amoeba Blog
Source: Amoeba Blog, May 27, 2012
http://www.amoeba.com/blog/2012/05/eric-s-blog/k-town-goes-to-youtube-and-the-short-history-of-asian-american-tv-happy-asian-pacific-american-heritage-month.html
After two years of shopping around to various TV networks, the Jersey Shore-inspired Korean-American reality show K-Town has just been picked up -- not by any of them -- but as a Youtube exclusive set to debut July 2nd.
Although the trailer describes it as “The most anticipated reality show of all time” and “the reality show no TV network could show you,” I have to wonder if the people behind it (who brought us Jersey Shore, Mob Wives and The Hills, the trailer informs) aren’t trying to put a positive response on network disinterest. With shows like the Skinemax-meets-Magic the Gathering softcore dorkfest that is Game of Thrones barely raising an eyebrow and what with Youtube’s ban on sexually explicit material, animal abuse, drug use, underage drinking and smoking, and bomb making, I doubt that there’s anything on K-Town that wouldn’t fly on cable… except that the enitre cast is entirely Asian-American.
American TV has, since its earliest days, never been comfortable with too many Asians (or Latinos, even more glaringly) on the screen at once. Asian sidekicks are cool, Asian guest stars too -- but there have been only a handful of TV shows starring Asians on the small screen and even fewer with largely Asian casts. Meanwhile, Youtube has become the great democratizer, allowing Asian-Americans like Ryan Higa, Michelle Phan, Freddie Wong, Kevin Wu and others to garner millions of followers each and become internet celebrities, if not TV ones. Meanwhile, TV networks drag their feet even as viewers increasingly abandon traditional media.
Here’s a very short timeline of Asian-American TV:
THE GALLERY OF MADAME LIU-TSONG
The first American show with an Asian lead was obscure The Gallery of Madame Liu-Tsong, which ran only ten episodes from 27 August to 21 November in 1951 on the DuMont Television Network (which itself only existed between 1946 and 1956). It starred Chinese-American, former silent film superstar Anna May Wong as a detective. It was cancelled after one season and no episodes are known to exist today.
MR. T & TINA
The second American TV show starring an Asian-American had an even shorter run. Mr. T and Tina, a spin-off of Welcome Back, Kotter starring Pat Morita, ran for only five episodes in the fall of 1976. Morita starred as Taro Takahashi, a Japanese inventor married to a ditzy, white American, Tina Kelly. According to the recollections of the few that remember it, hilarity didn't really ensue.
OHARA
Ohara, the third American show with an Asian lead again starred Pat Morita, this time as Lt. Ohara. It ran for 30 episodes from 17 January, 1987 till 7 May, 1988. Of course Ohara used martial arts and spoke in fortune cookie/Charlie Chan-esque epigrams.
ALL-AMERICAN GIRL
All-American Girl starred actress/comedian Margaret Cho and depicted her as and her family in TV’s second Asian-American sitcom. It's notable for being the first American TV show with an overwhelming cast (rounded out by Amy Hill, B.D. Wong, Clyde Kusatsu, J.B. Quon, and Jodi Long). It was also the first TV series to star an American-born Asian actually playing an American-born Asian rather than an Asian-born foreigner -- a fact underlined by the series's title. Nonetheless, an "Asian Consultant" was hired to teach the Korean-American star of the semi-autobiographical show how to “act more Asian.”
It ran for nineteen episodes between 14 September, 1994 and 15 March, 1995.
RELIC HUNTER
Relic Hunter wasn’t an American series – it was Canadian. However, it did star an Asian-American, in this case, Hawaiian-born Pinay, Tia Carrere. It ran much longer than its American predecessors, lasting three seasons and 66 episodes total between 1999 and 2002. One possibility is that Canadian network officials gave it a fairer shake. Of course, another possibility was Carrere's sex appeal. As Wayne Campbell expressed of Carrere's "Cassandra" character in Wayne's World, "She's a fox. In French, she would be called 'la renarde' and she would be hunted with only her cunning to protect her." I never watched the show but do remember it being promoted with billboards promising "dangerous curves ahead" so I reckon sex was a big factor.
A SHOT AT LOVE WITH TILA TEQUILA
Tila Tequila (née Tila Nguyen) was a popular import model who starred in the “reality” show, A Shot at Love with Tila Tequila, in which she “played” a bisexual in search of love. She courted 32 contestants -- male and female. It debuted at No. 1 in its time slot and was MTV’s second highest-rated debut series that year (2007), seemingly disproving conventional TV wisdom about Asian-American leads (at least female) and simultaneously re-affirming the ancient adage, "sex sells."
THE CHO SHOW
Perhaps the producers of The Cho Show were encouraged by Tila Tequila’s success when they decided to give Margaret Cho another shot at TV with a reality series/sitcom. The Cho Show debuted 21 August, 2008 on VH1 and concluded seven episodes later, on 25 September.
NIKITA
Half-Vietnamese actress Maggie Q stars in Nikita, a CW series that has, to date, aired for 45 episodes, beginning with its debut on 9 September, 2010. In it, Q plays a vengeful former assassin and spy in a role adapted from the French film of the same name.
HAWAII FIVE-0
Two of four stars of Hawaii Five-0 are Asian-American, Daniel Dae Kim and Grace Park (who, though born in the US, is a Canadian citizen). Reflecting the fact that Hawaii’s largest racial group is Asian-American, many of the recurring charaters and guest stars are also played by Asian-Americans. It debuted 20 September, 2010 and was an immediate critical and commercial success. In 2011, it entered the Guinness World Records for “Highest-Rated New Show in the U.S.” when the episode “Kai e’e” garnered 19.34 million viewers. And whereas there's a long tradition of fetishization of Asian women in American culture, the fact that a Google search of "Daniel Dae Kim" brings up related searches of "Daniel Dae Kim shirtless" and "Daniel Dae Kim muscles" probably reflects changing mainstream attitudes about Asian-American men as well... at least as far as objectification goes.
SULLIVAN & SON
Popular half-Irish/half-Korean stand-up comic Steven Byrne co-wrote and co-created the pilot for Sullivan & Son with with Rob Long. In it he stares as the son of an Irish-American father (played by Dan Lauria of The Wonder Years) and a Korean-American mother (played by Jodi Long of All American Girl). His sister is played by Vivian Bang (best known as Soo-Mi in Yes Man). TBS ordered ten episodes in February, 2012 with a premiere date set for this coming summer.
In Los Angeles, where most American TV series are filmed and many (if not most) shows are set, Asian-Americans make up roughly 14% of the population compared to Anglo whites, who make up 28% and blacks, who make up 9%. That reality isn't even close to represented on TV which more than sixty years after the introduction of color remains stubbornly black and white.
As some who loves sociological schadenfreude spectacles like Jersey Shore, Shahs of Sunset, Mama's Boys of the Bronx (and all the much-missed dating shows), I personally hope K-Town moves to TV... or that our TV otherwise begins to reflect the diversity of our country (not holding my breath, however). Also, please bring Geordie Shore to the US – maybe PBS. PBS viewers love British TV. Thanks!
http://www.amoeba.com/blog/2012/05/eric-s-blog/k-town-goes-to-youtube-and-the-short-history-of-asian-american-tv-happy-asian-pacific-american-heritage-month.html
K-Town
goes to Youtube and the short history of Asian-American TV - Happy Asian
Pacific American Heritage Month
After two years of shopping around to various TV networks, the Jersey Shore-inspired Korean-American reality show K-Town has just been picked up -- not by any of them -- but as a Youtube exclusive set to debut July 2nd.
Although the trailer describes it as “The most anticipated reality show of all time” and “the reality show no TV network could show you,” I have to wonder if the people behind it (who brought us Jersey Shore, Mob Wives and The Hills, the trailer informs) aren’t trying to put a positive response on network disinterest. With shows like the Skinemax-meets-Magic the Gathering softcore dorkfest that is Game of Thrones barely raising an eyebrow and what with Youtube’s ban on sexually explicit material, animal abuse, drug use, underage drinking and smoking, and bomb making, I doubt that there’s anything on K-Town that wouldn’t fly on cable… except that the enitre cast is entirely Asian-American.
American TV has, since its earliest days, never been comfortable with too many Asians (or Latinos, even more glaringly) on the screen at once. Asian sidekicks are cool, Asian guest stars too -- but there have been only a handful of TV shows starring Asians on the small screen and even fewer with largely Asian casts. Meanwhile, Youtube has become the great democratizer, allowing Asian-Americans like Ryan Higa, Michelle Phan, Freddie Wong, Kevin Wu and others to garner millions of followers each and become internet celebrities, if not TV ones. Meanwhile, TV networks drag their feet even as viewers increasingly abandon traditional media.
Here’s a very short timeline of Asian-American TV:
THE GALLERY OF MADAME LIU-TSONG
The first American show with an Asian lead was obscure The Gallery of Madame Liu-Tsong, which ran only ten episodes from 27 August to 21 November in 1951 on the DuMont Television Network (which itself only existed between 1946 and 1956). It starred Chinese-American, former silent film superstar Anna May Wong as a detective. It was cancelled after one season and no episodes are known to exist today.
MR. T & TINA
The second American TV show starring an Asian-American had an even shorter run. Mr. T and Tina, a spin-off of Welcome Back, Kotter starring Pat Morita, ran for only five episodes in the fall of 1976. Morita starred as Taro Takahashi, a Japanese inventor married to a ditzy, white American, Tina Kelly. According to the recollections of the few that remember it, hilarity didn't really ensue.
OHARA
Ohara, the third American show with an Asian lead again starred Pat Morita, this time as Lt. Ohara. It ran for 30 episodes from 17 January, 1987 till 7 May, 1988. Of course Ohara used martial arts and spoke in fortune cookie/Charlie Chan-esque epigrams.
VANISHING SON
Vanishing Son was the first Asian-American show made for syndication. It ran from 16 January, following the airing of four Vanishing Son TV movies in 1994. Hunky star Russell Wong played a foreigner – in this case a fugitive Chinese musician named Jian-Wa Chang. It was cancelled after thirteen episodes.
ALL-AMERICAN GIRL
All-American Girl starred actress/comedian Margaret Cho and depicted her as and her family in TV’s second Asian-American sitcom. It's notable for being the first American TV show with an overwhelming cast (rounded out by Amy Hill, B.D. Wong, Clyde Kusatsu, J.B. Quon, and Jodi Long). It was also the first TV series to star an American-born Asian actually playing an American-born Asian rather than an Asian-born foreigner -- a fact underlined by the series's title. Nonetheless, an "Asian Consultant" was hired to teach the Korean-American star of the semi-autobiographical show how to “act more Asian.”
It ran for nineteen episodes between 14 September, 1994 and 15 March, 1995.
RELIC HUNTER
A SHOT AT LOVE WITH TILA TEQUILA
Tila Tequila (née Tila Nguyen) was a popular import model who starred in the “reality” show, A Shot at Love with Tila Tequila, in which she “played” a bisexual in search of love. She courted 32 contestants -- male and female. It debuted at No. 1 in its time slot and was MTV’s second highest-rated debut series that year (2007), seemingly disproving conventional TV wisdom about Asian-American leads (at least female) and simultaneously re-affirming the ancient adage, "sex sells."
THE CHO SHOW
Perhaps the producers of The Cho Show were encouraged by Tila Tequila’s success when they decided to give Margaret Cho another shot at TV with a reality series/sitcom. The Cho Show debuted 21 August, 2008 on VH1 and concluded seven episodes later, on 25 September.
NIKITA
Half-Vietnamese actress Maggie Q stars in Nikita, a CW series that has, to date, aired for 45 episodes, beginning with its debut on 9 September, 2010. In it, Q plays a vengeful former assassin and spy in a role adapted from the French film of the same name.
HAWAII FIVE-0
Two of four stars of Hawaii Five-0 are Asian-American, Daniel Dae Kim and Grace Park (who, though born in the US, is a Canadian citizen). Reflecting the fact that Hawaii’s largest racial group is Asian-American, many of the recurring charaters and guest stars are also played by Asian-Americans. It debuted 20 September, 2010 and was an immediate critical and commercial success. In 2011, it entered the Guinness World Records for “Highest-Rated New Show in the U.S.” when the episode “Kai e’e” garnered 19.34 million viewers. And whereas there's a long tradition of fetishization of Asian women in American culture, the fact that a Google search of "Daniel Dae Kim" brings up related searches of "Daniel Dae Kim shirtless" and "Daniel Dae Kim muscles" probably reflects changing mainstream attitudes about Asian-American men as well... at least as far as objectification goes.
SULLIVAN & SON
Popular half-Irish/half-Korean stand-up comic Steven Byrne co-wrote and co-created the pilot for Sullivan & Son with with Rob Long. In it he stares as the son of an Irish-American father (played by Dan Lauria of The Wonder Years) and a Korean-American mother (played by Jodi Long of All American Girl). His sister is played by Vivian Bang (best known as Soo-Mi in Yes Man). TBS ordered ten episodes in February, 2012 with a premiere date set for this coming summer.
*****
So there you have it, eleven American shows (and one Canadian) in roughly 65 years of TV. The fact that six made their debut in the last decade suggests that things on the small screen are very slowly changing.In Los Angeles, where most American TV series are filmed and many (if not most) shows are set, Asian-Americans make up roughly 14% of the population compared to Anglo whites, who make up 28% and blacks, who make up 9%. That reality isn't even close to represented on TV which more than sixty years after the introduction of color remains stubbornly black and white.
As some who loves sociological schadenfreude spectacles like Jersey Shore, Shahs of Sunset, Mama's Boys of the Bronx (and all the much-missed dating shows), I personally hope K-Town moves to TV... or that our TV otherwise begins to reflect the diversity of our country (not holding my breath, however). Also, please bring Geordie Shore to the US – maybe PBS. PBS viewers love British TV. Thanks!
The New York Times
Source: The New York Times, May 17, 2012
http://markets.on.nytimes.com/research/stocks/news/press_release.asp?docTag=201205171115PR_NEWS_USPRX____NY09145&feedID=600&press_symbol=140864
http://markets.on.nytimes.com/research/stocks/news/press_release.asp?docTag=201205171115PR_NEWS_USPRX____NY09145&feedID=600&press_symbol=140864
PRESS RELEASE: Electus Announces K-Town, the First Unscripted Series from
its Pop Culture YouTube™ Channel, LOUD, Set to Launch on July 2nd
5/25/2012
The Korea Times
http://www.koreatimes.com/article/730161
Source: The Korea Times, May 19, 2012
Source: The Korea Times, May 19, 2012
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5/24/2012
Racebending
http://racebending.tumblr.com/post/23617561284/k-town-the-asian-jersey-shore-reality-show
Source: Racebending.com, May 23, 2012
Source: Racebending.com, May 23, 2012
K-Town, the “Asian Jersey
Shore” reality show
Donny Tru wrote:
Hey guys! Not a Tumblr user but I keep up with this
blog as often as I can.
Just wanted to know your thoughts on the K-town
reality show. I saw their trailer: http://youtu.be/LqMh0IAJo20
My feelings are still mixed about it but I’m not
articulate enough to explain why exactly. I’m really happy for them coming out
with their own reality show especially since Angry Asian Man recently tweeted
that the Real World has never casted an Asian American male and don’t get me
started on the lack of Asian contestants on such shows as The Bachelor/ette.
But at the same time, it feels exploited, you know? Perhaps I’ll be wrong once
the episodes air this July. Anyhoo, would love to read an educated response to
the show and also see other readers’ response on it. Thanks, keep up the good
work!
I (Marissa) am not that familiar with K-Town but I
know that Mike (who also works on Racebending) has spoken a lot about it with
Michael Le, who is one of the producers of the reality series.
I think any time there are going to be depictions
of Asian Americans on TV it is totally legit to be nervous, especially after
seeing how crappy depictions can do so much damage to the community. There is
an entire generation of Asian Americans still reeling from the inaneness of
Long Duk Dong, for example. (The Asian American’s glorious contribution, as
dictated by white Hollywood, to the John Hughes movies everyone waxes so
nostalgic about. Yay?)
It’s also true that Asian Americans are not cast on
reality shows as often. People of color aren’t cast as often in general which
is why there is currently a lawsuit against the show The Bachelor pointing out
all 23 seasons were incredibly white. Things have gotten better for Asian
Americans on reality TV since Yul Kwon won “Survivor”. Several years back the
Media Action Network for Asian Americans and other groups in the Asian Pacific
American Media Coalition asked studios why they were not casting Asians. The
studios responded that Asians did not respond to casting calls. The APA groups
challenged them to target casting calls to Asian Americans (hence why Angry
Asian Man posts them sometimes) and since then they’ve been able to cast Asian
Americans if they want to (so there’s almost always Asian Americans on “The
Amazing Race”!) But it hasn’t been easy to get Asian Americans on screen, it is
something we have had to struggle for…as evidenced by the fact that “K-Town”
couldn’t get any networks to distribute the all-APA show and is distributing
episodes online instead.
What I find interesting about K-Town is that it
challenges not only depictions of nearly all-white reality shows but also
challenges depictions of Koreatown in and of itself. In a lot of other
television series, especially procedurals, there is always the “Chinatown”
episode where the intrepid white heroes go to an Asian ethnic enclave where
they run into the only Asians that entire season to troubleshoot some of the
Asians’ problems (triad related murders, arranged marriages, snakeheads,
prostitutes in sweatshops, honor killings, honor, honor, honor) with a handy
helping of Asian American actors forced to affect a heavy accent and scripted
to act like pathetic victims or inscrutable, unscrupulous business people.
Someone who bases his preconceived notions of Koreatown on that kind of media
would, by watching the series or hearing about it, learn that K-town is
something different…a diverse area of mid-town LA with a hopping night scene
and Asian Americans who can speaka English and are not victims or criminals.
I think all reality shows are exploitative to some
degree. The worry would be if “K-Town” is racially exploitative, but I think
that speaks more to the limited amount of roles available for Asian Americans
in entertainment media more than anything else. White actors are depicted in a
broad range of roles ranging from heroes to villains, so when reality shows
depict people who are white as say, reckless partygoers with interpersonal
drama, no one would ever say “ah, all white people must be like that” or worry
if there will be new stereotypes formed or repercussions on how white people
are perceived or treated. There are enough other different and nuanced
depictions of white people that it isn’t seen as a threat or something that
might have sweeping racial repercussions.
The same is not true for Asian Americans because we are not depicted in
a way that allows us to showcase our community’s full diversity. There are
restrictions imposed on by Hollywood as well as our community’s own—completely
understandable and considerable—anxiety over radical depictions of Asian
Americans. To me, the issue isn’t that K-Town might depict Asian Americans as
_____, ______, and ______ people, so much as that when contrasted against other
depictions of Asian Americans in media, it is clear that our full diversity is
no where near represented.
5/22/2012
LA Curbed
http://la.curbed.com/archives/2012/05/preview_the_ktown_reality_show_premiering_this_summer.php
Source: LA Curbed, May 22, 2012
Preview the K-Town Reality Show, Premiering This Summer
Tuesday, May 22, 2012, by Adrian Glick Kudler
Oh, this will be glorious: the Koreatown reality show K-Town is officially a go and will launch on July 2 online. We first reported on the kids-leading-crazy-lives-in-Ktown concept way back in April 2010 (as Jersey Shore fever ravaged America) and met the cast in July that year, around the time the pilot was shot. Finally now The Hollywood Reporter reports that the studio Electus has greenlit the show for 10 episodes to run on its new LOUD YouTube channel; executive producers will also include former model Tyrese Gibson (and his partners Mike Le, Eugene Choi, and Eddie Kim) and Liz Gately and Tony DiSanto of Jersey Shore and The Hills. Meaning this will be some damn good trainwreck TV. Here're some of the people we'll see falling down drunk at Bobo's in just a few months: "a trouble-making former exotic dancer, a gossip blogger who moonlights as a bartender and a club promoter." Episodes will only be10 minutes each, but the show could eventually "cross over into television."
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