The YouTubers who were making Asian-American films long before Crazy Rich Asians
- Launched in 2003, Wong Fu Productions creates hugely popular YouTube features about Asian-American lives
- Once rejected by Hollywood, they’re now taking another shot
Crazy Rich Asians, this year’s romantic comedy blockbuster based on the book by Kevin Kwan, was an undoubted sensation.
The film’s success has raised hopes for a new era of Asian representation in film and television, and that Asian-American cinema is on the cusp of a golden age. For the many Asian-Americans who have struggled for years to have their performances seen, and voices heard, by an entertainment industry that had routinely showed no interest in them, it is an especially exciting time.
For the co-founders of Wong Fu Productions, a digital production company based in Pasadena, that optimism is tempered by caution.
“I think this moment is very significant, but we try not to get too caught up because we’ve heard this all before,” says Wesley Chan, one of the company’s co-founders. “Anyway, we’ve been doing what Crazy Rich is doing for years now, just on the digital front.”
Wong Fu launched in 2003 and its work has become hugely popular, particularly among Asian-American college students. Its YouTube channel has racked up more than 500 million views and boasts more than three million subscribers. The first episode of its most ambitious series to date, Yappie, has been watched more than 700,000 times.
