"A little help from your friends"

To the many people that touch upon this page,

For the past 2 weeks I have been out in the mix of people and emails, continuing to reach out for support towards the production costs of "That Asian Thing" Showcase & Film. I would like to personally thank all the people that take the time to read our emails or listen to us speak, because I know how consuming it can be. However, I would like to take this post to extrapolate on the reason to donate.

"That Asian Thing" is a solely independent film and is primarily run by myself - Jonald Reyes. I decided to take this project on because I've always wondered why there weren't more knowledge of Asian American artists in America. Basically, my own group of friends have been a heavy mix of many races & ethnicities, however, when it came to discussing mainstream culture, I couldn't name drop any well known Asian American actor or musical group that they could relate to. From my own knowledge, I knew names, but Lucy Liu and Bruce Lee can only get you so far in those types of conversations without getting into another debate about martial art films.

The point I'm trying to make is that this film/concert showcase needs funding in order to 1. have a live gala event for the younger generation to experience and realize that they have musically talented artists within their own race in America and 2. to visually project this point of view to a wider audience across the nation.

For the past year, I have been on Google.com nonstop - looking up all Asian American related issues, organizations, articles, websites, blogs, movies, music, online stores, myspace profiles, etc., etc., etc. to realize that there is a LOT of Asian American culture but to my own surprise, no bigger plateu that they can all relate to. And this is what I would like "That Asian Thing" to be. A defining film that Asians/Asian Americans can tell others about and to be able to throw into with those cultural debates.

So next time, I talk to my friends I can name drop: the Pacifics, Jennifer Liu of Stir Friday Night, Cynthia Lin, I.B.U., Stephen Munoz, Jami Gong of TakeOut Comedy, etc., etc., etc........

Help "That Asian Thing" make a difference! Every little bit helps and we're always, always open for any thoughts or ideas to help us out (asianthing@gmail.com). Pass the word along and generous donors can look to the sidebar for their acknowledgement.

Many, many thanks!!