Blog 2: Asian American Grassroots Outreach
- In his blog, found on the Center for Asian American Media website, John Fong reveals that marketing and outreach is a large problem that filmmakers face when trying to release Asian American films. This was especially true during the very beginnings of mainstream Asian American films produced in the early 2000’s. The main reason for this was a lack of funding from companies who were not willing to invest in an unknown market and audience. The focus of his post is the way that these filmmakers were able to overcome their budget obstacles through a grassroots approach, turning their efforts and attention directly to the community they are trying to reach.
- Fong provides examples of this kind of “community-focused marketing”(3) strategies that were employed in movies like The Debut (2001), Better Luck Tomorrow (2002), and Finishing the Game (2007). During the marketing period for the movie The Debut, producers held, “an immense amount of meetings and presentations to the area’s large Filipino population, the target audience for the film”(6). This approach that was directly aimed toward the the audience was one of the first of its kind and it was found to have great success, influencing the marketing for the movie Better Luck Tomorrow that was released the next year. Producers of this movie expanded their attention to a larger target audience, building a “massive pan-Asian campaign, around not only the film, but an idea of “cool” defined by the film’s envelope pushing, controversial content” (7). This strategy made use of young Asian American’s “need to belong and be a part of something” (7). The result of this was success at the box office with sales totalling $3.5 million as well as showing the Asian American community the power that they had in supporting the films they want to be seen made. The “legacy and longevity”(8) of this approach was demonstrated by the “extensive grassroots campaign” employed for the 2007 film Finishing the Game which again saw success from reaching out directly to the community.
- The “grass-roots strategy” is the main term and idea that is focused on in this blog post. The basic meaning in this context of producing Asian American films is “asking for support from the community” (3). Examples of this strategy in action included, “emails from film directors asking for support, campus visits…opening night parties, entire screenings…” (4)
- One of the first examples of the effect of community support in the success of a film can be seen in the 1982 film Chan is Missing. The film surpassed all expectations, garnering unexpected popularity at the box office. Being one of the first films of the Asian American genre, there was a large appeal for the Asian American community to view and support a perspective that had not been previously seen portrayed on the big screen before.
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