Category Archives: boston

Help fund The Blue Line

Help fund The Blue Line

Inspired by THE TOWN, THE DEPARTED, THE FIGHTER and THE BOSTON RED SOX, director Kevin Boston and his crew are looking to create a boston cop drama series, The Blue Line. In Boston, when a car has a sticker of a “blue line” on it’s window, you know he’s a cop! It’s passion project developed by a diverse ensemble of experienced/talented artist. They want to bring you an authentic show with many realistic twist/turns of true stories about Boston. Here’s more about the cop series:

In Boston you grow up with the most crooked of criminals as your best friends and can turn out to be the most loyal of lawmen with your brothers in blue. The line is so blurred that when you wake in the morning and look in the mirror you hardly recognize the boy you were or the man you’ve become. For Detectives Mak (David Yee), Briggs (Wes McGee), and Torres (Jorge-Luis Pallo) there are a lot of shades between black and white and they’re divided by The Blue Line.

Detective Mak fights with following in his crime lord father’s footsteps, Briggs struggles to keep up with his dying wife’s medical bills and Torres sinks into a co-dependent, addictive love affair. Will these champions of Boston’s Finest prevail over adversity or fall further into a world of depravity? These questions are answered in The Blue Line original series.

Learn more on how you can fund the project here. You even have a chance to become an Associate Producer.

You might recognize some of Kevin Boston’s work in the music video for Charlie Sheen by Traphik x Dumbfoundead x Jin and All The way Turnt up by JimmyBoi x Smitty.

The Blue Line trailer (contains profanity)

The Blue Line fundraising

Kollaboration Boston 1 : Behind the scenes

Kollaboration Boston 1 : Behind the scenes

Kollaboration Boston 1 on April 16, 2011 was not only the first Kollaboration event in Boston, but also the first city-wide Asian-American talent show to ever hit the city. Over 1000 people packed into the John Hancock Hall in downtown Boston to support what the Kollaboration executive director and MC for the night, Roy Choi, called the “empowerment through entertainment” movement. Guest performers Ahmir, Jane Lui, Sam Kang, D-Pryde, and Erika David helped to hype up the crowd as nine hopeful finalists performed for judges Lui, Vudoo Soul, Sarah Elentukh, Giles Li, and Enrique Novales. At the end of the night, the Boston-based dance team Synergy took second place and Tufts University’s Blackout Step Team was named the Kollaboration Boston winner.
Though the night went so smoothly that it almost seemed effortless, the Kollaboration Boston team worked tirelessly behind the scenes for months to ensure that they could successfully bring Kollaboration to its 12th city. channelAPA got the chance to talk to some of the E-Board members to learn more about their experiences, their goals, and the challenges of being a Kollaboration team composed entirely of college students and young professionals.

Kollaboration has established itself as an incredible, empowering event for the APA community. How does it feel knowing that you’ve helped to successfully bring Kollaboration to Boston?

Eric Nam (Executive Director): I often told my team that working with Kollaboration Boston was like working in a startup where you always had to be on your toes and ready for things to deviate from the plan. Having said that, I am very pleased with how Kollaboration Boston 1 came together and am so thankful for all of the support from friends, family, and the community.

Shannon Pan (Programming Director): It is incredibly empowering to be part of the team that [brought] Kollaboration to Boston for the first time in history. Boston has a large APA community, but there is still a lot work to be done when it comes to bringing Asian American talent to the forefront. Knowing that we are making progress and are striving for a positive change brings me immense happiness because I know I am part of something phenomenal.

Haylee Thikeo (Programming Director): Just knowing that I am a part of Kollaboration Boston’s history is astonishing. I still can’t even believe it myself. Nine months ago, the Kollaboration Boston team came together as strangers with a vision for a unified show. It just goes to show how hungry the East Coast is for events to showcase the APA movement.

What have been some of the highlights of your experience?

Sue Byun (Public Relations Director): My favorite part of the experience was working with an amazing team of spunky passionate people from all different skill sets and backgrounds. Another was really being able to take pride in what we were doing – showcasing truly amazing vocalists, dancers, beatboxers, rappers, and musicians at a world-class performing arts venue.

Eric: The finalists are all amazing people and it was a pleasure getting to know them and working with them throughout the process. Even now, after the show, we are in touch with them, are friends, and they are collaborating (no pun intended) on side projects as they continue on their paths as artists. For me, it was not only the relationships with the finalists that were meaningful, but also the strong bonds that I was able to build with my Kollaboration Boston team. I like to think of them as my family and it was a true pleasure getting to know each and everyone of them as we pursued the same goal.

Qian Chen (Associate Director): We sold out just hours before the show but those numbers didn’t really hit me until I saw the full house, and then I realized that my team and I made it happen. It definitely was an incredible experience. We had put nine months of work into this and a lot of it was behind the scenes, so seeing it all come together was awesome.

Can you describe what it was like working with such a young team as well as some of the challenges you had to overcome to make Kollaboration Boston happen?

Qian: One of the biggest challenges that we faced was the distance and spread of our team. In order to make it a true Kollaboration Boston, we pulled together a team from all campuses in Boston. We had people driving in an hour to come to meetings. A lot of our work was done over Skype or phone calls, which made communication difficult at first. However, in spite of all these difficulties we grew as a family and got used to waking up and sleeping to Kollaboration Boston.

Sue: Making something materialize essentially out of thin air was definitely the biggest challenge. We worked closely with LA headquarters, who really mentored us in terms of the big picture and made sure we worked within Kollaboration’s tried and true success formula that has worked so well in 12 cities so far. Still, our team was guided by little more than the big picture idea: bringing Asian American entertainment into the mainstream by putting on a show of epic proportions.

What kind of message do you hope Kollaboration Boston will send out to the wider community?

Shannon: I hope Kollaboration will be an inspiration to the young Asian Americans of Boston. We need to be proactive, passionate, and committed because we are a generation that can make a difference.

Eric: As cliché as it may sound, if you have the passion, the inspiration and the drive to pursue something, you can achieve it. I hope that Kollaboration Boston will be an annual event that will serve as a rallying point – not only for the APA community but also for the greater Boston community – as it continues to celebrate the arts and the various talents in the community.

Qian: I think one thing that distinguishes the city of Boston is that most of the younger generation here are not locals. We have no real ties to the city except for the fact that we spend four years here for college and some get jobs here afterwards. However, we are dedicated to the city and we still want to help it grow as much as we can. As college students, we grow to love Boston as our own and as Asian Americans, we need some stronger representation in the mainstream media.

Haylee: I hope that the APA community in the New England area learns from Kollaboration that the best ammunition for fighting against negative stereotypes in the media is to create events that celebrate our accomplishments and talents. I hope that events like Kollaboration Boston inspire people to take activism into their own hands in a positive light. Not only can someone just sit there and blog about the issues, but we got to take direct positive action as well. We got to go out there and make a difference!

Kollaboration Boston 1 performers interview

2011 Kollaboration Boston : Ghosts on a G6 (Dance Finalists)

2011 Kollaboration Boston : Ghosts on a G6 (Dance Finalists)

The crew behind the first Kollaboration Boston has been really busy. Not only did they release a video for the music finalists (The Show Goes On), but they’ve also got one for the dance finalists. Watch the original choreography to “Deadmau5 vs Far East Movement – Ghosts on a G6” by the Kollaboration Boston 1 dance finalists :

– Synergy Hip Hop Dance Company
– A Portrait from Space
– BlackOut Step Team
– Unofficial Project

Get a taste of what you can expect this weekend out in Boston. Be a part of the city’s 1st ever Asian American talent show competition! Get your tickets here! The event take place on Saturday, April 16, 2011. Doors 6PM. Show 7PM.

In addition to these competitors, you’ll also get to see amazing performances from D-Pryde, Erika David, Jane Lui, Sam Kang, and AHMIR. Tickets are moving fast.

2011 Kollaboration Boston : Ghosts on a G6 (Dance Finalists)

2011 Kollaboration Boston : The Show Goes On

2011 Kollaboration Boston : The Show Goes On

It’s been a tradition for every Kollaboration to release a music video with all the competing vocalist. For the very first Kollaboration Boston, it’s no different. Watch Diverse Duo, Kris Liu, Liz Peter, Miggy Milla, and the trio (Gen, Neil, & Isaac) demonstrate their musical talent. These finalists cover Lupe Fiasco’s The Show Goes On, but put a Kollaboration twist on it. Along with these singers, you’ll also see dance crews A Portrait from Space, Blackout, Synergy, and Unofficial Project all compete for a $1000 prize on the day of the show. Who will be crowned the winner?

You can find out at the 2011 Kollaboration Boston. Guest judges include Vudoo Soul, Jane Lui, and Sarah Elentukh of Static Noyze Dance Company. Be a part of the city’s 1st ever Asian American talent show competition! Get your tickets here! The event take place on Saturday, April 16, 2011. Doors 6PM. Show 7PM.

In addition to all the competitors, you’ll also get to see amazing performances from D-Pryde, Erika David, Jane Lui, Sam Kang, and AHMIR.

2011 Kollaboration Boston : The Show Goes On

2011 Kollaboration Boston

2011 Kollaboration Boston

Kollaboration Boston is right around the corner. If you’re in the area, you’ll get a chance to see these Kollaboration Boston 1 finalists compete:

A Portrait from Space
A Portrait from Space (APFS) is a talented popping dance crew comprised of current BU students and alums. They aim to bring back the retro street dancing style, and for every performance they stay in character. Their “method acting” take on pop and lock dance gives APFS a unique flavor that sets them apart from other dance crews. While on stage, they have been known to turn into robots, not speaking or breaking character until their performance is finished.

Blackout
BlackOut is an all-male performing arts collective from Tufts University using their hands, feet, and entire bodies rather than instruments as their forms of expression, creating a unique brand of rhythmic patterns and music.

Diverse Duo
John Le and Jason Montes of Diverse Duo two talented lyricists coming from the Greater Boston area. Coming from Medford and Revere Beach, John and Jason are known as “J-Good” & “J-L00$3”.

Kris Liu
Kris is a beat-boxer and freshman at Harvard, hailing all the way from Taipei, Taiwan. While he has lived most of his life in Taiwan, he considers himself both Taiwanese and very much Asian American. Kris first made his mark beat boxing at Harvard by winning Harvard’s Freshman Talent Show 2010.

Liz Peter
Liz Peter is a talented vocalist in her junior year at Boston College. She is active in many musical organizations such as BC’s Christian acappella group Against the Current, and BC gospel choir Voices of Imani.

Miggy Milla
As lead singer and rhythm guitarist for his live band, Miggy Milla is a Filipino American vocal artist who loves sharing his music. He hopes to record his first album before the end of this year.

Gen, Neil, & Isaac
This talented Chinese, Filipino, Korean musical trio from Berklee College of Music has got it all. From beat making to producing, singing and rapping, these young artists bring to you a dynamic mixture of their musical talents. Get ready to put your hands up because this crew’s going to push the limits of sound.

Synergy
Started in 2004, Synergy performs and competes across Boston and the East Coast. The crew has been in the Prelude EC Competition, World of Dance Tour, and Main Event competition.

Unofficial Project
Founded in 2005, Unofficial Project is Boston University’s premier Asian hip-hop dance crew with a unique blend of Asian and American hip-hop culture. “UPro” has performed throughout Boston and the New England area.

Not only will you see great up and coming artists and entertainers compete, but you’ll also see some great special performances from D-Pryde, Erika David, Jane Lui, Sam Kang, and AHMIR.

Guest judges for the competition include Vudoo Soul, Jane Lui, and Sarah Elentukh of Static Noyze Dance Company.

2011 Kollaboration Boston trailer

Kollaboration Boston 1 Finalists

Kollaboration Boston 1 Finalists

Despite Boston’s large APA presence, there have not been any opportunities or experiences that both unite the community to expose its vast talents. Kollaboration Boston seeks to fill that void by serving as a platform for entertainment, awareness, community and talent for greater Boston. Given the success of the annual Kollaboration shows in 11 cities across the Unites States, it was only a matter of time until Kollaboration Boston came to life. That time is now. Kollaboration Boston is the city’s first Asian-American talent show. Contestants will compete before celebrity judges and a live audience for cash prizes.

Here’s a list of finalist featured for Kollaboration Boston 1:
A Portrait from Space
Blackout
John Le
Kris Liu
Liz Peter
Miggy Milla
Gen, Neil, & Isaac
Synergy
Unofficial Project

Special Guest Information Coming Soon!

The event takes place on April 16, 2011 at John Hancock Hall, located at 180 Berkeley Street Boston, MA 02116.

Kollaboration Boston 1 Finalists