Moana Nui Podcast

Episode 23: The Art of Filmmaking with Christian Oh, President DC Asian Pacific Film Festival

Christian is an academic, social media guru, event producer, filmmaker and talent manager who has been active in the Asian American community across the U.S. for 17 years. He currently chairs the board of the DC Shorts International Film Festival and is President/Executive Director of the DC Asian Pacific Film Festival. He has produced and directed many award-winning shorts, music videos, commercials, and public service announcements. Christian also loves producing events and helped numerous organizations with a variety of events, including the Korean Festival of Maryland from 2016-2019, NC Korean Festival from 2019-2020, KORUS Festival of VA from 2006-2015 and Korean Center, Inc. of San Francisco with their successful 1st Annual Bay Area Chuseok Festival this past October. Christian was an adjunct faculty for the Asian American Studies program at University of Maryland where he taught ethnic studies in film, video and social media. He studied at the George Washington University Documentary Center and interned at film festivals including Cannes and Sundance. Born in Seoul, South Korea and raised in Iowa, Ohio and Virginia, Christian now lives in the DC Metro area.
Connect with Christian: 
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/apafilm
IG and Twitter: @xianoh
http://www.apafilm.org
 
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Booking Information
Contact: moananuipodcast@gmail.com
About Moana Nui Podcast:
Moana Nui Podcast is a storytelling podcast to celebrate and honor the history, culture, & perspectives of POC, indigenous, and African Diasporan peoples. 
#MoanaNuiPodcast #XianOh #ChristianOh #Filmmaking #AAPICreatives #DCAsianPacificFilmFestival

Episode 22: The Most Enthusiastic Man in Comics with Mike Watson

 
Mike Watson is a comic book artist/creator for Freestyle Komics hailing from Cleveland, OH, as well as the host of Chat and Draw. Holding a bachelor degree in Fine Arts from the Columbus College of Art and Design where he helped to publish CCAD’s first comic. Mike has been working in the comic field since 2005 beginning with his own publishing house Freestyle Komics. He creates the comic series Hotshot (Nominated Best Indie Ongoing Series 2006). 
You can find him on all platforms @mostepicart.
Tune in to Chat and Draw on Twitch - http://www.twitch.tv/mostepicart.
His comics shop is at http://www.fsknow.com.
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Booking Information
Contact: moananuipodcast@gmail.com
About Moana Nui Podcast:
Moana Nui Podcast is a storytelling podcast to celebrate and honor the history, culture, & perspectives of POC, indigenous, and African Diasporan peoples. 
#MoanaNuiPodcast #MostEpicArt #FreestyleKomics #ChatAndDraw #IndieComics 

Episode 21: Subsume Media

Dedren Snead is the creator/ writer of the Glyph Comics Award-nominated comic book series, Sorghum and Spear, and creator-writer of the upcoming Turnkey comic book series. He is a writer, content creator, and being both a Futurist and Retroist, his mind wanders throughout the space-time continuum, with at 10 year +/- around 1993 as the focal point of his many fandoms. He is the co-host of the New Wakanda podcast and head writer at RAZRWING, Inc.
 
In this episode, Dedren joins us to talk about Sorgum and Spear, a project he created with the great Nichelle Nichols, the actress best known for her role on Star Trek: The Original Series. Within the pages of this fantasy epic, we find an African saga about young girls called to serve their people in a time of war during their ages of innocence. For a young farm girl named NAMAZZI who dreams of escaping the sleepy farm village of her birth, her life would be forever changed the day that monsters came there to find her.
Dedren shares his knowledge of the Dahomey Amazon women of West Africa who influenced  this series and how the women in his own life inspired his storytelling. 
You can find more about Dedren at:
http://www.subsumelife.com
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Contact: moananuipodcast@gmail.com
About Moana Nui Podcast:
Moana Nui Podcast is a storytelling podcast to celebrate and honor the history, culture, & perspectives of POC, indigenous, and African Diasporan peoples. 
#MoanaNuiPodcast #DedrenSnead #SubsumeMedia #SorgumAndSpear #IndieComics #GreeneCountyCreative

Episode 20: Level Up With Glenn Lawrence

Glenn Lawrence was born in Philadelphia, PA and raised all over the US. He brings a unique perspective to comedy. His quick witted style quirky point of view has allowed to grace stages all over the country from California to D.C. in addition to being a seasoned performer Glenn also produces both content via his LevelUp Comedy YouTube channel and various podcasts in the DC area including My Fantasy Wife with Comedienne Blair Postman. Glenn has performed all over the country including The Sundance Film Festival 2019 and hosted and featured with comedians like Tony Rock, Paris Sashay, Rob Maher, Rahmein Mostafavi and Franqi French.
You can find more about Glenn at:
http://www.instagram.com/glennlawrencecomedy,
http://www.instagram.com/levelupcomedy
http://www.levelupcomedy.com 
http://www.youtube.com/LevelUpComedyDC
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Contact: moananuipodcast@gmail.com
About Moana Nui Podcast:
Moana Nui Podcast is a storytelling podcast to celebrate and honor the history, culture, & perspectives of POC, indigenous, and African Diasporan peoples. 
#MoanaNuiPodcast #GlennLawrence #LevelUpComedy #comedian#humor #arts 

Episode 19: Defying Stereotypes and Trailblazing with Alan Z

 
Alan Z is a triple threat within the entertainment industry who carved his own lane as a versatile artist that raps and sings to bridge the gap between hip-hop and R&B but also bring more diversity with the music and acting industry. With his music, Alan Z intricately weaves pop, R&B, and hip-hop aggression into a tapestry that defines stereotypes and labels. Alan Z is planning to continue his platform to bring attention to social issues, bring diversity to the entertainment industry, and support other upcoming Asian and Pacific Islander artists. Alanʻs music has also been featured on the Netflix series, Wu Assassins.
Alan recently released his hit album Face Value in collaboration with Jason Chu featuring other Asian artists such as Dante Basco, Chow Mane, and Neela. Alan also wrote and produced an exclusive song for us here at the Moana Nui Podcast that highlights the untold stories of Hawaiiʻs long-standing history. 
 
You can find more about Alan at:
http://www.alanzmusic.com/
http://www.instagram.com/alanzmusic
https://www.facebook.com/alanzmusic
https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCpUZULtrIfCQqxFehxcK63w
Follow the Moana Nui Podcast:
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Contact: moananuipodcast@gmail.com
About Moana Nui Podcast:
Moana Nui Podcast is a storytelling podcast to celebrate and honor the history, culture, & perspectives of POC, indigenous, and African Diasporan peoples. 
#MoanaNuiPodcast #AlanZ #AlanZMusic #FaceValue #AAPIExcellence #AsianAmerican #StopAsianHate 

Episode 18: Slaying Your Demons With David Crownson

David Crownson is the CEO and Founder of Kingwood Comics. Born and raised in the exotic town of Frenchtown, New Jersey with Ghanaian roots, David Crownson is the Creator / Writer of Harriet Tubman : Demon Slayer. He is also an actor & filmmaker developing the upcoming web series Black Irish for YouTube Red.
In this episode, Moana and Dana chat with David about how the books he read as a kid shaped his worldview and inspired his desire to tell stories of his own. He talked about the good ʻol days where kids often read books and spent lots of time in the library while waiting for their parents to get off work.
David also shares his travel tips about his ancestral home, Ghana, and sheds light on the stark differences he experienced in Accra to include better food quality. By connecting to his Ghanaian roots, Davidʻs discovered how he and Harriet Tubman shared a connection back to Ghana and a great sense of humor which later influenced how he wrote his flagship comic - Harriet Tubman: Demon Slayer. Tune in for the full story!
You can find more about David at:
https://www.instagram.com/dcrownson/
https://www.facebook.com/Kingwoodcomics/
https://www.kingwoodcomics.com
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Contact: moananuipodcast@gmail.com
About Moana Nui Podcast:
Moana Nui Podcast is a storytelling podcast to celebrate and honor the history, culture, & perspectives of POC, indigenous, and African Diasporan peoples. 
#MoanaNuiPodcast #DavidCrownson #KingWoodComics #WhereBlackIsKing #BlackCreators #HarrietTubman #Ghana 

Episode 17: All Education Is Special Education

Davie Yarborough is an artist, educator, entrepreneur, and healer.  Her passions include writing, education, experimenting with music, storytelling, reading young adult novels, and finding new ways to be creative. She currently resides in Hawaii where continues her work in Education and the Creative Arts.
In this episode, Moana chats with Davie about the ups and downs of the often thankless job of an educator. Davie shares her journey and the lessons she learned following in the footsteps of her parents who were lifelong educators in the DC school system.
"Strong leadership that isn't so far removed from the classroom is incredibly important. Leadership can make a huge difference in how the institution runs and how teachers feel supported."
In a broader sense, Davie reminds us that everyone can be a resourceful philanthropist who gives back to the community they live in.
You can find more about Davie at:
https://www.facebook.com/missdaviec
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Contact: moananuipodcast@gmail.com
About Moana Nui Podcast:
Moana Nui Podcast is a storytelling podcast to celebrate and honor the history, culture, & perspectives of POC, indigenous, and African Diasporan peoples. 
#MoanaNuiPodcast #DavieCeleste #Education #Teachers #FreeYourMind #literacy #arts 
 
 

Epsiode 16: Healing and Hope Through Music with Rapper and Activist, Jason Chu

Jason Chu is a rapper and activist that is laying thoughtfully crafted lyricism over jazzy lo-fi beats and high energy trap bangers. He has performed at the White House during Obama's administration, The Getty Center, and the Chinese American Museum of Los Angeles. You can hear his music on Netflix (Wu Assassins), Cinemax (Warrior), and network TV. He tours extensively with shows across the US and worldwide. 
 
 
You can find more about Jason at:
http://www.jasonchumusic.com
http://www.instagram.com/jasonchumusic
http://www.twitter.com/jasonchumusic
http://www.facebook.com/jasonchumusic
Follow the Moana Nui Podcast:
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http://www.twitch.tv/moananuipodcast
Contact: moananuipodcast@gmail.com
About Moana Nui Podcast:
Moana Nui Podcast is a storytelling podcast to celebrate and honor the history, culture, & perspectives of POC, indigenous, and African Diasporan peoples. 
#MoanaNuiPodcast #JasonChuMusic #FaceValue #AAPIExcellence #AsianAmerican #StopAsianHate