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APAHM 2011 – Conference Recap Part II

May 29, 2011 11:33 am
@BennyDuh
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…continued from Part I with Christine Gambito, SuChin Pak and Jenny Shimizu

Cung Le

Cung was born in Vietnam and just a few years young, his family was on the run during the wrath of the communist Vietcong. Three days shy of the fall of Saigon, his family was safely escorted by helicopter to a refugee camp in the Philippines. Fortunately, just a few weeks stay at the camp, their sponsor in America was able to secure the family’s immigration to California. Although their home was of considerable size (4 bed/2 bath), it housed a total of 14 family members. He roomed with his mom and three aunts, who still claims that living with four women was what made Cung the tough man that he is today.

Life at school was marred by constant bullying and name-calling – most notably from another eventual green card holder, Domingo. Cung urged his parents to sign him up for martial arts classes but his mother encouraged him to speak up for himself instead. However, Cung’s limited knowledge of the English language did not help his cause and the bullying continued. One day, as Cung was on his way to pick up his lunch voucher, he again crossed paths with the intimidating Domingo. Unable to get around Dom as the bigger bully countered Cung stride for stride, he closed his eyes, pulled back his clenched fist and unloaded the hardest punch he could throw. Next thing Cung knew, Dom was on the ground bleeding so he ran for his life to the office, went inside and held the door shut. Dom followed suit and a struggle ensued as he tried to get at Cung behind the door. Screaming for help at the top of his lungs, a member of the faculty finally came and separated the two. For two straight days, Cung kept a low profile and constantly looked behind his back for Dom. Finally, on the third day and with his guard down, Dom picked Cung off on his way back home. The bully, shaking his head, went off on Cung and completely bloodied his whole face. After coming around and refusing help from a passerby, he went home to the shock of his mom. Cung’s parents finally conceded and signed him up for martial arts. However, many classes were missed due to his parents’ busy work schedule so Cung would practice at home by mimicking Bruce Lee films, but not to much avail.

In high school, Cung was introduced to wrestling and his coach happened to be same person that separated him and Dom years earlier. Despite his early struggles in wrestling, he continued working hard while envisioning all his opponents as Dom. Cung went on to become an All-American and have a celebrated college career. With a strong background in wrestling, Cung continued down the same path and had a dominating career in Sanshou, K-1 kickboxing and eventually landed in MMA (mixed martial arts) – the highlight of which was his defeat of living legend Frank Shamrock in front of a capacity crowd (half of which was a supportive Asian contingent) at the HP Pavilion in San Jose.

Taking a change of course from MMA, Cung’s acting career has taken off in recent years having starred alongside Donnie Yen & Tony Leung in Bodyguard and Assassins. Fans will see Cung star with Russell Crowe, Lucy Liu, Jean-Claude Van Damme, and Zhang Ziyi in upcoming releases.

Key takeaways:
(1) With the minimum GPA requirement for athletes, school sports helped Cung maintain his focus in the classroom.

(2) Talent, alone, is not enough. Success is a byproduct of all the hard work you put in.

(3) Lastly, coconut juice is a significant part of Cung’s training regimen as it is full of electrolytes and a great alternative to Gatorade.

***

Teddy Zee

Teddy grew up very impoverished and had the misguided notion that it was because he was Asian that his family was poor. This naïve idea made Teddy very ashamed of being Asian.

His first job after graduating from Cornell was working in the personnel department for NBC. While at NBC, he took an interest to the programming side of the business and was fascinated by the fact that there was an individual, behind the scenes, responsible for the direction of various programs on air. After asking the NBC executive what it takes to get his job, Teddy was just told that he went to Harvard Business School. Teddy quickly applied, was accepted and went back to get his MBA at Harvard.

Upon graduating from Harvard, Teddy returned to NBC in hopes of landing the executive position. Much to his disappointment, he was rejected. Teddy took a turn and began working as a consultant for Touche Ross. While he had a high salary, Teddy quickly became disillusioned and decided to give the entertainment industry another shot. After knocking on a few doors, Teddy eventually landed in Paramount Pictures as a creative executive. Although he took a big pay cut from his consulting days and worked up to 80 hours a week, Teddy didn’t mind at all because he loved what he did.

This self-proclaimed couch/pop culture junky is no slouch whatsoever. Teddy’s career includes holding the position of Senior VP of Production at Paramount Pictures and Executive VP of Production at Columbia Pictures. Notable films under his belt as a producer include the Pursuit of Happyness, Hitch, West 32nd, and Saving Face. Also, thinking Chow Yun Fat was the sexiest man alive, Teddy championed for Chow’s American debut in The Replacement Killers. Teddy’s films have grossed over $1.7 billion at the box office.

Key takeaways:
(1) Teddy offered sound advice on having tunnel vision and staying with your passion – “Plan B is just an excuse not to go after Plan A. If your heart’s not into it, Plan B will never work.”

(2) Teddy noted that ignorance is bliss and this has worked to his advantage. This is in reference to the time he took a pay cut to pursue his passion and work in the tough entertainment industry – “I’m glad I wasn’t smart enough to know what the odds were.”

(3) Teddy also mentioned that we are our best proponents and also our own worst enemy. He advised Christine Gambito not to put a ceiling on herself and fully explore her own potential. These are certainly wise words for us all.

***
Outro

This conference was an enlightening experience for the next generation of Asian-Americans. The five pioneers gave insightful narratives of their past while offering sound advice. The pervasive theme is that each individual had a passion in their craft and stuck to it despite all the odds. As we live in a digital age today, you can be seen and heard worldwide at the simple click of a button. So ask yourself, what is your passion and go after it. The world is your playground.

WATCH THE PHOTO SLIDESHOW

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See below for additional info on the relevant players of this conference:

Verizon & Affiliate Sponsors: VerizonAPAHM.com | @VZWAPAHM2011

Plan C Agency: PlanCAgency.com | @PlanC_Agency

Christine Gambito: HappySlip.com | Youtube | Facebook | @HappySlip

Suchin Pak: Facebook | @SuChinPak

Jenny Shimizu: JennyShimizuOnline.com | Blog | Facebook | @JennyShimizu

Cung Le: Cungle.com | Facebook | @CungLe185

Teddy Zee: Facebook | @TeddyZee