In the spiritual sense, Kevin Woo has been on a bit of an EGOT journey :) He has unleashed his acclaimed talents to many fields, branching out from screens, stages, and a many saved Reels. As part of the original lineup of the group U-KISS, and now impressive solo work, Kevin has brought his musical flair to concerts all across the globe with his unforgettable voice. He has appeared in shows and K-dramas, including a notable run as a host on the internationally viewed, chill variety talk-show After School Club (in fact, we also interviewed one of the other hosts, Jamie, earlier this month in this issue). He was part of the landmark musical that brought K-pop music and style to Broadway! Yes, the Broadway, in 2022 to a rousing success. And now he is standing all ten toes into the world of film! And he does this multi-hyphenate marathon with so much ease and radiant kindness, that the preparation, curiosity, drive and passion for new projects are the ingredients for his alchemical gold rush.

 

The short film Seoul Switch, directed and written by Liann Kaye, is his first starring role, well..underline that - double starring roles! Taking on the dual personas of international K-pop idol Moon and his doppelgänger from the states, DJ. Both of which are perspectives that Kevin feels mirror his own, given that he himself is from sunny California, and moved to Korea at 15 to pursue his singing passion.

 

Liann has brought us a story that mixes the undeniable draw of k-pop music with the hijinks that is produced though a little twin magic. Think a little less Freaky Friday, a little more Trading Places, and you’ve got Seoul Switch! In short, it centers on a Korean American boy swapping identities with a K-pop star, as they cut a strikingly similar resemblance to each other. This has caught the ears and eyes of many people who have had the opportunity to check out the film. And that is precisely what Liann is hoping for, as this first short acts as a glimpse behind the curtain of what could be turned into a feature length film.

 

For those not familiar with Liann, quick crash course! Originally from Hawaii, and based in New York, she’s making waves as an independent filmmaker, bringing her empathetic and comedic viewpoint to a range of nuanced stories, ranging from the web of intercultural marriage proposals to the politics of school elections. Her previous works have won awards, grants, and mentorship from the film industry. Coming off the heels of her short series The Permission, she hopes to make this her full-length film debut. Liann has also been so open about sharing much of the journey of making this film on the official @SeoulSwitch instagram, which is a goldmine of additional insights into all the work and community building aspects of startup filmmaking.

 

It certainly felt like there was a clandestine aire bringing these two together to collaborate on this film, letting their resonant scripts and multitude of talents let loose to dance and skip all over the pages and the screen. Seoul Switch screened at just under 2 dozen different acclaimed film festivals all around the globe, and made its premiere on Youtube on February 17th! So as we speak, you can check it out right now on their channel! :)

 

Liann and Kevin were able to briefly share some of their experiences with the whole endeavor!

 

 

Seoul Switch has been on the film festival circuit for a minute:) How has the reaction varied between place to place?

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Liann: The reaction has been great with American and Asian audiences alike! When we screened at the Academy-Award qualifying Short Shorts Film Festival & Asia, we noticed an interesting cultural divide that Asians don't often laugh during screenings but are very enthusiastic right after.

American audiences will shout at the screen and we love both responses to our film. As Seoul Switch is a story that tackles the duality between being Asian and American, we're so happy to share it with people from all over the world.

 

Filming with two main leads played by one actor is a tremendous undertaking. Speaking to the technical aspects for the production, Liann says

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“In my opinion, The Parent Trap is the creme de la creme of the switch movies. Writer, director and ICON Mary Meyers, really elevated everything artistically in her 1998 classic, where she used a motion-controlled robotic rig. I took the liberty of watching her BTS featurette on YouTube, and took some notes. We reached out to Garage Rentals who gave us their least expensive and smallest robot, the Bolt Jr. We shot the first pass of Kevin with a human operating the camera. That said, this movement was being recorded - our Bolt operator had a whole digital spreadsheet of where the camera was in the space as far as the X-axis , the Y-axis, speed, focus, and distance from the subject. Then, when Kevin became the other character, a better dressed, purple-haired k-pop idol, Moon, that movement had already been recorded and we could just play it back so that it moved exactly how it did the first time. We also shot one of the Kevins on green screen so we could have both of his characters cross in front and behind each other." [After some rotoscoping, the footage was spliced together in After Effects]

 

If you could switch places with anybody for a month, who would it be? :)

 

L: I thought about this for a while and I think I'd say Taylor Swift during her eras tour. As a devoted Swiftie, I know all her songs and I think it would be incredible to take her place although I might fail spectacularly!

 

To add to that ... one of the major points of the film is that there aren't many Asian American stars to switch places with. I hope this film increases visibility for us and shows the world the experience of someone who is not just Asian, not just American, but both.

 

Any tips for indie filmmakers that you’ve found to have worked?

 

L: “My biggest takeaway from my film festival run this year, is that it’s not about getting your big break, it’s about laying 10,000 bricks over the course of many, many years. Whenever I start a project, I am guilty of delusions of grandeur, thinking this is the film that is finally going to grab the attention of Hollywood and change my life. At the same time, I know that it doesn’t work like that. Whenever I see a filmmaker on a panel telling people they got into Sundance on their first try, I want to scream from the back of the room, “And who did you know?”. I certainly started out not knowing anyone in this industry, and it still feels like I don’t. But I’m slowly starting to see how I could get there if I gave it another 5 to 10 years. [Upon getting to know and network with many people at the film festivals that Seoul Switch was a part of] “When I have another run in the future, and then another one, and then another one, I can see how I’m slowly building a Rolodex of people who will remember me for the next time.”

 

Both Seoul Switch and your previous series have made great use of cultivating an online presence. Tips for using social media in filmmaking?

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L: “Social media matters. I shamelessly wielded the power of the internet to get what I wanted on this festival run. I made videos telling fans to tag the festival that you want us to get into so we can come to your hometown and see you in person. This resulted in us being able to get the attention of programmers all over the world. The New York Asian Film Festival saw me yapping on TikTok and told me “this girl is working so hard, we have to let her in”.

 

The reason [the festival run] looked so cool, is because I made each one an event, like an indie artist going on tour. I’m projecting an image of success for Seoul Switch that I want to see in the world. And if I believe in it, and you believe in it, then maybe it’s real. Now I’m not saying that we got into all of these festivals because we did a great job on social media. I’m saying that it takes multiple parts to create the whole.”

 

What is a movie that you feel like you could watch again and again?

 

L: I love My Big Fat Greek Wedding, one of my favorite movies of all time!

 

Wow! Margaret Cho signed on as an executive producer to this film. What was it like having the support of such a comedy and film icon? :)

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L: Margaret is one of the most inspiring cultural icons I have yet to come across. I highly encourage everyone to go watch her 2000 stand-up special, I'm The One That I Want, which details the fallout of her network show—the first Asian American sitcom ever—and how horribly she was treated. What is so brilliant about it is that the details are horrifying: She's being told she's "too fat to play herself," "She's not Asian enough," "She's not American enough." And yet she's able to find the comedy in the misery. It's such an important lesson on how we rise and fall as artists, and even your greatest failure may not be the end of the story. You might make a legendary comedy special out of the experience, and that will be the thing everyone remembers you for. She also has stated, "Sometimes when we are generous in small, barely detectable ways it can change someone's life forever." And that is certainly the case for us!

 

With this being a short, were there any scenes you filmed that you wanted to elaborate on later that ended up being cut?

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The short is a proof-of-concept for the feature film in which we truly get to find out what happens with Moon (the K-pop idol) experiences life as a minority in America and DJ (the American) navigates Korean male privilege as the hottest pop star in Seoul. I'm thrilled audiences are interested in supporting the feature project, so please spread the word to your networks so that we can get it made!

 

Anything else you’d want to leave our readers with? :)

 

L: We're in a time, politically, that is very scary for minorities. But it's important to keep believing that our stories are important. They are shuttering diversity and equity initiatives and it feels like silence and obedience is what they want, but we have to keep creating. That's how we're going to fight!

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On speaking about how his and Liann’s paths crossed, Kevin says,

 

“I was approached by Seoul Switch’s director, Liann Kaye, after one of my shows on Broadway called KPOP at the Circle in the Square Theatre in late 2022. I played the leader of a fictional, bilingual K-pop boyband in the musical, and Liann happened to be looking for just that. We’d like to believe we were brought together by fate.”

 

Did you do anything different to prepare for this acting role?

 

K: “It was almost like a therapy session, where I dug deep into my past, reflected on who I am today, and considered the adversities and sacrifices that brought me here.”

 

What were the days on set like? How was it learning both parts, essentially having to play two people, learn the mannerisms of each character, etc.?

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K: “When we got to filming, we set several ambitious challenges for ourselves. First, we were limited to three days of shooting with a small crew. Second, I was expected to play two very distinct characters. For both DJ and Moon, there were times when I really removed myself from each of them and reconstructed the characters as completely new people. To strip away my own voice, facial expressions, and decades of muscle memory from living in my own skin was quite a task. Some technical challenges while filming included having to change my hair, makeup, and costume after every take so that I could switch back and forth between both characters. I changed outfits twenty times a day and bounced back and forth psychologically between them a dozen more. Another difficulty I faced, which was quite amusing to most of our crew, was that I had to act with different accents for both characters. One spoke fluent American English, and the other spoke with a noticeable Korean accent.”

 

Anything else you’d want to leave our readers with? :)

 

K: “At the moment, we are hitting the film festival circuit around the globe with Seoul Switch. We are very grateful to receive such a positive response from many different audiences. It’s quite astonishing to see how many people can laugh and relate to our short film that not only brings the colorful world of K-pop to life, but addresses many topics such as identity, redefining male masculinity, and mental health. We look forward to getting our proof of concept made into a full-length feature film and we can't wait to share our unique story with the rest of the world on the big screen."

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Seoul Switch is hopeful about getting a feature release, and you can follow Liann and Kevin for more updates here!

 

https://www.instagram.com/seoulswitch/ https://www.instagram.com/liann.kaye/ https://www.instagram.com/kevinwoo_official/ https://www.tiktok.com/@liann.kaye