“Be Nice… Be-F*cking-Nice.”: Art School Dropouts’ Director Sempai Joey Min Talks A Zero-Budget Filmmaking, Morale And Self-Discovery
Joey Min at Art School Dropouts released a new video essay at his official YouTube channel on how to make a feature film with no money. It’s about fifteen minutes long, and I have to say, it especially goes beyond the listed “steps”, one which includes, as Min himself elucidates: “Be nice. Be-Fucking-Nice.”
That, to me, among feeding your crew and saying ‘Thank You’, is tantamount to the process in whole, while also worth noting the true intent of the video. Filmmaking is largely a learning-by-doing process, as I’ve learned from various film professionals in the last seven years through their own experiences, some of which who’ve evolved amply immensely in terms of character, creativity and morale.
Min conveys his points through some of the experiences he shares with behind-the-scenes highlights of his recent webseries hit/feature debut, My Asian Auntie S2: Yes, Auntie!, in addition to other ASDO projects, and a yesteryear feature indie titled Wish (a project which I’ve never seen and frankly, want to).
The point he gets across, really, is to do it while you can, and keep going no matter the prevalent and impending adversity, and Min and his team are definitely a survivor. He’s been soldiering on in this craft for close to twenty years and he’s got the story and battle scars to prove it, as do filmmakers like Eric Jacobus, Alex Chung and Leroy Nguyen among others.
More importantly though, he’s exhibited that very evolution that’s so important to the messaging in his video. I’ve followed him for about thirteen of those years – the last seven of which our own differences at one point nearly put us at an impasse, until we surprisingly met face to face in Times Square back in 2015, and it’s been biscuits and gravy ever since, which I don’t mind.
Watch the video below through to the end. Especially to the end.
Native New Yorker. Been writing for a long time now, and I enjoy what I do. Be nice to me!