3.16 - A Conversation with Professor Ernabel Demillo

We’re in between seasons 3 and 4! Today, Joanna has a conversation with Professor Ernabel Demillo, Department Chair of the Communication and Media Culture Department at Saint Peter's University and host of the Emmy-award winning "Asian American Life" show on CUNY-TV. We talk about:

• The many different genres of K Dramas.
• The K Dramas we’re watching now: Tomorrow, Business Proposal, The Glory.
• What Ernabel thought about Mr. Sunshine, including the cinematography, the characters, the music, Korea history, and culture.
• The process that Sung Hee and Joanna use to create our episodes.
• The K Drama elements that we find in most K Dramas, e.g., umbrella scene, piggyback ride, back hug, deep lean.
• How Asian American Life is still the only monthly magazine show on broadcast TV devoted to the Asian American diaspora.
• How Asian American Life explores social issues through the Asian American lens, but also celebrates Asian-American achievements and milestones.
• The themes that “Asian American Life” covers: identity, Asian-American “firsts,” food, entertainment.
• How Asian American Life covers the rise in hate and crimes against Asian-Americans in the US.
• The Hallyu wave.
• Netflix’ investment in K Dramas.
• 25, 21, the K Drama that K Drama Chat will recap and analyze in Season 4.

Next week, Sung Hee, Joanna and Jeanie (Sung Hee’s sister) will talk about K Drama elements, Korean language, and why subtitles on K Dramas often don’t quite match what’s being said.

References:

• Asian American Life on CUNY-TV
• Asian American Life on YouTube
• Asian American Life on Instagram
• Ernabel on Instagram
• Professor Ernabel Demillo on the St. Peter’s University website