Crazy Creative Asians

TheChinese Chamber of Commerce of Los Angeles (CCCLA)is a politically independent, membership-based, volunteer-driven, not-for-profit organization that has been leading and serving the business community since 1955.  CCCLA promotes the interests of our member companies by encouraging trade, business growth and new opportunities. We work hard on behalf of our members, offering insightful and meaningful contributions with respect to business connections, policy guidance and cultural education. We lead initiatives that positively empower Chinese Americans doing business in the Great Los Angeles. We establish scholarships – supported by prominent Chinese American leaders, for the benefit of the next generation of leaders – across a variety of disciplines in education, business and entrepreneurship, healthcare, and social justice.  Through these programs, we believe we can enhance our social and economic influence within the greater community at large, and provide a platform for Chinese American businesses to flourish.Asia Societyis the leading educational organization dedicated to promoting mutual understanding and strengthening partnerships among peoples, leaders and institutions of Asia and the United States in a global context. Across the fields of arts, business, culture, education, and policy, the Society provides insight, generates ideas, and promotes collaboration to address present challenges and create a shared future.

Chinese Chamber of Commerce of Los Angeles in collaboration with Asia Society

Crazy Creative Asians is a business mixer and Pecha Kucha inspired evening hosted by the Chinese Chamber of Commerce of Los Angeles (CCCLA) in collaboration with Asia Society, celebrating the diverse and dynamic creative energy of the Chinese-American community in Los Angeles. This event gathers a wide range of independent creative professionals working in the fields of architecture, design, fashion, film, jewelry, publishing and photography that have challenged some of the stereotypes of Chinese-Americans as non-creative and non-innovative, particularly in the age of both material and virtual consumerism. 
Join us to hear this collection of talented creators share how they have converted their creative passions and artistic endeavors into successful business ventures through a series of rapid-fire, powerful, and visually-compelling Pecha Kucha style stories and to mingle and network over delicious cocktails and canapes.  Meet new friends, business partners, interesting entrepreneurs, and business owners, all across a wide number of innovative industries in Los Angeles! 
Attendance is free and open to the public, but registration is required. Space is limited and is filling up fast. Please be sure to register now to save your spot at this unique event!!
Featured Presenters:
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Mina Chow - Documentary film-maker / Interdisciplinary Design Curator 
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<A HREF="https://www.faceofanationmovie.com/" TARGET="_blank" DATA-MSYS-CLICKTRACK="0" REL="nofollow noopener noreferrer">https://www.faceofanationmovie.com/</A> 
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<A HREF="https://www.instagram.com/faceofanationmovie" TARGET="_blank" DATA-MSYS-CLICKTRACK="0" REL="nofollow noopener noreferrer">https://www.instagram.com/faceofanationmovie</A> 
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Mina Chow is an interdisciplinary licensed architect, filmmaker and Adjunct Assoc. Professor at the USC School of Architecture. Her original films influence public perception about the fundamental nature of design.  She expands public awareness of architecture by con­necting it to distinct ideas in civilization. She recently completed “FACE OF A NATION: What Happened to the World’s Fair?” a documentary connecting the erosion of the American image to its deteriorating representation at World’s Fairs.  It is receiving national attention in news and festivals. Her awards include grants from the Graham Foundation for Advanced Studies in the Fine Arts, the California Architectural Foundation, the USC Architectural Guild, USC US-China Institute and the USC Ambassador's Fund. In 2014, she directed USC School of Architecture's "100 Years of Architecture" short film. In 2011, she also created a BRAVE NEW WORLD for the LA Mayor’s office about innovative architecture for the city of Los Angeles.
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Katherin Gao / Kenneth Lu MD - Fashion designers
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<A HREF="http://www.gaorepublic.com/" TARGET="_blank" DATA-MSYS-CLICKTRACK="0" REL="nofollow noopener noreferrer">http://www.gaorepublic.com/</A> 
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<A HREF="https://www.instagram.com/gao_republic" TARGET="_blank" DATA-MSYS-CLICKTRACK="0" REL="nofollow noopener noreferrer">https://www.instagram.com/gao_republic</A> 
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Katherine Gao is the talented eponymous designer of Gao Republic, a sartorial design studio that is disrupting the fashion industry with structurally innovative outfits that transcend traditional clothing boundaries while adhering to the highest aesthetic standard. Her creations have been fabulously featured on several red carpets, videos, magazines, and recently at the Miss Chinatown gala. The reimagined Qi Pao’s beautifully melded traditional forms with new structure, balance, color, and fabric to elevate this time-honored dress onto the new millennial stage. In a previous career, Katherine was an award-winning architect, having participated in several large building projects in China. She then was a stay-home mom for several years, slowly discovering her passion and talent for fashion. Incredibly, her design skills and vision were self-taught through years of avid shopping. Her influences range widely, from Chinese calligraphy and sculptures, to contemporary western designers who truly dare to innovate fashion. The woman (or man) who wears Gao Republic design stands out like I.M. Pei in the Louvre.
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Dr. Kenneth Lu is an Associate Professor of Ophthalmology at Doheny Eye Institute, UCLA, specializing in cataract and refractive surgery, with research, teaching and speaking accomplishments, as his day job. Otherwise, he is an angel investor with a portfolio of successful ventures, being a board member on two of the companies. Most importantly, he is the CEO of Gao Republic, a fashion brand founded in 2018 by his incredibly talented designer wife, Katherine Gao. He sweeps the floor, orders internet connection, and pays the electric bills to keep the company on track to Forbes 500. Gao Republic debuted its Qi Pao line at the Miss Chinatown gala to wide acclaim, and is planning to showcase its other creations at the LA Fashion Week later this year. In his spare time, Ken is a poker player, snowboarder, artist, writer, and marathon runner.
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Alvin Huang, AIA - Architect / Designer
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<A HREF="http://synthesis-dna.com/" TARGET="_blank" DATA-MSYS-CLICKTRACK="0" REL="nofollow noopener noreferrer">http://synthesis-dna.com/</A> 
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<A HREF="https://www.instagram.com/synthesisdna" TARGET="_blank" DATA-MSYS-CLICKTRACK="0" REL="nofollow noopener noreferrer">https://www.instagram.com/synthesisdna</A>
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Alvin Huang is an award-winning architect, designer, and educator specializing in the integrated application of material performance, emergent design technologies and digital fabrication in contemporary architectural practice. His work spans all scales ranging from hi-rise towers and mixed-use developments to temporary pavilions and bespoke furnishings. His design work has been published and exhibited widely and has gained international recognition with over 40 distinctions at local, national, and international levels including the 2016 AIA California Young Architect Award, 2016 AIA|LA Presidential Emerging Practice Award, being selected as one of 50 global innovators under the age of 50 by Images Publishing in 2015, being featured as a "Next Progressive" by Architect Magazine in 2014, and being named one of Time Magazine's 25 Best Inventors of 2013. He is the Founder and Design Principal of Synthesis Design + Architecture, Director of Graduate Studies and an Associate Professor at the USC School of Architecture, and the Director of Architecture &amp; Design for the Chinese Chamber of Commerce of Los Angeles.
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J. Glenn Kay - Fashion CEO 
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<A HREF="https://www.instagram.com/mandalay_official" TARGET="_blank" DATA-MSYS-CLICKTRACK="0" REL="nofollow noopener noreferrer">https://www.instagram.com/mandalay_official</A>  
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J. Glenn Kay is the President and CEO of Mandalay, a North American luxury fashion brand founded in 1999 in Los Angeles by Burmese Born and California raised mother and son design duo Joyce and Glenn Kay. Specializing in women’s ready-to-wear with a heavy emphasis on designer evening wear, the Mandalay Collection quickly became the “Go-To” designer for  celebrities the world over. The Mandalay brand has been carried in such iconic global boutiques and specialty stores as Neiman Marcus, Saks Fifth Ave., Bergdorf Goodman, Holt Renfrew (Canada) in North America, as well as Colette in Paris, Podium in Russia, Harvey Nichols in Kuwait and Villa Moda and Etoile, respectively, in Dubai. Mandalay has had the immense privilege to dress some of the most glamorous and beautiful women in the world  including Beyoncé, Taylor Swift, Kim Kardashian and Jennifer Lopez. With the Mandalay Swimwear Collection’s successful debut in 2019, and the Bridal Collections bowing in 2020 Mandalay’s design portfolio has grown robustly. With over a quarter billion dollars in retail sales since its inception, Mandalay has become one of the most sought out luxury evening wear names in the world.      
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Nicolas Lam - Film &amp; commercial director
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<A HREF="https://nicholaslam.com/" TARGET="_blank" DATA-MSYS-CLICKTRACK="0" REL="nofollow noopener noreferrer">https://nicholaslam.com/</A>
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<A HREF="https://www.instagram.com/nicholaslam__" TARGET="_blank" DATA-MSYS-CLICKTRACK="0" REL="nofollow noopener noreferrer">https://www.instagram.com/nicholaslam__</A> 
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Nicholas Lam is a director based in Los Angeles, by way of Hawaii and Hong Kong. He has directed commercials for global brands such as Samsung, Google, Disney, Kia, Nestle, Procter &amp; Gamble, Spotify and UCLA, and filmed for artists including Nick Jonas, Blink-182, Bastille, Jason Derulo, Panic! At The Disco, Elton John, Sara Bareilles, James Bay, Enya, Kylie Minogue, Salvatore Ganacci and K-Pop idol group Monsta X.  Narrative is at the heart of Nicholas' work. Known for his cinematic, emotional and kinetic style, his films often center on character-driven stories exploring humanity, humor and pathos through a quietly intense lens. His videos have been featured in major publications as The LA Times, Rolling Stone, Billboard, Variety, NME, MTV, Complex, Entertainment Weekly, Alternative Press, The Telegraph, Maxim, Teen Vogue, Booooooom, Videostatic, Promo News and Huffington Post.
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Daniel Lee Postaer - Fine art photographer
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<A HREF="https://www.danielpostaer.com/" TARGET="_blank" DATA-MSYS-CLICKTRACK="0" REL="nofollow noopener noreferrer">https://www.danielpostaer.com/</A> 
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<A HREF="https://www.instagram.com/dpostaer" TARGET="_blank" DATA-MSYS-CLICKTRACK="0" REL="nofollow noopener noreferrer">https://www.instagram.com/dpostaer</A>
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Daniel Lee Postaer is an American artist/photographer.  Born in Chicago and raised in Southern California by a Chinese mother and American father, Daniel graduated with an MFA from the San Francisco Art Institute in 2015 where he received the Fellowship in Photography. Postaer left an international marketing and entertainment career for the life-changing pursuit and craft of picture-making.  His work explores the ways in which humanity reconciles and resists modernity – across global booms, busts and the transitional spaces in between – as he addresses questions of capital, race/ethnicity, and historical belonging. Postaer’s prints are wide-scale and of the hyper-moment; surreal scenes of everyday urban theatre. Ongoing long-form projects include Motherland (Urban China), Boomtown (San Francisco), Wilshire Boulevard and The River (Los Angeles).  His Boomtownseries was recently exhibited as part of This Land at Pier 24 Photography museum in San Francisco; and continues to be exhibited as part of the current show, Looking Back, at Pier 24.
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Geoffrey Quan - Film Producer &amp; Executive
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<A HREF="https://www.geoffreyquan.com/" TARGET="_blank" DATA-MSYS-CLICKTRACK="0" REL="nofollow noopener noreferrer">https://www.geoffreyquan.com/</A>
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<A HREF="https://www.instagram.com/geoffquan/" TARGET="_blank" DATA-MSYS-CLICKTRACK="0" REL="nofollow noopener noreferrer">https://www.instagram.com/geoffquan/</A>
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Geoffrey Quan is an award-winning independent filmmaker and producer.  Projects include Carlos Lopez Estrada's "Blindspotting,” Gillian Robespierre’s “Obvious Child,” Vikram Gandhi’s “Barry,” Justin Tipping’s “Kicks,” and Casey Affleck’s “Light of My Life.”  Geoff currently serves as an executive at Netflix, overseeing production for the Original Independent Film team.  Prior to Netflix, his work screened at numerous festivals, including Sundance, SXSW, Cannes, and Rotterdam, and was supported by IFP, Film Independent, and HBO Films.  Geoff was a 2011 fellow in Film Independent’s Project: Involve, a 2012 fellow for the Center for Asian American Media, and a 2014 Sundance Creative Producing fellow.  He has taught at Columbia University and Sarah Lawrence College, and has produced videos for New York Magazine and The Wall Street Journal.  He is a graduate of Columbia University’s MFA film program and the University of California at Berkeley.
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Jenny Wu - Architect / Jewelry designer
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<A HREF="https://jennywulace.com/" TARGET="_blank" DATA-MSYS-CLICKTRACK="0" REL="nofollow noopener noreferrer">https://jennywulace.com/</A>
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<A HREF="https://www.instagram.com/lace_jennywu" TARGET="_blank" DATA-MSYS-CLICKTRACK="0" REL="nofollow noopener noreferrer">https://www.instagram.com/lace_jennywu</A> 
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Jenny is the founder and principal of the Los Angeles based architecture and urban design firm, Oyler Wu Collaborative.  The firm is recognized for its innovative designs that span multiple scales and projects types, ranging from small scale urban activations to large scale infrastructural projects.  Her office was the winner of 2013 Design Vanguard Award from Architectural Record, 2017 The J. Irwin and Xenia S. Miller Prize recipient, and most recently the 2018 ACADIA Digital Practice Award of Excellence. The office was also recently selected by the City of Los Angeles to design the LA River Greenway/Bikeway project, a major public infrastructural project for the City of LA.  In addition to her architectural practice, she also founded LACE by Jenny Wu, a line of 3D printed luxe jewelry in 2014. Since its launch in 2014, LACE has been widely featured in publications such as Forbes, Fast Company, Los Angeles Times, etc. Her work, the Catena Necklace in steel, was recently acquired by the Los Angeles County Museum of Art in their permanent collection.
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Trina Yin - Fashion photographer
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<A HREF="http://prescribedthesun.com/" TARGET="_blank" DATA-MSYS-CLICKTRACK="0" REL="nofollow noopener noreferrer">http://prescribedthesun.com/</A> 
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<A HREF="https://www.instagram.com/prescribedthesun" TARGET="_blank" DATA-MSYS-CLICKTRACK="0" REL="nofollow noopener noreferrer">https://www.instagram.com/prescribedthesun</A> 
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Trina Yin is Topanga based and a California native. She studied Social Science at UC Irvine and has a masters in experiencing life. In pursuit of following her creative dreams, she left her corporate cubicle life and has been a photographer for over a decade, specializing in fashion, lifestyle and portraits. Trina enjoys connecting her subjects and brands on an authentic level.  She also donates her time to non profits such as A Walk On Water, a surf therapy organization that teaches kids with disabilities and autism how to surf. Currently she’s pursuing farming and hopes to inspire people to connect to their truth. Swipe right. 
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