Ep 130: Breaking into Hollywood - coz Asians Take Sh*t Very Well?! | Alvin Wee (Grammy, CAS & Golden Horse Award-Winning Music Mixer, Encanto)

Meet Alvin Wee: Grammy, CAS & Golden Horse Award winning
music mixer from Kuching (now based in LA)!


You might've heard some of his work:


Disney's Encanto - it won the Grammy!


"Loyal, Brave & True" - sung by Christina Aguilera in Mulan


Top Gun: Maverick - with Hans Zimmer


Kung Fu Panda 3


Kingsman Series


"Arena Cahaya" - sung by Zee Avi


Video games like Final Fantasy XIII, Kingdom Hearts 2.5, Resident
Evil XII, PUBG Mobile x Arcane Collaboration & Kena: Bridge
of Spirits


As you might have guessed it, all these achievements didn't come
overnight.


It took a lot of effort, grit and good luck to get to where Alvin
now is.


And we're diving deep into all of them.


Including:


What kept him going as he studied music & waited for hours at
the RTM studio for gigs to come?


Was Berklee instrumental to his career?


How did he "break" into Hollywood & get to collaborate with
the likes of Han Zimmer, Harry Gregson-Williams, Pharrell, Jay
Chou & Yuna?


What was it like performing (+ winning Best Original Song!) at
the 53rd Annual Golden Horse Film Awards 2016?


His advice for other Asians who want to "make it" in Hollywood?





Highlights:


3:03 Wanting to be called Donald Duck?!

6:19 Learning 7 instruments in high school

11:41 The vision

18:37 Was Berkeley instrumental to Alvin's career?

20:53 IMDB

22:06 Networking the right way

27:10 Being nice in a cutthroat industry?!

29:42 Harry Gregson-Williams wrote a letter supporting his US
visa application!

33:26 Landing his first gig - Final Fantasy 13

35:43 Finding the next projects

37:27 Working with Harry Gregson-Williams & Hans Zimmer

43:19 What's the Hans Zimmer Camp?

45:28 Disney's Encanto

47:10 Do awards actually impact your career?

48:22 Not being pigeon-holed

49:56 It's a marathon, not a sprint

51:06 Hollywood Writers' Strike

53:05 Jared Lee: Is Hollywood really that glamorous?!






Show notes: https://www.sothisismywhy.com/130


 Weekly STIMY Newsletter that deconstructs how you build a
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