Meet arnold chun

Alright – so today we’ve got the honor of introducing you to Arnold Chun. We think you’ll enjoy our conversation, we’ve shared it below.

Hi Arnold, thanks for sharing your insights with our community today. Part of your success, no doubt, is due to your work ethic and so we’d love if you could open up about where you got your work ethic from?

I’m so thankful for my father who was my role model and example of hard work. He was an orphan because of the Korean War and despite being adopted into another family after abandonment, he achieved so much in life. He not only survived the streets of war torn Seoul Korea, He was a CH-47 Pilot during the Vietnam War. He then was able to immigrate to the US with nothing more than $200 in his pocket and finished his degree then moved on to getting a masters in business. He also own his own business and then learned the financial markets to become a wealth advisor and got a real estates license. In his later years he became dedicate to helping non profits. I learned my work ethic from him. He always consistently taught me the value of discipline, focus, and working hard at a task until it was successful. He didn’t let me take short cuts but shared wisdom about how to work smart and hard. When I was young it seemed very difficult to grasp but as I got older I was so thankful that my father placed in me the value of hard work and doing something of the highest quality.

Great, so let’s take a few minutes and cover your story. What should folks know about you and what you do?

For the last 21 years I have made a living as an actor and director. I have had the honor of working on many award winning TV shows and films. But this was never a career path for me as a young boy. Being Asian American it was always stressed to do something “safe” – doctor, lawyer, teacher, engineer, accountant, business, or scientist etc. Never a musician unless it was classical or opera. Never be an actor or anything related to entertainment. Out of UCI class of 98′ I went to Japan to teach English as my first job. I had a passion for history and that was my major. I intended to go into education and getting real world experience was a path to achieve that goal. However after a year of teaching, I realized it wasn’t my destiny. Coming back to the states I was not sure of what I was supposed to do in life. So I waited tables for a couple years and sought out a headhunter to start finding a career path. I ended up working for Enterprise Rent A Car and then moving into mechanical engineering consulting, and finally shifting to Pharma industry before my true calling into the arts happened in 2003. A friend convinced me to volunteer on a film set and after 4 days of being a production assistant, I found myself now in the business of Hollywood for 21 years.

I found acting and directing unlocking this completely hidden talent and passion to tell stories that I never knew existed. I made my first short film in 2007 called “Eli’s Liquor Store” and got nominated for several prominent awards in the African American community. This lead to my first attempt at directing a feature film and then continuing to build my craft of acting. Over the last 15 years I have directed 5 short films total. All of which have won numerous awards and have been seen around the world.

Becoming an artist was gratifying in a way I had not experienced before. It also made me more aware of the voice I had and the responsibility to use it in a way to expand opportunities for other future AAPI creatives. I never saw myself represented in films as a child and so for my children and the future generation it became imperative that I tell stories that come from a place of truth and realism so that it would inspire others to tell narratives that change the face of our community as it is represented in the fabric of American history. There is a real freedom from the hard work and sacrifice that comes when you are able to represent your community and your heritage on a screen. When it affects others to tell their own stories and experiences you feel included at the table.

The more I became engrossed in telling stories about AAPI communities journey’s, the more empowered I started to feel. I hope that more and more new AAPI filmmakers and creatives can share their stories that continue to open doors for others and support those who are starting out so that we keep building more market share of the entertainment space to represent AAPI voices.

Currently I am working on a story of my father who was abandoned at age 6 during the Korean War. It’s an incredible story of survival and hope which pays homage to the first generation Korean Americans who came out of that tragic time. I never understood the whole story until I heard it from my father and uncle 14 years ago and I have been wanting to share this story with the world for a long time. The story follows 4 kids and their journey of endurance in a time of chaos and clinging to the hope of oneday seeing their families again.

There is so much advice out there about all the different skills and qualities folks need to develop in order to succeed in today’s highly competitive environment and often it can feel overwhelming. So, if we had to break it down to just the three that matter most, which three skills or qualities would you focus on?

listening, observing, and practicing your craft. Despite how hard the task can be to become good at your passion, you have to accept that everyday will not be the same. Thus you need to find the drive and motivation to continue on when things are not going well. However it is also extremely useful to observe if you are making progress and able to have sustainability in pursuit of what you want to accomplish. Often times its not always about talent in the business of Hollywood. Listening is insurmountably valuable because so many are horrible at it. We all want to be heard, but many times it is better to listen and know how to listen before we speak. Many many times I have met people who have horrible listening skills and want to rather just get their point across or are not aware that their excitement or enthusiasm is not allowing them to hear what is being said to them. Listening is one if not the most valuable skill in life.

How would you spend the next decade if you somehow knew that it was your last?

Being a Husband, Father, and creative is almost impossible to balance. Add into that, I have a special needs child. The amount of logistical demands are often not sustainable when in contrast to the time demands of film making or acting. Most jobs we as actors or directors work are not 8 hour days. They are often starting before the sun comes up and ending when the sun goes down and this creates a horrible work life balance. Apart from having time to be present in 3 young kids under 8, I have very little time to spend with my wife let alone work on film projects and then also “network” to find partners for the film projects I am trying to get off the ground. Rarely do I have time to myself outside of trying to maintain daily exercise for 45 mins after dropping off the kids at school. Additionally with the change of the economics of film production in USA, there is more work that has left to other countries which exacerbates the talent pool to be over saturated domestically thus creating more competition for the same job. Thus it is harder to get the job since there are more people possibly better qualified that yourself for the same job.

Contact Info:

• Instagram: arnoldhchun
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/arnoldchun
• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/arnoldhchun/