Filipino director Justin Ferrer has created a documentary highlighting multiple up-and-coming Asian creatives’ journeys in pursuing their artistic passions.
“Do What I Want” explores the inspirations and adversities experienced by 11 Asian creative talents as they make a name for themselves online. While the documentary highlights each artist’s talent, it also takes into account the realities of being an Asian creative while working a regular nine-to-five job in Southern California.
The 45-minute film, which gives a raw glimpse at success in motion, shows different areas of creative art forms through the lenses of musicians, a fashion stylist, a fashion designer, a visual jockey, a choreographer, a music producer and a creative director.
“It felt like I was forming the Asian Avengers of the creative world, finding up-and-coming artists and capturing the making of heroes,” Ferrer tells NextShark.
Ferrer, who is a 21-year-old full-time college student, started working in the creative industry in 2020 as an editor for music videos. He has since ventured into creating and directing music videos and collaborating with local Asian American streetwear brands for visual shoots.
Inspired by his own personal experiences, he wanted to create a documentary to empower Asians and Asian Americans to “do what they want,” even if their creative passion is often subjected to ridicule.
According to Ferrer, he studied and researched the featured talents for a month before deciding to document their stories.
I don’t want to just use anybody to be in this documentary. Anybody could just be talented at what they do. But what I saw in each of these individuals is the passion that they had and the hard work that they put out. I saw the hunger that they had because they wanted to be where they want to be in life.
Although there have been many documentaries on established Asian artists, Ferrer notes that what makes “Do What I Want” special is that…
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