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 portfolio career to prepare yourself for the future of work: https://sothisismywhy.ck.page/acd5bd1062 ✍🏻 Leave a review on STIMY: https://podcasts.apple.com/gb/podcast/so-this-is-my-why/id1521191442