TV time for Asians

• Xentopia celebrates in Hawai'i with concerts, parties, contests

By Vicki Viotti
Advertiser Staff Writer

The anime title "Aura Battler Dunbine" will be screened April 1. Photo courtesy Hawaii International Film Festival

Two New York-based companies are working overtime to hit the digital cable audiences this year with programming aimed at the country's growing Asian population. One of them, WorldAsia Television, is scurrying around Waikiki for tomorrow's kickoff of Xentopia, an eight-day promotional entertainment extravaganza (see accompanying story), although its broadcasts probably won't be seen until fall, spokesmen said last week.

The second, ImaginAsian Entertainment Inc., appears poised for an August launch in at least some major markets. Michael Hong, the company's chief executive, said he's got commitments from cable networks serving 1.6 million households so far, with other potential contracts — including Oceanic Time Warner Cable, operating on O'ahu — in negotiations.

Michael Tsang, Hong's counterpart at the helm of WorldAsia, said the two networks may be seen as competing but have different missions. Where Imagin-

Asian is planning a menu of largely pre-produced movies and programs with English subtitles and hosts bridging the language gap, WorldAsia aims to become the first pan-Asian-American network airing largely original productions, all of them in English.

"The network is about inclusion, not exclusion," he said. "It's welcoming everyone to watch."

Among the shows in the works: "Feng Shui This," a makeover program in which the host (to be announced) takes a stab at bringing feng-shui design into the homes of celebrities (also to be announced).

"Eight years ago we were planning on the launch of the network," Tsang said last week, while still in New York. "We quickly realized that the market was premature.

"Advertisers were focusing on the Hispanic market, while the Asian market was misrepresented," he said. "People were just starting to understand that Asian influences were important in their life."

So WorldAsia turned to producing events targeting the Asian community, he said, in the hope that this would raise the profile of Asians in the minds of the recalcitrant advertising directors. Tsang's contacts in the industry have tipped him off in the past few years that advertiser interest in the Asian viewer has risen sharply. So has the audience interest in Asian productions, he said: Success of movies such as "The Last Samurai" tell him that the day of reckoning for a TV network is at hand.

"We've started seeing movement in Hollywood, with a lot of Asian influence in entertainment," Tsang added. "The timing is perfect."

The Xentopia gala is the latest in a series of events beating the drum for the coming dawn of WorldAsia TV. Tsang and crew have held parties in 10 cities over two weeks.

Despite the difference in approach, a similar rationale is at work in the development of ImaginAsian. Throughout Asia the potential of crossover programming has been evident for years, said Anil Srivatsa, ImaginAsian's senior vice president for affiliate relations.

"In Japan, the top soaps are Korean, dubbed into Japanese," Srivatsa said. "We know that pan-Asian programming works in Asia. it's only questioned in the U.S."

Hong said dubbing is not planned for ImaginAsian's shows, however: Subtitles will enable foreign-language speakers to enjoy programs from their own cultures and, with the assistance of English-speaking hosts who will explain the context of the show, other groups can appreciate them as well.

"Our model is such that it doesn't alienate the core audience," he said. "We're trying to select programs much more carefully so it does have an audience beyond the immediate group."

Both Tsang and Hong acknowledge that the Asian population in Hawai'i has a different makeup from the Mainland, where Chinese, Filipinos, Indians, Vietnamese, Koreans and Japanese are the largest groups, in that order.

The fact that Japanese represent a much larger sector of the Hawai'i market won't diminish enjoyment of the programming on either network, they said, since programming decisions are based on the broad appeal, not the size of the originating culture's population.

Hong said Japanese programming will be disproportionately represented, for example: Everyone is crazy about anime.

The networks also will create more opportunities for Asian talent, he said.

"It's about seeing, finally, Asian faces in a mainstream context," Hong said. "That right there is a positive message."

Reach Vicki Viotti at vviotti@honoluluadvertiser.com or 525-8053.

Xentopia celebrates in Hawai'i with concerts, parties, contests

WorldAsia, a New-York-based entertainment company, will begin its eight-day Xentopia entertainment series, promoting the coming launch of WorldAsia Television, with an opening ceremony at 6:30 p.m. tomorrow on the event's main stage on the beach in front of the Hilton Hawaiian Village. Other events will be held through April 1, including a TakeOut Comedy competition and a Bobbing for Spam dating challenge.

WorldAsia Television will be the first Asian-themed English-language TV network in the United States, set for a launch in the fall.

To draw attention, WorldAsia has invited celebrities to its events, including actor Cary Hiroyuki Tagawa, Korean singer JY Park and actress Joy Bisco. Ukulele virtuoso Jake Shimabukuro will be among the local artists performing, and Hawai'i's Brook Lee, Miss Universe 1997, will host the event.

Highlights, with more information, are available at www.xentopia.com:

• "Xentopia Live!" Free outdoor concert nightly through Saturday on the main stage. Thursday's opening ceremony appearances will include kumu hula John Keola Lake and the Kenny Endo Taiko Ensemble. Park and Shimabukuro will be among the performers at the Saturday concert.
• The Club Series will begin with a party, with DJ James Coles, 9 p.m.-2 a.m. Thursday at the Hard Rock Cafe. Cover is $10 for 18- to 20-year-olds and $5 for 21 and older. Xentopia passports, covering admission to all Club Series events, are $60.
• Yin & Yang Hookups, a free dating-game event, is set for 3 p.m. Friday and March 30 at the main stage. Watch contestants compete in challenges such as the Pudding Pool Hunt, Bobbing for Spam, and the Hula Dance Challenge.
• Eastern Shake is an afternoon dance on the beach featuring live performances and music video hits, to be filmed for broadcast and hosted by Bisco. It starts at 3 p.m. Saturday and 5 p.m. March 30.
• Amazing Anime will feature a free screening of "Aura Battler Dunbine," a sci-fi fantasy by the creators of "Gundam" and "Robotech." The event starts at 8 p.m. Saturday on the main stage.
• TakeOut Comedy, hosted by Jami Gong, is a free event (that will be taped for future broadcast) at 7 p.m. Monday at the main stage. The winner will be featured on the premiere of WorldAsia Television, and Tagawa will be among the celebrity judges.
• Xentopia Finale Lu'au will conclude the event at 6 p.m. April 1 on the Hilton's Village Green. A fund-raiser for the Hawai'i International Film Festival and the Jackie Chan Foundation, the event will feature Pacific Rim cuisine and Polynesian entertainment, with Xentopia celebrities mingling with guests. Tickets: $150.

To order tickets, passports or get other information, call the Xentopia Hotline, 947-7941.