- WRITING
- PODCASTING
- VIDEO ESSAYS
- VLOGGING
The HIFF ONLINE CREATIVES & CRITICS IMMERSIVE (HOCCI) program, powered by Critical Minded, supports sustainable film criticism in Hawai‘i through mentorship and paid career opportunities. The mission of HOCCI is to broaden diversity in film criticism across the Pacific region and use influencer branding strategies to spark career opportunities in Hawai’i, not be hampered by oceans, state borders and distance, because geography is no longer a barrier.
The 2024 HOCCI supports Hawai‘i-based AANHPI critics to be a HIFF44 press cohort to cover films, panels, or filmmakers at the 44th Annual Hawai‘i International Film Festival presented by Halekulani. Film criticism will consists of four different focuses: writing, podcasting, video essays, and vlogs.
SESSION MENTORS
Taylor Ramos and Tony Zhou, Vancouver-based creators of the wildly popular YouTube video essay series EVERY FRAME A PAINTING—which has amassed 2 million subscribers—are coming back to HIFF, after their wildly successful masterclass in 2022! From YouTube videos to Netflix series (VOIR) and indie features to animation studios, the duo have worked on projects big and small, for themselves and others. Join them for the Hawai‘i premiere of their short film, THE SECOND, starring Paul Sun-Hyung Lee (KIM’S CONVENIENCE, THE MANDALORIAN), and an exclusive lecture about its making, the “one for us, one for them” ethos, restarting their channel for a new, temporary run, and how they’ve charted their careers. Learn more about Taylor and Tony here.
Dino-Ray Ramos is an award-winning journalist who served as editor at Deadline Hollywood. In 2021, launched the media platform DIASPORA, spotlighting voices making systemic change in film, TV and pop culture. He currently hosts The Green Room podcast and has also produced, created, and hosted the Problematic Fave and the GLAAD Media Award-winning New Hollywood podcast. His work has been seen in Vogue, Entertainment Tonight, San Francisco Chronicle, and Oakland Tribune. In addition to writing, he has taught at Columbia College of Chicago and has consulted for clients including GLAAD, Amazon Studios, Hulu, MGM, Orion Pictures, Film Independent, Center For Asian American Media (CAAM), Coalition of Asian Pacifics in Entertainment (CAPE), among others. He is a member of The Society of LGBTQ Entertainment Critics, the Critics Choice Association, and was part of Gold House’s A100 List which recognizes the most impactful Asians in the country. Learn more about Dino-Ray here.
Emerson Goo is a Deaf writer, film programmer, and planner/landscape designer from Honolulu, Hawaiʻi. He writes about film and moving-image art across the Asia-Pacific region, as well as issues in landscape architecture and urban planning. His writing can be found in publications such as Film Comment, MUBI, Screen Slate, Cinema Scope, Design Museum Magazine, and the New York Review of Architecture. He is a strong advocate for disabled inclusion in the arts and across the built environment professions. Additonally, he has programmed films for the Honolulu Museum of Art and the Cal Poly Film Production Society, and was a programming intern with the HIFF. In 2022, he was a Documentary Magazine Editorial Fellow at the International Documentary Association. He is a member of the Hawaiʻi Film Critics Society. Learn more about Emerson here.
Jen Yamato is a freelance journalist and film critic who has written about Hollywood blockbusters, independent films, international film festivals including Cannes, Toronto, and Sundance, and everything in between. She previously served as a staff reporter for the Los Angeles Times covering film and entertainment, where she also co-created and co-hosted the award-winning L.A. Times podcast “Asian Enough.” Prior to that, she was a staff reporter for The Daily Beast and served as an editor at Movieline, Deadline Hollywood, and Rotten Tomatoes. Her film reviews currently appear in The Washington Post. She is a member of the Los Angeles Film Critics Association and in 2024 was the recipient of the ICG Publicists Guild’s Press Award. Learn more about Jen here.
The 2024 HIFF ONLINE CREATIVES & CRITICS IMMERSIVE is supported by Critical Minded, a grantmaking and learning initiative that supports cultural critics of color in the United States.
David Chen is the host and producer of podcasts such as The Filmcast, The Tobolowsky Files, and A Cast of Kings. Episodes of his shows are downloaded over 100,000 times each week. Previously, David has worked as a marketer at Amazon and Microsoft and as a Research Associate at Harvard Business School.
David is also a video essayist and filmmaker. His video work has been featured or mentioned in online publications such as Rolling Stone, Buzzfeed, Slate, Vulture, Indiewire, Laughing Squid, Bustle, Cosmopolitan, Metro.co.uk, Vimeo Staff Picks, Allocine, and Digg. In 2014, he directed a film, The Primary Instinct. In 2015, he released a looping cello EP. David currently lives in Seattle, WA.
Patrick Willems is a filmmaker and video essayist based in New York. Patrick rose to prominence following the viral success of his short film “What if Wes Anderson Directed X-Men.” Since then, his channel has grown to focus on film commentary and analysis in videos that blend non-fiction essays with cinematic narrative storytelling. In 2022 he released his first feature film, NIGHT OF THE COCONUT.
Taylor Ramos & Tony Zhou are a Vancouver-based filmmaking duo. She draws, he edits, and they write and direct together. They are the co-creators of the YouTube video essay series Every Frame a Painting and served as writer/director/producers on the David Fincher-produced Netflix series VOIR. Their collaborative work has also been featured on FilmStruck and the Criterion Collection.
Taylor has worked as a 2D animator for television for almost a decade. Her credits include Hilda, The Last Kids on Earth, Dogs in Space, Pinecone and Pony, and The Legend of the Three Caballeros.
Tony has worked as an editor in features, commercials and animation since 2007. His credits include The Lego Star Wars Holiday Special, The Friendship Game, Dragons: Rescue Riders and the upcoming series Megamind’s Guide to Defending Your City.
Kirsten Stevens & Duncan Caillard are Melbourne-based researchers and film programmers. Kirsten’s research on film festivals and the Australian film industry includes a forthcoming book exploring the impact of streaming services on national feature film industries. Duncan’s research focuses on contemporary Asian-Pacific screen culture, and he is the current Vice-President of the digital film journal Senses of Cinema.