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Join us for a discussion of the feature film, Happy Cleaners (2019).
When a new landlord comes around, Mr. and Mrs. Choi find their dry cleaning business, Happy Cleaners in Flushing, Queens, in jeopardy of closing after 17 years. While they make every effort to save the business, their daughter Hyunny and son Kevin are also at their own tough crossroads of life under the pressure of their parents’ high hopes. Struggling through economic turmoil, cultural clashes, and generational divide, the Choi family realizes that the only way to be stronger is to embrace each other. Happy Cleaners is a heartfelt story that celebrates the survival of immigrants, the experiences of the Korean American community, and the value of family.
Moderator
Vivian Lee, Correspondent & Producer, Asian American Life
Panel
Julian Kim, Co-Director & Writer, Happy Cleaners
Peter S. Lee, Co-Director & Writer, Happy Cleaners
Julian was born and bred in New York. He pursued a career in the arts at an early age despite the Korean-American norm. An animator-to-be turned filmmaker, Julian always felt passionate about telling moving and creative stories. He works at ABC News Digital as an Editor and Producer and Happy Cleaners will be his feature film directorial debut. His quirky compartmentalizing work ethic comes as no surprise to his colleagues as he enjoys long walks inside the Container Store, Muji’s packaging aisle, and building his Legos in a very linear manner.
Peter grew up in a blue-collar, immigrant family in Flushing, New York. The films that Peter creates are born from a singular desire to tell authentic stories of the invisible and the marginalized, using his own experiences, upbringing, and observations as a guide.
Kat is a film producer, writer, and talent. She is a Flushing, Queens girl from her first breath to her eventual last. Her professional training is in law and has been working as an attorney for a decade in the securities regulation and finance industry. She has always sought to tap into her creative passions through the platform of the arts and entertainment. She believes that representing a voice for her ethnic and gender community is realized through her role as a Producer/Writer. She enjoys comedy, boxing, and secretly writing her own biopic sitcom.
Vivian Lee (she/her) is a former Emmy-winning TV journalist, public speaker, moderator and director/producer in New York. She is currently a correspondent and producer with Asian American Life, a production of CUNY-TV, and co-host on the podcast The 5 Of Us. From 2008 to 2020 she was an anchor and reporter for Spectrum News NY1, as well as a host for Spotlight New York. Vivian’s career in New York started at WNBC in 2002, as a reporter.
Before that she was CityTV Toronto's parliamentary correspondent and federal affairs reporter in Ottawa, Canada.
Vivian currently serves as co-chair of KoreanAmericanStory.org and lives in New York with her husband and two daughters.
