Debut author Justinian Huang is heating up the literary world with his romantic fantasy novel, The Emperor and the Endless Palace. In the year 4 BCE, an ambitious courtier is called upon to seduce the young emperor–but quickly discovers they are both ruled by blood, sex ,and intrigue. In 1740, a lonely innkeeper agrees to help a mysterious visitor procure a rare medicine, only to unleash an otherworldly terror instead. And in present-day Los Angeles, a college student meets a beautiful stranger and cannot shake the feeling they’ve met before.
Gina Su stands out as one of the industry’s most dynamic voices and accomplished storytellers, continually shattering barriers with her compelling narratives on both sides of the camera. Her latest short, Autopilot, follows a lone pilot on a homebound space vessel who finds herself trapped in a waking nightmare when her holographic “virtual companion” begins to defy his own programming. Written and directed by Jennifer Zhang, Gina and Jennifer came together because they identified a significant gap for Asian female creatives in the sci-fi genre, aiming to carve out space
Sight, starring Greg Kinnear and Terry Chen, follows the inspiring true story of Ming Wang, an impoverished Chinese prodigy who flees Communist China to become a pioneering eye surgeon in America. When tasked with restoring the sight of an orphan who was blinded by her step mother, he must confront the trauma of living through the violent uprising in his youth, the Cultural Revolution. Pop Culturalist had the pleasure of speaking with Dr. Ming Wang and actor Terry Chen about Sight, how they both hope that the film inspires audiences
Donia Kash is a multifaceted storyteller who is slaying the industry both in front of and behind the camera. Their past credits include projects like Motherland: Fort Salem, A Million Little Things, and So Help Me Todd. Currently, they’re headlining in the Tubi Original, Slay, penned and directed by the talented Jem Garrard. In the dramedy, after a booking mishap, four drag queens are thrust into an unwelcoming crowd, only to find themselves the last line of defense when vampires descend upon the scene. Pop Culturalist was lucky enough to