NYC ROAR Story Slam 2019

Mar 27

Written By

MARCH 27th, 2019 | 7PM – 9:30PM | DCTV (87 Lafayette St)

KoreanAmericanStory.org is proud to announce our third annual ROAR Story Slam — to shine a spotlight on the best Korean American stories and storytellers! In 2019, we are taking the show on the road and holding local events in NYC, LA and Chicago. New York City is our first destination! The NYC Story Slam will feature five storytelling finalists in a live competition for cash awards, a musical performance by hip hop artist HeeSun Lee, expert judging from a distinguished panel, food and drink, all hosted by TV/Film Actor Daniel K. Isaac.

What is the ROAR Story Slam?

The ROAR Story Slam is a live storytelling event where 5-6 finalists, who have been selected from the first round of video entries, will compete on stage with their personal stories about the Korean American experience. Each finalist will have no more than six minutes to tell their stories, without scripts or props. A panel of judges will watch each performance and then announce the winners at the end of the event.

Special Thanks To:

Sheila Ivy Traister, veteran actress, director and story coach who provided professional coaching sessions to all of our finalists.

Prizes:

1st Place – $1500
2nd Place – $500
3rd Place – $200

Ticket Info:

General Admission: $20
With Student ID: $15

Each ticket includes free food and drinks at the event (yes, there will be wine!).

www.eventbrite.com/e/nyc-roar-story-slam-2019-tickets-58688723552

Note on Accessibility: There is a ramp up to the event space as well as an elevator to the ADA-compliant bathrooms.

Emcee & Special Guest

Daniel K. Isaac
Emcee

Daniel K. Isaac* is an actor and writer, known for his regular role in Showtime drama series Billions and regular guest appearance in Comedy Central series The Other Two. After receiving his Bachelor’s in Theatre from UC San Diego, Daniel moved to New York City where he’s been seen on small and large screens and stages.
Daniel began writing several years ago in order to share conversations he had with his ultra-conservative, uber-Christian, Korean immigrant, single mother. If you’d like to know too much about this hilariously sad / painfully funny relationship head on over to According To My Mother. He sometimes writes about other things not related to his mother. Sometimes…
As a playwright, Daniel is a member of Page73’s Interstate 73, Ensemble Studio Theatre’s Youngblood, and a Lambda Literary Playwriting Fellow.
* ‘Isaac’ means ‘laughter’ in Hebrew. Daniel is a very loud laugher.
www.danielkisaac.com @danielkisaac

HeeSun Lee
Featured Performer

HeeSun Lee isn’t your average Hip Hop emcee. Put up for adoption in her native Korea at the age of four months, she was brought to America and raised by Chinese parents on Staten Island, NY. As a teenager, she became a fan of Hip Hop acts ranging from Lauryn Hill and Will Smith to Tupac Shakur. All of Lee’s diverse experiences have fused to create the illuminating backdrop for her sophomore CD Stereotypes that released on iTunes and other retail outlets on January 21, 2014. It placed #7 on iTunes Christian/Gospel Charts and #24 on Billboard Christian Gospel. Lee’s story is unique in that she credits not only her faith but also Hip Hop for saving her life. “Hip Hop saved me from a lot of things,” she confesses.
“My biggest struggle growing up was with my identity and it all correlates with being stereotyped and not knowing where I belonged because I was adopted.”
Lee envisioned the 16-track CD as a tool to evangelize, while also examining society’s stereotypes like the one that suggests that someone of Korean heritage lacks the spit skills to make it in Hip Hop. “I have had to constantly remind myself that I am legit,” Lee says, of the battle to win cred as an emcee. Through it all, HeeSun has managed to break through every barrier and challenge set before her, as she continues to grow and develop as an artist.
www.heesunleemusic.com @msheesunlee

Finalists

Claire Choi

Claire Choi is a freshman at Binghamton University. Right now, she is striving to become a documentary filmmaker, and to do work in any aspect of that field would make her happy to be doing what she’s doing. Claire loves storytelling in all different art forms and appreciates being able to use this space to reach out to others, share, and listen.

Suyeon Hong

Suyeon Hong is a junior at Yale College majoring in Molecular Biology. She was introduced to slam poetry her freshman year on campus, where she is now a member of Teeth Slam Poets. She hopes to use slam poetry as a means to build solidarity through tenderness and vulnerability, care and creativity.

Jimin Hong

Seoul-born and LA-raised, Jimin Hong loves to rap, is interested in theology and queer studies, enjoys avant-garde films, craves affection from cats although she is allergic, is a food fighter against violence, and doesn’t understand why ENTP Geminis have a bad rep. She is currently an engineering grad student studying human hands and robotics. Must submit a 3-sentence bio so here is a third ending with peace.

John Oh

John Oh‘s favorite Bible verse is John 1:6 because it resonates with him for some odd reason. Formerly a cello performance major at Berklee College of Music, he transferred to Rutgers University and is currently studying English. He enjoys burgers, noodle-based dishes, and the color red.

Jen Kim

Jen Kim is a freelance Film, Event and Festival Producer, Director and Writer. She was adopted from South Korea at 16 months old and is the Vice President of Also-Known-As,Inc., a non-profit association for international adoptees. A proud New Jersey resident, she lives in Hoboken with two cats who never help with housework and are constantly in the way of her keyboard.

Judges

Yoojin Grace Wuertz

Yoojin Grace Wuertz was born in Seoul, South Korea, and immigrated to the United States at age six. She holds a BA in English from Yale University and an MFA in fiction from New York University. Her debut novel, Everything Belongs To Us, was selected as a New York Times Editors’ Choice, longlisted for the Center for Fiction’s First Novel Prize and included on Kirkus Reviews’ Best Fiction of 2017.

Mike Hale

Mike Hale is a television critic for The New York Times. Born in Chungju, South Korea, he is a former national board member of the Asian American Journalists Association.

Paul Juhn

Paul Juhn is a Korean American actor and writer based in NYC. From Shakespeare to new works, he has performed on stages in New York and across the country, as well appearing on TV and film. Paul is also a founding member of Suffolk Street Films – a storytelling collective and production company, which went on to produce his award-winning short film and very Korean American tale, “Works of ART”

Vivian Lee

Vivian Lee is a reporter and anchor at NY1, a 24-hour news network based in New York. She was the former host of Spectrum News NY1’s Spotlight New York, a show giving an insider’s look at the NYC arts and culture scene. She is also a board member of KoreanAmericanStory.org.

The contest organizers reserve the right to adjust the judging process and prizes.

Questions? Please contact roar@koreanamericanstory.org.

KoreanAmericanStory.org is a non-profit organization whose mission is to capture and preserve the stories of the Korean American experience.