Fresh off her Coachella debut, Laufey released the star-studded music video for her latest single, “Madwoman.”
The 26-year-old singer-songwriter, who performed the song live for the first time at Coachella, assembled an all-star cast of Heated Rivalry breakout Hudson Williams, Olympic gold medalist Alysa Liu, KATSEYE’s Megan Skiendiel and The Summer I Turned Pretty’s Lola Tung for the video.
Laufey and her team gathered a slew of Asian and Asian American talent in front of and behind the camera. That includes executive producers Christine Yi and Maiqi Qin of Gold House, Julie Fong of Partizan Entertainment and Committee of 100 co-founder Oscar Tang, as well as director Warren Fu and DP Andrew Truong.
“Growing up, I felt a general lack of representation for people who looked like me in music and media. With the ‘Madwoman’ video, I wanted to be that representation,” the singer says in a statement.
In an email exchange with The Hollywood Reporter, Fu adds, “It just felt like such a rare experience to have so many people in front of and behind the camera who share a similar cultural background.”
“As an Asian American who grew up with so few role models in music, film or sports, it was exciting to celebrate these talented young artists who are each riding their own wave of success,” he adds, a nod to Laufey, Williams, Tung, Skiendiel and Liu.
Gold House, the API non-profit, helped bring the music video to life. The organization has begun executive producing and producing films through its Creative Equity Fund and Gold House Studios, however, “Madwoman” is its first music video.
“Across our different initiatives and mediums, perhaps the only constant is that we want to support storytelling with AAPI characters and moments that feel like firsts. That feel like they’ll become cultural moments that our community can feel the impact of and take pride in,” said Yi, GM of Gold House Studios and Creative Equity Fund tells THR in an email exchange.
“The all ‘wasian’ cast is definitely one of those firsts, and I think it brings light to another unique and beautiful facet of the Asian diaspora,” she adds, referencing Internet slang for people who have Asian and Caucasian heritage. Social media comments on Laufey’s Instagram posts announcing the cast gems like “not the wasian avengers omg” and “this is like the avengers of wasia.”
Gold House began working with Laufey and her team after they reached out to Gold House about finding an AAPI director for the video.
The video for “Madwoman” was filmed in Los Angeles in the weeks leading up Coachella debut, and took inspiration from the late photographer Slim Aarons, who was known for shooting high society.
Fu says that Laufey and her identical twin sister, Junia, came to him “with the idea of putting a twist on all-American mid-century iconography with a cast we don’t normally see in that environment.” He adds that people were “understandably a little anxious” about his plan to shoot 70 shots in one day. “The energy on set was so positive and infectious that everyone locked in and made it happen,” he says.
“I think whether you’re Asian American or of mixed ethnicity, you often feel like you’re between two worlds, and I wanted to capture that feeling in this video,” Fu explains. “I saw a Slim Aarons photo of people playing backgammon by a pool and thought it would be fun if we swapped it for mahjong.”
The director says that helped inspire their production designer Evaline Huang to build a visual world that mixed classic mid-century Americana with a Hong Konh twist. “Iced tea and boba, American pastries and dim sum, Chinese lanterns on an Eichler home,” Fu lists.
The director adds, “In a way, the video reimagines the American Dream as something more diverse and inclusive.”
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