Inner Monologues of a Nice Guy
Over 10 years ago I became a fan of Wong Fu Productions. Before the days of YouTube, I too was one of those people that had come across their short that was posted and shared randomly on a website. 10 years later, Phil, Ted, and Wes, and the rest of the Wong Fu team is still hard at it. Putting out content that even for someone like me that still resonate with.
We all have been there and know someone that have had to experience rejection. It is not easy when you deal with it growing up, be it in grade school, college, or even after college. (Life after college?) Regardless of the language or culture, rejection in any language still cuts the same. It hurts, and it sucks.
Thank-you Wong Fu for making this and publishing this series just in time for back to school 2017–2018. In the mean time, sit back, relax, and enjoy the story of Derek: Just Another Nice Guy.
Life is not a sprint, it’s a really long marathon, filled with opportunities to grow, to find joy, and create happiness. Those who live the best and fullest lives don’t focus on what’s fleeting and temporary, but instead focus on making it all the way through to the end. Nice guys don’t finish last. Nice guys finish lasting.
Philip Wang of Wong Fu Productions
Update: 9/5/2017
Final Thoughts
As I am reading through Phil’s post I can’t imagine what it must have been like for them to have gotten the news back in March. Rejection is hard. It is never easy. Getting rejected from college is one thing. Getting rejected from someone you’re interested is hard. But getting rejected for something that you believe in and have put so much time and effort into must be on another level hurt.
I’m wondering if Audrey from Just Another Nice Guy was the personification of the studios not green lighting season 2. Derek, our lead, is trying to figure out what things just didn’t work out.
Why didn’t things work out? Was the show too campy? Too demographic specific? Not hip enough? Too hip? Was it “too Asian?” A million and one things to ask but even if they knew the answer, there isn’t much they can do to change it. At the end of the day, Single by 30 will for the time being, remain a single season. Perhaps Philip (Wong Fu) needed to do Just Another Nice Guy as a way to get through the rejection.
Sometimes, things are just not meant to be. Would Wong Fu have made Just Another Nice Guy if Single by 30 was green lit for a season 2? Probably not. One thing for certain is that the current landscape of film making and content creation is hard and extremely diverse. There are only so many eyeballs to around but new content is popping up each and everyday, chasing for those precious views that are advertiser friendly.
It is ironic that throughout the history of Wong Fu and all their back catalog, they are probably by far one of the most advertiser friendly content creators on the platform. They didn’t set out to be advertiser friendly and despite some of their adult/mature themes as it pertains to life and love, they don’t have the subscriber numbers to show for it. However, I’d like to think that despite their subscriber numbers, Wong Fu fans are one of the most loyal fans on the YouTube platform. I should know. I’m one of them.
To me, I would like to think Just Another Nice Guy was Wong Fu’s way of expressing to the fans and the world that even though they were rejected, these bunch of nice guys and gals don’t finish last.
They finish lasting.
