Planned Parenthood contacted me and said they needed a Youtube-ready PSA in one week’s time.  It was gonna be a challenge for sure – a project like this usually needs 2-3 weeks minimum – but always up for a challenge, I decided, “Why not?”

Immediately we launched into planning and writing.  The writing part is always the most crucial for me, especially for a PSA, where a message needs to be communicated very specifically and in a short time.  I spent several days going back and forth with Planned Parenthood, getting constant political messaging feedback from Gabe Rose, and cutting down the script as short as possible while keeping all the parts necessary to get the message across.

While this writing madness was going on, I was working with my motion graphics artist (the uber talented John Hwang) on the tone and feel of our piece.  I knew I wanted to go with a clean, modern feel to match with the Planned Parenthood branding.  The video should be empowering and make you smile, but not at the risk of being cutesy or undermining the serious message.  And while I wanted it to be fresh, I didn’t want it to be too slick – it should have a tangible, accessible feel just like Planned Parenthood itself.

After talking this all out, John created a mood board that captured exactly what I was going for.  And he came up with a concept revolving around crumpling paper, lending to the clean but tangible feel.  Awesome.

From there, it was intense few days of lots of work and little sleep.  We basically crammed in 2 weeks of work into one packed weekend! While John put the motion graphics into action, I got Kathleen Turner’s (Californication, Romancing the Stone, and my favorite, the voice of Jessica Rabbit) voiceover and began chopping it up.  When the voiceover and music had been cut up, sweetened, and every single beat was perfect, we locked down the audio and began timing the motion graphics to it.

On Tuesday afternoon, the video was finally finished, approved, polished, and uploaded to Youtube.  Ahhh, just in time for Thanksgiving…and for the best night of sleep ever.

Client: Planned Parenthood Federation of America
Title: ‘Stop Stupak!’
Length: 0:49

Director/Writer: Jaemin Yi
Motion Graphic Artist: John Hwang
Voiceover: Kathleen Turner
Music: Chris Muir

Working in partnership with Two Jumps Media, we were asked by Vestara to create a video that would help facilitate sales of their pharmaceutical waste management system.

Our main challenge was to take a very dense and complex issue – pharmaceutical waste management – and clearly communicate how Vestara’s system would tackle it head on.

Even though our target audience was directors of health care facilities such as hospitals and pharmacies, we wanted to make the video clear enough for anyone to understand.  The best way to get this information across simply and effectively was to use motion graphics, so we teamed up with talented VFX artist John Hwang to bring it to life.

In a whirlwind month, we integrated motion graphics, live action footage, a product demo, and effective copy writing into a four minute video that we’re all proud of: a piece that clearly communicates Vestara’s value to health care industries and their commitment to preserving our environment.

Client: Vestara
Title: ‘Vestara’
Length: 3:59

Created by: Andrew Oh & Jaemin Yi
VFX Artist: John Hwang
Voiceover: Lita Lopez
Crew: Kassie Funcell

4/14/09 Update – Check out the early feedback from the CEO of Goodwill, the former CEO of the Gates Foundation, and Obama’s statewide Field Director!

The Los Angeles Parents Union contacted me to help them launch the Parent Revolution, a grass-roots campaign to transform the schools of Los Angeles within 3 years.

To jumpstart the campaign, LAPU wanted an online video that would get the message out to parents and start to spread virally. Working closely with LAPU, I decided that the video needed to incorporate the following strategy:

Purpose – To engage parents on both logical and emotional levels, ultimately inspiring them to: learn more, sign up for, and become further involved with the Parent Revolution.

Target Demographic – Los Angeles parents with children currently attending the LAUSD.

The video needed to be:

1) Accessible – LAPU’s complex and detailed strategy needed to be explained in a clear, easily digestible message.
2) In-Depth – The message also needed to be detailed enough to convince parents that this campaign had a viable plan and was a legitimate effort to reform education.
3) Emotional – Parents needed to connect with the message on an emotional level, to realize that this movement would directly affect their own children.
4) Shareable – To facilitate viral sharing between parents, the message needed to be presented creatively, stay under 3 minutes, and emphasize immediate action.

So with all that in mind, I decided to go with the ‘whiteboard and words’ approach, being heavily influenced by numerous dynamic typography videos online.  Since the Parent Revolution needed a lot of explanation, I thought, what better tool than a classroom whiteboard to easily guide the audience?

I loved the idea of taking dynamic typography, which is always done digitally, and bringing it into the physical word. So I worked with artist Kassie Funcell, who brought a distinct hand-drawn approach, while simultaneously writing the script to make sure the visuals and the message were developed hand-in-hand.

I also felt it was crucial to have the visuals perfectly synced with the music, so I worked closely with composer Will Lam who created a custom-fit soundtrack in which every note matched the words and emotions being shown onscreen.

And after a month of intense preparation, a hectic 12-hour shoot, and a few long weeks of editing and motion graphics work, the video is done and ready to go.  I hope you guys like it, and most importantly, I hope the parents of Los Angeles do.

Client: Los Angeles Parents Union
Title: ‘Parent Revolution’
Length: 2:57
Director/Writer/Editor: Chris Yi
Cinematographer: Matt Bass
Crew: Britt Brzoza, Kassie Funcell
Art Director: Kassie Funcell
Composer: Will Lam

In 2008, Doritos held a nationwide Superbowl commercial competition so I created three commercial entries of all different styles. Check out the other two spots, First Date and The Breakroom and read more about the making of here.

A lavish couple dines in complete decadence.

Client: Doritos
Title: ‘The Red’
Length: :30
Director: Chris Yi
Writers: Chris Yi and Jesse Epstein
Producer: Jenny Ahn
Cinematographer: Matt Bass
Crew: Britt Brzoza, Emi Grannis, Kassie Funcell, and Noel Diaz de Rivera

‘Sir Snob’: Art Oden
‘Lady Snob’: Rhoda Baldwin-Bishop
‘Server Snob’: Doug Hammond

In 2008, Doritos held a nationwide Superbowl commercial competition so I created three commercial entries of all different styles. Check out the other two spots, The Red and The Breakroom and read more about the making of here.

After a not-so-successful night, Doris tries to let her date down gently…not-so-successfully.

Client: Doritos
Title: ‘First Date’
Length: :30
Director: Chris Yi
Writers: Chris Yi and Jesse Epstein
Producer: Jenny Ahn
Cinematographer: Matt Bass
Crew: Britt Brzoza, Casey Levantal, Kassie Funcell, and Noel Diaz de Rivera.

“Doris”: Jennie Taber

In 2008, Doritos held a nationwide Superbowl commercial competition so I created three commercial entries of all different styles. Check out the other two spots, The Red and First Date and read more about the making of here.

Three co-workers decide that Pete really needs to know.

Client: Doritos
Title: ‘The Breakroom’
Length: :30
Director: Chris Yi
Writers: Chris Yi and Jesse Epstein
Producer: Jenny Ahn
Cinematographer: Matt Bass
Crew: Britt Brzoza, Casey Levantal, Kassie Funcell, and Noel Diaz de Rivera

“Earl”: Earl Skakler
“David”: David Choi
“Chris”: Chris Mathieu
“Pete”: Ian Pfister