Vanilla Club Podcast
At Vanilla Club, our idea of 'Simple Wellness' is both timely and timeless. We pride ourselves on a "back to basics" approach to life, love, and wellbeing
Vanilla Club Podcast delves into how everyday people - often those closest to trauma - find ways to heal and improve their mental and physical wellbeing amid stress, complexity, and even desperation.
Unlike mainstream wellness narratives that focus on optimising the lives of high achievers, we aim to share stories of resilience and resourcefulness from the "quiet achiever".
Vanilla Club Podcast
20. Alex Woo: The Creative Tour de Force Behind In Your Dreams' Baloney Tony
In this episode, we are joined by Alex Woo, director of the Netflix hit "In Your Dreams."
As founder and CEO of Kuku Studios, Alex is a business-creative hybrid - something he is all too modest about, but something that is a key part of Alex's secret sauce.
Alex is also a dear friend and classmate. We went to the Tisch School of the Arts at NYU together. I don't have any beer pong gone wrong stories to share, or drunken late night hijinks to tell, probably because Alex was in the cutting room, perfecting his craft, all the way back to the last millennium. I can tell you that even in high school the lore was that Alex was destined to be a master filmmaker.
We also learn plenty of tidbits about the movie making process. Alex gives some specific examples of how particular jokes get woven into the film---sometimes they are core elements in the early script, other times they are monkey-wrenched in there---like a particular "Don't Cha!"
Alex gives some vignettes of his childhood in the States and the Hong Kong, and how certain cultural and family experiences came to inspire the film.
Ultimately, 'In Your Dreams' really reminds us why storytelling is king, and why in a media landscape filled with lots of mediocre and increasingly AI-generated content, parents should opt for the high quality choice, like In Your Dreams.
We hope you enjoy.