The live auditions for Kollaboration Los Angeles 2013 were held on Saturday, April 27 th, and let me tell you- as a judge, I couldn’t stop dancing in my seat! This year, we received a record-breaking 100+ applications, ranging from all-female rock bands, innovative hip-hop ensembles, and musical magicians. The talent was truly phenomenal with so many of the performers deserving a spot on the Kollaboration stage! Thank you to all who auditioned for following your dreams and for giving us the chance to join you in your journey.

After a long day of auditions, we were faced with the nearly impossible task of selecting our finalists. With so many remarkable acts to choose from, which of them has the passion and skill to best represent Los Angeles and the API community not only in Kollaboration Los Angeles 2013, but also in our national competition Kollaboration Star?

Check out the recap video of our auditions:

Well, without further ado, we are pleased to announce the ridiculously talented line-up for Kollaboration Los Angeles 2013. We guarantee that they’ll have you jumping out of your seats!

• South Korea’s MBC Star 2 Finalist, Ashley Yoon
• Los Angeles Dance Company, Evoke
• Indie-pop/Soul Singer and Songwriter Hana Kim
• Lyrical emcee Russell Curry
• Powerful Vocalist, Pianist, and Songwriter Priska
• Koreatown Rapper Mike B
• Multi-talented USC Student and Saxophonist Justin Klunk
• Hip-hop Artist Verseatile
• Nationally-Ranked Beatboxer EVMB

This may be our best show yet! Don’t miss your chance to see all of our incredible competitors, support the Kollaboration movement, and enjoy another star-filled night of good music, food, and friends. Kollaboration Los Angeles 2013 takes place on Friday, July 26th at the Ford Amphitheatre in Hollywood, with tickets going on-sale July 1st. Picnic baskets encouraged!

Written by Staff Member, Stella Cho

★★ Kollaboration Los Angeles 2013 ft. Run River North ★★
Friday, July 26th | Ford Amphitheatre
**TICKETS ON-SALE 7/1**

Kollaboration invites you to the beautiful Ford Amphitheatre this summer to enjoy performances by ten of the most talented Asian American acts in Los Angeles. The winner of our local talent competition will have the chance to represent Los Angeles in the national contest Kollaboration Star and win the $20,000 Grand Prize. This year features an exceptionally skilled and diverse lineup including...

ASHLEY YOON | Singer
EVMB | Beatboxer
EVOKE | Dance Company
HANA KIM | Acoustic
JOHN & DANIEL RHEE | Acoustic
JUSTIN KLUNK | Saxophonist
MIKE B | Hip-Hop Artist
PRISKA | Singer/Songwriter
RUSSELL CURRY | Rapper
VERSEATILE | Hip-Hop Artist

Hosted by Paul Pk Kim

Special Guest Performance by
RUN RIVER NORTH (formerly known as Monsters Calling Home)

with Guest Judges
AIMEE LEE LUCAS | Choreographer
GEORGE SHAW | Composer
KERO ONE | Hip-Hop Artist, Producer
MISTER ROCKS | DJ, Producer

== WHY YOU NEED TO GO ==
-Enjoy amazing performances by talented artists on a summer night!
-Support Asian American entertainers and the API Community!
-Outside food and beverages are allowed! Bring your picnic basket! :)
-Giveaways throughout the night!
-The Infamous Kollaboration Freestyle Vocal & Dance Contests! Win $100 Cash and Prizes!

*Ticket Prices*
starting at $15
TICKETS ON-SALE 7/1

Afterparty Info Coming Soon...

INTERESTED IN SPONSORING KOLLABORATION? Please email This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it or call 323-930-0716 for more details.

For more information about Kollaboration, please visit www.kollaboration.org or connect with Kollaboration on Facebook at www.facebook.com/Kollaboration

Apr. 6, 2013 - This past Saturday, Kollaboration LA held a volunteer event with Kids Reading to Succeed in Pasadena. KRS is a non-profit organization created in 2008 that uses reading as an educational platform to empower at-risk youth in Pasadena and Los Angeles. Our dedicated staff and volunteers were paired up with anywhere from one to three children in the same age group and read books with them for an hour. Because, the theme of the day was “Dance through Reading,” we also read through the lyrics of the Cha Cha Slide, did the dance all together, and lastly, learned the recently famous Oppa Gangnam Style dance.

I personally had the pleasure of reading with two girls, one at the age of five and the other at the age of six. We spent our first hour reading about different animals and then about silly little things like purple fuzzy slippers. We laughed a lot while dancing to the Cha Cha Slide and I could tell they were confused between left foot and right foot. Later I taught the kids the horse style dance created by none other than Psy himself. It was difficult to teach such a large amount of kids (about 40 attended) and everyone was a little rowdy; but in the end, everyone seemed to understand the basics and had a good a lot of fun. We ended the day showing the kids different dance teams that competed in Kollaboration throughout the US. All in all, it was a great event! Please join us next time!

Written by Staff Member, TK Kim

Pink tents, pink flags, pink balloons-PINK EVERYWHERE. It was the morning of the Susan G. Komen Race for the Cure 5K walk/run held at the historic Los Angeles Dodgers Stadium. It was Saturday, March 23th, the air was sharp and crisp and the sun was still tucked behind the horizon. It was 5:45 AM when I finally arrived at the race and even in almost complete morning darkness large crowds of people and sponsors were slowly gathering in front of the stadium.

The Susan G. Komen Breast Cancer Foundation is the most widely known, and largest Breast Cancer Foundation in the United States. Their purpose that day was simple: to raise money and awareness for research and treatment for Breast Cancer. Kollaboration had agreed to volunteer and help one of the larger donation booths-Kim Jang Hoon's 2013 Miracle Tour. Kim Jang Hoon, a South Korean singer and philanthropist traveled 5,956 miles overseas to raise awareness for his 8-city 2013 Spring & Summer concert tour. All proceeds from his concert tour will go directly to the Susan G. Komen Breast Cancer fund.

Over 50 Kollaboration staff members and supporters came out to help out at the Kim Jang Hoon booth and to run the 5K alongside Kim Jang Hoon himself. The Miracle Tour booth was generously giving away free goodie bags filled with cd's, soap, and cell phone cases. Kollaboration helped collect hundreds of attendees' email addresses to be added to the concert tour mailing list to spread awareness for the tour as well as personally hand out the gift-filled goodie bags to event attendees. Kollaboration was honored to be a part of such a great cause and hopes to continue our participation in the race for the cure.

Written by Staff Member, Kirstin Choi

LOS ANGELES, CA – Kollaboration is once again searching for the most talented Asian American performers to feature in its second annual Kollaboration Star. Following the success of the inaugural Kollaboration Star 2012 last year, Kollaboration Star 2013 will return in October to give its performing artists an even bigger platform to share their talents and increase their visibility. This year, Kollaboration has amped up the national competition with an ultimate grand prize of $20,000. With this new cash prize, Kollaboration hopes to inspire more talented artists to pursue their dreams and expand the focus from its local talent showcases to a national talent search, especially as Kollaboration contestants now have an incredible opportunity to gain attention from a larger audience and use the prize money towards the pursuit of their crafts.

Since 2000, Kollaboration has provided a creative platform for Asian American performing artists to showcase their talents on stage to live audiences in cities across North America and with the advent of Youtube and social media, through videos to online audiences throughout the world. Notable performers who have graced the Kollaboration stage include Far East Movement, Dave Elsewhere, Dumbfoundead, Quest Crew, Jo Koy, David Choi, Kina Grannis, Clara C, and many more.

In 2012, Kollaboration partnered with Mnet, the youth entertainment cable television network, to produce the reality television series “Kollaboration Star 2012,” which detailed the stories of 12 winners from the Kollaboration city talent shows nationwide. The top 7 finalists, voted in by the online viewing audience, were then flown to Los Angeles to compete in the live competition, Kollaboration Star 2012 – The Finale. For the first time, a national champion was selected and pronounced as 2012’s Kollaboration Star. Kollaboration Honolulu’s Mike Izon not only took the title and cash prize, but also received the opportunity of the lifetime when he was flown to Hong Kong to perform on the Red Carpet of the Mnet Asian Music Awards (MAMA), alongside some of the biggest celebrity names in Asia.

Kollaboration is now looking to crown its next Kollaboration Star for 2013. For performers who are interested in competing at Kollaboration Star 2013 for a chance to win the $20,000 grand prize, the process begins by auditioning for a local Kollaboration chapter’s show. To apply for a local audition, please visit www.kollaboration.org.

Sunday, February 24, 2013 was Kollaboration Los Angeles staff’s first meeting. New faces as well as Kollaboration veterans joined together as we talked about future goals, expectations, and hopes for the year ahead.

Here's Director Stephen Kim leading us in discussion.

Some of our lovely staff members (most of who are paying attention).

After splitting into our respective committees and discussing specific roles, we headed off to eat at BCD for dinner! After we all filled our bellies with lots of tofu, we went to Shatto 39 Lanes and split into three teams, pitting our Marketing Team vs Programming Team vs Media Team. It was a close match (coming down to 15 points)!

Congrats to the Marketing Team who won!

Here’s our runner up team: Programming Team.

Last but not least, our 3rd place ☺ : Media Team!

After a night of bonding, we are all looking forward to a great year ahead!

Kollaboration Los Angeles, Executive Director Job Description

We are searching for a new Executive Director to lead the Los Angeles Chapter of Kollaboration. Kollaboration is a 501(c)3 non-profit organization dedicated to the promotion and advocacy of Asian/Pacific-Islander (API) participation and advancement in entertainment and media. Kollaboration began in 2000 and currently has 15 chapters in cities across North America. Each chapter is operated by a local volunteer staff, headed by a volunteer serving as Executive Director, and each year, every chapter hosts an annual Kollaboration talent showcase for its local community.

The Executive Director is the Chief Executive Officer of Kollaboration Los Angeles (Kollaboration LA). The Executive Director reports to the Kollaboration Officers and is responsible for Kollaboration LA’s consistent achievement of its mission and financial objectives. In program development and administration, the Executive Director will:

Specific committee responsibilities:

1. Assure that Kollaboration LA has a long-range strategy which achieves its mission, and toward which it makes consistent and timely progress.
2. Provide leadership in developing program, organizational and financial plans with the Kollaboration Los Angeles Staff, and carry out plans and policies authorized by the Kollaboration Officers.
3. Promote active and broad participation by volunteers in all areas of Kollaboration LA’s work.
4. Maintain official records and documents, and ensure compliance with federal, state and local regulations.
5. Maintain a working knowledge of significant developments and trends in entertainment, media, and issues affecting the API community.

In communications, the Executive Director will:

1. See that the Kollaboration Officers are kept fully informed on the condition of Kollaboration LA and all important factors influencing it.
2. Publicize the activities of Kollaboration LA, its programs and goals.
3. Establish sound working relationships and cooperative arrangements with community groups and organizations.
4. Represent the programs and point of view of Kollaboration LA to agencies, organizations, and the general public.

In relations with staff, the Executive Director will:

1. Be responsible for the recruitment, employment, and release of all personnel, staff and volunteers.
2. Ensure that job descriptions are developed, that regular performance evaluations are held, and that sound human resource practices are in place.
3. See that an effective management team, with appropriate provision for succession, is in place.
4. Encourage staff and volunteer development and education, and assist program staff in relating their specialized work to the total program of the organization.
5. Maintain a climate which attracts, keeps, and motivates a diverse staff of top quality people.

In budget and finance, the Executive Director will:

1. Be responsible for developing and maintaining sound financial practices.
2. Work with the staff, Finance Committee, and the Kollaboration Officers in preparing a budget; see that Kollaboration LA operates within budget guidelines.
3. Ensure that adequate funds are available to permit Kollaboration LA to carry out its work.

Desired Experience

• 2+ Years experience leading a non-profit organization or group
• Proven ability to fundraise and successfully manage an operational budget
• Experience working with the API community in the Greater Los Angeles Area
• Experience working within the entertainment/media industry is a plus

To Apply
Interested candidates should send a resume and cover letter to This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it . Letters of Recommendation are not required but a plus. In the cover letter, please include the reason you are applying, and why you would like to lead Kollaboration Los Angeles.

Episode 5 of Kollaboration Star - The Finale Episode! Watch who wins Kollaboration Star!!

Part 1 of 5

Part 2 of 5

Part 3 of 5

Part 4 of 5

Part 5 of 5