The Big Picture

Collider’s Perri Nemiroff sits down with first-time feature director Anderson .Paak and the cast of his film
K-Pops!
at TIFF 2024.

K-Pops!
follows a father grappling for stardom who seizes an opportunity to capitalize on his son’s talent. As they work together, however, he comes to realize fatherhood takes the spotlight.
.Paak, his real-life son, Soul Rasheed, Cathy Shim, Kevin Woo, Jonnie Park, and Jee Young Han discuss the inspiration for the film, the doubts and challenges along the way, and overcoming them together.

Anderson .Paak has astounded audiences for the better part of fifteen years with his musical talent. A staple of Los Angeles hip-hop, .Paak has performed with the greatest of the hip-hop greats — Dr. Dre, Kendrick Lamar, Snoop Dogg, Pusha T, J. Cole. The list goes on and on and on. .Paak gained fans of all ages by lighting up NPR’s Tiny Desk Concert, voicing Prince Darnell in the Trolls franchise, and absolutely tearing the house down at the 2022 Superbowl Halftime Show. Now, the drumming luminary has a handful of new superlatives debuting his feature film K-Pops! at this year’s Toronto International Film Festival.

K-Pops! follows a washed-up musician, BJ, played by .Paak, who attempts to reinvigorate his career by joining the house band of a K-Pop competition show in Seoul, only to discover that his long-lost son, Tae Young (.Paak’s actual son, Soul Rasheed) is one of the contestants vying to be the world’s next superstar. It tells a story of uniting people and cultures through music and comedy, rebuilding relationships, and learning how to trust people as they evolve.

Director, co-writer, and star Anderson .Paak stopped by the Collider interview studio at the Cinema Center at MARBL, along with co-stars Cathy Shim, Kevin Woo, Soul Rasheed, Jonnie Park and Jee Young Han, to talk with Perri Nemiroff about their experience with the first-time filmmaker. Together, the crew chatted about the concept’s pandemic origins, its Korean heart and influence, and what a smooth director the team found in .Paak. You can watch the full interview from TIFF in the video above or read the conversation transcript below.

‘K-Pops!’ Began With Father/Son YouTube Sketches
Image by Photagonist at TIFF

PERRI NEMIROFF: Because K-Pops! is getting a festival premiere, a lot of our audience is first going to learn about it through TIFF. Anderson, would you mind doing the honors and giving a brief synopsis of your film?

ANDERSON .PAAK: The film is about a washed-up musician played by myself. He goes by BJ and finds out that his long-lost son could be the next big K-pop star. It’s played by my real son. And that’s pretty much it. [Laughs]

I want to talk about this being your feature directorial debut, which is a very big deal. It’s not easy to get a green light on a first feature. Do you remember the specific thing that happened, the person you met, a resource you acquired that made you stop and go, “I’m gonna make my first movie now?”

PAAK: It all started in quarantine, doing YouTube sketches with my son and getting into what he was into. He wanted to do YouTube. He was into K-pop at the time, so I started chiming in and helping him out, doing videos with him and editing. Right then is when I saw how talented he was and how natural he was. We started really bonding by doing the videos. Then I started working on the script where I was like, “What if I didn’t know I had a son, and I was learning about my culture, and I was teaching him about his?”

I moved the script around a little bit and my buddy, Jonnie Park, was like, “Look, I got these people, Stampede [Ventures], that are investing into ideas.” I took the deck over to them and met Greg Silverman, and he was like, “Let’s do it.” He was like, “You want to direct it? Are you sure?” And I was like, “Yeah, for sure.” He’s like, “Okay, be here tomorrow at 7am for the first meeting.” I tried to cancel the meeting because I was hungover and stuff. He was like, “Let me tell you right now, if you wanna get in the movies, if you want to direct, you can’t be doing that. It’s not like the music industry.” That’s when I was like, “Alright, I’m gonna really do this and buckle down.”

You’ve obviously directed music videos, but directing a feature film can be a completely different kind of situation. What is something about directing music videos that you found coming in handy making this film, but then also, can you tell me a directing learning curve you experienced directing a feature?

PAAK: With music videos, it’s a lot of run-and-gun and way less budget, so you have to get real innovative and creative. You have to trust your team and have a really good team that you can rely on and empower so that you can get these things done and all these different scenes that you want. I feel like that’s the same with the movie business. A lot of the directors that I really love work with a lot of the same DPs, production designers, and wardrobe and stuff. So when I was doing music videos, I was thinking about what kind of team I wanted and how I wanted to do that.

With movies, though, I think there are far more departments and far more fires you have to put out. I heard the hardest thing about being a director is just getting out of the car because as soon as you step out of the car, “Something’s going on in makeup,” then production, “Everything’s going wrong!” So you just have to be someone who’s cool under pressure and knows how to communicate and be a people person.

The Many Collaborative Modes of Anderson .Paak
“He’s locked in as a director. He really can take out the noise.”
Image by Photagonist at TIFF

I’ll open this up to the whole cast. Again, first feature as a director right here. I am hopeful there will be many more in Anderson’s future. Can you each tell me something about him as an actor’s director and leader on this set that you’re excited for more actors to experience in the future?

KEVIN WOO: I can elaborate. As an artist myself, it was such an honor, and I was so fortunate to work with Anderson .Paak. The whole experience was so much fun, and first and foremost, he made everyone feel so special and like home. We also created this family bond, and it made us feel really safe to just play around. He brought up really great ideas during the set, and he just brought the best out of everyone. So, thank you, Andy.

SOUL RASHEED: He’s very straightforward when he has his director hat on, so it’s easy for me to act and work on set. I really appreciate that. When we were on set, it felt like a safe environment for us to just play around and mess around and stuff. It was never, like, too serious.

JEE YOUNG HAN: It’s interesting because Anderson was doing so many jobs, it feels like there’s just one version of Anderson you’ll see. But definitely for me, in my point of view, I also got to see different modes he got into. It’s not just like Anderson is like this as he’s writing, directing, acting. For me, especially, I saw him when we did our family scenes, how he is being a father to Soul, like really, really making sure his son is comfortable in these scenes. So, I’m watching him in dad mode as a director, and then when Anderson and I had our scenes, I saw him zero in as an actor. I was really seeing that happen and he was kind of wanting to focus on that. Then when I saw him, I got to kind of watch him do all of the competition stuff, and that was really maybe the one snap of, like, “Oh, he’s locked in as a director. He really can take out the noise.” That was kind of interesting to see. I don’t think you get that with directors.

Image by Photagonist at TIFF

That’s so cool. You’re wearing a million hats on this production, but I hadn’t quite considered that the dad hat has to be active the entire time, too.

JONNIE PARK: I think with his directing, the great thing is he’s a great performer, so he’s giving you ideas on how to perform something, like, five different ways, and he’ll actually do it. And I’m like, “Oh, okay.” So you know exactly what he wants from you, you know what I mean? And just seeing that mode in director mode, it’s been crazy because I’ve been in the studio with this guy musically and in different fields of performance and entertainment, and he really stood up to the plate.

.Paak Was Like a “Master Composer” on Set
“He directed me as if it was music.”
Image by Photagonist at TIFF

CATHY SHIM: Myself, I worked on the Wild Card stage, which is this massive stage for our, not to give away too much away, K-pop competition, and there was this moment. I am not as talented in the dancing market, but I do come from a classical piano background, and I always look at a script in a very musical way. I remember this one moment being on that stage, being on by myself with all the cameras pointing, and I needed to walk down the stage, say all the lines, hit this camera, look there, and then do this, and then do your arms. I was trying to figure out all this stuff, and I’m doing all this in very complicated Korean, and I remember that Anderson came over, and he’s like, “Slow and smooth. Find your rhythm.” He directed me as if it was music, and then I just got it. I was like, “Okay, take a breath. Just own it.” And then it was like all the pieces just came together. So it felt like having a master composer, like a conductor, up there telling me how to do all the rhythm of it and then hit this camera, hit that camera, and then also giving me the inflections on the lines of how he wanted it to be put forth. So, it was really wonderful to have him at the helm in that way, wearing all the hats that he does.

I’ll stick with you for a minute, Cathy, to start digging into everybody’s characters. You’re the host of Wild Card. There are many singing competition shows out there. Is there any particular show hosts that you channeled in your own performance here?

SHIM: Producer 101. So I come from a K-pop background. I left, I quit K-pop many, many years ago to pursue acting and then to come back to Korea as an actor on a film called K-Pops!, no less. So I have a lot of K-pop buddies who have then moved forth, my old bandmates As One, I have a buddy from Koyote. They all helped me with my Korean, specifically for the show dialogue, very different than Korean dialogue. For me, they really threw me into that world of Producer 101. I had various Korean hosts that I would look at on various social medias, and it was just really a picking of various different flavors and, at the end of the day, really wrapping it up in who I am because I’m not fully Korean and I’m not fully American. I’m in between the two. And so to be able to bring a character that I have yet to see myself — I’m not speaking broken English, I’m an Americanized Korean who was hosting this game show. It was just an iconic, powerful role to be able to make my own. So, it’s just a combination of all things.

Exploring Stardom in ‘K-POPS’
Image via TIFF

Anderson and Soul, I’m gonna come back down to the two of you because both of your characters in the movie are seeking stardom. I’m curious to hear how your answers to this might differ. What does stardom mean to each of them, and why do they want it?

PAAK: I think for BJ, my character, he has a bit of a chip on his shoulder. He feels that he deserves the stardom and that he is a star already, and it’s up to the people to kind of wait for the world to see that. He’s waiting on his moment. He’s always trying to take his moment, really opportunistic, and it doesn’t happen for him. Years go by, and then he becomes one of those bitter musicians. And so, when he goes to Korea to be on the show, it’s kinda like his last resort, but he still has it that he’s like, “You know what? I could still go viral. I could still be that guy.” And he’s always had that. I think that’s the difference between me and Tae Young. I’ll let him say what he thinks, but when I was developing the character, it’s more like he’s a natural. He not seeking that. I think BJ, more so, wants all the glitz and glam that comes with it.

RASHEED: For Tae Young, he’s more inspired and motivated by his dad, so for him, it’s less about the stardom, and it’s more about the family bond and stuff. That’s kind of how it is in real life, too.

Image by Photagonist at TIFF

Jee, how does your character feel about her son wanting stardom, especially given the path that his father went down?

HAN: I think she’s torn because the reality of her dynamic is she lost someone who was seeking stardom, and she doesn’t want to lose her son, but she also loves her son. It’s almost like it’s his destiny. It’s in his DNA to want the same thing and to be so connected to his father. I think it just is a reflection of, what is a mother going to do, putting aside her history and her pain to be there for her son. I think she’s also trying to do it differently in a way she couldn’t do in her own relationship with the father.

Kevin, I heard Kang is the best in the competition. What specifically makes him the best, and how does he behave as the best? Is he a jerk about it, or is he more humble?

WOO: I can’t spell it too much, but for me personally, I come from the world of K-pop. I was a K-pop idol myself from the early stages of K-pop before it became a global phenomenon. I was in a group called U-KISS, and all that experience definitely paid off in this movie. It was like a full-circle moment for me. I think for Kang, this is what he’s dreamt of his whole life. In the real K-pop world, the training process is very strenuous and very long. A lot of K-pop idols train since they’re in elementary school or middle school, so Kang definitely feels like he deserves this. He’s worked his whole life up to this point, and he’s very, very driven. That’s all I can say.

Image by Photagonist at TIFF

Jonnie, get ready for a big two-parter. You play Cash in the movie, and you’re also a producer on the film. From a character perspective, how is Cash helping BJ pursue his dreams and goals, and then also, as a producer supporting your colleague and friend and making his first feature, how did you set Anderson up for success as a director?

PARK: I think it’s definitely a little bit of art imitating life. We’ve been friends for over a decade, and I’ve seen his journey from the beginning playing at a place like Cash Bar doing covers. I’ve asked him to do some embarrassing things musically in the past for a girl I was crushing on. I was like, “Do you mind playing the drums for this thing? I’m trying to serenade.” So I’ve seen his journey in real life to where he’s gone so far. I think in the movie, he’s playing at my bar on the daily and struggling, and I’m just trying to get him to do more things and go out into the world and explore different parts of the industry. I think sometimes we get so tunnel vision in our dreams that we don’t see different worlds and places we can pivot to, and I think I help him kind of see that through the K-pop phenomenon that’s happening all around. As a fan of K-pop, I’m putting him on to the culture, and he goes out there and discovers this whole new world.

Image by Photagonist at TIFF

As a producer, it’s been a crazy journey for us coming from music into TV and film. Like he said, we stepped into the office right when we got greenlit for the film, and we walked out like, “Are we greenlit?” He literally looked at me and was like, “So, is this real or what?” We weren’t sure. It just seemed like a wild thing to go in with an idea, and, like he said, he just shared a few TikToks that he had with his son. But even when I saw the TikTok, I was like, “There’s something there.” It was a hilarious one where he’s trying to explain to Soul about BT, and he’s like, “BTS?” “No, BT.” That TikTok actually explains the whole idea of this movie and the cultural exchange we have.

Given you’ve made it through to the finish line, it makes me comfortable asking this question. Anderson, you were talking about overcoming challenges in our press notes and there’s one point where you said, “This project was one of the toughest things for me to complete.” Was there a particular point in shooting the movie where you stopped and said to yourself, “Maybe it’s too tough? I don’t know if I’m going to be able to overcome this challenge?”

PAAK: It wasn’t necessarily when we started shooting, it was before shooting. I didn’t think I could pull it off. We were going through scripts, and I was co-writer with Khaila Amazan. I didn’t realize how much work it was just to get the script to where we liked it. Going through casting and dealing with setbacks, and then the strike, the kind of stop-and-go of it all, and all the while, I’m having to do tours and maintain my music career. This takes up so much time if you want it to be done right. It takes over your life, especially if you’re directing it. Before going into production, I didn’t think I could pull it off. I didn’t know if I had the skill set. I didn’t know if I even knew what I was doing. I just thought I bit too much than I could chew. I remember talking to my crew, Jonnie and Khaila, and being like, “I don’t know, man. I might have done too much.”

Image by Photagonist at TIFF

Then the strike happened, and I was like, “Okay, this is my out!” [Laughs] Then I remember sitting down at the house, and I remember, “Okay, well, I’m gonna ask Soul if he wants to do this still.” It started when he was, like, eight or nine years old when the idea came about, and now he’s getting older, and now he’s listening to Nirvana and stuff, and I don’t even know if he’s into it. I asked him, I’m like, “Soul, do you still want to do it?” And he was like, “I better do it. I’ve been in acting classes for months.” I started realizing, yeah, that was the whole reason why I wanted do it; I wanted to show him you have to start something and finish strong, and ideas come from nothing, and then now look at us. I wanted him to see that experience and be able to experience that with his father and all of this amazing cast that we have. Then I was like, “I’m gonna do it.”

Once we got into shooting, I was obsessed. I loved it. I loved like waking up early and getting on set, tapping in with the actors and thinking about how we’re gonna conquer this scene, working with my DP, and blocking and all this stuff. It was like being in a summer camp. I was learning so much and having a really good time.

Learning that you’re made for it.

Anderson .Paak Says Pharrell Williams’ ‘Atlantis’ Goes Off-Script
The Michel Gondry musical features a seriously stacked cast.
Image via Erik Ian

I have more proof that you’re made for it because I have one unrelated question that I have to ask you because you’re working with a legend in Michel Gondry. You already shot Atlantis and it sounds like such an interesting film. In case our viewers don’t know what it is, it’s a musical inspired by Pharrell Williams’ childhood in Virginia Beach. I don’t even know what to picture with a filmmaker like that and that kind of log line. Are you able to tease anything in terms of what that movie might feel like?

PAAK: I’ll just say Michel is very French. [Laughs] It was awesome working with him because I just wrapped K-Pops!, and it was awesome to just be able to not worry about directing and just take direction. It wasn’t a huge role or anything, but it was a pretty meaty role. It was cool to be on that set with all the young cast and the amazing outfits that we got to wear, the Loius, and all this stuff. Michel is a genius, and the way he worked, it was cool to see how he allows the actors to make it their own. It was cool to see that he’s developing things on the spot. Yes, we have a script, but he wasn’t afraid to go off-script and let people try different things. You try a run, and then you wanna see, ‘How did I do?” And he’s just kind of looking at you. He’s very playful, very silly, and it was just a fun atmosphere to be in. It’s a musical, so I think it’s gonna be really awesome. I got to see a little bit of what they shot, and I came in kind of on the latter end of the shoot. But yeah, I really enjoyed it. It was great music and a great cast.

That ensemble is wild .

PAAK: Working with Missy [Elliott] and stuff was really cool.

Special thanks to this year’s partners of the Cinema Center x Collider Studio at TIFF 2024 including presenting Sponsor Range Rover Sport as well as supporting sponsors Peoples Group financial services, poppi soda, Don Julio Tequila, Legend Water and our venue host partner Marbl Toronto. And also Roxstar Entertainment, our event producing partner and Photagonist Canada for the photo and video services.