NOISE is a 10-minute narrative short film about Adam, a talented, scrappy, and broke Indian-American music producer who unearths the chilling secret behind his idol’s iconic sound during a once-in-a-lifetime studio session. Devon, aka Anonymous, is a legendary Korean-American music producer known for her innovative sound that generates constantly chart-topping music hits . However, as the night unfolds, Adam accidentally stumbles upon Devon's secret: she creates her music by sampling the screams of musicians she’s murdered. Forced into a moral crossroads, Adam must decide whether to stay silent for his shot at success or risk everything to expose the truth.
NOISE is rooted in timelessly relevant and urgent modern day questions that I have always been interested in exploring: What does it mean to “make it” in creative industries built on exploitation? Who gets to succeed, and who is sacrificed in the process? How far are you willing to go for success? These are questions I’ve constantly had to grapple with as an Asian-American woman who once worked behind the scenes in the music industry as a journalist, publicist, and marketing manager, helping indie music artists break into the mainstream. I’ve directly helped music artists go from 100 listeners to 1 million fans. I’ve published stories in music editorial cornerstones such as Pitchfork and THE FADER. And yet, I was also frequently underpaid, underestimated, and forced to shrink parts of my identity to fit in. I got talked down to often by white industry bros who didn’t take me seriously and assumed I was the assistant, instead of the one in charge. Older industry peers got jealous of my youth and luck in finding success relatively quickly, and tried to steal opportunities from me. It was hard to figure out who to trust at times, and resultantly I became a chameleon– fluent in “dude” lingo and suppressing the Asian and queer parts of my identity that exposed my vulnerabilities as an outsider. NOISE is a creative reflection of my experience; the highs of believing in something beautiful, and the slow horror of realizing how much it costs... especially when you're an outsider that doesn't have a safety net to fall back on.
As a piece of genre storytelling, NOISE aims to fill a cultural and artistic gap. By placing Asian-American characters at the heart of my story, NOISE challenges music industry norms and highlights the emotional and psychological tolls that marginalized working class creators endure behind the scenes that their affluent, white, male counterparts simply could not understand.
This project will be presented as a short film with the intention of screening at national and international film festivals, hosting educational Q&A events with emerging creatives, and eventually making the film available online for wide public access. Beyond entertainment, NOISE is a tool for visibility, conversation, and catharsis. It asks both artists and audiences to examine their role in cycles of artistic exploitation, and invites a more ethical, inclusive vision of success in the arts.
NOISE is not just about the difficulties of breaking into the music industry. It's also about breaking the silence that keeps marginalized creators complicit in their own erasure. It’s a love letter to my time in music, and a warning about what happens if you forego your values in an attempt to chase success in an industry that was never designed with you in mind. I hope it resonates with any marginalized artist who’s ever had to fight to be heard.
