Found in Translation
Los Angeles, California | Film Short
Documentary, History
Before Anime became a billion dollar industry with easy access on major platforms like Crunchyroll, Adult Swim, and Toonami, North America had William Chow. This is the untold story of how a fan revolutionized subtitling so that he could share his passion for anime with others.
Found in Translation
Los Angeles, California | Film Short
Documentary, History
1 Campaigns | California, United States
50 supporters | followers
Enter the amount you would like to pledge
$4,655
Goal: $12,250 for production
Before Anime became a billion dollar industry with easy access on major platforms like Crunchyroll, Adult Swim, and Toonami, North America had William Chow. This is the untold story of how a fan revolutionized subtitling so that he could share his passion for anime with others.
Participating In
About The Project
- The Story
- Wishlist
- Updates
- The Team
- Community
Mission Statement
The Story
Found in Translation is a documentary short about William Chow, one of the Godfathers of Anime Fansubbing.
In the 1980’s, anime outside of Japan was a niche interest. Although it was flourishing locally, there were few commercial ways to get it to North America. As a young William Chow became more immersed with this artform; he wanted a way to share it with others who didn’t understand Japanese. With rudimentary technology, William and his peers developed their way of fan subtitling anime. These bootleg subbed tapes would create a growing community of soon-to-be anime lovers.
The film covers William starting his legendary fansub group Arctic Animation, the Vancouver Japanese Animation Society, anime store Anime Jyanai, and the convention Anime Evolution. Our characters recount the golden age of anime and how this community came together and created a bond as strong as family, even when their own families may have ostracized their love of the medium.
As anime explodes in popularity in North America, it is important to tell one of its underground origin stories. Being pioneers of this culture in anime’s early years, it's crucial to tell Williams Chow's story before it is lost to history.
We are passionate lifelong fans of anime that have a real enthusiasm to tell this story authentically. This is a piece of pop culture history that needs to be told.
We are a small team of three wearing multiple hats on this project. We hope to bring William’s unique and beautiful story to the masses, but we can’t do it alone. Your support will help bring William’s story, and by extension an important part of anime's history in North America, to life. We are currently half way through production. Your contributions will go to helping us finish production, and most importantly hire an editor for post production.
We plan to have the film complete by the end of the year and play film festivals at the top of 2027.
- $15,500 Post Production: We will be able to hire a colorist, sound mixer, and composer.
- $16,000 Festival Submission: We want our story out there! With your help, we’ll be able to submit this to festivals in hopes of expanding our reach.
- Contribute: Every dollar helps to fully bring Found in Translation to life. We appreciate anything you can contribute.
- Follow: Following our page on Seed&Spark helps us gain more eyes on our film. This is free and only requires a few moments at most of your time!
- Share: You can also help by sharing our page via IG, FB, or even word of mouth. Everything counts and we appreciate any support we can get!
We are participating in the Seed&Spark and Gold House AAPI Renaissance Rally. If we raise $12,500 and obtain 350+ followers we are eligible for mentorship and greater funding opportunities. This rally is about showcasing multidimensional or unexpected Asian and Pacific Islander characters. Our film about William Chow is the perfect example of those qualities.
Thank you!
Wishlist
Use the WishList to Pledge cash and Loan items - or - Make a pledge by selecting an Incentive directly.
Gear Rental
Costs $2,250
Camera, audio, and other equipment rentals for our shoot in Vancouver this Summer.
Locations
Costs $1,000
Location rentals for interviews, recreations, and additional materials
Travel & Transportation
Costs $1,200
Air Travel to Vancouver from Los Angeles and rental car when we get there.
Direct link:
Share this update!
About This Team
(Left to Right: Collin East, James Chung, Peter Chanseyha)
Director - James Chung
James Chung is a Documentary Filmmaker and Video Journalist originally from South Florida. He graduated from the University of Central Florida. He aspires to amplify underrepresented voices and celebrate the depth of Asian identity and culture. He has worked with multiple Asian American publications including Hyphen and AsAm News creating documentary and short form content. He has also worked on video content for NBC Universal, The Walt Disney Company, and Complex Media. His work has been showcased at film festivals across North America and millions of people online. He currently resides in Los Angeles with his cat.
Producer - Collin East
Seattle-born, Collin graduated from the University of Central Florida with a bachelor’s in Radio & Television. As a lifelong anime fan, he remembers taping over old family videos so he could save Gundam Wing and Dragonball episodes to watch later. Collin has worked on many projects, such as Chef’s Table, Bad Boys 3, American Idol and Welcome to Wrexham. Now he’s looking toward personal projects and resonated with Williams’ story.
Producer - Peter Chanseyha
Peter Chanseyha is a filmmaker originally from Northern California. Finding joy in different fields, he transitioned from the molecular research field to the world of film. Working on such projects as The Brother’s Sun, Rebel Moon 1 and 2, Echo, Spider-Noir, and most recently an Associate Producer on Sung Kang's Drifter, he now craves to create and work on projects of passion.
Current Team
Incentives
- The Story
- Wishlist
- Updates
- The Team
- Community
Mission Statement
The Story
Found in Translation is a documentary short about William Chow, one of the Godfathers of Anime Fansubbing.
In the 1980’s, anime outside of Japan was a niche interest. Although it was flourishing locally, there were few commercial ways to get it to North America. As a young William Chow became more immersed with this artform; he wanted a way to share it with others who didn’t understand Japanese. With rudimentary technology, William and his peers developed their way of fan subtitling anime. These bootleg subbed tapes would create a growing community of soon-to-be anime lovers.
The film covers William starting his legendary fansub group Arctic Animation, the Vancouver Japanese Animation Society, anime store Anime Jyanai, and the convention Anime Evolution. Our characters recount the golden age of anime and how this community came together and created a bond as strong as family, even when their own families may have ostracized their love of the medium.
As anime explodes in popularity in North America, it is important to tell one of its underground origin stories. Being pioneers of this culture in anime’s early years, it's crucial to tell Williams Chow's story before it is lost to history.
We are passionate lifelong fans of anime that have a real enthusiasm to tell this story authentically. This is a piece of pop culture history that needs to be told.
We are a small team of three wearing multiple hats on this project. We hope to bring William’s unique and beautiful story to the masses, but we can’t do it alone. Your support will help bring William’s story, and by extension an important part of anime's history in North America, to life. We are currently half way through production. Your contributions will go to helping us finish production, and most importantly hire an editor for post production.
We plan to have the film complete by the end of the year and play film festivals at the top of 2027.
- $15,500 Post Production: We will be able to hire a colorist, sound mixer, and composer.
- $16,000 Festival Submission: We want our story out there! With your help, we’ll be able to submit this to festivals in hopes of expanding our reach.
- Contribute: Every dollar helps to fully bring Found in Translation to life. We appreciate anything you can contribute.
- Follow: Following our page on Seed&Spark helps us gain more eyes on our film. This is free and only requires a few moments at most of your time!
- Share: You can also help by sharing our page via IG, FB, or even word of mouth. Everything counts and we appreciate any support we can get!
We are participating in the Seed&Spark and Gold House AAPI Renaissance Rally. If we raise $12,500 and obtain 350+ followers we are eligible for mentorship and greater funding opportunities. This rally is about showcasing multidimensional or unexpected Asian and Pacific Islander characters. Our film about William Chow is the perfect example of those qualities.
Thank you!
Wishlist
Use the WishList to Pledge cash and Loan items - or - Make a pledge by selecting an Incentive directly.
Gear Rental
Costs $2,250
Camera, audio, and other equipment rentals for our shoot in Vancouver this Summer.
Locations
Costs $1,000
Location rentals for interviews, recreations, and additional materials
Travel & Transportation
Costs $1,200
Air Travel to Vancouver from Los Angeles and rental car when we get there.
Direct link:
Share this update!
About This Team
(Left to Right: Collin East, James Chung, Peter Chanseyha)
Director - James Chung
James Chung is a Documentary Filmmaker and Video Journalist originally from South Florida. He graduated from the University of Central Florida. He aspires to amplify underrepresented voices and celebrate the depth of Asian identity and culture. He has worked with multiple Asian American publications including Hyphen and AsAm News creating documentary and short form content. He has also worked on video content for NBC Universal, The Walt Disney Company, and Complex Media. His work has been showcased at film festivals across North America and millions of people online. He currently resides in Los Angeles with his cat.
Producer - Collin East
Seattle-born, Collin graduated from the University of Central Florida with a bachelor’s in Radio & Television. As a lifelong anime fan, he remembers taping over old family videos so he could save Gundam Wing and Dragonball episodes to watch later. Collin has worked on many projects, such as Chef’s Table, Bad Boys 3, American Idol and Welcome to Wrexham. Now he’s looking toward personal projects and resonated with Williams’ story.
Producer - Peter Chanseyha
Peter Chanseyha is a filmmaker originally from Northern California. Finding joy in different fields, he transitioned from the molecular research field to the world of film. Working on such projects as The Brother’s Sun, Rebel Moon 1 and 2, Echo, Spider-Noir, and most recently an Associate Producer on Sung Kang's Drifter, he now craves to create and work on projects of passion.