A Look Inside Our ‘GENERASIANS’ Premiere

The evening was filled with conversation, laughter, tears and good company.

GENERASIANS premiere at Eye Dot Studio in Toronto. Photo: Miki Kawaguchi.

Last night, we premiered our new mini docuseries, GENERASIANS, at Eye Dot Studio in Toronto to a room full of community and diaspora members. With iced lemon tea from Great Fountain in one hand and Yueh Tung’s famous Manchurian chicken in another, conversations flowed and people cheered, laughed and shed a few tears as they watched the stories of succession between three Asian Canadian family-run businesses unfold.

The series, which features businesses Yueh Tung Chinese Restaurant, Nick’s Jewellery and Great Fountain Fast Food, finds founders who built something from scratch to support themselves, their families and communities when they are beginning to hand over the reins. At this point, the next generations also have to make a vital decision: do they accept the responsibility? And if they do, what will they do with their parent’s legacies and their own futures? 

Guests at the GENERASIANS premiere following a lion dance fromg Hong Luck Kung Fu. Photo: Miki Kawaguchi.

Series creator and producer Madelyn Chung said the series tackles questions the next generation must answer.

“I really wanted to explore what it looks like [for one generation to take over from its predecessor],” said Chung at the premiere. “What values and traditions do you carry forward and which ones do you want to break the cycle and leave in the past? And most importantly, what does that do to the relationship between generations?”

GENERASIANS creator and producer Madelyn Chung at the premiere. Photo: Miki Kawaguchi.

For series cinematographer and editor, Boris Melev, the topic of legacy was especially important.

“As a father, these types of topics of legacy and the passing down of the traditions starts to hit a little different,” he said.

GENERASIANS cinematographer and editor Boris Melev. Photo: Miki Kawaguchi.

GENERASIANS offers a deeper glance at the moments that have been simplified to fit stereotypes and headlines. The recipes that are cherished, routines that are revered and risks that seem unnecessary. Lingering pressures and disagreements are part of any business, but with family, it multiplies. The series offers a reminder in what unites these generations: the drive to keep doing what they were doing despite changing the how.

For sisters Joanna Liu and Jeanette Liu, who took over Yueh Tung from their parents Mei Wong and Michael Liu, the premiere was a significant moment for them to share their family’s story.

“For second generation owners, we didn’t realize that we had a story or that we had anything to tell,” said Joanna.

Jeanette added, “We started telling our story in 2013 and truthfully nobody really cared or paid attention or wanted to tell the story and it was up to us to advocate for ourselves.”

Sisters Joanna Liu and Jeanette Liu of Yueh Tung Chinese Restaurant at the premiere. Photo: Miki Kawaguchi.

For Nick Vo, who has taken over his namesake jewelry shop from his parents Ca Vo and Huong Trang, hearing the stories of other founders gave him a sense of connection.

“It made me feel less alone to know that other people are going through what I did,” he said.

Nick Vo of Nick’s Jewellery at the premiere. Photo: Miki Kawaguchi.

And while Wong reluctantly learned the powers of social media that evening, she was grateful for the opportunity to also share her family’s story.

“On behalf of all the parents, I think what the next generation did works,” said Mei Wong. “I think for us parents to leave something behind we have to make sure the kids are doing good and that’s what we see.”

Following the screening, guests were treated to a special lion dance from Hong Luck Kung Fu, the oldest kung fu club in Canada which was started in 1962 by Melev’s grandfather-in-law, Paul Chan.

All three episodes of GENERASIANS are now screening on YouTube. If you wish to support GENERASIANS and help fund future episodes, you can contribute here.

Click through below for photos from the evening.