Compelling documentary on Human Trafficking. Abscbn international does very informative pieces for the community and this documentary, kept six decades of servitude, is the latest example. Joining me now is the producer, journalist steve angeles, born in the philippines and another of his documentaries,r lost and found, about filipino orphans in montana. And also with us is the director and cinematographer, jeremiah ysip, a bay areabased awardwinning cinematographer who has been recognized for his work in news, documentaries, films, and features. Welcome to the show. Steve angeles thi know that kept debuted already. Whats the initial reaction youve been getting so far . Steve a lot of people, first of all, they like how we executed it. We mixed it up with some of his shots, of course, as well as some animation and a lot of people really liked it cause its a subject that not too many people talk about or they talk about not in this form of modernday slavery, so good reviews so far. Robert yeah, yeah, and of course, just being able to kind of personalize a story. Jeremiah ysip yeah, theres a lot of people that are outside our community that didnt even know that this would even happen, especially with filipinos with other filipinos, like. Robert yeah, yeah, in fact, i think Human Trafficking and Domestic Violence are two issues that we have really had to make inroads in because the Community Just doesnt want to really acknowledge it too much. Jeremiah yes. Robert lets take a look at a clip and then well talk about [speaking foreign language] [speaking foreign language] [speaking foreign language] [speaking foreign language] robert wow, and very haunting. How did you find her and how did youwere able to do her story . Steve so for the past few years since ive been assigned to los angeles, ive followed around this group, the Filipino Workers center. They assist whether its Human Trafficking victims or fight for Domestic Workers rights. So one day they told me that they had this case about a woman that was kept for, like, 60 years as a domestic worker, unpaid, abused, and they only rescued her recently so for a few months i would go there, meet with her, meet with them, go to court with them, and just kind of understand her story and how she got into that situation. And, you know, we saw this was a very important subject to touch on cause not many people talk about this form of modernday slavery and anything about slavery you usually see its about, like, precolonial, african slave ships or modernday slavery stories are about child explti or Human Trafficking. Well, we dont realize there are, in our own neighborhoods, like, in random homes, you know, someone could be keeping a personal slave, especially was fueled during that atlantic article of about a couple years ago on the alex tizon and we foundits a similar case but this time the victim was alive to tell it. Robert yeah, well, 60 years sort of just implies or is implicit that theres something wrong with the system, otherwise, you know, for something to happen that long. I was a documentary producer with pbs for a few years and so when you decided, like, okay, youre gonna tell this persons story, what was the challenges in terms of how to shoot it, how to best tell this story . Jeremiah th wert sure what her state was at that time. We didnt know if she would be open to us to tell her story and to be as inviting with her energy. But she was really open to me and stevie. She liked stevie a lot and when i got down there she allowed me to follow her and, you know, tell her story. Robert she wanted her story told . Jeremiah she wanted her story told, yeah. Robert well, that helps a lot, right . Yeah, yeah, and so when you guys decided to combine forces to do this, what was kind of like, to put it together, what was the first thing that you needed to do . You know, get her, obviously, on board but then also how far deep did you wanna go . How deep did you think she was gonna go . Steve yeah, there are a lot of things we wanted to do that, well, first of all, weits like, how do you tell a story of something that, you know, its hard to recreate and its hard towe have this woman. She was locked up for 60 years. Not many pictures. She almost didnt really have an identity. Luckily for us, she also had her handlers, the Filipino Workers and that really cares for her and they trust me and they trust us cause weve been carrying different types of stories for them over the years. And so we just really thou i we just need to hear her story, hear her side, and try to find a way to visually tell it. Thats when the animation kicked in. Its like, you know, rather than try to reenact it or film symbolic things, we could, you know, at least show it in some kind of robert animation, thats quite innovative. Steve yeah, some kind of graphic novel form to visualize it then. And by that time, id known her for about six months, seven months, so weand she was also starting to warm up to people now cause, you know, youre locked up that long, you cant reallyyou dont know who to trust, right . Robert well, one thing is that i know that you guys are showing it multiple times on friday after thanksgiving so people have a number of different ways to see it. So congratulations because i know its not easy getting these kind of things done. Steve thanks. Robert all right. Robert all right, well, kept six decades of servitude, can be seen on the filipino channel, abscbn international, on friday, november 29. Check your listings cause you can see it more than once. Robert and coming up, the musical gypsy is one of the longestrunning musicals of all times. Coming up, a local filipina actress making her mark in a bay area production. Thats next. Robert the life of a stripper. That got your attention, huh . The musical is called gypsy and it is about the life of burlesque star Gypsy Rose Lee, and a production by bay area musicals has just opened here in San Francisco at the alcazar theatre and will run through the first week of december. Joining me now is Cassie Grilley. She plays agnes, one of the singerdancers that stays with the family as it goes through their transition of roses rise to stardom after the sudden departure of her sister who had been the star of the troupe before bolting. But cassie herself has been in many productions, including bay area musicals production of hairspray. Welcome to the show. Cassie grilley thank you for having me. Robert i didnt spoil that for people who havent seen it. Cassie no problem. Robert actually, whatswhen i saw a recent production of it myself already in morgan hill, and you kind of forget that it isnt really about her. Its really about the family, the mo, you know, and that cassie isnt that crazy . Robert yeah, and its about show business, you know, and things like that. So for you, because youre one of the troupe playing agnes, you get a lot of time on stage which is really nice if you like performing. What was Opening Night like for you . Cassie oh, it was wonderful. It wasa bunch of people that we know were in the audience and that extra, like, bit of energy gets us through after a long week of rehearsals every single day. So it was a ton of fun once Opening Night came. It was like a big relief and it was robert its nice to come home, huh . How big a role is this for you in terms of compared to some of the other ones youve done . How much are you learning from this . How much are you gaining out of this . Cassie this show is really interesting. As agnes, i come in later in act 2 more and its fun because i dont have a ton of time but the time i do, its great performing with the other actors on stage and its definitely a fun character to tap into real quick and really, like, make a statement right away. Robert i dont know if its like a chorus line or, you know, 42nd street or something, but musicals about show business are always intriguing to people. The love it, i mean, because theres something about seeing the backstage kind of thing, you know . Cassie yes, especially if its, like, based on a true person, a real person. Robert yes, yes. And even though Gypsy Rose Lee isnt really as well known now, her storyshe still resonates. About the burlesque theater and it wasame ierre accepted becaue people remember and its sort of an interestinglike i wa of her, you know what i mean . So it really are you seeing opportunities out there . Is itis the situation better these days . Cassie yes, especially with productions like hamilton casting people in different characters that you may not think they would be in other shows. But its been so much fun and, like, im very grateful to matthew, the director and founder of the company who casted me in hairspray because i was so excited to play Tracy Turnblad who is usually played by a white woman and it was wonderful getting to do it. It was such a fun time, yeah. Robert and i think that the one thing is, is that when youre with a group, i think it was John Travolta or somebody that once said, its like, you cant imagine how fun it is to be in the middle of a musical production, like a big number, you know, and stuff. And you have plenty of those here. When youre trying to portray a character, though, and its, you know, like, how much of it, like, ou your own personality . Cassie it really depends on the role and the production. Try new things and keep playing until Opening Night, like, he really wants you to try differentbe like, say a line differently, maybe try it with this intention instead of that. And its been really wonderful because you find things that you didnt see to begin with, which is really cool. Robert you know, you mentioned, hamilton, and i just actually saw hamilton again in San Francisco but i had also seen it in new york and both productions were absolutely great. And youre right, it did open eyes to people about how, you know, you dont really have to be so strict in your casting and stuff. But for you, where do you think youd like to go now . What would you like to see . What do you think is open to you now that you might not have thought of before . Cassie there are so many wonderful roles in musical theater and so many roles to be written, so i would love to be at the start of, like, a new musical or something, just something fun andi dont know, like, there is so much to do, i dont know, yeah. Robert and we were talking about culturally speaking, i think its fair to say that, you know, there was a stereotype but there was some basis to it which is a lot of asian or Pacific Islander parents pushed their kids your parents were very supportive and thats kind of unusual. Cassie yes, whats wonderful is my grandma on my fathers side originated a Musical Theater Company in San Francisco and so, my mom was a little hesitant about me going to the arts but knowing the success of my grandmother and knowing that people in the arts can be successful, shes been like, a lot more supportive and is very much like, okay, it exists. People do it and it happens all the time. Robert you probably cant picture yourself doing anything else, right . Cassie no, i cant. Robert well, congratulations on landing the role and great to see a production open in San Francisco, your home town. Cassie yes, absolutely. Robert all right, well, gypsy with Cassie Grilley just opened and will run through december 8 at the alcazar theatre on 650 geary street in San Francisco. Robert and stay with us. And twinter drive is next. Street in San Francisco. Today, Community Seva is launching its thanksgiving and winter drive event, a luncheon that is part of the groups efforts to serve 1,000 meals over thanksgiving weekend as well as 5,000 meals this winter at local shelters and provide 2,000 winter backpacks filled with essentials and, to top it all off, Community Seva has a youth team collecting and distributing about 2,000 gently warm, donated coats. Joining me now is our old friend, nathan ganeshan, the founder and board president , and saras venkatram, the executive director. Welcome to the show. Nathan ganeshan youre welcome. Thanks for having us. Robert yes, now ive been involved with your group but tell people what seva means, cause its kind of important. Nathan sure, seva is a sanskrit word, means selfless service. d , i was just very impressed with how much the Community Came and when you first started, didnt you just start it as, like, you and your family going out, handing out pizzas . Nathan yes, thats how it was started for our special occasions like birthdays and anniversaries. We started serving pizzas andto the Homeless People. And it started as a family event and it turnednow, its a Community Event that the whole community is behind as you witnessed and how it was. Robert yeah, yeah, and yet the reason why you do it is still the same, right . What was it that you felt when you started to do that . Nathan the reason is still the same that, you know, we started this as our, you know, on our special day, on bin need, remembering,arid oe you know, in feeding the homeless or helping those in its a way of almost celebrating your own good luck and good just celebrating ourselves. Fortune as well. Saras, you started out as a volunteer. What were you doing when you first started and how did your role evolve to what youre doing now . Saras venkatram well, nathan first contacted me when he founded the organization to design a logo. Im a web designer and freelance web designer for a profession. So i designed the logo and then we moved on to designing the website and then i went in to cook once. And once i did that, i just met the most amazing people. The Indian American community was just so wonderful. They were coming, waking up at 4 a. M. In the morning and coming in and cooking. They were spending four or five hours of their weekend every single weekend of the year so just meeting these amazing people just made me wanna step up and, over the past six years, ive done a lot for the organization in the sense that not only cooking but i do the social executive director and just we have such anathan has such a big vision for how much he wants to help people in need. So im just happy to be a small part of that. Robert i know, he does have kof spirit about him. So for the people understand that, even though youre launching it today, this sunday, how do people get involved . How can they use social media to saras so i would recommend that if anyone is interested in helping the homeless, to please like our Facebook Page which its just look for Community Seva or visit our website, communityseva. Org. We post our cooking sevas every single weekend. We ask for volunteers so people can just follow us on social media. Were also on instagram and on youtube. Robert now, i was listing all the Different Things you do and also within those numbers you understand how big the demand is, you know, the need is. Is it growing . Are you able to keep up . Nathan the demand is, as you rightly said, it is growing. From 2017 to 2019, over 2,000 Homeless People and the count has been increased by about 2,000 in Santa Clara County alone. We are trying, were doing our best, to grow in a pace thats much the same pace, and im so bedcommity ist, you know, the Indian American community at large, the community is so behind us in what we want to do. They see the cost, they see the need, and everyone really want to help. And many didnt know how to start and how to approach a homeless person, how they want to do, and thats where Community Seva was evolved and now the platform is set, people joining hands with us and serving more and more. Its not just about the serving, right . We also, as you see, the Community Sevas mission is feeding the hungry and serving the homeless, two two parts. So the feeding, weve talked about it and serving the homeless is where we started last year, exactly we need to bring some dignity and smile in their life. Thats where we started launching the mobile shower and laundry facility to do the homeless. Robert right, in fact, i was at that event when you were launching that and i think that it was every group does try to help. Their hearts in the right place but i was so impressed with the idea that your group and the people that were helping you are sotheyre not judgmental at all about the homeless, which i dont know if thats the case with everybody. They seem to just embrace the homeless. How does that happen . Is it cultural or why is it that that happens . Saras i would say if you actually go in and Start Cooking and serving or meet a homeless person, you very quickly realize theyre just like you. I think all of us are just a couple of paychecks away from being homeless in the bay area just because of the high cost of living here, so i think when you meet them you just realize theyre just like you. Robert yeah, do you actually see many Indian American families that are seeking that kind of help . Nathan we have seen all ethnicity to speak. I have seen Indian American. You take veterans, you know, chinese. Name it, you know . Robert yeah, cause its really a circumstance more than anything else, yeah. Nathan exactly, just a circumstance. Robert so how can people help . S , you know, of course, we, asit started an organization as a famipo now we have grown to a nextwe are 2,000 volunteers. We have served over 100,000 meals, distributed 5,000 winter, you know, backpacks, and w