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Alex is a Sydney-based Creative Director and culture amplifier whose practice, AISON, is telling stories for the future.
Small steps add up. That’s why we’re teaming up with people doing cool things in their corner of the world, like Alex.
I’m Alexander Wu-Kim, a half-Korean, half-Chinese Creative Director born and based in Sydney. I’m the Creative Director of Andpeople and the founder of AISON, a creative practice I started in 2021.
AISON started as more of a fashion-led project that evolved into a creative outlet. We do work across film, space, design, and objects, but our real passion is definitely in long form motion - especially those that talk to (but are not limited to of course), the Asian diaspora.
Being an only child, I watched a lot of films and shows growing up to pass the time, and it made me really appreciate the thought and craft that goes into longer form narrative. It started with Power Rangers, evolved into Titanic and Lord of the Rings, and now a deep appreciation for 90s and early 2000s Korean cinema.Now looking back, I can definitely see that my work has developed a certain tone and style. A big part of that I think is telling stories that feel grounded—real, lived-in, and emotionally honest. It probably started as more of a subconscious thing, by gravitating towards people who looked like me or had similar experiences. But I’ve since realised how important it is to showcase talent who wouldn’t normally be in front of the camera, and to give them the opportunity to show who they are and how they live and behave.
Ever since I was young, I knew I wanted to build something for myself. For a long time, that thing was a fashion label. But while I was going on that journey, I realised I was searching for a way to explore who I am: my heritage, my family, and the things that shaped me. I started with tech packs and samples, but it quickly evolved into something deeper. That’s when I began leaning into my family’s story and building a world around that with the brand.
I found myself especially inspired by my grandfather, who was a renowned film producer in Korea. His craft and legacy was something I didn’t really know about or ask him about, but as my career began to overlap with his - I became super fascinated by it. I ended up naming my first collection after one of his films, Love is the Seed of Tears. That became the foundation for what AISON would eventually grow into. People liked the clothes, to a degree, but more than anything they loved my first film. And that’s something that I leant into more and wanted to focus my energy on. From a fashion brand, it evolved a space to tell stories that, hopefully people can connect to on some level.
The Playground is my latest project out of AISON, which comes off the back of a series of successful short vignettes we made in 2023 called Scenes of Chinatown. It’s a short film set in Chinatown about a guy who comes back home to help out at his family's grocery store - Dong Nam A. It all came about with a conversation with Chris, the now-owner of the Dong Nam A … He was talking about his family and the store, and he mentioned how his Dad would invite rival convenience store owners during COVID and play Ping Pong on the level upstairs from the store. Immediately I knew there was a story in that.
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For me, storytelling is how we build empathy. It lets us sit inside someone else’s world - how they might be feeling or what they’re going through, if only for a moment. It shortens the distance between people. I think when done right, it invites people in and shows them how people might tick, or how their experiences shape who they are.
I’m less interested in stories that explain, but more so ones that feel lived-in, messy, and true. And to be honest, storytelling can be as simple or as long as you want it. It can be a film, but it could also be a typeface, or a sentence. It’s wild how much you can get across in these mediums, and how layered you can be with it. That’s what excites me and I think it’s those little things that begin building understanding.
More than anything, it helps me connect with my community. I grew up almost in resistance to my heritage, and it was only when I was older that I realised how special and important it is to me. I feel like I’m constantly playing catch up, but I’ve found that my work is such a good avenue to understand my community more and familiarise myself. It’s not just about connecting to the people, which of course is the heart of why I do what I do, but it’s also the customs, the traditions, the ways of thinking that I wasn’t exposed to as a young kid that I’m now beginning to learn and appreciate.
That’s why The Playground feels so important to me. I’m part Korean, but also part Chinese, but my Chinese side is not something I’ve explored in great detail. I don’t have a connection with my Dad’s side of the family since he passed away, and I think it’s been hard to find the opportunities to connect with that side. The Playground has been something that has allowed me to be part of that world in such a rich way - from the Soul of Chinatown team, to Chris from Dong Nam A, we’ve been able to immerse ourselves with the people that live and breathe this community, and have done so for generations upon generations.
It’s really interesting. I was talking to Chris from Dong Nam A, and he said that what we’re doing is so important because these projects become a time capsule for this particular moment in time. Our community and the spaces we occupy are changing at such a rapid rate, so it becomes crucial to document them as they are, before they disappear or get rewritten by someone else.
I want to build a future where we tell stories that are out of the ordinary and beyond what we traditionally expect. I want stories that are intricate, that speak about identity, migration, humour, pain, and pride—all at once. Stories that feel specific to our communities but still resonate universally. If we can build a culture where these stories are valued, preserved, and funded, then I think we’re on the right path.
The dream is to turn The Playground into a fully-fledged feature or series. I genuinely hope this short is just the beginning. There are so many stories within Chris and Dong Nam A alone, let alone the rest of Chinatown, that we’ve only just scratched the surface. The community is so rich and layered, and I’d love the chance to explore it more deeply.
I hope we can build something that pays proper tribute to this place and its people - something that captures its humour, tension, heart, and history on a much bigger scale.
Small actions are everything. Scenes of Chinatown, our first collaboration with Soul of Chinatown started as a small side project we funded ourselves. It was never meant to be anything huge. But now, that one idea has grown into The Playground, a full-scale production with an entire community behind it. And it all started because, on a whim, we decided to DM Soul of Chinatown on Instagram after seeing the work they were doing.
That one message turned into a relationship, which turned into a project, which turned into something so much bigger. Over my career, I’ve learned that everyday choices, who you reach out to, who you include, how you show up can really shape the entire direction of your work and life. Those small acts might seem insignificant at the time, but over the years, they build momentum. They become the foundation for something meaningful.
Follow Alex @wupdewup
Follow AISON @aison.aison.aison
the seeding program
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