Life, Values & Legacy: Our Chat with Young Man Kang of Los Angeles

We’re looking forward to introducing you to Young Man Kang. Check out our conversation below.

Good morning Young Man, it’s such a great way to kick off the day – I think our readers will love hearing your stories, experiences and about how you think about life and work. Let’s jump right in? What do the first 90 minutes of your day look like?
I usually wake up around 4:50 a.m. and walk to church for the dawn prayer service. It starts at 5:30 a.m.—something you rarely find in American churches, but it’s a beautiful tradition in Korean churches. The service lasts about 30 minutes, followed by another 30 minutes of personal prayer time. By 6:30 a.m., exactly 90 minutes have passed.
This early morning prayer gives me wisdom, energy, and inspiration for my projects—especially for the Prayer International Series. Since the series itself is rooted in the spirit of prayer, beginning my day this way feels essential and deeply connected to my creative process.

Can you briefly introduce yourself and share what makes you or your brand unique?
I’ve been active in two major areas of work — as a festival director and as a creator and filmmaker.

As a festival director, I currently serve as the head of two major web film festivals: LA WEBFEST and the Hollywood Series. LA WEBFEST, founded in 2009 by my late mentor, Michael Ajakwe Jr., an Emmy Award–winning writer, is recognized as the world’s first web series festival. He taught me how to run a festival and inspired me to found K-WEBFEST in Seoul, South Korea, in 2015 — the first web festival in Asia. After his passing, I was honored to continue his legacy and became the festival director of LA WEBFEST in 2022.
Next year will mark our 17th Annual LA WEBFEST, taking place April 30–May 1, 2026, in Los Angeles.
In addition, I founded the Hollywood Series in 2017 — one of the earliest online-based film festivals — now celebrating its 9th annual edition this year.

As a creator and filmmaker, my journey began in the early 2000s with five feature films, including Cupid’s Mistake and Soap Girl, both released in U.S. theaters. Cupid’s Mistake even earned a Guinness World Record as the least expensive feature film ever released theatrically in the U.S.
In 2010, I transitioned into digital and web-based storytelling, creating my first animated web series, Kimchi Warrior. Since then, my creative focus has shifted toward innovative online formats — producing over 15 web series and numerous short films.
One of my key milestones was Lotte Haus (2019), the first German–Korean co-produced web series, and more recently, my ongoing project, the Prayer International Series, launched in 2022. So far, I’ve completed 27 episodes filmed across different countries — each exploring culture, faith, and humanity through the universal language of prayer.

Thanks for sharing that. Would love to go back in time and hear about how your past might have impacted who you are today. What was your earliest memory of feeling powerful?
When I was about six or seven years old, I lived in the countryside. One day, my aunt took me to church for the very first time. It was a long walk — about an hour — and when we arrived, I was completely fascinated by the building. The architecture, the atmosphere, and especially the cross shining on the roof—it was something I had never seen before. As a country boy, that image left a deep impression on me, almost like a shock of beauty.
When I came back home, I felt an urge to draw what I saw. I picked up a pencil and drew the church purely from memory. To my surprise, it looked really good. My parents and aunt praised my sketch, and even I was amazed that I could capture it so well. That moment was powerful — it was the first time I discovered my gift as an artist. From then on, I drew everywhere I went, even during school breaks, and my classmates were always amazed. That early inspiration guided my life toward creativity and storytelling — the path I still follow today as a filmmaker.

What’s something you changed your mind about after failing hard?
In the early 2000s, I was a very active independent filmmaker in Los Angeles. Because of that reputation, production companies in my home country, South Korea, began calling me to direct big commercial films. I traveled back and forth between LA and Seoul several times for meetings and pre-production. But despite many promises, those projects kept falling apart because producers couldn’t secure full financing.
The hardest moment came around 2011–2012. A Korean production company bought my script, signed me as director, and even gave me seed money. I truly believed it was my big break — finally, a major studio film. We had a great team, and pre-production was almost complete. But by 2013, the company ran out of funds and the project collapsed. Then came the shock: they fired me — even though it was my own script. It was devastating.
At that time, I remembered meeting Michael Ajakwe Jr., the founder of LA WEBFEST, at the Los Angeles screening of my first web animation, Kimchi Warrior. He encouraged me to submit it to the festival. It was selected, and I attended LA WEBFEST — where I discovered the future of web content. I realized I didn’t need to wait for big studios or investors anymore. I could create freely through new digital platforms.
When YouTube grew rapidly around 2015, that became my turning point. I focused on producing my own independent web series and building original IPs. Looking back, being fired from that big project wasn’t the end — it was a redirection. I learned that failure can be a bridge to freedom, and technology gave me the ability to keep creating on my own terms.

I think our readers would appreciate hearing more about your values and what you think matters in life and career, etc. So our next question is along those lines. What are the biggest lies your industry tells itself?
For many years, the traditional film industry convinced itself that only big studios, big budgets, and theatrical releases could define real filmmaking. That’s one of the biggest lies.
In the early 2010s, when I began experimenting with web content, many people in the industry ignored or even looked down on online video creators. Early YouTube videos were low-resolution and technically limited, so traditional filmmakers saw them as amateur work. But I believed this new digital format would evolve — and it did. Today, the quality of online content is stunning, and even vertical-format storytelling has become cinematic.
Another illusion of the old system is that filmmakers need distributors or investors to succeed. I learned the hard way — I never received proper payments from my early film distributors. But now, through digital technology, I can promote, distribute, and even sell my work directly to global audiences. I know exactly where my viewers are coming from and how they connect to my stories.
To me, that’s the biggest shift — from a “top-down” system controlled by gatekeepers to a “bottom-up” creative revolution where independent creators have power. The industry’s old lie was that artists couldn’t survive without the system. The truth is, now we can thrive because we are free.

Okay, so before we go, let’s tackle one more area. When do you feel most at peace?
I feel most at peace when I pray — and when I travel to new cities to film episodes of the Prayer International Series. Prayer connects me to my inner spirit, and travel opens my eyes to the world. When I can combine both — faith and creativity — that’s when I feel truly blessed.
I’m also deeply grateful for how this journey began. Years ago, after one LA WEBFEST event ended, my mentor Michael Ajakwe Jr. asked me, “Why don’t you create a web festival in Korea?” My first answer was no. I told him I hated organizing events — I just wanted to make films. But he smiled and said, “If you love to travel, you should do it. It will change your life.”
He was right. Founding K-WEBFEST in Seoul not only expanded my world, it gave me the opportunity to travel, meet creators from around the globe, and see how storytelling connects people everywhere. Those experiences eventually inspired me to create the Prayer International Series — blending travel, faith, and filmmaking into one purpose.
Through prayer, travel, and creation, I’ve found my peace — and my mission.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.youngmankang.com/
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/ymkfilms/
• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/ymkfilms/
• Twitter: https://x.com/kimchiwarrior
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/kimchiwarrior
• Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@KimchiWarrior
• Other: LA WEBFEST:
  https://www.lawebfest.net/

  Hollywood Series:
  https://www.hollywoodseries.net/

Image Credits
O1: Director Young Man Kang at LA WEBFEST Award Ceremony 2025
02: Director Young Man Kang at LA WEBFEST Award Ceremony 2025
03: Young Man Kang holds Goethe Trophy at the 250 Years Werther Event in Wetzlar, Germany 2024
04: Young Man Kang Wins Best Director at the Champs-Élysées Film Awards “Prayer Marseille” 2025
05: Prayer Hollywood Team – Director Young Man Kang & Lead Actress Priscila Buiar
06: Prayer Guadalajara Team – Director Young Man Kang & Writer Marcela Solana
07: Prayer International Series – 27 Episode Posters
08: Award Ceremony Group Photo – 16th Annual LA WEBFEST 2025