Jay Hubert, MA in Asian studies (China focus) ’07 Mānoa

Career: Production assistant, director, occasional translator
Unusual legacy: Spent so much time overseas as an undergraduate, Rice University named a study abroad scholarship after him
Hobbies: Photography, soccer, ultimate, snowboarding, writing, web design, guitar
Travel tips: Learn as much of the local language as possible and talk to people—they make new places interesting

Jay Hubert traces his love of Asia to third grade. “I can’t say exactly what sparked it, I suppose it boils down to the idea that there was a place out there very different from Humble, Texas.”

He studied at eight universities in five countries, landing in UH Mānoa’s Asian studies program and discovering the fledgling Academy for Creative Media.

“I jumped on the opportunity to take the first production class. I give ACM all the credit for helping me develop into someone willing to describe himself as a filmmaker.” His thesis film, Dao, is a study of crossing and conflicting cultures. Set and filmed in Hawaiʻi, it won a Special Jury Award at the Honolulu International Film Festival and has been screened in California, Texas, Oregon, Cambodia and Shanghai.

Hubert shot two short films in Korea, assisted on a Beijing Olympics commercial and is working on a Chinese feature film in the outskirts of western China. He foresees strengthening relations between China and Hawaiʻi. “Both places are very dear to my heart, and I hope that I can help build the bridge that will span the two.”

Tags: alumni, Asian studies, UH Manoa, Vol. 33 No. 3