We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Nolan Veneklasen a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.

Nolan, looking forward to hearing all of your stories today. Can you talk to us about a project that’s meant a lot to you?

In February of 2024 I premiered my short documentary “Young Lions” featuring the Tucson Chinese Lion Dance Troupe. This project has been a whirlwind of an adventure, spanning over 4 years and consuming many months of my life. I am very close to this documentary because I’ve been involved with the Lion Dance troupe for over 20 years. Being both a lion dancer and filmmaker, documenting the troupe has been a dream of combining my two worlds . Not only is this documentary a time capsule for the youth team that participates in the dance form, but a cultural preservation of an ancient Chinese folk dance with a legacy in Tucson that spans over 50 years.

Chinese lion dance has been a major force and influence in my family and my life. It has been a portal to connecting with my Chinese heritage as well as a mental and physical discipline. Over my 20+ years on the Tucson Chinese Lion Dance Troupe, I’ve noticed how more and more Asian Americans and in particular, Chinese adoptees, connected to their cultural identity through the Lion Dance.

In 2020, The Tucson Chinese Cultural Center had to close its doors for over a year due to the pandemic. Now more than ever, I hope to do my part in spreading the mission of the center and celebrating Chinese culture through the art of film and Lion Dance. The cultural center always provided me with a safe space to share culture, language, history, and a place to practice lion dance. Helping to preserve the lion dance in Tucson has become one of my goals. I hope this documentary inspires new students to get involved with the lion dance team, and showcases why embracing your culture should always be celebrated. – Nolan Veneklasen

As always, we appreciate you sharing your insights and we’ve got a few more questions for you, but before we get to all of that can you take a minute to introduce yourself and give our readers some of your back background and context?

Even though embracing my cultural heritage through my art is very important to me, I came to filmmaking through the lens of music videos. I was a musician long before I was a filmmaker or photographer. But even more than that, I have always been interested in the collaboration between picture and sound. Artists like Colin Tilley, Director X, Hiro Murai and Nadia Lee Cohen are some of many music video artists that I adore and look up to.

Growing up I was an avid performer, so naturally I found performance videos which incorporated music as one of my strengths. In high school I had many hobbies including: Kung-Fu, , breakdancing, Mariachi, marching band, theater, beatboxing and producing music. Following my high school experience I realized at the core of all of my performance hobbies was the need to create, entertain and connect with others. That is when I knew film school and visual arts was part of my path in life.

Is there mission driving your creative journey?

During and after college I really went hard on creating music videos and stumbled upon one of my other skills, Production Sound Recording. Being a musician and having produced songs on my computer since I was 15 yrs old, I was one of the only film school students who understood sound recording and audio editing. This came naturally to me and soon enough I had sound mixed and sound edited 30+ student films and started to work on local commercials. Finding a balance between my love for music videos and sound mixing for larger productions has been one of my current goals in Los Angeles. I hope to continue my journey through music and film to one day be recognized on a larger level for my artwork.

What can society do to ensure an environment that’s helpful to artists and creatives?

I think one of the hardest things for emerging artists is finding the platform to share their work and grow their audience. I have been blessed to have received some small media attention for my work as a filmmaker in my hometown community, but it is not easy. Even in the world of viral videos, social media influencers and independent distribution, finding the correct resources for your art can be challenging. Another very important piece to the puzzle is funding. Artist grant opportunities are more prevalent now than ever. However taking the time as an artist to apply can be daunting and confusing.

I feel like the most important thing society can do to help artists is to promote and donate to community based art events that give fiscal opportunities to young artists. Even though art can be seen as a luxury or a non-important piece to the economy, we have to remember that the United State’s biggest export is its culture. We are the leading hub for music, art, film and entertainment – so why not treat artists with the same importance as teachers or nurses. Art is a reflection of its society and contextualizes our existence as social beings.

Contact Info:

• Website: nolanveneklasen.com
• Instagram: instagram.com/nolanvene
• Linkedin: www.linkedin.com/in/nolanvene

Image Credits
Black and White – Griffin Riley – IG – @darkcrustacean Sound Mixing – Katie Burkholder – IG @kasuebu Lion Head Portrait – Thomas Veneklasen – IG @veneklasen