Pop-Up Magazine: Love Stories

A night filled with secret letters, blind dates, rebellions, crab sex, heists, chaos, love songs, and more.

October 24, 2022 The Theatre at Ace Hotel Los Angeles

Table of Contents

Editors’ Note

Music by Minna Choi Animation by Sebastian Curi & Rafael de Araújo

Letters Sorry Not Sorry

by Pamela Rae Schuller Animations by Miranda Bruce Music by Geneva Harrison

Science Be the Ocean

by Rachael Cusick Animations by Min Heo Music by Minna Choi Sound Design by Jeremy S. Bloom

Relationships Blind Date

by Annie brown Illustrations by Anuj Shrestha Animations by The Little Labs Music by Minna Choi

Culture The Love Movement

by Marc Bamuthi Joseph Animations by Jeremy A. Leung Music by Daniel Bernard Roumain

Essay Roaring Thirties

by Ryan O,Connell Animations by Danie Drankwalter Music by Aaron Esposito

Music Swan Song

by Victoria Canal Arrangement by Rob Moose

Family Sam and Omar

by Nadav Kurtz Music by Minna Choi

International Affairs The Soldier and the Movie Star

by Sarah Kay Illustrations by Hokyoung Kim Music by Minna Choi

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Sponsors

Image: Google Logo

Images: Three small images in a row. The first is a close up on a baby’s face looking to the side with the text, “Live caption: We got a roller!.” In the second, a father is showing his baby the ASL sign for “I Love You,” while the baby sits on his mother’s lap. The text says, Live caption: “Owen, can you say I love you?” In the third image, the father has his back to the screen, with the baby in his arms facing the screen. The text on the image says, “Live caption: He’s growing so fast.”

Accessible technology matters

Learn how Google is helping to make the world more accessible for everyone at about.google/belonging/disability-inclusion

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Image: Three cocktail glasses in a row. The first is a tall glass garnished with mint and a lime, the second is a martini glass with an olive, and the third is in a tall glass with a lemon twist. To the right of the glasses is a clear bottle of Botanist gin with a white label.

22 Hand-foraged Botanicals from One of the Few B Corp-Certified Distilleries. Certified B corporation Logo Please Drink Responsibly. Copyright 2022 Bruichladdich Distillery Co. Limited. The Botanist Gin 46% ALC./VOL. Imported by Rémy Cointreau USA, INC., New York, NY.

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Contributors

Miranda Bruce is a Costa Rican–born illustrator. She obtained her BFA in Illustration from Parsons the New School for Design and her MFA in illustration as visual essay from School of Visual Arts. Her work explores surrealistic imagery to create visual narratives that transport you to another dimension.

Victoria Canal is a Spanish American singer-songwriter and producer. At 24, Victoria has garnered millions of listens, follows, and views as well as the high praise of Coldplay’s Chris Martin, who named “Swan Song” one of the best songs ever written and signed her to Parlophone. Her latest project, Elegy, is just a taste of her profound, deeply moving musical catalog.

Minna Choi is a composer for film and orchestra from California. She is the music director for Pop-Up Magazine and founder of the Magik*Magik Orchestra. Her recent film projects include Terrence Malick’s A Hidden Life, Sophia Nahli Allison’s A Love Song for Latasha, and Jamila Wignot’s Ailey.

Rachael Cusick is a radio producer and writer. She approaches the world with a mix of joy, vulnerability, and mischief. She currently works at Radiolab.

Danie Drankwalter is a Brooklyn-based illustrator working in lifestyle, food, advertising, and editorial. Her work is bright, joyful, and a little weird, and she is known for her use of texture, color, and the intimate portrayals of the characters who live in her world. Danie has worked with clients such as Los Angeles Times, Southern Poverty Law Center, Warby Parker, Health magazine, Unilever, and Apartment Therapy.

Aaron Esposito is a Los Angeles–based multi-instrumentalist composer. He’s currently working as a freelance music producer for The New York Times, scoring “The Sunday Read” episodes of The Daily podcast. Releasing music under his moniker, AAESPO, Aaron’s work has appeared in numerous film and TV projects.

Geneva Harrison is a multi-instrumentalist currently residing in Miami. A longtime Oakland resident, she served as the touring drummer for Snap Judgment from 2016–2019, composing all original scoring with her band, Bells Atlas. Geneva has recorded or performed with artists including Terence Blanchard, Van Dyke Parks, Sonya Tayeh, Poolside, and Y La Bamba, among others.

Min Heo is a freelance illustrator based in the Bay Area, California. She graduated from Art Center College of Design with a BFA in Illustration. She loves combining humor, color, and sassy characters to create her work.

Marc Bamuthi Joseph is a 2017 TED Global Fellow, an inaugural recipient of the Guggenheim Social Practice initiative, and an honoree of the United States Artists Rockefeller Fellowship. Bamuthi is currently working on commissions for Yale University, the Albany Symphony Orchestra, Lyric Opera, The Minnesota Orchestra, and the Washington National Opera. Bamuthi currently serves as the vice president and artistic director of social impact at The Kennedy Center.

Sarah Kay is a poet from New York City.

Hokyoung Kim is an illustrator in New York. She was born and grew up in Seoul, South Korea. She is interested in making images of stories and various moods with light and shadow.

Nadav Kurtz is an award-winning editor and director whose work has shown at festivals including Sundance, True/False, and Tribeca, and has been showcased by The Criterion Channel, PBS’s POV, and The New York Times Op-Docs. His directorial debut, Paraíso, won Best Documentary Short at multiple international festivals and was short-listed for an Academy Award.

Jeremy A. Leung is an illustrator, animator, and creative director based in New York City. His work is focused primarily in editorial, advertising, and branding, where he enjoys bringing together themes of technology, pop culture, and science. His clients include The New York Times, The New Yorker, The Atlantic, and Holt Renfrew to name a few.

Magik*Magik Orchestra is a made-to-order orchestra, the size of which has ranged from a single violinist to an 80-piece symphony and choir. The M*MO has worked with more than 150 artists and institutions since its 2008 debut. This show’s iteration of Magik*Magik features Liana Berube on strings, Minna Choi on keyboard, Ramon Fermin on guitar, and Andrew Maguire on drums.

Lina Misitzis is a Pulitzer Prize–winning radio producer and writer whose work has appeared on terrestrial broadcasts and various RSS feeds available on mobile phones and computers.

Rob Moose is a Grammy Award–winning arranger whose charts have been recorded by artists ranging from Paul Simon to Taylor Swift to Bon Iver. He is a frequent contributor to Ben Folds’s Declassified series at the Kennedy Center and music-directed Sara Bareilles’s Amidst the Chaos arena tour.

Ryan O’Connell is a writer, actor, and producer. He created, produced, and starred in the Emmy-nominated Netflix series Special. In June, he released his debut novel, Just by Looking at Him, and produced and starred in Peacock’s Queer as Folk.

Daniel Bernard Roumain is a prolific and endlessly collaborative composer, performer, educator, and social entrepreneur. “About as omnivorous as a contemporary artist gets” (The New York Times), he has worked with artists from Philip Glass to Bill T. Jones to Lady Gaga and has appeared on NPR, American Idol, and ESPN.

Pamela Rae Schuller is a New York City–based performer and keynote speaker. She works with companies and leaders worldwide to envision creative possibilities for a more inclusive culture. Pamela has been featured in The New York Times, on the Dr. Mike Youtube Channel, and on SiriusXM. She is currently working on a YA novel.

Anuj Shrestha is an illustrator and cartoonist residing in Philadelphia. He is fond of chili sauce, horror movies, and Chihuahuas. Clients include The New York Times, The New Yorker, The Washington Post, ProPublica, Wired, Playboy, Popular Science, McSweeney’s, and others.

Sponsor Bios

Rorri Burton is a teacher of the Deaf turned ASL interpreter. Based in Southern California, she has provided ASL access for the Deaf community for everyone from the mayor of Los Angeles to Levi’s to the Academy Awards. She oversees a group of Deaf and hearing BIPOC and queer ASL interpreters, providing advocacy, access, and training.

Andrea Campos is a Mexican American illustrator and visual artist based in Los Angeles who specializes in creating expressive, upbeat work that’s playful with a purpose. The daughter of immigrants, Andrea is committed to inclusive storytelling, which is reflected in the people, places, and cultures she brings to life.

Jordan Kay is an award-winning professional freelance artist, illustrator, and designer. Witha portfolio that includes packaging, editorial illustration, striking type design, and motion, Jordan pinpoints the perfect moment to amplify a brand with her exuberant visual voice. Her specialties include creative consulting, art direction, illustration, and graphic design.

Toni A. Wilson (she/her) is a social worker, cultural critic, fat liberationist, and Hood BlackFeminist from Brooklyn. As GGE’s director of culture and narrative shift, she builds strategies, conversations, and cultural moments centering the needs of Black girls and gender-expansive youth. Toni is a co-host of Stay in the Sun podcast and freelance writer for The Curvy Fashionista.

Media Partners

Los Angeles Magazine KCRW

Additional Credits

Audio description produced by Woman of Her Word and Cliff Hahn Sound, narrated by Michele Spitz; ASL interpretation provided by Rorri Burton, Selena Flowers, and Pro Bono ASL; accessibility help provided by Rosemary McDonnell-Horita and LaVant Consulting, Inc.

Special Thanks

Cutters Studio, Field of Vision, Jenna Garret, Lilly Hanson, Marjon Javadi, Anne Latini, The Marshall Project, Lizzy Montana Myers, Elizabeth Nakano, Peggy Orenstein, Diane Quon, Myra Rivera, Meghan Sims, Seth Skundrick, Sundance Institute, Yanyi Xie and our Pop-Up Magazine members

Staff List

Brock Alter, Bridgette Ambrose, Jacqueline Bates, Chida Chaemchaeng, Alyssa Chavez-Upp, Minna Choi, Victoria Chow, Karen Paguay Coronel, Elise Craig, Samantha Edmonds, Chas Edwards, Derek Fagerstrom, Michelle Fernández, Christopher Gerringer, Kim Gooden, Christopher Hill, Haley Howle, Leo Jung, Dilpreet Kainth, Mark King, Li Anne Liew, Douglas McGray, Lina Misitzis, Peggy Orenstein, Alex Palma, Scott Polach, Tom Rendell, Al Schatz, Andy Spillman, Louise Tan, Maureen Towey, Erin Walter, Melissa Weil

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