Client: The Washington Post
AD: Tyler Remmel

An autobiographical contribution accompanied by an interview for a project focusing on ten illustrator’s experiences as the U.S. grappled with 100,000 lives lost to covid-19.

For us, the pandemic’s reverberations started to become a harsh reality when the release date of Fast and the Furious 9 was pushed back a year. It wasn’t just any movie for us, it was going to be her first film credit. Having this credit pushed back (along with many others) didn’t just mean we couldn’t celebrate her Hollywood dreams finally becoming a reality. It meant her losing her ability to use that experience when applying for one of the work visas—which had a more unforgiving, concrete timeline requiring hard-edge documentation. From the lens of the visa application, months of work had just evaporated. To add to this, filming live-action movies had been put on pause across the entire film industry. Her job security has eroded, as well as her confidence in being able to obtain such a visa, all this while anti-Asian racism is on the rise.

She tells me that even though things are rocky for her right now, she thinks others have it worse. Many of her friends are in a similar boat, and not everyone is so lucky. Just a few weeks ago, she already had to say goodbye to one, as their job hunting had become impossible once the hiring freezes started. This had put an end to their OPT requirements. And while Immigration Offices are closed, their deadlines haven’t moved an inch. Goodbyes are usually difficult to begin with, but a goodbye in the age of social distancing is something else.