How Jonathan Hyon Ascended Behind the Scenes of HBO Max’s ‘Legendary’
Photography by Ornelle Chimi.
Note: This article was published as “Introducing Jonathan Hyon” in our OCT 2020 Issue on October 31, 2020.
In late April of this year, Jonathan Chang-Min Hyon took to Instagram, where he announced: "LEGENDARY news!! So the last 6 months I've been working on this brand new HBO Max show and it's coming out on May [27]th!!!" In a little over a month, HBO Max, HBO's replacement for HBO Go and HBO Now, would unveil a brand-new roster of shows and movies, including the groundbreaking original competition series highlighting the underground ballroom scene, Legendary. The show featured eight distinguished voguing teams from around the world, called "houses", competing in a saucy battle of the houses for a $100,000 cash prize. The show allowed mainstream audiences into the world of ballroom––the seminal underground art form deeply rooted in LGBTQIA history and the struggle of the poor and people of color. Personalities of the show, not mentioning the luminary guest judges, included emcee Dashaun Wesley (Pose), Jameela Jamil (The Good Place), Leiomy Maldonado (Pose), Megan Thee Stallion, and a-list image architect Law Roach as the four judges.
For the 22-year-old Korean-American fashion-portrait photographer and filmmaker, this opportunity manifested barely three months after transplanting from Silver Spring, Maryland to Los Angeles in the summer of '19. Months later, in a succession of fortunate events, Jonathan would let his followers in on the development of his life so far. "Check out the credits for my name next to associate producer."
After graduating from the University of Maryland with a degree in Public Health, Jonathan planned on becoming a physician's assistant. He originally moved to California after getting accepted into his top choice of PA school. In a turn of events, Jonathan turned down his acceptance into school to pursue an opening more aligned with his ambitions as an artist. It was "a really hard decision to make," he told VoyageLA last year. Initially brought on the show as an executive assistant, Jonathan ascended at HBO Max's Legendary.
On how it happened, he told NUNAR, "I think I just kept myself open and let the people around me know what my skills and capabilities were. I definitely asked if I could have a chance if there was an opportunity present that I thought I could take on. Without taking on too much I did my tasks to the best of my ability so I could go above and beyond."
Jonathan's announcement and Legendary's arrival did not come in a vacuum. By late April, the U.S. was approaching one million COVID-19 cases. For Jonathan, the pandemic and initial shutdown imparted an abrupt furlough of work and Los Angeles. "[I] went home to visit for 10 days but got stuck for 6 months."
Legendary's season finale, anticipated to be a rhapsodic conclusion complete with a live ballroom-esque audience, was noticeably without any live audience. One contestant claims he was battling COVID-19 while battling to save his house from semi-final elimination.
The societal slowdown forced a period of introspection that Jonathan opened up about in an Instagram post two days before Legendary's premiere. "Been thinking a lot about myself and my art during quarantine. I been hating ig [sic] and branding recently because I feel like I'm not putting out and receiving the weird art and energy I have within. Been working hard, trying to put out a super polished look but I am and always will be a messy bitch." Reflecting on the last 6-7 months, Jonathan calls it "some interesting times, to say the least," he says.
"The pandemic really forced me to sit down and be still with myself. I think that's definitely a double-edged sword. On one end, I was able to stop and think about the type of art and message I want to focus on creating. And on the other, having the time to think about all the ways and possibilities my life can be a little dive into darkness, haha," he says of the tumultuous year 2020 has been thus far.
As a fashion-portrait photographer, Jonathan has worked with numerous international modeling agencies, including IMG Models and Acqua Models, and his photography has been published in magazines, including Nude, Haute Punch, Vogue Italia, and counting. His work also appears in episode seven of HBO Max's Legendary after being adopted as on-set screen graphics for one of the house battles. However, photography did not start as a chosen art form but rather as a means to perfect another area of his artistry. "So, I originally was only interested in filmmaking as a medium, but I kept making films that [weren't] aesthetically aligned with my vision. I used photography as a way to practice my framing and composition. I was trying to photograph nature and architecture, but it never came naturally. It was when I started shooting things I was actually interested in, like people and fashion, that I was really able to excel."
As a filmmaker, Jonathan is known for his short film "The F-Word", made before moving out west, which landed an official selection at the Queen City Film Festival. It was also a top ten finalist for Netflix's Dear White People short film competition in 2019.
Looking back on his creative experience in the DMV as distinct from Los Angeles, Jonathan considers it "two very different experiences because I was in two very different mindsets in each area. I grew up around the DMV and pursued filmmaking and photography as a student. I was studying public health and viewed my creative passions more as a hobby while in the DMV. Now, in LA, I'm not a student, and I am allowing myself to pursue a creative career 100%. It gives me a lot more time to explore and build more of a sense of community around that which I wasn't able to have or build in the DMV. I think the DMV is brewing with creative power though, which is what sparked my interest in photography and filmmaking. I love coming back and reminding myself of my creative root, geographically speaking."
Looking forward, Jonathan has a lot of anticipation for Gen Z creators. "I am so excited for this next generation of artists. I think Gen Z has this don't give a fuck attitude that is just begging for a renaissance if you will. I think we are all looking for stories that are real and diverse, and Gen Z can deliver. Not only are the types of stories we tell becoming more diverse, but the storytellers themselves are becoming more diverse. Although gatekeeping still exists, filmmaking and photography are the most accessible they've ever been. I think sharing the medium and allowing people who may have otherwise never had access to this medium can only yield good results. It will at least lead to something different and interesting."
