# Nic Cha Kim

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**Nic Cha Kim** (born September 19, 1974) is an American television reporter, documentary filmmaker, playwright, and cultural activist, also known as the Founder of [Gallery Row](/source/Gallery_Row) in [Downtown](/source/Downtown_Los_Angeles) [Los Angeles](/source/Los_Angeles).[1]

Kim is a reporter for the weekly news series SoCal Connected, a weekly news series on [KCET](/source/KCET).[2] In 2017, Nic won two Los Angeles Emmys for Information Segment and Informational Series (More Than 50% Remote).[3][4]

## Early life

Kim was born in [Lakewood](/source/Lakewood,_California), California but was raised in [Arcadia](/source/Arcadia,_California), California. After graduating from Arcadia High School in 1992, Kim studied English at [University of California, Berkeley](/source/University_of_California,_Berkeley) but dropped out in 1998 and moved to [Los Angeles](/source/Los_Angeles).

## Career

### Gallery Row

In 2003, Nic Cha Kim presented a proposal with friend Kjell Hagen to create an arts and culture district called [Gallery Row](/source/Gallery_Row,_Los_Angeles,_California) through parts of [Civic Center](/source/Civic_Center,_Los_Angeles,_California), [Historic Core](/source/Historic_Core,_Los_Angeles,_California), and [Fashion District](/source/Fashion_District,_Los_Angeles,_California) in [Downtown](/source/Downtown_Los_Angeles) [Los Angeles](/source/Los_Angeles). Co-sponsored by [Jan Perry](/source/Jan_Perry) and [Antonio Villaraigosa](/source/Antonio_Villaraigosa), [Los Angeles City Council](/source/Los_Angeles_City_Council) voted unanimously to designate [Gallery Row](/source/Gallery_Row,_Los_Angeles,_California) on July 23, 2003 (Council File Indes: 03-1571).[5][6]

Once the [City of L.A.](/source/Los_Angeles) approved the district, Kim started Gallery Row Organization with a mission to create a thriving, pedestrian-friendly, culturally abundant, urban neighborhood. [Gallery Row](/source/Gallery_Row,_Los_Angeles,_California) spans north–south along [Main Street](/source/Main_Street_(Los_Angeles)) and Spring Street from 2nd Street in the north to 9th Street in the south.[7] There are now over 40 [art galleries](/source/Art_galleries) in [Gallery Row](/source/Gallery_Row,_Los_Angeles,_California) and the monthly Downtown Art Walk attracts over 30,000 visitors.[8][9] Gallery Row Organization brought new art galleries into [Downtown](/source/Downtown_Los_Angeles) [Los Angeles](/source/Los_Angeles) through economic development programs, introduced new signage to promote the [Gallery Row](/source/Gallery_Row,_Los_Angeles,_California) district, produced cultural events with local community leaders, and curated the first TAP Card design competition for the [Los Angeles Department of Transportation](/source/Los_Angeles_Department_of_Transportation).[10][11]

### Niche.LA Video Art

In 2005, Kim opened the first art gallery in [Los Angeles](/source/Los_Angeles) dedicated to video art. Based in [Gallery Row](/source/Gallery_Row,_Los_Angeles,_California), Niche.LA Video Art exhibited over 50 art shows curating [video art](/source/Video_art), [digital art](/source/Digital_art), 3D mapping, [glitch](/source/Glitch), [dadamoshing](/source/Dadamoshing), [cyberart](/source/Cyberart), [nanoart](/source/Nanoart), [fractal art](/source/Fractal_art), and [light art](/source/Light_art).[12] A regular participant of the monthly Downtown Art Walk, Kim often used his gallery to convince creative entrepreneurs to open art galleries in [Gallery Row](/source/Gallery_Row,_Los_Angeles,_California) to become part of the [Downtown](/source/Downtown_Los_Angeles) [L.A.](/source/Los_Angeles) art scene.[13][14] Kim closed the gallery in 2012 to pursue documentary filmmaking.[15]

### Art Battle L.A.

Produced by Nic Cha Kim, Art Battle L.A. is a 52 min. street art documentary that chronicles graffiti artists [Mear One](/source/Mear_One), Man One, [Inkie](/source/Inkie), and [Eine](/source/Ben_Eine) as they spend a week together painting murals all over Los Angeles under the direction of L.A. Freewalls to support Hollywood Arts, a nonprofit dedicated to helping emancipated foster children living in the streets by teaching them employable arts skills. Art Battle L.A. premiered on [KCET](/source/KCET)'s Open Call and is currently available on [Snagfilms](/source/Snagfilms).

### Songs in the Key of Los Angeles: The Bedrock Sessions

Songs in the Key of Los Angeles: The Bedrock Sessions is a multi-platform collaboration between [KCET](/source/KCET), Library Foundation of Los Angeles, the [Los Angeles Public Library](/source/Los_Angeles_Public_Library), and USC professor [Josh Kun](/source/Josh_Kun) that brings to life the Library's Southern California Sheet Music Collection. Consisting of sheet music pieces that range from the 1840s through the 1950s, the Collection offers a singular portrait of Los Angeles history and culture rendered in music and visual art. Produced by Nic Cha Kim, [KCET](/source/KCET) presented a 5-part short documentary series featuring musicians [Aloe Blacc](/source/Aloe_Blacc), Petrojvic Blasting Company, [Julia Holter](/source/Julia_Holter), I See Hawks in L.A., and [La Santa Cecilia](/source/La_Santa_Cecilia) that aired together as a special on [KCET](/source/KCET)'s transmedia arts and culture series, Artbound.[16]

### Teatro Jornalero Sin Fronteras

Co-Directed and Co-Produced by Nic Cha Kim, Teatro Jornalero Sin Fronteras follows deported and displaced Guatemalans as they reintegrate back into their home country. Day Labor Theater Without Borders is a program of [Cornerstone Theater Company](/source/Cornerstone_Theater_Company) where they perform plays based on stories from day labor communities.[17] Teatro Jornalero Sin Fronteras was nominated for the 67th Los Angeles area Local Emmy in 2015 in the Feature Segment category.[18][19]

### SoCal Connected

Kim works at [KCET](/source/KCET) as a television reporter for the weekly news series SoCal Connected and is the winner of 2 L.A. Emmys from the [Television Academy](/source/Academy_of_Television_Arts_%26_Sciences), 3 Golden Mikes from the Radio & Television News Association, and the National Arts & Entertainment Journalism Award and a SoCal Journalism Award from the L.A. Press Club.[20][21][22][23][24]

## Theatre

Kim originally moved to Los Angeles to become a playwright before becoming a documentary filmmaker.[25] He joined the [East West Players](/source/East_West_Players) where he participated in the David Henry Hwang Writers Institute and worked as Resident Producer for Lodestone Theatre Ensemble from 2005-2010. Kim joined [Company of Angels](/source/Company_of_Angels) in 2012 when he participated in the annual L.A. Views series. His plays Trapezoid,[26][27][28] Like Yesterday, RE:verse,[29] and Rise Up[30] have all been produced for the stage.[31][32]

## Filmography

### Journalism

Season 8

- “California Condors” (2017) - Reporter
- “Landfill Fight” (2017) - Reporter
- “Loving Joshua Tree to Death” (2017) - Reporter

Season 7

- “Simple Solution to Help the Homeless” (2017) - Reporter
- “‘Feathers of Fire’: A Spectacular Shadow Play" (2017) - Reporter
- “Hyperloop: Tube Travel at Near Supersonic Speed” (2017) - Reporter
- “A Great Use for UC Irvine’s Garbage” (2017) - Reporter
- “Urban Tree Canopy Benefits LA Communities, Some More Than Others” (2017) - Reporter
- “A Tiny House is a Work of Art” (2017) - Reporter

Season 6

- *The Restoration and Revival of L.A.'s Hollyhock House* (2015) - Reporter
- *Bringing CicLAvia to South Los Angeles* (2015) - Reporter
- *Clare Graham's 'Warehouse of Wonders* (2014) - Reporter
- *Radio Personality Art Laboe* (2014) - Reporter
- *Grand Central Market: Past and Present* (2014) - Reporter
- *A Labyrinth of Books, Art, and Records* (2014) - Reporter
- *Art or Ad? L.A.'s Mural Law Written in Gray Ink* (2014) - Reporter
- *The Bottle Tree Ranch* (2014) - Reporter
- *The Future of Leimert Park* (2014) - Reporter
- *A Moveable Feast at the Brewery Art Colony* (2014) - Reporter

### Short Documentaries

- *The Spirit of North Shore* (2015) - Director, Producer
- *Teatro Jornalero Sin Fronteras* (2014) - Co-Director, Co-Producer
- *My Moby Dick* (2013) - Producer, Story Editor
- *Songs in the Key of Los Angeles: The Bedrock Sessions* (2013) - Producer, Story Editor
- *Thank You For Coming* (2013) - Producer, Story Editor
- *Art Battle L.A.* (2012) - Executive Producer, Producer, Writer

### Feature films

- *Art Battle L.A.* (2012) - Executive Producer, Producer, Writer
- *Qwerty* (2011) - Associate Producer
- *The Mikado Project* (2010) - Associate Producer

### Short films

- *Vignette* (2012) - Executive Producer, Director, Producer, Writer
- *Sketch* (2012) - Executive Producer, Producer, Writer
- *Equal Opportunity* (2007) - Associate Producer
- *Pollen* (2006) - Executive Producer, Producer, Writer

## Bibliography

### Plays

- "a.l.a. (Asians in Los Angeles)"
- "Hyperbola"
- "Like Yesterday"
- "Point"
- "RE:verse"
- "Rise Up"
- "Taste of Home, A"
- "Trapezoid"
- "Tuba Player, The"

## References

1. ["Nic Cha Kim Makes the Case for Why Art Matters"](http://iamkoream.com/nic-cha-kim-makes-the-case-for-why-art-matters/). [KoreAm.com](/source/KoreAm). Retrieved September 9, 2014.

1. ["KCET's Award-Winning Weekly Series 'SOCAL CONNECTED' Begins May 14 at 8 p.m. with a New Format and Multimedia Production Team"](http://www.kcet.org/about/pressroom/press-releases/kcets-award-winning-weekly-series-socal-connected-begins-may-14-at-8-pm-with-a-new-format-and-multim.html). [KCET](/source/KCET). 30 April 2014. Retrieved 2014-04-30.

1. ["Los Angeles Area Emmy Awards 2017: Full Winners List"](https://variety.com/2017/tv/news/los-angeles-area-emmy-awards-winners-list-1202501936/). [Variety](/source/Variety_(magazine)). Retrieved 2017-07-22.

1. ["KCET Tops All Other Stations With Most Los Angeles Area Emmy Wins"](https://www.kcet.org/tv-talk/kcet-tops-all-other-stations-with-most-los-angeles-area-emmy-wins). [KCET](/source/KCET). 24 July 2017. Retrieved 2017-07-24.

1. ["If you bill it, they will come"](https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-2003-nov-04-et-mcnamara4-story.html). *[LA Times](/source/LA_Times)*. 4 November 2003. Retrieved November 4, 2003.

1. ["Row Revely: Gallery Cluster Emerges in the Historic Core, but What's Next?"](http://www.ladowntownnews.com/news/row-revelry/article_66b14efc-8455-53c5-b306-8938d1b5fb2c.html). [Downtown News](/source/Downtown_News). 10 May 2004. Retrieved May 10, 2004.

1. [2012-2013 Official Visitors Map](http://discoverlosangeles.com), Los Angeles Tourism & Convention Board, 2012

1. ["A Walk on the Artsy Side"](https://web.archive.org/web/20101011183249/http://iamkoream.com/a-walk-on-th-artsy-side/). [KoreAm.com](/source/KoreAm). Archived from [the original](http://iamkoream.com/a-walk-on-th-artsy-side/) on October 11, 2010. Retrieved January 6, 2010.

1. ["Spotlight will be on Caltrans"](https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-2005-oct-16-ca-artsnotes16.1-story.html). *[LA Times](/source/LA_Times)*. 16 October 2005. Retrieved October 16, 2006.

1. ["Downtown Exhibits Its Eclecticism"](https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-2006-apr-23-me-artwalk23-story.html). *[LA Times](/source/LA_Times)*. 23 April 2006. Retrieved April 23, 2006.

1. ["LADOT Announces TAP Card Design Contest"](http://la.streetsblog.org/2013/11/14/ladot-announces-tap-card-design-contest/). [LA Streetsblog](/source/LA_Streetsblog). 14 November 2013. Retrieved November 14, 2013.

1. ["Digital World: Oz"](http://artforum.com/print.php?id=9371&pn=picks&action=print). [Artforum.com](/source/Artforum.com). Retrieved August 8, 2005.

1. ["A Black-and-White World"](http://www.ladowntownnews.com/entertainment/a-black-and-white-world/article_5d4dbbca-96fd-5073-909a-91dd8b4d43d7.html). [Downtown News](/source/Downtown_News). Retrieved September 8, 2007.

1. ["Downtown Exhibits Its Eclecticism"](https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-2006-apr-23-me-artwalk23-story.html). *[LA Times](/source/LA_Times)*. 23 April 2006. Retrieved April 23, 2006.

1. ["Nic Cha Kim Makes the Case for Why Art Matters"](http://iamkoream.com/nic-cha-kim-makes-the-case-for-why-art-matters/). [KoreAm.com](/source/KoreAm). Retrieved September 9, 2014.

1. Josh Kun (October 29, 2013). "'Artbound Special Episode 'Songs in the Key of Los Angeles'' Revisited". [KCET](/source/KCET)

1. ["From L.A. to Guatemala: Day Labor Theatre Without Borders"](http://www.kcet.org/arts/artbound/counties/los-angeles/day-labor-theater-without-borders.html). [KCET](/source/KCET). 18 June 2014. Retrieved June 18, 2014.

1. Liz Korda Smith (June 5, 2015). "'67th Los Angeles Area Emmy Award Nominations Announced' Revisited". [Emmys](/source/Emmys)

1. ["Variety's 'Actors on Actors' on PBS SoCal Nominated for Emmy"](https://variety.com/2015/tv/news/variety-actors-on-actors-emmy-nomination-1201512053/). *[Variety](/source/Variety_(magazine))*. 4 June 2015. Retrieved June 4, 2015.

1. ["KCET's Award-Winning Weekly Series 'SOCAL CONNECTED' Begins May 14 at 8 p.m. with a New Format and Multimedia Production Team"](http://www.kcet.org/about/pressroom/press-releases/kcets-award-winning-weekly-series-socal-connected-begins-may-14-at-8-pm-with-a-new-format-and-multim.html). [KCET](/source/KCET). 30 April 2014. Retrieved 2014-04-30.

1. ["67th ANNUAL GOLDEN MIKE AWARDS® 2016 WINNERS LIST"](http://rtna.org/GoldenMikeAwards/16winners.asp). [RTNA](/source/RTNA). Retrieved 2016-12-12.

1. Liz Korda Smith (June 5, 2015). "'67th Los Angeles Area Emmy Award Nominations Announced' Revisited". [Emmys](/source/Emmys)

1. ["KCETLink Media Group Receives 19 Southern California Journalism Award Nominations Presented by the Los Angeles Press Club' Revisited"](http://www.kcet.org/about/pressroom/kcetlink-press-releases/kcetlink-media-group-receives-19-southern-california-journalism-award-nominations-presented-by-the-l.html). [KCET](/source/KCET). Retrieved 2014-04-30.

1. ["KCETLink Media Group Receives 12 Los Angeles Area Emmy Award Nominations"](http://www.kcet.org/about/pressroom/kcetlink-press-releases/kcetlink-media-group-receives-12-los-angeles-area-emmy-award-nominations.html). [KCET](/source/KCET). 4 June 2015. Retrieved June 4, 2015.

1. ["6 distinct voices with an L.A. link"](https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-2005-jan-23-ca-women23-story.html). *[LA Times](/source/LA_Times)*. 23 January 2005. Retrieved April 25, 2008.

1. ["Caught up in 'Trapezoid's' A.I."](https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-2008-apr-25-et-stage25-story.html). *[LA Times](/source/LA_Times)*. Retrieved April 18, 2008.

1. Klugman, Deborah (8 May 2008). ["Trapezoid"](http://www.laweekly.com/calendar/trapezoid-2153371). *L.A. Weekly*. [LA Weekly](/source/LA_Weekly). Retrieved May 8, 2008.

1. ["Lodestone Theatre Ensemble Presents World Premiere of 'Trapezoid'"](https://web.archive.org/web/20140826072056/http://www.asianweek.com/2008/04/18/lodestone-theatre-ensemble-presents-world-premiere-of-%E2%80%98trapezoid%E2%80%99/). [Asian Week](/source/Asian_Week). Archived from [the original](http://www.asianweek.com/2008/04/18/lodestone-theatre-ensemble-presents-world-premiere-of-%E2%80%98trapezoid%E2%80%99/) on August 26, 2014. Retrieved April 18, 2008.

1. Morris, Steven Leigh (18 May 2009). ["Stage Raw: Ten To Life"](http://www.laweekly.com/arts/stage-raw-ten-to-life-2369995). *L.A. Weekly*. [LA Weekly](/source/LA_Weekly). Retrieved May 18, 2009.

1. ["Springtime in LA, at Cafe Vida and on April 29, 1992"](http://thisstage.la/2012/05/springtime-in-la-at-cafe-vida-and-on-april-29-1992/). [This Stage LA](/source/This_Stage_LA). Retrieved May 7, 2012.

1. ["Lodestone Theatre Ensemble is going out on its own terms"](http://www.latimes.com/entertainment/arts/la-ca-lodestone3-2009may03-story.html). *[LA Times](/source/LA_Times)*. 3 May 2009. Retrieved May 3, 2009.

1. ["Ten to Life"](http://www.backstage.com/review/la-theater/ten-to-life/). [Backstage](/source/Backstage_(magazine)#Backstage.com). 20 May 2009. Retrieved May 20, 2009.

## External links

- [Gallery Row Organization](http://www.galleryrow.org)
- [Niche.LA Video Art](http://www.niche.la)
- [Nic Cha Kim](https://www.imdb.com/name/nm2330196/) at IMDb
- [Nic Cha Kim on Doolee](http://www.doollee.com/PlaywrightsK/kim-nic-cha.html)

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Adapted from the Wikipedia article [Nic Cha Kim](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nic_Cha_Kim) by Wikipedia contributors ([contributor history](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nic_Cha_Kim?action=history)). Available under [Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/). Changes may have been made.