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LOST & FOUND COWBOY – Uplifting Cross-Cultural
Online Comedy in the Time of Pandemic (Part 1)
By Atsushi Ogata

Our globetrotting romantic comedy web series LOST & FOUND COWBOY opens in Tokyoand travels the world on Twisted Mirror TV!
© Globetrot Productions 2020

With the current global pandemic, our daily lives and routines havebecome extremely disrupted and our activities restricted. The
situation can impact us all very negatively, if we don’t take caution. At
such challenging times, I feel the role of an artist/creator becomeseven more important – to create and show work that reminds us all of
the fun and joy of life. Art gives us hope.
Even before the pandemic, for a number of years I have focused on
deepening cross-cultural communication and interactions throughcomedy – creating works that celebrate our diversity rather thanbuilding “walls” between us.
With globalization, people have been traveling routinely acrossborders and living in different countries from their country of origin –sometimes by choice and at other times by necessity, but at the sametime there have been increasing tensions with growing prejudice andxenophobia. With the pandemic, the situation has worsened as many
countries have literally closed their borders. All the more reason tocreate and disseminate uplifting cross-cultural comedies.

YUKATA COWBOY
I was born in Japan and raised partly in the United States. I’ve lived
and worked in the US, the Netherlands, France, Germany, the United
Kingdom and Japan as a screenwriter, film director, web series
creator, video artist and an actor/comedian. For Japan SPOTLIGHT,
I’ve previously written about comedy that crosses borders with myfeature CAST ME IF YOU CAN (March/April 2014) and my online
series YUKATA COWBOY (May/June 2016).The original YUKATA
https://www.jef.or.jp/journal/

Author Atsushi Ogata

COWBOY ® is a one-man sketch comedy series based on my own
fish-out-of-water experiences of growing up and living in different
countries. My observational comedy turns cultural shocks intolaughter.
With a cowboy hat, Japanese yukata (a casual, traditional summer
garment) and rapid-fire patter, the character Yukata Cowboy drifts
across the US, Japan, and Europe. He repeatedly stumbles acrossmore than he bargains for; trying to fit in everywhere he goes.
Each episode of YUKATA COWBOY ® is one to three minutes long
(30 episodes in total) and takes the format of sketch comedy,
focusing on an aspect of the everyday from the perspective of a man
who travels his whole life between cultures: elevators, riding trains,
bikes, travelling or making friends. In each country, Yukata Cowboy
tries to learn the ropes and fit in, but the more he fits in, the more
often he is mistaken for someone else. Amidst all his accommodationof perplexing newness, he struggles to find his own voice.
I play Yukata Cowboy as well as all the other characters of different
ages, gender and nationality. I filmed the series myself with an
iPhone. Initially, I started this series as a therapy after my father’s
passing, but with support from my American producer Sian Evans,
Dutch composer Pascal Plantinga, and animators Karim Cherif and
Ben Hillman we developed it into an online series for a worldwide
audience.
YUKATA COWBOY ® was selected for many of the new, emerging
web festivals in Europe, South Korea, and North and South America.
The series has been awarded 13 prizes, in Sicily, Bilbao, Miami,
Rome, Dublin, Montreal, Seoul and Washington DC. YUKATA
COWBOY ® ranked #12 in the Web Series World Cup in 2015. It was
screened for two weeks at a Tokyo cinema, and an offshoot EnglishJapanese bilingual book of interviews – The Unofficial Guide to Yukata
Cowboy – was published.
Because of the short length and easily relatable observational
comedic content, YUKATA COWBOY seems to resonate with different
audiences around the world. I remember receiving a message from ayoung Swiss woman visiting Japan, who said that she was watchingan episode of YUKATA COWBOY about taking trains in Tokyo while
she was actually taking a Tokyo subway: she said she was glad her
subway was not as crowded as what was shown in my episode. Afterscreening another episode about European train travel at my college
reunion in the US, an audience member came up to me and told me
about his own experience of European train travel. I was happy to see
how my short-form online comedic content was triggering audiences
and bringing people together.

Japan SPOTLIGHT • November / December 202057

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MONA LISA COWBOYCasting Cross-CulturallyWith the success of YUKATA COWBOY ®, I had a chance to realize
our first spin-off series, MONA LISA COWBOY in Paris, bycollaborating with Xin Wang, the creator of the hit Chinese-French
web series “Ex-Model”, whom I met at the Sicily Web Fest in Italy.
MONA LISA COWBOY (seven three-minute episodes) is a dramatic
comedy about how two estranged Chinese expat twins are brought
together by Yukata Cowboy in Paris. The first episode tells thefictional origin story of how the street performer Yukata Cowboy
came into existence after a failed Japanese misanthropic artist Kenji
travels to Paris, where he meets Mona, a creative Chinese toy-store
owner.
MONA LISA COWBOY premiered at Webfest Berlin in September
2017 and screened at numerous festivals worldwide. I was awarded
Best Actor (Star AMETS) at Bilbao Seriesland, 2017 (Spain), andMONA LISA COWBOY was also awarded Special Jury Prize at DC Web
Fest 2018 (Washington DC) and Best Costume at Asia Web Awards
2018 (South Korea).
After watching the first episode, to my surprise, a number ofaudience members at festival screenings asked if I had really been astreet performer in Paris. Even though I had never lived in Paris andhad never been an actual street performer, it was curious to see how
people who were not expats were drawn to the fictional lives of these
Asian expats in Paris.
Growing up in the US as a member of a racial minority, I never had
a “racial role model” to look up to and emulate. My heroes were
portrayed by Clint Eastwood or Al Pacino. On a similar note, Xin Wang
had mentioned that, being a member of a racial minority in France,
she was often cast as a gangster or a prostitute. This gave me an
added incentive to create roles where Xin could play Mona, an artistic
character, and her twin sister Lisa, a businesswoman. I wanted tocounter racial stereotypes for the Western audience, to celebrate
diversity and to portray Asian characters who were not cooks, crooks
or call girls.

As I dove into pre-production, I happened to meet American actress
Kellie Holway at a gathering of English-speaking film professionals inTokyo, and we sensed we shared a similar comedic sensibility. Kellie
watched our original YUKATA COWBOY ® series and told me howmuch she enjoyed it. Later, we also learned that she had seen myearlier feature film CAST ME IF YOU CAN.
Kellie was more than an actress – as a dancer, she had performedat Walt Disney World in Florida and at Tokyo Disneyland. She had
performed in the First National Broadway Tour of 42nd Street andworked as an actress and narrator in New York, Portland, Singapore
and Tokyo. Kellie also spoke Japanese and had traveled widely. Her
specific talents offered new possibilities for our series – toincorporate dance and learning Japanese into our storyline.
My directorial instinct told me that Kellie would be suited for ourseries. I thought it might be interesting to cast Kellie against Risa
Yamauchi, a skilled, talented and humorous actress I had cast in
CAST ME IF YOU CAN. I invited Kellie and Risa to read/rehearse anepisode about Yukata Cowboy helping an American visitor in Tokyoand guiding her to an Airbnb, where the host doesn’t speak English.
Our “rehearsal” turned out to be a huge success – funny andinspiring.

LOST & FOUND COWBOY

Gathering Cross-Cultural Crew
Emi Ueyama, a producer I’d known over the years, kindly told me
about a funding source in Japan, but I needed a fiscal sponsor.
Luckily my former gallery, Art Front Gallery, kicked into action. Art
Front Gallery produces large-scale public art projects, commissioned
works and prominent international art festivals. I had worked withthem as a video artist for years before I became a film director.
With help from Art Front, we were now in a position to produce ourpilot for LOST & FOUND COWBOY with a high production value. I
contacted some of the former crew from CAST ME IF YOU CAN andalso found new bilingual crew members.
Motomu Ishigaki, a talented New York-based bilingual Japanese

Having successfully expanded YUKATA COWBOY ® from a sketch
comedy series to a narrative spin-off series in MONA LISA COWBOY,
Joel Bassaget (screenwriter/advisor for Web Fest Berlin) suggested
that I further expand the YUKATA COWBOY ® brand into a new series
taking place in multiple countries around the world. This seemed likean extremely ambitious endeavor, but also totally in line with my goalof creating cross-cultural works that bring the world together.
In the meantime, journalist friend Roland Kelts, an expert on theimpact of Japanese anime and pop culture on the West (who alsointerviews me in the YUKATA COWBOY book), encouraged me todevelop a series of YUKATA COWBOY episodes set in Tokyo.
With Joel and Roland’s advice, as a first step to realizing a new
spin-off titled LOST & FOUND COWBOY, I began to work on a seriesof episodes about Yukata Cowboy’s life in Tokyo after he returns from
Europe.

Photo: Masaki Itagaki

Cast and crew wrap up the shoot on the Tokyo dance studio set© Globetrot Productions 201958 Japan SPOTLIGHT • November / December 2020

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director of photography, came on board and brought over his cameracrew and 6K camera equipment from New York. In Motomu’s works,
we had seen that he shares my sensibilities with a quiet whimsy, aninterest in observing the world and an almost child-like gaze.
Takafumi Sakabe, a bilingual assistant director (AD), came on board
not only to handle the normal tasks of an AD but also to watch my
performance as the lead actor, while I also directed.
For music, in addition to Pascal Plantinga’s theme “Niminy Piminy”
from YUKATA COWBOY ® and MONA LISA COWBOY, we asked thetalented Masataka (Taka) Odaka, our bilingual sound designer fromMONA LISA COWBOY, to both compose original music and to do
music research and licensing.
For the opening animation and credits, Ben Hillman, who createdthe opening animation and end-roll credits for our YUKATA COWBOY® and MONA LISA COWBOY series, came on board, excited at theidea of combining live dance footage with his animation.

rig to move the camera along tracks), a Movi (an ingenious 3-axis
gimbal that stabilizes and minimizes camera motion while filming)and a state-of-the-art 6K camera. Even the simplest shots weremoving and filmed dynamically. In the dance studios, Motomu often
used the mirror wall in innovative ways that surprised and amused us.
For our opening animation, our animator, Ben Hillman, asked us tofilm sequences of Kellie dancing with a hula-hoop against a white
screen in a studio. He then integrated Kellie’s dance with an animatedYukata Cowboy figure dancing in an animated world with recognizableinternational monuments such as the Eiffel Tower.
Andrew Hartsell, a professional photographer, joined us on
locations for most of our shooting days and took amazing
promotional and behind-the-scenes stills for us.
If we had had more funding and more of the script, we could have
kept filming forever.
Photo: Andrew Hartsell

Pre-Production & Rehearsals
Our stylist Ayako Kuroha prepared the colorful, upbeat costumes
for our cast, while our hair and make-up artist Nana Kozakai testedout different Japanese hair-styles for Kellie.
With line-producer Yoichi Sakurai and Motomu, we did extensive
location scouting. In Tokyo, there are a number of studios that can berented for scenes in houses, flats, restaurants, etc. As an experienced
location manager, Yoichi Sakurai could also tell us, for example,
exactly where we might get a street shot with Tokyo Tower in the
background.
For the dance sequences, Kellie, as the choreographer, became theone who would direct me. I have no background or training in dance –I was definitely way out of my comfort zone – but with Kellie’s help
and guidance I managed and even found the process enjoyable. In thelater stage of our rehearsal, Motomu joined us for camera rehearsals
to figure out how to film our dance movements and “action” scenes.
An experienced art director, Jun Terao, came on board, and hequickly and beautifully prepared every set. For example, in Japan, you
are not allowed to film at a real bus stop, but Jun “magically” createda bus stop along a regular street. In addition to building the sets,during the film shoot the art department was also busy with props
and effects. For the kitchen scene where Cindy and Yukata Cowboy
fight over cooking, the art department climbed up on chairs andpoured dry pasta onto our faces – one of the funniest behind-thescenes moments.

Director of photography Motomu Ishigaki (L) & director Atsushi Ogata discuss shots© Globetrot Productions 2019

Post-Production
After such an exciting shoot, it was sad to part from my cast andcrew and be left alone to edit the footage. However, once I
downloaded the Red Plug-In to my editing software Final Cut Pro X, I
was surprised how easily I could immediately start editing our footage
even on my simple Mac Powerbook!
I did all the editing myself. The dance scenes took longer but were
Photo: Andrew Hartsell

Production
We had to film in the middle of the winter, but fortunately we had
secured outdoor apparel – the base layer underwear that Mt. Everest
climbers use – which helped enormously. Our first day, the wind was
so strong that Kellie’s hair kept getting blown all around. In the middleof one take, my cowboy hat flew away and I had to go catch it. Later
we incorporated that “accident” – having my cowboy hat blow away
momentously in another scene.
Motomu and his camera team from Urban Mouse LLC in New York
did an amazing job with their Dana dolly (a small, one-man-operation

Yukata Cowboy & Cindy dance joyously in Tamagawadai Park
© Globetrot Productions 2019Japan SPOTLIGHT • November / December 202059

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also fun. Once I completed the picture edit, Taka worked on the music
and sound editing and also brought in a live violinist for the final music
recording. I proceeded to the color-correction process, in which we
adjusted colors, exposures, tones, etc. scene to scene, and sometimes
shot to shot, in order to create visual consistencies and transitions, aswell as selective emotional tones. We accomplished this throughextensive consultation with Motomu, myself and our colorist Miki
Inagawa, who was also our colorist for MONA LISA COWBOY as wellas my editor on an earlier short film ETERNALLY YOURS.

Screenings, Awards, Release & Reception
In 2019, we began presenting our trailer and pilot for LOST &FOUND COWBOY at various festivals. We presented our project at the
Digital Market (DIMA) at Die Seriale in Giessen, Germany. Then in
South Korea we screened our pilot at the Seoul Web Fest, where Kellie
Holway was awarded Best Rising Star. We continued to screen in
Berlin, Bilbao and Rio de Janeiro. We won Best Pilot at Asia Web
Awards in South Korea and Best Editing at Apulia Web Fest in Puglia,
Italy. In New Zealand, we were nominated for Best Pilot and BestInternational Narrative Alumni Award. We’ve also been selected forweb fests in Sicily, Minnesota, Miami, New Jersey, Ozark Mountain(Missouri) and Montreal, as well as the Portland Comedy Film Festival
in Oregon.
Our pilot was also screened at the London Short Series Fest where
the audience laughed uproariously. As a result of that great reception,
we had the pleasure of launching LOST & FOUND COWBOY on the
new UK-based streaming service Twisted Mirror TV, specializing in
comedy. At the end of July 2020, during the pandemic, we launched
our series and began streaming online worldwide except for Asia. In
August, I was awarded the Michael Ajakwe Pioneer Award 2020 at theprestigious Marseille Web Fest in France for my “major role inpromoting the web series around the world”.
Since our launch, we’ve had feedback from numerous viewers
under lockdown in the US, Spain and even India. One viewer says hefound our series “so wholesome, which in cynical US is refreshing”.
Another mentioned that the series made her smile, which she found“very important and valuable in these difficult times”. Another viewer
said it reminded him of Juzo Itami’s Tampopo. We also hadcomments saying that it felt like a “travelogue”, showing what it might
be like for foreign visitors to come to Japan for the first time. Viewers
said they enjoyed how much the style and the production of the newseries had expanded over the years and also felt the combination of
Cindy and Yukata Cowboy working well. Viewers range in age fromtheir 20s to 70s. It really seems to have had the desired uplifting
effect on people who might be internationally minded but unable totravel under lockdown.

Stand-Up Comedy
Independent film directors have traditionally found breakthroughsuccess through the major international film festival circuits, but thisis not so much the case with comedy. Having worked in independent
cinema and scripted series, I felt the need to step back and see how tohelp advance our project further in the field of comedy.
60 Japan SPOTLIGHT • November / December 2020

Comedians traditionally have first found success in the stand-up
field and have moved on to film or television. Steve Martin was a very
successful stand-up comedy performer before having huge successin the film world. Jerry Seinfeld, Chris Rock and many others havefollowed similar career paths. More recently, we see the South African
comedian Trevor Noah’s success in hosting the Daily Show in the
United States, commenting on the daily political news with humor.
Parallel to the creation and dissemination of the LOST & FOUND
COWBOY series, I also began to expand YUKATA COWBOY ® into thefield of live stand-up comedy performances in English. Starting frommy cross-cultural autobiographical experiences and observations asin the original YUKATA COWBOY ® sketch comedy series, I
developed more than 11 sets of four minutes each with topics ranging
from my tri-national upbringing in London, Tokyo and New York, airtravel and binge-watching, being always mistaken for a delivery man,experiences with bicycles and elevators in the Netherlands, working
as an actor in Croatia, being chased by security guards as a teenager
and adult, misadventures with car alarms in Boston and Los Angeles,
and being mistaken for a bellboy in Amsterdam, a gas station
attendant in Austria, and an Asian gangster in Maine.
I began performing live stand-ups in Tokyo with the expat
community, and also at venues in Boston and LA – as Yukata Cowboy.
I wrote, acted and directed my own sets with feedback and guidancefrom my producer Sian Evans. Compared to the material of manyother comedians I watched, I found my Yukata Cowboy material to belighter, more uplifting and wholesome. In addition to Trevor Noah, I
particularly enjoyed watching John Mulaney and also live comedy
shows in LA at the Hollywood Improv and the Laugh Factory.
As the pandemic began to spread, I began to incorporate Covid-19
as a topic in my own stand-up routines. Concerned over personalsafety, I began to wear gloves and wipe the shared microphone withalcohol tissues, but I turned that also into a comedic performance bysaying: “I love you all but I don’t want to die yet.” But also in Tokyo,
the live venues began to close down in March 2020 as the pandemic
spread across the world.

Comedy Production in the Time of Covid
With the spread of Covid-19, live comedy performance venues wereclosing down and film productions were being cancelled. Emergency
lockdown measures were announced around the world. How did I
continue with our comedy production? Find out in the second part ofthis article in the next issue of Japan SPOTLIGHT. Stay tuned!
LOST & FOUND COWBOY is streaming outside of Asia at https://twistedmirror.tv/en/lost-found-cowboy
For trailer and more info: https://www.lostandfoundcowboy.com
Atsushi Ogata is a film director, screenwriter, video artist, actor and comedian,
and a graduate of Harvard and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.
Ogata’s films and videos, including his theatrically-released Japanese comedy
feature “CAST ME IF YOU CAN” (WAKIYAKU MONOGATARI), have been screened
and awarded worldwide. In recent years Ogata has expanded into web series
with TRICK OR TREAT: I LOVE AMERICA!, YUKATA COWBOY, MONA LISA
COWBOY and LOST & FOUND COWBOY. www.atsushiogata.com