Entertainment Spotlight

Actor Tim Lounibos - Hopeful Opportunities Ahead for APA's in Hollywood Movies and Television

Posted by AC Team - on Tuesday, 08 October 2019

Actor Tim Lounibos - Hopeful Opportunities Ahead for APA's in Hollywood Movies and Television
October 8, 2019 Hollywood   Actor Tim Lounibos wrote on his Facebook page  about the positive changes he is currently experiencing in Hollywood. We caught up with him to share his thoughts with us. Asian Americans have historically found limited opportunities as actors in movies and television in Hollywood, but fortunately for Tim he had a great start as a busy actor in the 1990s, but then his career went off a cliff - temporarily.  We thank Tim for sharing his...

Arts & Entertainment

Documentary Filmmaker Stephen Maing Honored by IDA with Courage Under Fire Award

Posted by Suzanne Kai on Friday, 07 December 2018

Documentary Filmmaker Stephen Maing Honored by IDA with Courage Under Fire Award

December 5, 2018

Los Angeles

The Courage Under Fire Award from the International Documentary Association honors documentary filmmaker Stephen Maing, at the IDA's annual awards, December 8 in Los Angeles.

Maing is honored for his explosive documentary exposing the New York police department's racially discriminatory policing practices.

A class action suit by twelve minority whistleblower officers revealed the NYPD's practice of pressuring minority officers to issue predetermined numbers of arrests and summonses per month, often in communities of color it classified as 'high crime.'

Stephen Maing is an Emmy-nominated, Brooklyn-based filmmaker. His 2012 feature documentary, High Tech, Low Life, chronicled the gripping story of two of China's first dissident citizen-journalists fighting state-monitored censorship, and was broadcast nationally on PBS.  

His short film The Surrender, produced with Academy Award winner Laura Poitras, documented State Department intelligence analyst Stephen Kim's harsh prosecution under the Espionage Act, and was nominated for an Emmy Award for Outstanding Short Documentary.

He has directed numerous films for Time MagazineThe Nation, The New York Times, The Intercept, PBS and Field of Vision; his New York Times Op-Docs documentary, Hers to Lose, was awarded a World Press Photo Award for Long Features.

Thank you - Chinese for Affirmative Action - 50 Years of Standing Up for What is Right

Posted by AC Team on Sunday, 30 September 2018

Unveiled at town hall honoring 50th anniversary of Chinese for Affirmative Action 

San Francisco Bay Area newscasters, editors, reporters, producers, podcasters, filmmakers and pioneer internet content creators came together to mark the emergence of Asian American journalists in mainstream news media where there none before 50 years ago. 

Actor Ed Skrein quits reboot of "Hellboy" over whitewashing concerns

Posted by AC Team on Friday, 15 September 2017

Actor Ed Skrein quits reboot of

Hollywood

September 15, 2017

by Suzanne Kai

The controversial practice of whitewashing movies has been going on for nearly a century in Hollywood.

In the 1930's even the starring role of the Charlie Chan movies, scripted to be a Chinese man, was given to white actors pretending to play Chinese men. 

Fast forward to 2017 - Ed Skrein, an English actor and rapper, wins the "Hellboy" movie role of Major Ben Saimio, a character of Japanese heritage in the original comic books.

Social media erupted negatively to his casting.

Unlike actors who won and defended their roles which were originally written as Asian characters, such as Scarlett Johansspn (Ghost in the Shell), Tilda Swinton (Doctor Strange), Matt Damon (The Great Wall), and Emma Stone (Aloha) Ed Skrein gave his role back.

Ed received favorable social media reaction, and Daniel York, writer for Time Magazine wrote this commentary Skrein is setting an example other actors should follow. If only more people in the industry had his integrity, courage and common humanity.

2013 - The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences Invites Lucy Liu, Sandra Oh, Miyazaki Collaborator Joe Hisaishi, DP Michael Chin and others to become Members

Posted by Suzanne Kai on Sunday, 30 June 2013

2013 - The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences Invites Lucy Liu, Sandra Oh, Miyazaki Collaborator Joe Hisaishi, DP Michael Chin and others to become Members


Beverly Hills, CA

 Photo credit used by permission: Emmy Magazine, Lucy Liu

 
Congratulations to all of the 2013 Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences invitees.

"These individuals are among the best filmmakers working in the industry today," said Academy President Hawk Koch. "Their talent and creativity have captured the imagination of audiences worldwide, and I am proud to welcome each of them to the Academy. Invitees who accept their invitation to join will be eligible to vote in the annual Oscars.

The 276 invitees for 2013 include 12 names with Asian surnames that could be informally determined from the official Academy list. 

The 2013 invitees include actors Lucy Liu and Sandra Oh, CEO of Warner Bros Entertainment Kevin Tsujihara, documentary filmmaker Michael Chin, and composer and music director Joe Hisaishi who is a frequent collaborator to animation director Hayao Miyazaki ("Ponyo,""Spirited Away").

In 2012,  the overall list was 100 names shorter than 2013's. Only 7 people with Asian surnames made the 2012 list of 176 invitees including (Actor) Michelle Yeoh (“The Lady,” “Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon"), (Cinematographer)  Larry Fong ("Super 8,” “300”), (Cinematographer) Toyomichi Kurita ("Tyler Perry's Madea's Big Happy Family," "Waiting to Exhale"), (Director) Wong Kar Wai (“My Blueberry Nights,” “In the Mood for Love”), (Music)