January 29, 2013

Kevin Tsujihara, Warner Bros. CEO Congratulations!

Tsujihara, 48, the twenty year Warner Bros veteran was named CEO on Monday and is expected to take over the post March 1. 

He has been president of Warner Bros. Home Entertainment since its founding October, 2005. He has managed the studio's DVD business, as well as a range of responsibilities outside of the television and movie business helmed by other divisions, from games acquisitions and content distribution via VOD and other digital platforms.  

Tsujihara received his BA in business administration from Universiaty of Southern California, and an MBA from Stanford University.

Its been reported in the news media that Tsujihara has a humble and low-key management style, and was considered a "Black Sheep" of the list of likely candidates for the CEO post. Current chairman Barry Meyer, told LATimes.com "Everyone needs a leader, and Kevin was the best equipped to unify the company at this time." We just thought he was the best for the whole company."

He is the son of chicken farmers in Petaluma, California, and grandson of Japanese immigrants. When he becomes CEO on March 1, he will be the fifth CEO in Warner Bros. 90 year history, and the first Asian American to run a major Hollywood studio.

Long Beach

April 21, 2013

Takuma Sato, 36, is the first Japanese driver in history to win an IndyCar series race.

Sato, won the Toyota Grand Prix of Long Beach for the team of legendary racer A.J. Foyt.

This was the team's first victory in more than a decade.

Sato came close to winning his first IndyCar race at last year's Indianapolis 500 but when he tried to pass Dario Franchitti on the final lap he spun out. For the full story click here. 

Hollywood

February 24, 2013

Ang Lee won the Oscar for Best Director at the 85th Academy Awards for his film "Life of Pi," the adaptation of the bestselling novel by Yann Martel about a boy shipwrecked and stranded in a lifeboat with a Bengal tiger. 

The film took Lee four and a half years to complete. He has said it was the hardest fim he has ever made.  (Click the top headline for the full story and a peek at Ang holding his new Oscar in one hand, and with his other hand enjoying an In-N-Out burger. This great photo was posted on Twitter by Vanity Fair's publisher Edward Menicheschi!

This is Ang Lee's second Oscar win. His first Academy Award was in 2006 for directing "Brokeback Mountain." 

Lee's 2000 Chinese-language film "Crouching Dragon, Hidden Tiger," won the Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film. 

Lee, 58, thanked his wife of 30 years, Jane Lin, a microbiologist, his two sons Haan and Mason, and the 3,000 people involved in the making of his film. He also thanked Taiwan, and Taichung City in central Taiwan where 80 per cent of the film was shot, and his Canadian and Indian partners. 

Other Oscar contenders for the Best Director award were Steven Spielberg for "Lincoln," David O. Russell for "Silver Linings Playbook," Michael Haneke for "Amour" which won an Oscar for Best Foreign Fim and the prestigious Palm d'Or at the 2012 Cannes Film Festival, and Benh Zeitlin with "Beasts of the Southern Wild."

PBS's Katherline Lo, Dir., Program Development, Independent Film & PBS Plus was one of the industry executives meeting with NALIP members at the 2012 Latino Media Market 

APPLICATIONS ARE CURRENTLY BEING ACCEPTED FOR THE

2013 LATINO MEDIA MARKET 

CLICK HERE TO DOWNLOAD THE APPLICATION  THE DEADLINE IS MONDAY APRIL 15, 2013 MEETINGS WILL BE HELD JUNE 7-8, 2013 AT THE NALIP 2013 CONFERENCE AT THE SHERATON UNIVERSAL HOTEL, UNIVERSAL CITY, CA

The NALIP 2013 Latino Media Market™ (LMM) will introduce NALIP members and their projects if accepted into this program
to funders, studio executives, distributors, dealmakers, agents, mentors and employers. 

April 5, 2013

Hollywood

Thomas Wong is the recipient of the Writers Guild of America, West's 2013 Writer Access Project (WAP) honor. The Writers Guild will showcase Wong's work in drama to industry decision-makers.

Wong joins nine other honorees who were selected for outstanding talent in the areas of drama and comedy.

The winners were selected from the results of judges scores who read written entries and judged on a blind submission basis.

Writers Guild members with extensive showrunning and writer-producer experience served as judges, including award-winning screenwriter, producer and director Shonda Rhimes, creator of Grey's Anatomy and Scandal and screenwriter of The Princess Diaries.

A reading of selections of the honorees' original pilots will be held this month to industry representatives.

Photo credit: Michael Jones, WGA.org  
2013 WAP Honorees, Standing (L-R): Thomas Wong, Michael DiGaetano, Dawn Comer Jefferson, Joey Manderino, Joseph Neustein, Leslie Valdes. Seated (L-R): Sherry Carnes, Geetika Lizardi, Lena Waithe, Margaux Froley Wong's bio states that he always dreamed of becoming a television writer, but, "as the first-born son in a traditional Chinese family, such fanciful notions were downright un-American." Wong earned a degree in English at Williams College, then attended NYU School of Law, "like any good child shouldering the weight of his family’s expectations would."