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Janet Yang is Elected President of Academy of Motion Pictures Arts and Sciences

Posted by Suzanne Kai - on Sunday, 09 October 2022

Janet Yang is Elected President of Academy of Motion Pictures Arts and Sciences
August 2, 2022 Hollywood by Suzanne Joe Kai   Janet Yang has been elected President of the Academy of Motion Pictures Arts and Sciences by its Board of Governors! This is an epic, historic moment recognizing the first Asian American to become President of the Academy in its 95 year history. She is only the second person of color and the fourth female elected as the Academy's President.  Ms. Yang began her first term as president August 2, 2022, and continues in her second...

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2021 Academy Awards - Chloe Zhao Makes History as the First Woman of Color to Win Best Director

Posted by Suzanne Kai on Sunday, 25 April 2021

2021 Academy Awards - Chloe Zhao Makes History as the First Woman of Color to Win Best Director

Hollywood

April 25, 2021

by Suzanne Joe Kai

"Nomadland" director Chloé Zhao made history at tonight's 2021 Academy Awards, becoming the first woman of color to win Best Director. 

Her film "Nomadland" also won the Academy Award for Best Picture and Best Actress in a leading role. 

Frances McDormand won the Oscar for Best Actress in "Nomadland."

She was also a Producer of the film.

Frances plays a woman in her 60's who loses everything in the Great Recession of 2008 and lives in a van as a nomad like other transient workers in the American West during the 2008 economic crisis.

Frances McDormand howled onstage during her acceptance speech in tribute to Michael Wolf "Nomadland's" production sound mixer who died at the age of 35. 

Chloé Zhao is only the second woman ever to win the Directing award, tonight marking yet another milestone for the Oscars.

The only other woman to win an Oscar for Directing is Kathryn Bigelow[5] in 2010,[6] for The Hurt Locker.

Born in Beijing, China, Chloé moved with her parents to London when she was in high school, and attended Mount Holyoke College in Massachusetts.

She attended New York University's MFA graduate film program. 

She currently lives in Ojai, California. 

  

 

Sources:

Oscars.org

IMDB

RottenTomatoes.com

Variety.com April 25, 2021 Frances McDormand

Thai Film Wins Top Prize at Cannes Film Festival by Stephen Rakower

Posted by Stephen Rakower on Sunday, 23 May 2010

Thai Film Wins Top Prize at Cannes Film Festival by Stephen Rakower

Up Close and Personal with Darren Pettie, Star of The Milk Train Doesn't Stop Here Anymore

Posted by Lia Chang on Tuesday, 29 March 2011

Darren Pettie Photo by Lia Chang


“The early Sixties have been good to me lately,” said Darren Pettie, whose diverse roles circa 1960′s include his turn as Lucky Strike scion Lee Garner, Jr. in several episodes of the critically acclaimed and award winning AMC TV series “Mad Men”; as James in Atlantic’s Off-Broadway production of Harold Pinter’s The Collection penned in 1961; and as Christopher Flanders in the Roundabout Theatre Company’s current production of Tennessee Williams’ The Milk Train Doesn’t Stop Here Anymore, with Olympia Dukakis, set in 1962. 

Erik Haagensen of

iPhones, Flipcams & Satellite modems are tools for news gathering as violence escalates against journalists in the Middle East

Posted by suzanne.kai on Monday, 04 April 2011

As violence is escalating against journalists working in war-torn countries, low profile or nearly invisible still and video cameras, and content capture and distribution technologies are becoming necessary survival gear.

  The Committee to Protect Journalists has reported an unprecedented number of casualties: eleven journalists have been killed this year worldwide, eight of the eleven in the Middle East, one in Vietnam, one in the Philippines, and one in Mexico. CPF reports that there have been more than 300 attacks on journalists covering the recent political unrest in the Middle East.

CNN's Anderson Cooper and his camera crew were attacked by pro-government supporters on February 2, 2011 in Cairo while covering the Egyptian conflict. A video shot by Cooper for CNN's AC360 can be seen on this link. Cooper was able to keep his small Flip video camera recording, as he was escaping from his attackers. While Cooper was able to broadcast his reports and fly back to New York, many other journalists have not been as lucky. Some have been jailed, brutally beaten, stabbed or shot, their equipment destroyed, or worse - killed.

The large, conspicuous shoulder mounted video cameras have quickly been replaced by low profile gear such as the miniature Flip video cameras. Laptops are being replaced in the field by iPhones and other cell phones which can transmit still images, audio and video, and update blogs, Twitter and Facebook accounts.

House of Payne’s Denise Burse chats up the 2011 NAACP Image Awards and Season 7

Posted by Lia Chang on Wednesday, 20 April 2011


Photo by Lia Chang


Since 2006, Denise Burse has been serving up sass and displaying an outrageous flair for fashion as Claretha Jenkins, Ella Payne’s best friend on Tyler Perry’s award-winning TV show House of Payne, which began airing new episodes on March 30th.

Fresh from the Atlanta set of House of Payne, the award-winning actress was a vision in a cream colored tuxedo when we attended a concert performance by Marva Hicks in Pat Holley’s Me and Caesar Lee at the Triad Theatre in New York earlier this month.

(l-r) Lia Chang, Peter Jay Fernandez, Denise Burse and Marva Hicks after the concert presentation of Pat Holley's Me and Caesar Lee at The Triad Theatre in New York on April 3, 2011.

Burse hinted at big developments in Season 7 for Claretha and talked about the festivities of the 2011 NAACP Image Awards in L.A.

“It’s been really hair raising,” said Burse. “I can’t give too much away until they start the new season. She’s in a very interesting storyline. I can only urge you to tune in because many eyebrows will be raised.”

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