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Arts & Entertainment
2023 OSCARS WINS! EPIC NIGHT OF FIRSTS FOR WINNERS
By Suzanne Joe Kai and Martha Shaw
Hollywood
March 12, 2023
Everything Everywhere All at Once wins Best Picture!
Nominated for an astounding 11 awards and taking home 7 that night, this film and its historic implications are epic.
Michelle Yeoh is the first Asian actress to win the Best Actress award for her role in the most nominated film "Everything, Everywhere All At Once."
A film industry veteran, Yeoh, 60, received great praise for her role and during her acceptance speech she called the moment "history in the making - This is proof to dream big, that dreams do come true."
“I hope I did right by you. I care deeply about every one of you” says Paul Rogers during the acceptance of his Best Film Editing Award. “I know I’m standing up here by myself, but I am not, I am hundreds of people. I’m hundreds of people… "We just won an Oscar” Jamie Lee Curtis exclaims in gratitude for her Best Supporting Actress Oscar to the community who made these wins possible.
Asia Society Southern California U.S. Asia Entertainment Summit
Los Angeles
October 30, 2022
By Taylor Yukiko Sato and Suzanne Joe Kai
The 2022 U.S.-Asia Entertainment Summit was a historic event that brought leaders from Hollywood and the Asian entertainment industry to Los Angeles.
Janet Yang, Chair of U.S.-Asia Entertainment Summit, was honored with the 2022 Career Achievement Award.
Janet made history as the first Asian American, and fourth woman to become the President of the Motion Picture Academy of Arts and Sciences.
Actress and emcee of the evening’s gala, Kara Wang said “I am particularly honored to be here as we honor Janet with the Career Achievement Award."
"We call her the Asian godmother of the industry because she has had a hand in so many of our careers. And I am just very very happy that I get to be here with this moment as we shower her with love… She has done so much for us.”
CEO and Co-Founder of Gold House and AU Holdings, Bing Chen led a Fireside Chat with Janet Yang as she reflected on her career.
This was the 13th U.S.-Asia Entertainent Summit with panels spotlighting top talent in the Asian and Asian American entertainment industry.
James Hong, Veteran Actor Receives His Star on Hollywood's Walk Of Fame! 2022 is a Year of Great Firsts for Asian Americans in Hollywood
October 12, 2022
Hollywood
By Suzanne Joe Kai
2022 is year of great firsts for Asian Americans in Hollywood. Veteran actor, producer and director James Hong finally has received a star on the Hollywood Walk Of Fame in Los Angeles.
Congratulations to James Hong!
Co-starring in the 2022 movie Everything Everywhere All At Once Hong has acted in 149 feature films, 32 short films and 22 video games spanning nearly seven decades!
The ceremony on May 10, 2022 was joined by actor Daniel Dae Kim who raised funds to pay for Hong's star in four days in 2020.
Hong was also joined by Everything Everywhere All At Once co-star Jamie Lee Curtis.
At age 93, Hong becomes the oldest person to receive a star on the Hollywood Walk Of Fame.
Daniel Dae Kim said Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders are less than 1% of the names on the Walk Of Fame. Hong's name joins Anna May Wong, Mako, Bruce Lee, Jackie Chan and Lucy Liu.
On the crowdfunding page, Daniel Dae Kim writes that Hong "epitomizes the term "working actor" and that's not even taking into account all he's done to help further representation for actors of color."
American Born Chinese coming to Disney+ in 2023
"American Born Chinese", an exciting, groundbreaking series is slated to premiere in 2023. The Disney+ series was introduced to the Asian American Journalists Association's National Convention this summer. The convention was attended by more than 1,500 journalists from all over the world.
The Disney+ series is based on Gene Luen Yang's award-winning graphic novel. The main character, Jin Wang, played by actor Ben Wang, navigates supernatural action-comedy adventures between his immigrant family life and teenage life at school. His journey is propelled into a realm of Chinese mythological gods and creatures when he meets a new foreign exchange student.
Cast announcements include Ben Wang (MacGyver), Michelle Yeoh (Everything Everywhere All at Once/Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings), and Poppy Liu (Better Call Saul). This Disney cast will be directed by Destin Daniel Cretton, who also helmed Marvel's Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings.
2022-2021-2020-2019 - New Diversity Rules for Oscars
February 7, 2022
Hollywood
by Suzanne Joe Kai
Progress continues with our society's push for more "diversity, equity and inclusion."
If you search online for the term Diversity, Equity and Inclusion you will find the term "DEI" is now a standard term.
Its on many people's drawing boards in corporate America, and most importantly in Hollywood on how mainstream media, movies, and TV shows are made.
If filmmakers aspire to win awards at the Oscar level, the Academy now has guidelines on "DEI", and in recent years has initiated its own initiative called "Academy Aperture 2025" with the goal that Oscars.org released in this statement on September 8, 2020:
“The aperture must widen to reflect our diverse global population in both the creation of motion pictures and in the audiences who connect with them.
The Academy is committed to playing a vital role in helping make this a reality,” said Academy President David Rubin and Academy CEO Dawn Hudson.
“We believe these inclusion standards will be a catalyst for long-lasting, essential change in our industry.”
Here are some resources we've been writing about, and also from other outlets:
July 1, 2021 Academy of Motion Pictures Arts and Sciences Invites 395 Members for 2021. https://asianconnections.com/arts-and-entertainment/item/the-ampas-2021-class-of-invitees-continues-to-be-more-inclusive
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