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.

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."

And we couldn't help but admire Ang...

Hollywood

February 26, 2013

What?!! An Asian American male star in a Hollywood movie that isn't a Kung Fu film? 

Justin Chon ("Twilight"), steps into the spotlight as the lead character in the comedy 21 and Over, opening in theaters nationwide March 1.

Chon, 31, was born in Garden Grove in Orange County, California, and was raised in Irvine, California. He attended business school at the University of Southern California. At age 20, Chon began taking acting lessons, inspired by growing up watching his father in black and white films. His father is a former child actor from South Korea.

AsianConnections' Suzanne Joe Kai chatted with Justin about his new role, 
breaking stereotypes, and what's next in his fast-rising career.  (For the full interview transcript click on the blue headline link above.) 

Justin: Hey Suzanne, thank you.

Suzanne: You’re right from Orange County, California!

Justin: Yeah, Irvine. Yeah, born and raised. I was born in Garden Grove Hospital.

Suzanne: Can you describe your role in your new film 21 and Over coming out in theaters March 1, 2013?

Justin: Yeah. I play a character named Jeff Chang. It's his 21st birthday and my two friends come up to celebrate with me but I have a medical school interview the next day. They convinced me to have one beer and obviously that beer turns into absolute chaos. My character's just an average kid. He's actually not that...

March 30, 2013

San Francisco

Updates - CAAMFest winners announced:

DEAD DAD is the winner of the Comcast Narrative Competition.

SEEKING ASIAN FEMALE is the winner of the Documentary Conpetition.

Aggie Ebrahii Bazaz received the Loni Ding Award

The Emerging Filmmaker Award recipient is Ernesto Foronda of SUNSET STORIES.

CAAM (The Center for Asian American Media) offers programs all year round.

Visit CAAM's website at CAAMedia.org, and support its mission by becoming a member. 

March 17, 2013

San Francisco

CAAMFest is in full swing! 

The Center for Asian American Media has launched CAAMFest, an exciting new festival March 14-24, 2013. Formerly called the San Francisco International Asian American Film Festival, the 31st annual event not only has a brand new name CAAMFest, and a brand new website CAAMFEST.com, the festival has branched out into food, music and digital media. 

As CAAM's Executive Director Stephen Gong says, CAAMFest aims to present a world-class festival of Asian and Asian American film, music, food and digital media.

Judging from what I saw in the first few days, CAAMFest's ambitious plans have succeeded. 

I counted at least 100 films and events representing more than twenty countries, held in ten venues mostly in San Francisco, with some events and film screenings at the Oakland Museum of California and Berkeley's Pacific Film Archive Theater.

There's still time to take in a screening or an event.

Click here to...

New President Leslie E. Wong SF State University Photo: CA State University

 San Francisco

A week-long celebration begins March 9 to 15, 2013 to commemorate the investiture of San Francisco State University's 13th President, Leslie E. Wong.

The formal investiture of President Wong will take place Thursday March 14, at 2pm in McKenna Theatre on campus.

A celebration dinner honoring President Wong's investiture, and the induction of alumni into the SF State Alumni Hall of Fame will take place on Friday March 15 at the historic Julia Morgan Ballroom in downtown San Francisco.

The celebration dinner will be emceed by author and former senior editor of Rolling Stone magazine Ben Fong-Torres, also a San Francisco State Hall of Famer.

After a nationwide search, the California State University Board of Trustees named Dr. Leslie E. Wong, as president of San Francisco State University last May, 2012. Dr. Wong, was the head of Northern Michigan University since 2004. San Francisco State University has a campus of nearly 30,000 students.

Dr. Wong is a native of Oakland, California. His mother is of Mexican descent from a family of farm workers. His father is Chinese American, and was an executive of the National Dollar Store.

The full schedule of week-long events are listed at presidentialinvestiture.sfsu.edu

http://presidentialinvestiture.sfsu.edu/content/leslie-e-wong-phd-13th-president-san-francisco-state-university