A feature documentary receiving 2021 Oscar buzz is "Crip Camp: A Disability Revolution" from James LeBrecht and Nicole Newnham.

An Audience Award winner at Sundance 2020 the documentary follows young campers at a summer camp for teens with disabilities in New York.

The documentary follows several campers who grow up to become leaders in the disability rights movement.

Executive Producers include Barack and Michelle Obama.

https://cripcamp.com

Hollywood

December 15, 2020

Its a spin-off of the G.I. Joe series, with the central character of the masked character Snake Eyes. Henry Golding is playing the leading role of Snake Eyes!

From his breakout role as a romantic lead in "Crazy, Rich Asians" Golding is now starring as an action star in "Snake Eyes." 

Originally scheduled for release on March 27, 2020, the release date has been pushed a few times and is now scheduled for October 22, 2021 due to Covid-19. Fans may have a double treat. It has been reported that there may be a follow on movie in the works, with Henry Golding reprising his lead role as Snake Eyes. Hoping that movie theaters will be open by then, the film is reportedly made for theaters with IMAX, RealD 3D, and Dolby Cinema. 

Hollywood

September 8, 2020

Last year we reported the Academy of Motion Pictures Arts and Sciences push for a more diverse, inclusive and global membership.

This year this push includes films which qualify to be considered for Best Picture.

Its now official - and in writing. New representation and inclusion standards for Oscars® eligibility in the Best Picture category, were announced today by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences.

As part of the Academy Aperture 2025 initiative, a task force led by Academy governors DeVon Franklin and Jim Gianopulos have developed new standards to "encourage equitable representation on and off screen in order to better reflect the diversity of the movie-going audience." 

The standards were created from a template inspired by the British Film Institute (BFI) Diversity Standards used for certain funding eligibility in the UK and eligibility in some categories of the British Academy of Film and Television (BAFTA) Awards, but were adapted to serve the specific needs of the Academy.

The Academy also consulted with the Producers Guild of America (PGA), as it presently does for Oscars eligibility.

Details from Oscars.org:

https://www.oscars.org/about/academy-aperture-2025

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Hollywood

July 1, 2019

The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, best known as the organization behind the Oscars is continuing its push during the past few years toward a more diverse, inclusive and global membership.

This is a promising trend toward a more inclusive membership, ever since the 2016 Oscars presentation which sparked outrage, when young Asian American children were brought onto the world stage during its awards program to use as part of a stereotypical racial joke. 

AMPAS' 2019 invitations are going out to 842 new members from 59 countries, 50% are female, and 20%...

Ben Fong Torres

San Francisco

February 22, 2020

Last year, just about this time, I lost my Radio Waves column, soon after the San Francisco Chronicle brought in a new arts and entertainment editor. I’d been writing it every other Sunday for 15 years (plus another three-year stretch earlier on, before I took a break to publish a couple of books).

He gave me a reason that made no sense. Radio Waves wasn’t getting enough clicks on the digital side. But the Chronicle never featured the column on its sites. Readers had to search my name, or drill through the TV and movies windows to, with luck, find Radio Waves.

My readers found me the old-fashioned way, but like so many major papers, the Chronicle is going new-fashioned, trying to drive readers online, where the advertisers are.

The new editor was open to my doing pieces on media in general; on music; on my life and times in music and broadcasting. I thought that would make for a decent column. But he asked me to pitch him for every article.

I had no interest in becoming a freelancer, especially given the paltry fees doled out to non-staffers. Fifteen years of being underpaid was quite enough.

I moved on, accepting a consulting gig with the Music City Hit Factory, a hub for musicians and fans, encompassing, in one building, a hostel, a music school, a suite of rehearsal spaces and recording studios, performance spaces and cafes, and, throughout, exhibits celebrating the history of San Francisco Bay Area artists and events. I’m director of content. And it’s paying me twice as much as the Chronicle, without the unending deadlines.

Music City is a perfect partner with my other part-time gig, programming and DJing for Moonalice Radio, an online station with crazily eclectic music hosted by members of that jam band, led by Roger McNamee, who many people now know as the prescient and persistent critic of...

Hollywood

January 5, 2020

Congratulations to Nora Lum, known professionally as Awkwafina. She  is the first Asian American to win a Golden Globe for Best Actress!

Awkwafina won for her role in "The Farewell" in the category of Best Performance in a Motion Picture - Musical or Comedy at the 77th Annual Golden Globe Awards. 

Here is a Youtube.com link to her acceptance speech.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3EQlY2UrCN4

(Photo credit: The Farewell / A24)

Her role in 2019's "The Farewell" follows her breakout role as Peik Lin in 2018's 'Crazy Rich Asians' which made her a globally known actress to watch. 'Crazy, Rich Asians' also catapulted her into another Hollywood movie, "Ocean's Eight' with cast mates Cate Blanchette, Anne Hathaway and Rihanna. 

(Photo credit: Sanja Bucko/Warner Bros. Pictures)

After her 2018 breakout role in Warner Bros feature film "Crazy, Rich Asians," the first Hollywood movie with an all Asian cast in 26 years since "Joy Luck Club" Awkwafina played a pick pocket in Ocean's 8 with cast mates

(Photo credit: Warner Bros/Barry Wetcher)

Prior to her breakout role in "Crazy, Rich Asians" she was best known as a popular Youtube star where she posted her rap videos and comedic routines.