Asian American Film

Blue Bayou is Justin Chon’s fourth directorial feature, a commanding addition to his industry antithetic corpus. Justin leads the film as Antonio Leblanc, a blue-collar American struggling to provide for his expectant wife Kathy (Alicia Vikander) and young stepdaughter Jessie (Sydney Kowalske). A confrontation between Antonio and Kathy’s ex, police officer Ace (Mark O’Brien), leads […]

Awkwafina Is Nora From Queens, a semi-autobiographical chronicle of award-winning actress Nora Lum derails from the Hollywood Machine’s platitudinal assembly line of content. It was named Comedy Central’s highest-rated new series in three years, proving diverse creatives are worth investing in.    As the industry struggles to integrate meaningful inclusion, Awkwafina Is Nora From Queens is setting an […]

“I think the biggest obstacle is getting more people the opportunity to get their start.” -Jon M. Chu In the Heights is Jon M. Chu’s follow-up feature to the historic Crazy Rich Asians. It is rare for a director’s work to launch a movement for authentic representation of their community; Jon, in partnership with Broadway icon Lin-Manuel […]

“Don’t let what you hear deter you. I had no role models. It’s ok to be afraid. You have to want it more than you are afraid.” -Sherri Chung Sherri Chung is a film and television composer. Her work on the CW’s Kung Fu made her the first Asian American female composer of a network television series. […]

“When a costume designer represents the culture, you can see how different and better the choices can be.” -Susanna Song For costume designer Susanna Song, a good costume helps create an understanding of the character not create a caricature, “sometimes costume designers pick items that are very stereotypical like dragon embroidery for Asian actors. Yes, […]

“I believe in the ethos of leaving a place better than when you found it.” -Jude Weng Jude Weng is the director of Finding ‘Ohana– a Netflix original adventure film following Brooklyn-raised siblings Pilialoha and Ioane Kawena, reconnecting with their Hawaiian heritage. Finding ‘Ohana is Jude’s feature directorial debut. “Every director wants to direct movies, […]

“The bad guy of the film isn’t a person, it’s the system.” -Diane Paragas Diane Paragas is the director of Yellow Rose, the first Filipino American film theatrically distributed by a major Hollywood studio. Her background in documentary film, has set the foundation for her exceptional debut narrative feature about an undocumented Filipino country singer. […]

“We need more people of color in leadership positions in the industry.” -Peter Kim Peter Kim plays Archie in Netflix’s The Forty-Year-Old Version, written and directed by Radha Blank, produced by Lena Waithe (Master of None, Queen & Slim, The Chi). Radha received the Dramatic Competition Directing Award for The Forty-Year-Old Version at the 2020 Sundance Film Festival. The […]

“I just want more Asian talent in the business.”  -Julia Kim Julia Kim is a casting director best known for independent films (The Last Black Man in San Francisco, Spa Night, Minari). She is also the owner of invAsianLA an industry consulting service for Asian actors, “I just want more Asian talent in the business. […]

“You can say representation matters, but what quality are those opportunities?” -Alain Uy Alain Uy has kept busy during quarantine with an endless schedule of virtual meetings. In addition to simultaneously doing press for Tran Quoc Bao’s Paper Tigers and Marvel’s entry series for their Adventure Into Fear franchise with Hulu, Helstrom; Alain is the […]