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“Crazy Rich Asians” in theaters NOW!

“Crazy Rich Asians” hits theaters today!!! I encourage everyone to see this film, it is truly spectacular. I’ve already seen it once and am seeing it again tonight, and will probably go a third time. It is so exciting and inspiring to have an American studio film starring an all Asian cast that is also written and directed by Asian filmmakers — I never thought it would happen! Congrats Adele Lim on an amazing script!
 
This film is so much more than a “rom com,” it digs deep into love, family, culture, and finding happiness from within. And trust me, you don’t have to be ASIAN or CRAZY RICH to enjoy or relate to this film. It’s universal in so many ways and I promise you’ll leave the theater satisfied.
 
There’s been a lot of articles and interviews in the press lately, but this one was one of my faves. Check it out!
 
#CrazyRichAsians #GoldOpen
 

Jon M. Chu, Alan Yang & Gina Prince-Bythewood On Raising The Volume Of Diverse Voices – CAA Amplify

Happy to see some fellow Asian screenwriters and filmmakers keeping it real and promoting diversity behind and in front of the camera.  Click on the link below to read the full article.

Jon M. Chu, Alan Yang & Gina Prince-Bythewood On Raising The Volume Of Diverse Voices – CAA Amplify

“I never saw another Asian writer in writers’ room until my show… It’s about the next generation. Make it a point to hire a diverse writing staff. I think we have one white on the writing staff and the show came out fine.”
-Alan Yang, creator/exec producer of “Master of None”

2016 CAPE TV Panel & Mixer: Breaking Into (and Surviving) The Writers Room

I’ll be taking part in an industry panel/mixer hosted by CAPE on November 21st.  If you’d like to hear some advice on how to break into the writers room,  navigate your career, and master a lunch order (obviously, the most important part of any writer’s day), please go to 2016CAPETVPANEL.EVENTBRITE.COM for more details.  See you there!

Expanding The Conversation: Asian Americans in Media

Attended a great panel about Asian-American in Media on Wednesday.  It was hosted by the Center for Asian American Media (CAAM) and NBC Universal.  Here’s a link to a great article about it on Deadline and what was talked about:

Asian-Americans In Media: Persistence, Presence & Representation Are Keys To Progress

Aside from coming off as a crazy fanboy while chatting with Sandra Oh, I was really inspired by what all the panelists had to say about the importance of having more Asians both on screen and behind the camera.  The real world is very diverse, and the stories we tell on TV and film should reflect that.  Once we have more diverse execs and showrunners making key decisions, there will undoubtedly be a “ripple, ripple, ripple,” as Sandra put it.  And I was happy to hear that according to recent data, films with diverse casts make more money as a whole.  So the excuse that non-white leads don’t sell tickets (or get TV ratings) is officially bull shit!  Spread the word.

 

“Asian-American Actors Are Fighting for Visibility. They Will Not Be Ignored.” – NY TIMES

I encourage everyone to read this NY Times article:

“Asian-American Actors Are Fighting for Visibility. They Will Not Be Ignored.”

Props to Amanda Hess at the New York Times for writing about the lack of Asian actors in leading and non-stereotypical roles in TV/film.  It’s good to hear that progress is slowly starting to happen.

Perhaps I should take a note from the #StarringJohnCho movement and start photoshopping my face onto pictures of Chuck Lorre.  Hmmm…