Thursday, May 30, 2013

Notable Asians in American Indie Film

Asian American mumblecore: Wayne Wang's "Chan is Missing" (1982)

In honor of Asian Pacific American Heritage Month, I've put together a list of notable industry movers and shakers who traffic in the American narrative independent film world and also happen to be Asian. This list is not meant to ghettoize the people on it, but merely to call attention to their good work. They all belong on general "notable film people" lists too!

This list is totally off the top of my head, so it is far from comprehensive (apologies in advance to the many I've missed). Emphasis is on "American," "narrative," and "indie," so it's thin on international, documentary, and studio folks. I also haven't included many people from the Asian American film festival community because there are too many to name, but check out the list of festivals here. And I have not included crew, actors, or directors for that same reason, but I would like to point out one editor, one DP, and one director whom you should especially keep your eye on. ;)

All of these folks should be on your radar--Google them!

PRODUCERS
(for the sake of simplicity, I'm only listing one company or film)
Joan Huang & Jimmy Tsai - Cherry Sky Films
Karin Chien - dGenerate Films, 2010 Independent Spirit Producers Award Winner
James Choi - Joint Body
Soojin Chung - Escape From Tomorrow
Gina Kwon - The Future, 2005 Independent Spirit Producers Award Winner
In-Ah Lee - Au revoir Taipei, Independent Spirit Producers Award Nominee
Melissa Lee - Bends
Reuben Lim - Saving Lincoln
Sophia Lin - Take Shelter, 2012 Independent Spirit Producers Award Winner
Amy Lo - Battle of the Year
Geoffrey Quan - Detonator
Shrihari Sathe - It Felt Like Love
Anish Savjani - Blue Ruin, 2011 Independent Spirit Producers Award Winner
Emily Ting - The Kitchen
Derrick Tseng - Prince Avalanche, Independent Spirit Producers Award Nominee
Peter Phok - Beneath
Brian Yang - Linsanity
Nina Yang Bongiovi - Fruitvale Station

SALES
Abby Davis - Preferred Content
Jason Ishikawa - Film Sales Company
Kevin Iwashina - Preferred Content
Winnie Lau - Fortissimo
David Koh - Submarine
Peter Trinh - ICM Partners

DISTRIBUTION
Angel An - Samuel Goldwyn Films
Marcus Hu - Strand Releasing
Christine Kim - YouTube
Laura Kim - Inside Job
Mona Kwan - Jaguar
* Josie Liang - FilmDistrict
Lejo Pet - Exclusive Media
Chan Phung - Sony Pictures Worldwide Acquisitions
Ellie Wen - CBS Films
Ryan Werner - Consultant, formerly IFC Films

EXHIBITION / FESTIVALS
Rose Kuo - Film Society of Lincoln Center
Anderson Le - Hawaii International Film Festival
Dennis Lim - Film Society of Lincoln Center (see also: Press)
Konrad Ng - Smithsonian Asian Pacific American Program
David Ninh - Publicist, Film Society of Lincoln Center
Rajendra Roy - Museum of Modern Art
Sean Uyehara - San Francisco Film Society
Rosie Wong - Sundance Industry Office
Kim Yutani - Sundance Film Festival

PRESS / CRITICS / PUBLICITY
Chris Chang - Film Comment
Justin Chang - Variety
Irene Cho - The Daily Buzz with Eugene Hernandez
* Ryan Koo - No Film School
Michelle Kung - Speakeasy, Wall Street Journal
Kevin B. Lee - Fandor
Nathan Lee - Film Comment
Dennis Lim - NY Times, LA Times (see also: Exhibition)
David Magdael - David Magdael & Associates
Tim Wu - Slate
* Jada Yuan - New York Magazine

FILMMAKER SUPPORT
Stefanie Huie - Outreach Consultant, A3 Foundation Fellowship at Sundance Institute
Jane Hwang - Film Independent
Anne Lai - Sundance Creative Producing Initiatives Director
Thuy Tran - Consultant, formerly USA Artists


Sunday, May 26, 2013

Better Film Panels Now


In the year and a half since Brian Newman wrote his very apt and memorable post, “Killing the Film Fest Panel,” panels haven’t improved much. In that time, I’ve spoken on or moderated over a dozen panels, and it seems that panel organizers haven’t really taken Brian’s suggestions to heart. The majority of film panels remain as excruciatingly boring and useless as ever.

So, let’s try a different tack: I propose that we panelists and moderators step up our game and give the (sometimes paying) audiences a better panel. Here’s how...

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