FRANK CHIN - Frank Chin is a UCSB graduate (1965) and is one of a handful of top literary figures in Asian American
literary and cultural communities, and he is distinguished as being the first
Asian American playwright produced in New York. He founded the Asian American
Theater Workshop in San Francisco that evolved into the Asian American Theater
Company (AATC).
JULIA CHO - Rising playwright and David Henry Hwang protege
Julia Cho’s works that deals with her Korean background include
BFE,
The Architecture of Loss, and 99 Histories. She has developed her
plays at New York Theatre Workshop, The Sundance Theatre Lab, The
Mark Taper Forum, and South Coast Repertory. She has been a playwriting
fellow at New York Theatre Workshop, a recipient of a New York Foundation
for The Arts grant, and a playwright-in-residence at The Juilliard
School.Her play 99 Histories was given a workshop production as
part of The Cherry Lane Alternative’s Mentor Series, and was
also a finalist for the Susan Smith Blackburn Prize
MINDY KALING - this Dartmouth graduate has educated Americans
about Diwali, the Hindu festival of lights. In addition to playing
Kelly Kapour on NBC's "The Office," Kaling's behind-the-scenes credits
include writing and producing some episodes of the hit show "Office."
Additionally, she has been invited to be a guest writer on "Saturday
Night Live" and is writing a sorority comedy for Fox Atomic.
CHERYLENE
LEE - fourth-generation Chinese American child performer
and author has written Arthur and Leila in Women Playwrights: The
Best Plays of 1993, Legacy Codes, Mixed Messages and others.
GENNY LIM - acclaimed Chinese American playwright, poet, and
performance
artist considered one of the luminaries in Asian American literature.
Her best known work is the play Paper Angels that focuses on the immigrants
of Angel Island. Lim
honestly presents, opression, struggle, and the unforgettable past
of Asian Americans in the United States.
DESMOND
NAKANO - Writer/Director (whose father is Lane Nakano - who
starred in the film "Go For Broke") of White Man's Burden, Black Moon
Rising, Last Exit to Brooklyn and American Me.
DIANA
SON - Prominent playwright (Stop Kiss, Satellites, Fishes,
R.A.W., etc.) is a supervising
producer and writer on the TV series "Law & Order: Criminal Intent
for NBC's Law & Order: Criminal Intent
ELIZABETH
WONG - award-winning Chinese American playwright and a television
screenwriter specializing in Asian American issues
IRIS YAMASHITA - Iris Yamashita, a novice playwright on
"Letters from Iwo Jima" had come to Haggis' attention through Creative
Artists Agency's Cathy Tarr. Yamashita's screenplay, "Traveler in
Tokyo," had taken first place at the Big Bear Lake Screenwriting Competition,
where Tarr had been a judge, and she forwarded a package of Yamashita's
scripts to Haggis, a CAA client. "I had absolutely no knowledge of
the battle of Iwo Jima before my agent contacted me about this project,"
says Yamashita, a second-generation Japanese American with conversational
knowledge of Japanese. I had also done a lot of research onJapan for
my screenplay 'Traveler in Tokyo,' which is set on the eve of World
War II. I definitely think that helped with getting some perspective
on the Iwo Jima film." Yamashita received a master's degree in engineering
from UC Berkeley and took an interest in writing while at UC San Diego.
CHAY YEW - associate artist and director at the Mark Taper's
Asian Theater Workshop
