The fast-growing number of politicians of Asian/Asian
Pacific American descent are being elected to properly represent and understand
the needs of their respective communities. Click are the "links"
to discover more information on these talented trailblazers.
HENRY
AHN - Senior Vice-President at NBC Universal Cable whose responsibilities
include securing the distribution of NBC Universal's cable networks:
Bravo, Bravo HD+, CNBC, MSNBC, CNBC World, ShopNBC, USA, Sci-Fi, Trio,
Telemundo & mun2
LEO CHU - this Stanford University graduate and producer/screenwriter of animation/television projects was the recipient of the Image Award for Artistic Achievement from the Organization of Chinese Americans and featured as one of Entertainment Weekly's Top 10 Most Influential Minorities in Entertainment.
He is currently an Executive Producer for the MTV Networks and the Executive in Charge of Manly Animation for Spike TV. His upcoming projects include Howard Stern: The High School Years and Afro Samuraiwith Samuel Jackson. Most recently, Leo was the Vice President of Creative Affairs for Walt Disney Feature Animation. He was the first Asian American in a
leadership role at the studio and was responsible for developing and creative producing such animated films as Finding Nemo, Spirited Away, Mulan, Lilo & Stitch, Toy Story, Tarzan, Brother Bear, Dinosaur, Monster Inc., and A Day with Wilbur Robinson. His live-action films include Angels in the Outfield and The Jungle Book
CAROL ENG - Senior VP of Programming & Development at MTV2.
17 year veteran was previously was the Senior VP of Original Programming
at MTV
FRITZ FRIEDMAN - Senior Vice-President of worldwide publicity
for Columbia TriStar Home Video
STEVE HARRELL - Avex Records of Japan / A&R person looks for
new bands and acts. Since they are a major independent company they
don't have any brother or sister companies to listen/depend on. .
DANNY KWOK - He heads Quiksilver Entertainment (division of
Quiksilver, Inc., a designer of sports clothing and accessories) to
sell its action sports lifestyle expertise to television producers
and networks and to produce TV programming, movies, events, music,
publishing and corporate partnerships targeted at the youth market.
STEVEN KUO - SVP/Digital Media and Technology for Fox Television
whose responsibilities is to develop business opportunities for Fox
involving emerging digital distribution platforms like video on demand,
digital video recorders and Internet Protocol-based media, while likewise
identifying digital content generation, content protection and similar
production-related opportunities.
CHRIS LEE - He was the first person to break the color line
and run a Hollywood studio. As head of production, he was responsible
for the acquisition, development, and production of Sony Pictures/Tri-Star/Columbia's
projects such as As Good As It Gets, Jerry Maguire, Philadelphia, My
Best Friend's Wedding, Starship Troopers, The Mirror Has Two Faces,
Legends of the Fall, the Fisher King and The Big Hit. Chris
Lee became founder of Chris Lee Productions Inc. and formed Supermega
Entertainment with partner Joseph Kahn, a media content and management
company involved in the production of motion pictures, television programming,
internet content, animation, computer gaming, comic books, and writing,
director and acting clients.
ROY LEE - He watches videos of every Asian movie ever made, picks the biggest hits, and then, on behalf of their Asian distributors, sells the "remake rights" of those films to studios here, so that they can be turned into big-budget American spectacles. Lee got into this work in 2001, after seeing a Japanese horror film called "Ringu," about a videotape that kills everyone who watches it. With Lee serving as an intermediary, DreamWorks bought the remake rights from the Japanese for a million dollars, and "The Ring" went on to become a surprise hit last fall, earning more than a hundred and twenty-nine million dollars domestically. Although Lee doesn't speak Japanese, Chinese, or Korean, in the past two years he has helped American studios option the remake rights to an additional seventeen Asian movies.
BESSIE
LOO - Super Agent who represented the vast majority of APA actors
during her reign
STEVEN MAEDA - Writer/producer is co-exec prod of ABC's Lost
for 2005 that calls for Maeda to develop original projects for the studio.
GHEN MAYNARD - Oversee Reality And Unscripted Programming
Operations For The
CBS Television Network And Assume Newly Created Post Overseeing
Alternative Programming For The CW And CBS Paramount Network Television,
As Well As Entertainment Content For Wireless, Online And Other Emerging
Platforms
BOB MOON - Chairman of MGM MIRAGE Marketing, is responsible
for the coordination of the International and National Marketing.
LAUREN ONG - she is the President of the National Geographic Channel starting on April 17, 2000. In almost five years, the Channel has grown at a record settingpace from 10 million to 56 million subscribers. In recognition of her career and success with NGC, inNovember 2005, Ong was recognized as the "Woman of the Year" by WICT, Women in Cable andTelecommunications. Prior to becoming President of NGC, Ong served for two years as Vice President and General Manager of WTTG in Washington, D.C., one of Fox's largest and most successful televisionstations. Ong was the first, and possibly only, Asian-American woman to lead a top ten market affiliate.
CHRIS SANAGUSTIN - Senior Vice-President of Current Programming,
Executive Vice-President of Current Programming and Prime-Time Scheduling
at WB Television Network where she will oversee their comedies.
RICHARD SAKAI - (executive producer) began his long association
with James L. Brooks at John Charles Walters Productions in 1977 when
he was hired as a gofer and eventually produced/directed episodes
of Taxi. In 1984 and after producing the fifth year of the TV series
Taxi, joined Brooks' Gracie Films as president that resulted in working
with projects such as Tracey Ullman Show, Broadcast News, The Simpsons,
Jerry Maguire, As Good As It Gets, War of the Roses, Big and others.
I'll Do Anything, Bottle Rocket and Brooks' forthcoming Old Friends.
Sakai's association with Cameron Crowe began in 1984, when Crowe started
writing the screenplay and subsequently directed Say Anything. After
many fishing trips to Cabo San Lucas where Crowe caught a marlin,
and the formation of the Richard Sakai Fellowship which had a minor
association with Crowe's Singles, they joined together to work on
another film which turned out to be Jerry Maguire.
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
GERRI WANG - ABC's Senior Vice President, Primetime Sales
MAGGIE WONG - BBC Worldwide named Maggie Wong as its Senior Publishing and
Licensing Manager/Asia. She takes the place of Freda Chan, who has
been relocated to the U.S. Maggie, based in Hong Kong, will manage
DVD and licensing in the North and South East Asian territories. She
wAS recently with a publishing manager at The Walt Disney Company
(Asia Pacific).
GRACE WU - Casting director for NBC Productions. She was in
charge of the casting of Friends, 3rd Rock, Just Shoot Me, Caroline
In The City and others.
TEDDY ZEE - Executive Producer who has put together projects
such as Will Smith's Hitch and Saving Face in 2005. Until April 2005,
was the president of Overbrook Entertainment, Mr. Smith's production
company. Before joining Overbrook, Mr. Zee was a longtime executive
at Sony Pictures. He'd grown up in cultural isolation in the Catskills
- his Shanghai-born father was a salad chef at Grossinger's; his mother
had traditionally bound feet and didn't speak English. After 20 years
in Hollywood Zee is his own boss. With his Asian contacts and the
creds to get projects like West 32nd Street funded under your own
shingle with investors (Teddy Zee's Ironpond partners are Peter Shiao
and Yantan Shi, General Manager of the Shaolin Temple.) about to bankroll
some serious new Beverly Hills offices and the credit line to greenlight
your own movie deals.
