Final SAPSA Video: A01 - Group 1

Wednesday Section -- Group 1

Kyrene Giezl Gutierrez

Victor Dionisio

Tianyi Cui

Jianwei Zhu

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We hope you enjoy our video :) 

https://youtu.be/6THimkeoTdY

What is our SAPSA about?

• Our SAPSA issue is the Mis- and Underrepresentation of Asian Americans in the Film Industry. For years, Asian Americans, specifically those with lighter skinned tones, would be cast as folks who are perceived to be nerds, individuals skilled in martial arts or kung fu, or even as just weak and fragile individuals who need to be saved. With the new film, Crazy Rich Asians, many feel that Asian Americans are finally represented in the film industry. However, we beg to differ. The film does not fully represent all Asian American people. It excludes the brown Asian Americans, as well as, gives the perception that Asians living in Singapore are rich and wealthy. Although, Crazy Rich Asians is seen as a victory to Asian Americans, there are still a lot more opportunities for representation of Asian Americans in the film industry. We aim to highlight the mis- and underrepresentation of Asian Americans in the film industry with hopes that there will be more films created on not just a specific group of Asian Americans, but ALL.

Who is our intended audience?

• Initially, our intended audience were the directors and producers, but also as well actresses, actors, and people have influence inside the industry. However, it more so has evolved into just reassuring others that your story matters even if there may not be a lot of movies, TV shows, etc., that display that. 

Did we accomplish what we set out to do?

• Yes, we wanted to inform and educate others on the lack of representation of Asian Americans in Hollywood. 

What were the challenges?

• There was not a lot of data that could be found that went into depth on what kind of Asians were casted. We would have loved to seen data that showed the variations of Asians in the film industry. 

What would we have done differently?

• We would spend more time on the SAPSA video and ironing out all the details.

What is the future of our SAPSA?

• We hope that someone, anyone comes across our video and become inspired to create stories or advocate for more Asian American representation in Hollywood. We also hope that if someone were to come across our video, they would possibly make an EVEN better SAPSA video that’ll make an even bigger impact than ours. 

Resources:

Capua, Patrick. Personal Interview. 19 February 2019.

Casino, K. “Meet the Only 3 Asian Actors Who’ve Ever Won an Oscar” NextShark. 24 January 2017, https://nextshark.com/meet-3-asian-actors-whove-ever-won-oscar/

“Cast of ‘Crazy Rich Asians’ On The Importance of Diversity” YouTube, uploaded by ET Canada, 5 November 2018, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bHY3Ycog_uY

Chaganty, A., director. Searching. Screen Gems, 2018.

Chu, Jon M., director. Crazy Rich Asians. Warner Bros. Pictures, 2018.

Conway, J., director. Dragon Seed. Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (MGM). 1944.

Edwards, B., director. Breakfast at Tiffany’s. Jurow-Shepherd. 1961.

Hollywood Diversity Report 2018: Five Years of Progress and Missed Opportunities. UCLA College Social Sciences, February 2018, https://socialsciences.ucla.edu/wp-content/uploads/2018/02/UCLA-Hollywood-Diversity-Report-2018-2-27-18.pdf

La Force, Thessaly. “Why Do Asian Americans Remain Largely Unseen in Film and Television?” NY Times Style Magazine, NY Times, 6 Nov. 2018, https://www.nytimes.com/2018/11/06/t-magazine/asian-american-actors-representation.html.

Nepales, J. “‘Crazy Rich Asians’ breaks drought of All-Asian cast Hollywood film” GMA News Online. 20 August 2018, https://www.gmanetwork.com/news/showbiz/chikaminute/664769/crazy-rich-asians-breaks-drought-of-all-asian-cast-hollywood-film/story/

Shyamalan, M. N., director. The Last Airbender. Paramount Pictures. 2010.

Wachowski, L. & Tykwer, T., directors. Cloud Atlas. Cloud Atlas Productions. 2012.

Watada, T. “Asians and Asian Americans and the Oscars” National Association of Japanese Canadians. (n.d.), http://najc.ca/asians-and-asian-americans-and-the-oscars/

Wong, Tessa. “Crazy Rich Asians: The Film Burdened with 'Crazy' Asian Expectations.” BBC News, BBC, 18 Aug. 2018, www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-45179503.