All-American Girl and
Fresh Off the Boat) to, well, a handful of major projects in film and TV each year. But more significant is the interdisciplinary coalition of Asian Americans behind the scenes who are finding strength in numbers and making their collective voice heard. And, ironically, they have that racist Oscar joke to thank for bringing them together.
"Sometimes you need this galvanizing force," says producer Janet Yang, recalling the shock of hearing the jokes and their implication that Asians were considered such a nonfactor in the conversation. She had contemplated submitting an op-ed to the
L.A. Times, but then she got a call from a fellow Asian Academy member — either documentarians Freida Mock or Arthur Dong, or publicist David Magdael, or short films and animation branch member Chris Tashima — looking to identify and corral others into taking action together.