AAPI Filmmaking Leaders Vow the Election Won’t Halt More Diverse Stories in Hollywood: ‘This Is the Best Time to Create’

Never underestimate the strength and resilience of the AAPI community.

In October, President-elect Donald Trump was in Las Vegas at the “United for Change” campaign event, which focused on reaching the Asian American and Pacific Islander community and promised to “amplify AAPI voices, promote unity and encourage voter participation.” The same person still refers to COVID as the “China virus.”

Under Trump’s 2016 presidency, anti-Asian violence surged in the United States. So, as Hollywood readies itself for Trump 2.0, a return that could further deepen the political divide, what does a second term mean for the AAPI community and its storytellers?

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One thing is for certain, the work that is already being done by AAPI-led organizations in the industry is going to continue — and that’s the underlying message. Nothing is going to change. If anything, the stories are going to get better, and there are going to be more.

In the weeks leading up to the election, several in the AAPI community reminded each other of Trump’s anti-AAPI rhetoric, including his association of COVID-19 to the diaspora as “kung flu.” Gold House co-founder Bing Chen used his social media to remind everyone: “Several other issues matter — the economy, foreign policy, and social issues — but the reality is if you cannot walk down a street and live, nothing else matters. Everything starts with your breath.”

And Bing Chen is feeling energized. As an international organization, Gold House’s core messaging is about building bridges; Chen is fighting forward and not fighting back. He quotes from Carrie Fisher, “You have to take your broken heart, and turn it into art” across party lines, communities, and continents.

The company recently expanded on its initiatives via The Gold House Creative Equity Fund to co-finance, serve as executive producers and provide cultural consultation on films. Chen says, “This is the best time to create. Period.”

It begins with broadening green lighting power and distribution worldwide, according to Chen. “It cannot be in the few hands within a certain city or zip code. It cannot be within a certain hemisphere,” he says. “We are particularly excited about developing and co-financing projects, not only from Asia but with Asia, as we’re already doing.”

Sean Wang’s “Didi,” Lloyd Lee Choi’s “Lucky Lu” and “Rock Springs” are among those recent projects.

“It’s less about responding, and it’s more about leading. Everyone has the power to do that. We just have to look where no one else is looking,” Chen says of his work with these projects and filmmakers.

Supporting AAPI storytellers is something that the industry needs to double down on. Aside from Gold House, Donald Young is the Center for Asian American Media’s Director of Programs and remains as committed as ever.

Since 1982, they have been behind films made by Asian Americans, and in partnership with PBS, have helped to get Asian American projects on public television. Young says, “We realize that there’s going to be obstacles, and we are trying to fortify ourselves upon the values which we were founded and those should not be compromised.”

Over the years, the company has grown into the largest organization dedicated to the advancement of Asian Americans in independent media, specifically in areas of television and filmmaking. “It’s important to at least attempt to provide pathways for that storytelling to continue,” Young adds.

Advocacy goes a long way. CAPE (Coalition of Asian Pacifics in Entertainment), historically, has always been about advocating for and representing AAPI voices in entertainment. The non-profit’s executive director and CEO Michelle Sugihara can’t foresee their mission changing.

However, Sugihara is interested to see the stories that will be told. “A lot of times art reflects the world that we’re seeing. During the Stop Asian Hate movement, a few of our alumni got to write those episodes of their shows,” she says. “Julie Wong wrote a great one for ‘Grey’s Anatomy.’ Brian Shin wrote a great one for ‘Good Trouble.’”

Sugihara continues, “In bringing these stories to light, that’s really what moments like these emphasize — is the power of community and the importance of storytelling and humanizing our communities as people, and not just as numbers and statistics.”

Sugihara hopes more storylines will drive resilience and strengthen the community. “That is the thing that really drives the core of our work, that changes hearts and minds, and you have to do that before you change policies.”

Executive director and co-founder of PEAK, Kristian Fanene Schmidt, is focused on expanding diverse storytelling but is aware that many Pacific Islanders in the U.S. are conservative in their beliefs. Says Schmidt, “It’s hard when you’re in a constant battle with your community to humanize so much of us.”

PEAK seeks to redefine and expand Pasifika entertainment and drive innovative storytelling that honors diversity across Melanesia, Micronesia and Polynesia. For Schmidt, a lot of their work is about educating and “dealing with a lot of the inter-community stuff.” He says, “That’s where we need to really figure out ways to just deprogram so much of the white supremacy that exists within our collective reality.”

But with his focus on educating and advancing the Pacific Islander narrative which is so often erased, Schmidt made deliberate efforts when building the board to add diverse Pacific Islanders. He picked he one that is majority women and majority queer. “A lot of our work is raising that collective consciousness of our people,” Schmidt explains.