The Spring ’11 cover has arrived! Funny gal Olivia Munn is rocking the Shirley Temple curls. Inside, Munn dishes on Chinese mothers (she has one!), dating celebs and her loyal fans.
Not tootin’ our own horn or anything but the Spring issue is pretty solid. And it’s about everyone’s favorite subject: television!
We have an in-depth report on teen television diversity and its influence on our teens, including a round table with actresses Jolene Purdy, Nikki Soohoo and Ashley Argota and profiles of TV stars Randall Park, Anisha Nagaarajan, broadway baby T.V. Carpio and the indie darling The Go! Team (amongst others).
Also in the issue:
- Columnists Anastasia Kim and Paul Nakayama discuss cock-blocking and wingmans.
- The juicy color orange is all over the runway. Get it from the catwalk to your closet!
- Let’s talk eyebrows.
All this and plenty more! To purchase a copy of the Spring ’11 issue (or get yourself a whole year’s subscription while you’re at it), check out our shop here. It will be out in news stands and your mailbox early March!
Itching to read some of our old issues? Now you can at our Archives page.
What are your thoughts on the new cover?
Since I will probably never be famous enough to incur his wrath of pink nose squiggles and vengeful name-callings, I’ll just go ahead and say it: I have never been a fan of Perez Hilton. With a successful gossip site built solely on meanness, I realized a couple years ago that I can at least do my part to not spreading his nastiness around the world by not reading the site. So I didn’t touch it from then on.
Instead, I grew increasingly attracted to another site also making its money from celebrity news but told from a perspective of compliments and celebrity reveries, Justjared.com. It was the anti-Perez Hilton, if you will.
Because I am also a true teenybopper at heart, I was equally as delighted to find that Just Jared had a sister site for the Hannah Montana set called JustJaredJr.com. Squeal!
It was great to read the The New York Times finally shed some light to this star-studded celeb site in their recent article, “Nice-Guy Bloggers Needn’t Finish Last with a profile of the site and its founder, Chinese-American Jared Eng. The article discusses how the 28-year old Mr. Eng came along way from studying computer science at Columbia University to a mini-blogpire which includes five full-time employees and a company which “easily going to gross seven figures” this year.
Take that, Perez!
-Just Janice
Actor Archie Kao at the CAPE Soiree.
CAPE, the Coalition of Asian Pacifics in Entertainment’s holiday party felt a little like a company shindig-that is, if your co-workers were James Kyson Lee, Archie Kao or Carrie Anne Inaba. Oh yea, and if the party was held at the swanky Vibiana in Downtown Los Angeles. Celebs, awards, schmoozers and free-flowing alcohol was all here as the esteemed organization recognized two movers and shakers in the industry, actor/comedian Ken Jeong took home the prestigious New Horizons Award and industry exec Nina Tassler, president of CBS Entertainment, won the Visionary Award. Here are 10 Things that I mused about the soiree.
1) Lots of peer love going around.
Actors Leonardo Nam and Justin Chon share the love.
Forget the whole stigma that actors are always catty and competitive with each other. If anything, CAPE is an organization that demonstrates exactly how much Asians are supporting one another in the industry. As one of my good friends once said, “when one of us gets an opportunity like a part in a movie or show, it just moves us as an entire race, forward.”
2. I can get starstruck.
My gig as assistant editor of Audrey Magazine is pretty sweet. I get to talk to celebrities on a regular basis through interviews and parties like this. So it’s been a while since I got starstruck. But the fan-girl in me totally came out when I saw Keiko Agena on the red carpet. Gilmore Girls is forever my favorite show and I told her so the first chance I got. I think I scared her a little. Yea, having a 5’9″ asian girl in a flowery cocktail dress come up to you exclaiming, “I love your work and your show and your character and YOU” is a little scary, I suppose.
3. There is no classy way to eat chicken wings.
I tried. I really did. You just can’t make eating chicken wings at a soiree look classy. But they sure were delicious.
4. Pageant queens are a hit at parties.
As part of the Miss LA Chinatown court this year, I got to relish the attention at parties and gatherings when I’m in my crown and sash like no other. Apparently, looking like royalty is quite the conversation starter. CAPE was smart in including on their guest list two sets of pageant girls; former Miss California USAs were on hand (right) as well as the current Miss LA Chinatown court. (I’m not in my royal attire because I just wanted to be a normal civilian for one night!)
5. A church is a cool place to get down.
The Vibiana in Downtown LA is such a sweet place to throw a party! The sound system is a little tough to bear but with the classic interior and great lighting, it’s definitely a spot I’d frequent again.
6. And the outdoors is not bad either!
7. Ken Jeong is DA MAN.
He can joke, he can act, he can dance, he can make the best acceptance speeches. If I had an award to give out, I’d give it to Jeong too. (Congrats on winning the New Horizons Award!)
8. I swear I’m not an alcoholic.
But free-flowing booze like the sake shown above definitely made it easier to enjoy the evening. (Not that I wasn’t enjoying it already.)
9. Photobooth is fun!
10. People with a whole lotta heart made this event possible.
It’s to a group of very dedicated individuals that have made CAPE as successful as it is today. So cheers to you, Jennifer Sanderson, Ken Choy and company!
Thanks to CAPE Press and Carmen Chan for providing all the photos and making me look like a photo hog.
“The public is screaming for Asian American talent,” CAPE director, Jennifer Sanderson tells me. “Screaming for Asian American talent. I get calls on a daily basis asking for Asian American writers and talents. I want our communities to know about these opportunities and just really go for it.”
A diverse crowd came out to support CAPE
Judging by the numerous submissions that CAPE received from the United States and all over the world (including Canada, Hong Kong, Japan, South Korea and Taiwan), it seems like the talents are responding. The prestigious 11th annual CAPE New Writers Awards, in both Screenwriting and Television Writing categories packed the Japanese American National Museum’s (JANM) theater with industry newcomers and pros alike.
CAPE honors Jaffar Mahmood with this year's Screenwriting Winner Award
This year's Television Writing Winner, Randall Park & wife
The event, produced by CAPE (the Coalition of Asian Pacifics in Entertainment) Foundation, Inc., and Fox Entertainment Group (with support from the Hollywood Foreign Press Association), honored Jaffar Mahmood as the Screenwriting winner for his script, How to Throw a Party in Pakistan. Mia Riverton’s script, His & Hers and Ann. N. Truong’s script, So I Married a Black Guy were 1st and 2nd runner up, respectively. Randall Park took home the Television Writing award for his original script, Erasists. Leonard Chang’s Isa’s Return was 1st runner-up and Becoming Kate by Leonardo Nam and Sara Drew was 2nd runner up.
If many of these names sound familiar to you, it’s probably because they are familiar faces.
Ceremony producer Leo Chu remarks, “About half of our finalists this year have been actors so apparently, they have been busy acting as well as writing.” He goes on to joke, “Some of them, it’s the first script they’ve ever written which is pretty astounding and disheartening to me as a writer.”
And even more impressive is the fact that whereas in the past, winners have been scripts that were adapted from shows currently on air or movies that have already been made (for example, last year’s Television Writing Winner, Aaron Ho’s script was his version of a How I Met Your Mother episode), all 6 of this year’s scripts were original.
After the awards were handed out, the audience was treated to readings of last year’s winning scripts. Amusing, heartfelt and very well-written, the works definitely carry merit.
“Writers are king, “ Sanderson says, “We have to develop these talents.”
Future projects CAPE has in store for aspiring writers include a “Writing for Mainstream” workshop which Sanderson feels will be an amazing way for writers to get their work out.
If you’re interested in CAPE or its activities, please check out their site. Video of the event can be found here.
Photos courtesy of Steven Lam
Katie strikes a Jackie O pose for New York Magazine
Katie Holmes is channeling former First Lady Jackie O for the cover of New York Magazine’s Fall Fashion issue.
In the issue, which has Mrs. Tom Cruise looking easy breezy fashionable, Holmes talks about designing for her luxury clothing line, Holmes & Yang, with Korean American stylist Jeanne Yang, which debuted in Fall 2009. Holmes’ inception to fashion design began after she became a mom. Holmes tells New York, “I started making clothes for Suri when she was born, designing dresses, and then having seamstresses sew them, because I don’t sew very well. As a child, I was always drawing clothes, and I’ve always loved fabrics, and when Suri was born, I wanted to have certain things be from me and created just by me for her. And so that kind of got me into it, and then one day, Jeanne and I were getting ready for something and we thought, men have such beautiful tailored shirts, they have such a uniform, and we thought it would be nice to make things that are simple that you can have forever.”
Holmes, 31, and Yang, 40, met six years ago at a shoot and decided to collaborate on a classic and functional collection four years later. Parts of the Fall 2010 pieces were debuted in Elle Magazine late June, where creams, pinks and blacks ruled the color palette, inspired by the timeless, simple beauty of ballet dancers.
Holmes and Yang surrounded by Holmes & Yang designs
The Holmes & Yang collection also includes Mommy & Me designs for little girls to match their mothers, a trend Katie and her super-stylist tot, Suri has been regenerating as of late. Yang’s 7-year-old twin daughters are also fans.
Suri Cruise holds mommy's hand and dons her designs
And they’re not the only ones embracing Holmes & Yang’s collection. Barney’s New York has agreed to extend sales of the line for another 8 month, a contract that reportedly net Holmes and Yang a cool $5 million.
If you missed out on last week’s screenings of Asian/AA films at Tribeca, you’re still in luck. Several films are playing throughout the rest of this week until the festival’s close on May 2. Here’s part two of what to watch.
Dream Home, April 27, Feature Narrative
Josie Ho stars as "Cheung," a woman obsessed with buying her dream house. Fortissimo Films.
Slasher film about real estate? Yup. Audrey It Girl Josie Ho stars as an upwardly mobile professional in Hong Kong dead set on buying the house of her dreams, even if that means driving would-be buyers away with a few well-placed murders. Continue Reading »
When the only choices at the box office are a hot tub that takes you back to the ‘80s and a Greek tragedy (poor Beebo!) on CGI steroids, thank god for film festivals. The urban film festival for the masses that is Tribeca kicks off today, and while you may wonder, what the heck does Tribeca have to do with an AA pub like ours? Tribeca is host to several Asian and Asian American films, not to mention the festival’s director of programming has been David Kwok, who’s been in that role since the festival was founded in 2002.
Tribeca kicks off today. Asian American/Asian films screen starting tomorrow.
I remember when Lisa Ling stopped by our office for a photo shoot many many moons ago. It was early, but Lisa was bubbly and chatty, immensely likeable from the moment she walked in the door. As we were getting her primped and prettied up, her good friend, local news reporter Gordon Tokumatsu stopped by and the two allowed us to take some cute photos of them horsing around.
Here's a screen grab of National Geographic Channel's Explorer with Lisa on a chopper ride in the Sierra National Forest. Watch NGC's "Explorer: 25 Years," hosted by Lisa Ling, tonight at 9 p.m. ET/PT.
Lisa had just left her post on “The View” back in 2003 to work as a correspondent for National Geographic’s Explorer. Since then, Lisa has traveled all over the globe, reporting on topics as varied as the most dangerous gang in the world and gave us a rare look inside the adoption process in China. Lisa looks back at 25 years of National Geographic’s multiple award-winning globetrotting show in “Explorer: 25 Years,” which airs tonight at 9 p.m. ET/PT on National Geographic Channel.
Boom Boom Pow! The Black Eyed Peas in 3-D. Photo by Dimitri Daniloff.
If you’ve never seen The Black Eyed Peas in concert, you are missing out. There I said it. Taboo, apl.de.ap, will.i.am and Fergie know how to get a crowd of thousands jumpin’, turning an entire stadium into a massive, beat-thumping club for just one night. On Tuesday, March 30, the six-time Grammy Award-winning group takes to the stage once more before a sold-out crowd at Staples Center in Los Angeles, Calif. Don’t have a ticket? No worries. Continue Reading »
Last Sunday, the Academy Awards honored the late, the great John Hughes. If you’re of a certain age, I’m sure you agree that no other filmmaker so acutely charted our adolescent lives than Hughes. With one glaring exception — Long Duk Dong.
[insert menacing music here]
Yes, who can forget (and not cringe) every time someone mentions Asian American actor Gedde Watanabe’s infamous role as the happily clueless and fobby foreign exchange student in Hughes’ Sixteen Candles. I have such a love-hate relationship with this movie. Love love love Molly Ringwald’s unrequited crush-love on the quintessential high school heart-throb Jake Ryan. Hate hate hate the bad stereotypes that come packaged with “The Donger.” (Sorry Gedde!).
Well “Donger,” meet “Jimmy.” Filmmaker Dave Boyle’s unlikely hero from his endearing comedy White on Rice, which just opened at New York City’s Big Cinemas Manhattan (formerly The ImaginAsian).
Hiroshi Watanabe (Jimmy) on the left and Justin Kwong (Bob) from Dave Boyle's "White on Rice."
Jimmy makes for a nice bookend to Hughes’ Long Duk Dong — fobby, but in the best possible way. Jimmy, played with particular exuberance and heart by Japanese actor Hiroshi Watanabe (Letters from Iwo Ima), is 40 and finds himself having to share a bunk bed with his 10-year-old nephew Bob at his cousin Aiko’s house. Fresh off of a divorce, Jimmy earnestly sets out to find a new wife when he runs into his brother-in-law’s gorgeous niece Ramona (Lynn Chen of Saving Face). Sadly, Ramona has eyes for Jimmy’s way cooler coworker Tim (James Kyson Lee of “Heroes”). Jimmy wages a love war on Tim (who doesn’t seem to realize that) in an effort to win Ramona’s heart.
Dave Boyle's hilarious comedy "White on Rice" at NYC's Big Cinemas Manhattan (formerly The ImaginAsian) this weekend.
The film has won over critics both stateside and abroad in Japan. The SF Guardian says Watanabe does a “perfect job,” while Jeff Yang in a review for the San Francisco Chronicle calls the move “a cinematic milestone.”
The film is in a very limited theatrical release and only few DVD copies are available on the website. Visit White on Rice online for details. In the meantime, here’s taste:
[vimeo]http://vimeo.com/5719208[/vimeo]
