Center for Asian American Media
The Crew
Wayne Wang – Director
Wayne Wang is a key figure in the development of independent filmmaking, alternating major Hollywood studio films such as “The Joy Luck Club,” with smaller, independent work like “Smoke.” Continuing to work in the two different worlds, Wang directed the independent digital film, “The Center of the World,” with Molly Parker and Peter Sarsgaard, followed by Sony/Revolution’s hit comedy “Maid in Manhattan” with Jennifer Lopez. “Because of Winn-Dixie,” based on the children’s novel by Kate DiCamilo, opened in 2005. His latest Hollywood film, “Last Holiday,” with Queen Latifah and Gerard Depardieu, was loosely based on a 1950 J.B. Priestly film of the same name. “The Princess of Nebraska” is Wang’s bookend film to “A Thousand Years of Good Prayers.” Both films were based on Yiyun Li’s award-winning collection of short stories, “ A Thousand Years of Good Prayers.”
Born in Hong Kong where his family had fled from China after the Communist take-over in 1949, Wang graduated from Wah Yan Jesuit High School, and then came to the United States at eighteen to study painting and film at California College of the Arts and Crafts in Oakland. His first feature film was a graduate student project, “A Man, A Woman, a Killer,” co-directed with Rick Schmidt. Returning to Hong Kong with a master’s degree, Wang went to work at the public broadcasting outlet R.T.H.K. (Radio and Television Hong Kong), which had become a launching pad for a whole group of young film school-trained directors who were creating what came to be known as the “Hong Kong New Wave.” While there, Wang directed several episodes of the landmark realistic drama series “Below the Lion Rock,” about the daily lives of ordinary Hong Kong citizens.
Frustrated by the cramped creative atmosphere and bureaucracy of the Crown Colony, he returned to the U.S. and began social work in San Francisco’s Chinatown. His experiences there with new Asian immigrants inspired Wang’s second feature film, the critically acclaimed “Chan is Missing.” Made in 16mm black & white for just $27,000, it was produced, directed, written and edited by Wang. “Chan is Missing” was a decade ahead of the recent wave of “micro-budget” successes like “El Mariachi” and “Clerks.”
Since he left Hong Kong in the early 1980s, Wayne Wang has continued filmmaking in the U.S.
Richard Wong – Co-Director, Director of Photography
Richard Wong is a native of San Francisco, California. “Colma: The Musical” was his feature directorial debut. Called “Fresh, easy-flowing and irrestible!” by the Los Angeles Times, the independent feature film was nominated for an IFP Gotham Award and Independent Spirit Award. He broke in as a video engineer on episodic television, most recently on the Emmy Award-winning comedy “Arrested Development.” He has served as cinematographer for a slew of short films and pilots and is a 2005 International Cinematographers Guild Film Showcase Award Honoree for his cinematography on the film “Surfacing.” He is completing work on his most recent feature film, “Option 3.”
Michael Ray – Screenwriter
Michael Ray is editor of Francis Ford Coppola’s literary and arts quarterly, Zoetrope: All-Story, a finalist for the 2007 National Magazine Award. In 2005, he was nominated for PEN’s biennial award for magazine editing. “The Princess of Nebraska” is his first screenplay.
Yiyun Li – Author, “The Princess of Nebraska”
Yiyun Li grew up in Beijing, China and has lived in the US since 1996. Her debut collection of stories, “A Thousand Years of Good Prayers” has won the Frank O’Connor International Short Story Award, the Hemingway Foundation/PEN Award, the Guardian First Book Award and other prizes. She has received awards and fellowships from the Lannan Foundation and Whiting Foundation, and was chosen recently by Granta magazine as one of the Best Young American Novelists. She lives in California with her husband and two sons.
Deirdre Slevin - Editor
Deirdre Slevin has been working in feature film editing since 1996. She assisted on such films as “Copland”, “K-Pax”, “Maid in Manhattan” and “A Map of The World.” Her first feature was the independent movie “Gaudi Afternoon” starring Judy Davis and Marcia Gay Harden and directed by Susan Seidelman. “The Princess of Nebraska” is her sixth collaboration with Wayne Wang. She previously edited “Because of Winn Dixie” with Anna Sophia Robb and Jeff Daniels for 20th Century Fox and “Last Holiday” starring Queen Latifah for Paramount Pictures.
Yukie Kito – Producer, Managing Director, International Division for Entertainment FARM, Inc.
Kito started her career at JVC Entertainment Inc. in Los Angeles. In 1999 Kito joined the Tokyo-based Media Suits Inc. and was involved in a development project where she began working with Wayne Wang. In 2004 she joined Entertainment FARM as the Head of International Division and brought in “The Namesake,” “The Hottest State,” “A Thousand Years of Good Prayers” and “Princess of Nebraska.”
Donald Young – Producer
Donald Young is Director of Programs for the Center for Asian American Media (CAAM). He supervises CAAM’s national programming activities including CAAM’s funding, national PBS programs, and original productions. Donald’s most recent production was “Searching for Asian America,” which aired nationally on PBS and was called “Engaging, smart, and insightful… Grade A” by Entertainment Weekly. “The Princess of Nebraska” is Donald’s first feature film as producer.
Yasushi Kotani – Executive Producer, CEO/President Entertainment FARM, Inc.
Former investment banker, Yasushi Kotani joined Japan Digital Contents in 2000 where he started to work on entertainment financing. He participates extensively in working groups and research studies related to the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry in the areas of contents financing. He established Entertainment FARM in 2002.
Taizo Son – Executive Producer
Taizo Son is the founder and CEO of Asian Groove Inc., a broadband entertainment enterprise holding company that manages and incubates new venture companies in Japan. Mr. Son is an experienced habitual entrepreneur in the information technology field, whose latest passion is creating broadband and content-related businesses. Though he maintains independence from larger companies, Mr. Son built several alliances with key strategic partners around the world.
Stephen Gong – Executive Producer
Stephen Gong is Executive Director of the Center for Asian American Media. Previously, he was Deputy Director of Berkeley Art Museum and Pacific Film Archive. Before that, he held positions at the National Center for Film and Video Preservation at the American Film Institute in Los Angeles and the National Endowment for the Arts in Washington, D.C. He has also been a lecturer in the Asian American Studies program at UC Berkeley, where he developed and taught a course on the history of Asian American media.
Entertainment FARM, Inc.
Entertainment FARM is a Tokyo-based financing and production company. In the past five years the company has been involved in six American films including “The Namesake” by Mira Nair and “The Hottest State” by Ethan Hawke which premiered at the 2006 Venice International Film Festival and Toronto International Film Festival. The company has financed ten Japanese films including the J-Horror Theater franchise films whose worldwide distribution rights is handled by Lionsgate, as well as “Retribution” by Kiyoshi Kurosawa which screened at the 2006 Venice International Film Festival. The company has also two development projects with Wayne Wang. Entertainment FARM pursues cultivating entertainment and working with quality filmmakers.
Center for Asian American Media
The Center for Asian American Media (CAAM) is a non-profit organization dedicated to presenting stories that convey the richness and diversity of Asian American experiences to the broadest audience possible. We do this by funding, producing, distributing and exhibiting works in film, television and digital media. CAAM has funded many acclaimed films including three Academy Award winners: “Maya Lin: A Strong Clear Vision” by Freida Lee Mock, “Days of Waiting” by Stephen Okazaki, and “Visas and Virtues” by Chris Tashima, and multiple Sundance Award winners including “Picture Bride” by Kayo Hatta and “Licensed to Kill” by Arthur Dong. “The Princess of Nebraska” is CAAM’s first feature film production.
