New endowment celebrates and preserves AAPI filmmaking

COURTESY OF THE ACADEMY OF MOTION PICTURE ARTS & SCIENCES.

Janet Yang is the first Asian American of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences.

Oh, how I wish I was a young filmmaker today.  Compared to 60 years ago, today there is so much more support and opportunities for Asian American would-be filmmakers.

The barriers of discrimination and stereotypes facing AAPIs that still exist today, were in full flower back then. The Gold House and the Coalition of Asian Pacifics in Entertainment and other supporting infrastructure didn't exist yet.

Despite the new opportunities, there still are some institutional and cultural hurdles that make it more difficult for AAPI filmmakers to break into the motion picture industry

The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences announced recently the creation of the Janet Yang Endowment to Celebrate and Preserve Asian and AAPI filmmaking as part of Academy100, a global revenue diversification and outreach campaign designed to expand the Academy’s worldwide scope, ensure the success of its next 100 years, and connect audiences through their shared love of cinema.

“As the Academy continues to expand its global presence, the future of our non-profit cultural institution is strengthened by deepening our reach and impact with the international film community, including Asian and AAPI communities,” said Academy President Janet Yang. “I am so honored that this endowment will support the preservation of international cinema and the education of future generations of filmmakers, cinephiles, and filmgoers.”

This endowment will, in perpetuity, celebrate the legacy, impact, and contributions of Asian and AAPI filmmakers and provide essential funding and resources to support Asian and AAPI programming at the Academy Museum, as well as the acquisition and preservation of Asian and AAPI-related film items in the Academy Collection. The endowment honors the legacy of Yang, the first Asian American president of the Academy, whose dedication to advancing diversity has helped pave the way for greater representation in entertainment and beyond.

Yang is best known as an award-winning movie producer. She came to prominence through her collaboration with Steven Spielberg on Empire of the Sun. That was followed by a long partnership with multiple Academy Award-winner Oliver Stone—where she served as Executive Producer on the iconic The Joy Luck Club, and as a Producer on the Golden Globe-winning The People vs. Larry Flynt.

The Academy Museum of Motion Pictures advances the understanding, celebration, and preservation of cinema through inclusive and accessible exhibitions, screenings, programs, initiatives, and collections. Since opening, objects on view from Asian and AAPI films have included costumes from Eiko Ishioka’s collection and Jessica Yu’s powerful Oscar® acceptance speech.

The museum has also featured a gallery devoted to the iconic work of Bruce Lee, and the museum’s inaugural temporary exhibition, Hayao Miyazaki, was the first major North American museum retrospective dedicated to the Japanese animator and filmmaker. In March 2025, the museum opened Director’s Inspiration: Bong Joon Ho, the first exhibition dedicated to the internationally acclaimed, Oscar-winning film director. It is on view now through January 10, 2027.

The Academy Museum also features Asian and AAPI films through year-round film programming from notable filmmakers such as Gregg Araki, Joan Chen, Arthur Dong, Bong Joon Ho, Sammo Hung, Song Kang-ho, Lisa Lu, Yasujirō Ozu, S.S. Rajamouli, Satyajit Ray, Yim Soon-rye, and Youn Yuh-jung. Programs often feature special in-person appearances.

The success of  having my short film shown in the San Francisco International Film Festival and winning praise at the Berkeley Film Festival and the Ann Arbor Film Festival, encouraged me to consider filmmaker as a career to the deep disappointment of my parents. To their credit, they never criticized my choice.

After a few years, writing scripts and propossals I found myself as a producer and actor in a findependent eature, that was good technically but a failure in so many other ways that made me make another career detour into journalism.

Studios were gracious enough to screen the movie, but there were no offers. That chapter in my life ended after a couple of hungry years supporting myself  in Los ANgeles as a bartender and a hamburger flipper.

I finally had to tell  the executive producer for that failed venture, "I guess all we can say is we have one hell of a home movie."

The Janet Yang Endowment is made possible in part by leadership support from Cindy Huang. Major support provided by the Mark and Anla Cheng Kingdon Foundation, East West Bank and its Foundation, and Lulu C. and Anthony W. Wang. Significant support provided by Chris Quintos and Will Cathcart, Tim Headington and Theresa Steele Page on behalf of Ley Line Entertainment, and Sheldon and Hong Pang. Additional support provided by David Chan, Cyndie M. Chang, Ernie Liang and Leelila Strogov, and Yashih Wu and John Lyie.

“As a proud Asian American, it has been a privilege to serve alongside Janet Yang in support and celebration of Asian and AAPI filmmakers.” said Academy Museum Director and President Amy Homma. “This endowment builds upon the work the Academy has been doing for decades through our Academy Collection and now through the museum, to share Asian cinema through preservation, public programming, and exhibition.”

EDITOR'S NOTE: For additional commentary, news and views from an AANHPI perspective, follow me on Threads, on X or at the blog Views From the Edge.
  

Asian American Hollywood executive elected president of Oscars' academy

ACADEMY OF MOTION PICTURE ARTS AND SCIENCES

Janet Yang takes over helm of Oscars' sponsor.

Hollywood producer Janet Yang, who has been described as “the godmother of Asian Americans in the industry” was elected president of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences by the organization’s Board of Governors.

“Janet is a tremendously dedicated and strategic leader who has an incredible record of service at the Academy. She has been instrumental in launching and elevating several Academy initiatives on membership recruitment, governance, and equity, diversity, and inclusion,” noted Academy CEO Bill Kramer.

“I am thrilled that she is taking on the esteemed role of Academy President and look forward to working closely with her on our shared vision to serve our membership, celebrate the collaborative arts and sciences of motion pictures, and inspire the next generation of filmmakers.”

Yang, 66, is beginning her first term as president and her second term as a Governor-at-Large, a position for which she was nominated by the sitting Academy President and elected by the Board of Governors. Gigliotti, Karaszewski, Linde, Mussenden and Thomas were re-elected as officers. It will be the first officer stint for Dorman, Howell Taylor and Taylor-Coleman.

Yang’s extensive film producing credits include “The Joy Luck Club,” “The People vs. Larry Flynt,” “Zero Effect,” “High Crimes,” “Dark Matter,” “Shanghai Calling” and the Oscar®-nominated animated feature “Over the Moon.” She won an Emmy® for the HBO film “Indictment: The McMartin Trial.”

Following Cheryl Boone Isaacs, Yang is the second person of color to hold the academy's top job.

The New York City-born daughter of Chinese immigrants has long been a significant figure in Hollywood's Asian American community. She co-chairs the academy's Asian Affinity Group and has served on the academy's board of governors since 2019 as one of three governors-at-large who were added following the 2016 #OscarsSoWhite movement to help boost diversity and inclusion.

After Oscar host Chris Rock used Asian children as props for a not-so-funny racist  joke, Yang was a part of the creatives that included some of the biggest Asian American names in the film industry, who wrote a letter to the Academy expressing their displeasure asking that the Academy initiate more efforts to be more inclusive to include more women and members of color.

The hashtag #OscarsSoWhite, brought attention to long-standing racism and bias in awards recognition in Hollywood. Since the 2019 Oscars, the Academy has increased the diversity of its membership by doubling the number of women and minority members, increasing its overall membership from 6,000 to around 10,000.

A member of the Academy’s Producers Branch since 2002, Yang most recently served on the Board as vice president and chair of the Membership Committee and prior to that, the Membership and Governance Committee. She is also co-chair of the Academy’s Asian Affinity Group.

Yang also co-founded Gold House, the collective that aims to lift the voices of Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders (AAPI) in Hollywood. She has been named one of the “50 Most Powerful Women in Hollywood” by the Hollywood Reporter.

Last June, she was feted at the Academy Museum of Motion Pictures with a pillar named in her honor. She became the first Asian American woman to have a pillar at the museum.

EDITOR'S NOTE: For additional commentary, news and views from an AANHPI perspective, follow @DioknoEd on Twitter.