Now, THAT’S Entertainment!
December 29, 2006
LOS ANGELES — The red carpets were sprawled out, surrounded by bright lights and cameras for the 15th annual celebration of The Coalition of Asian Pacifics in Entertainment (CAPE) at the Universal Hilton in Hollywood.“We came a long way from the back of a Chinese restaurant,” reminisced one man in the hotel lobby about the first CAPE mixer held in 1991.
In attendance were top television and film entertainers and executives who shared their experiences as Asian American professionals in the Hollywood industry.
Actor George Takei from Star Trek was presented the CAPE Pioneer Award. During his acceptance speech, Takei said he was writing a check to pay for his Screen Actors Guild dues a few weeks ago and realized that he has been a member since 1958.
“Back then, only a handful of people were crazy enough to be an actor,” Takei said. “Today — 48 years later, we turn on the TV and there’s a galaxy of Asian Americans playing roles.”
The co-founders of CAPE, television producer and director Wenda Fong, film producer Chris Lee, and Sony Pictures Home Entertainment executive Fritz Friedman, were also honored.
Fong is an Asian American businesswoman who began her career on-camera as a talk show host for an independent station in Los Angeles after one of her professors at the University of Southern California advised her to try her hand at television.
“I knew I didn’t want to go into science,” said Fong whose siblings are in that field. “It was so serendipitous how I got into television. I love what I do.”
Many friends, colleagues and mentees bombarded Fong with appreciative hugs and thanked her for all her hard work and dedication to the Asian American community.
“Wenda leads by example,” said Monica Macer, a former participant of the FOX writing program. “She is such an inspiring role model.”
Fong was the first vice president of the Creative Diversity Development Department at FOX where she created and managed programs like the one Macer participated in to help minorities succeed in the entertainment industry. Macer, herself half-Korean, is now working as a writer on the television series Prison Break.
Currently, Fong is the vice president of Specials and Alternative Programming for FOX Broadcasting Company.
Justin Lin, director of Better Luck Tomorrow and The Fast and the Furious: Tokyo Drift, received the CAPE New Horizon Award. Lin remarked on the word “community.” He proudly shares his joy in directing films to the Asian American community.
“These are shared experiences,” said Lin. “Organizations like CAPE create these opportunities for us.”
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Rex’s Multiple Choices Actor Rex Lee, from the popular HBO show Entourage, said it took him 15 years from when he started acting to the time he landed his role on the series. “I allowed myself to be dissuaded by my parents,” said Lee whose father is a doctor. “This is not what my parents would’ve chosen for me.” His parents did support his decision to be a performer — of classical piano. He attended Oberlin Conservatory of Music in Ohio. During college, Lee took a class in theater and knew that acting was really his performance of choice. “I didn’t want to be a professional musician,” said Lee. He finished school with a degree in music, but returned to Southern California to pursue acting. He said his older sister who works in the computer industry still wants to be a singer. “The truth is, I’m a horrible business person — sometimes I lack the vision to see what steps need to be taken,” said Lee. “I thought I could just not do anything and everything would come to me without lifting a finger.” Lee said he finally “got smart” in 2000 — the year he booked his first commercial. |
From A-typical to Zee
President and founding partner of the entertainment company Ironpond, Teddy Zee does what he loves and encourages others to do the same. Zee’s Hollywood career spans over two decades, during which he has worked as a studio executive at Columbia Pictures and Paramount Pictures.
“I’m an atypical Chinese American,” said Zee. “As a parent of an 18 and 16 year old, I encourage kids to go for what they truly are passionate about.”
Zee’s elder daughter deferred her admission to Columbia University to be a ballet dancer and his younger daughter is pursuing dance in Germany. Zee said his daughters make smart decisions, but he still has his parental concerns for them.
“I didn’t think that they would do this in their teens — maybe in their 20s,” Zee said. “But you’re only young once.”
Zee used his smarts to make it in the entertainment industry. He received his undergraduate degree from Cornell University and then attended Harvard Business School before landing a job in Hollywood in 1984.
“I’m very thankful of doing what I love to do,” said Zee. “I’m happy. I feel like a kid. I get to make movies.”
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