AAPI Creators In Hollywood That You Need to Know
Whether it’s in directing for television, film or branded content — or even writing for your favorite tv show, these Asian American and Pacific Islander creators are making a splash on screen with their artistic vision! Representation in media isn’t a catchphrase, it’s the ability to see marginalized groups and minorities as authors of art. We’re proud to share some of our favorite AAPI creators in Hollywood, by no means is this list exhaustive but just a stepping stone to art by incredible people.
Written and researched by Lauren Lee and Mercedes Gonzales-Bazan.
Ravenna Tran - She/her
Ravenna Tran is a queer Chinese-Vietnamese American cinematographer and filmmaker.
Ravenna directs and produces her own independent films that are about the lives and stories of LGBTQ folks and people of color.
She previously worked as a concept artist and illustrator in the entertainment industry for 8 years before making the transition to filmmaking.
Her newest short film "And Then," is a queer travel romance set in Tokyo about two restless artists who repeatedly run into one another in a sleepless city.
Follow her: https://www.jennravennatran.com // https://twitter.com/RavennaTran
Diane Paragas - She/her
Diane Paragas is a Filipino-American documentary and narrative director as well as a 2020 Creative Capital Award winner.
In 2020, her debut narrative feature Yellow Rose was released and made history as the first Filipino-American film with a theatrical distribution from a major Hollywood studio. It’s about an undocumented teen pursuing a dream of becoming a country music singer.
She owns her own production company, Civilian Studios, in Brooklyn.
Paragas is also know for her documentary Brooklyn Boheme (2012) and is currently in pre-production for her documentary The Three Lives of David Wong, about a wrongly convicted, undocumented Chinese man facing a life sentence after being wrongly committed.
Follow her here: http://www.dianeparagas.com/ // https://twitter.com/dianeparagas
Karen Chee - She/her
Karen Chee is a first generation Korean-American, NYC-based writer and comedian.
She’s best known for her writing and performing on Late Night with Seth Meyers.
She was recently listed as Vultures Comedians to Know in 2020 and on Variety’s Power of Young Hollywood.
She has written for the Golden Globes and Amazon’s Yearly Departed (2020) and assisted in developing pilots for both Comedy Central and Netflix.
Chee has been published in The New Yorker, New York Times, and the Washington Post.
Follow her: http://www.karenchee.com/ // https://twitter.com/karencheee
Christina Xing - She/her
Christina is an award-winning Asian American director based in Los Angeles and New York.
Raised in Birmingham, Alabama, she spent a lot of her childhood watching classic Americana and French New Wave cinema, which inspired her to direct her first musical featurette, 'How the Moon Fell From the Sky and No One Even Noticed' at the age of seventeen.
In 2020 she graduated from Art Center College of Design with a B.F.A in Directing and Film Production.
She won the award for Best Music Video at NFFTY in 2020 and in 2019.
She has worked with clients such as Tinder, Snapchat, Crayola and major music labels such as Atlantic Records, Warner Records and Sony Music.
Follow her: https://christinaxing.com // https://www.instagram.com/christinaxing/
Emily Ting - She/her
Emily Ting is a writer, director, and producer born in Taipei, Taiwan and raised in Los Angeles.
She began her career focusing on documentaries and debuted her first full-length documentary What’s Love Got to Do with It? in 2002.
The film Already Tomorrow in Hong Kong became her first scripted feature in 2015, a romantic drama that captures the vibrancy of city life in Hong Kong.
Ting’s 2019 release Go Back to China is a semi-autobiographical film about an American heiress whose reckless spending causes her parents to move her to China and work for their family business.
Most recently she is directing Netflix’s Tall Girl 2.
Follow her: https://www.instagram.com/emilyting917/ // https://www.unboundfeetproductions.com/
Amina Munir - She / Her
Amina Munir is a television writer and producer.
She’s most recently co-producing and writing for Mr. Mayor, starring Ted Danson on NBC.
Munir has previously writing credits on Never Have I Ever (2020) and Happy Together (2018).
Munir’s first staff writing was for the 2018 television series LA to Vegas.
Follow her: https://www.imdb.com/name/nm7531788/?ref_=ttfc_fc_wr7 // https://www.instagram.com/atmunir/