More from Rebecca Sun
Lily Gladstone Scores Rare Nom for Indigenous Actors as Golden Globes Claims It Has the Most Culturally Diverse Major Awards Body
Before the Golden Globes nominations announcement officially kicked off a few minutes past the totally-not-ungodly hour of 5 a.m. Pacific, Dick Clark Productions executive vp television Barry Adelman was heard reviewing Globes president Helen Hoehne’s teleprompter copy, murmuring the phrase “most culturally diverse major awards body” over and over again. Diversity — or the lack […]
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Norman Lear’s Legacy of Inclusive Storytelling: “He Was a Conscience for America”
Norman Lear was woke before “woke” became a derogatory smear. He was woke before it was briefly appropriated in mainstream parlance as a liberal badge of honor. Before he died on Tuesday at the age of 101, Norman Lear was one of the few people alive who entirely preceded the term, which can trace its […]
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Making of ‘Past Lives’: How Celine Song’s Unusual Exercises Helped Her Cast and Crew Deliver a Lived-In Drama
To achieve the hyper-naturalistic, lived-in connections among her trio of characters in Past Lives, writer-director Celine Song put both her cast and crew through a number of unusual exercises. For Greta Lee and Teo Yoo, who play childhood soulmates Nora and Hae Sung, that meant not being allowed to physically touch until the very moment […]
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Rideback Rise Reveals Inaugural Cohort
Rideback Rise, the nonprofit content accelerator announced last summer by Rideback producer Dan Lin to help level the playing field for BIPOC creators, has revealed its inaugural cohort. Six Fellows will each receive a $50,000 grant, while 10 Residents will each receive $10,000 in funding to develop their own film and television projects, which they […]
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Television Academy Elects Cris Abrego Chairman
The Television Academy has elected new leadership, headed by incoming chairman Cris Abrego. The Banijay chairman of the Americas, who has chaired the organization’s foundation since 2020, was running unopposed. He succeeds producer Frank Scherma, who has termed out after four years. Additionally, the Television Academy has added the title of CEO to its president […]
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Asian Representation Is Up – Now, for More Nuance (Exclusive)
Is mere representation the end goal? According to the comprehensive diversity in film report released by Annenberg Inclusion Initiative in August, Asians were the only characters of color to see a steady increase in the past 16 years, shooting up from 3% of speaking characters in 2007 to 16% in 2022. With promising progress on […]
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Disney and Sundance Institute Team to Launch Grants for Historically Excluded Directors (Exclusive)
The Sundance Institute’s storied artist programs for directors from historically excluded backgrounds just added another major benefit. Nine narrative filmmakers have been chosen to receive a $25,000 unrestricted grant, courtesy of Sundance and The Walt Disney Studios’ new Project Advancement and Completion Fund, along with access to other Sundance programs such as the digital classroom […]
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Despite Real-Life Population Growth, Latinos Remain Silent or Invisible in Film
Latinos are the second largest racial/ethnic group (behind non-Hispanic white people) in the United States, accounting for about half of the nation’s population growth over the past two decades. Nineteen percent of Americans (62.1 million) are Latino – not that you could tell by watching American movies. According to the latest study from USC’s […]
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CBC Investigation Says Buffy Sainte-Marie Has Falsely Claimed Her Native Identity
CBC newsmagazine The Fifth Estate has aired its Buffy Sainte-Marie exposé. The hourlong documentary episode, presented by senior investigative reporter Geoff Leo, alleges that the singer-songwriter — considered the first Indigenous winner of an Academy Award — has been fraudulently posing as Native throughout her 60-year career. While the specifics about Sainte-Marie’s background varied as […]
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‘Loveboat, Taipei’ Author Abigail Hing Wen Almost Met Her Future Publicist Emmy Chang Nearly 30 Years Ago — at Loveboat in Taipei
My Rep and Me is a new recurring Culture Shift feature in which talent who share a unique background with their representative (be it agent, manager, lawyer or publicist) sit down to discuss the special alchemy and business advantages of that special connection, in order to underscore the importance and benefits of diverse representation. Author […]
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Oscar Winner Buffy Sainte-Marie Responds to Questions About Her Native Heritage: “I Know Who I Am”
A year ago this week, accusations surfaced in the media that the late Sacheen Littlefeather, best known for representing Marlon Brando on the Oscars stage in protest of the treatment of Native Americans, had fabricated her Native heritage. Now Buffy Sainte-Marie, considered to be the first Indigenous Oscar winner (for co-writing the pop standard “Up […]
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Hello Sunshine Launches Incubator For Female Content Creators and Entrepreneurs (Exclusive)
Having had proven success with launching such female-founded brands as Reese’s Book Club, Shine Away, The Home Edit and Fair Play, Hello Sunshine is now looking to use its golden touch to help more women content creators. The Hello Sunshine Collective is an incubator that offers a customized mentorship experience that helps entrepreneurial women take […]
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