Janet Yangveteran Hollywood producer who has been described as “the godmother of Asian Americans in the industry” – and who is rumored to be a contender for success David Rubin as chair of the board of governors of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, where she has served as governor general for the past three years and vice president for the past year, in August – has been appointed on Tuesday evenings at the Academy Film Museum, where a pillar is dedicated and a dinner is held in her honor.
If Yang, the daughter of Chinese immigrants, who made a name for herself connecting the Chinese and Hollywood film industries before working as a producer on films like The clubs are happy luck and The People vs. Larry Flynt – has no plans to seek the Academy’s board chair before Tuesday’s meeting, she’d be crazy if she doesn’t pursue it, given how many power players in the industry have come to celebrate she.
The dedication of an inner pillar Renzo Piano– designed museum – along with other pillars dedicated to Barbra Streisand, Tom Hanks and Rita Wilson, Bob Iger and Willow Bay, Lauren Blum and Jason Blum, Christopher Nolan and Emma Thomas, JJ Abrams and Katie McGrath, Jeff Skoll and Miky Lee – inherited by the newly hired Academy Museum Director / Academy CEO Bill Kramerand, like the dinner that followed, made possible through a donation from Julia S. Gouwretired president and COO of East-West Bank, who currently serves on the board of the Academy Museum.
Dinner included a buffet of Chinese dishes, attended by many Academy governors and other celebrities such as the legendary 93-year-old actor. James Hong arrive Katherine Hosinger whose cover of Coldplay’s “Yellow” was featured in Crazy Rich Asians. Speakers include Kramer; Rubin (on behalf of both him and the outgoing Academy CEO Dawn Hudson, who was unable to attend after contracting COVID); CEO and Co-Founder of GoldHouse Bing Chen; California State Treasurer Fiona Ma; Jim Henson Company CEO Lisa Henson; and actors Daniel Dae Kimwho said of Yang, “It’s fitting that it’s a mainstay that she gets, because she’s done it for so many people.”
Yang, a longtime Academy member who became more involved in the organization’s diversity push after a 2016 Oscars sketch, in which Chris Rock used Asian children as a joke (which Rubin on Tuesday described as “an inappropriate and insensitive play”), began his speech, “I was moved beyond measure. my imagination.” She then joked to the audience, who are mostly of Asian descent, “I agree with this because I think, ‘Well, number one, it’s an opportunity for non-Asian people to experience what it’s like. like a minority” – welcome to our community, we are a wild bunch!” She continued, “Also, it was a chance to celebrate with so many people that I beloved in my life, I’ve worked with, the people who lifted me up, really inspired me.This pillar is just an excuse.” And, after narrating a slide show In terms of key moments in her life and career, she devoted herself to Hudson and Rubin.
A brief note: On my way to the Academy Museum for the festival, I met the legendary songwriter Diane Warrenwho learned earlier that day that she had been tapped by the Academy board to accept an honorary Oscar at the Governor’s Awards in November. Best Original Song 13 times Oscar’s Bridesmaid was over the moon, greeting me with her signature gritty humor: “I’m no longer a loser!”
During the gathering, I was able to gather a bit of information on how four of this year’s Governors Award winners – Warren, Michael J. Fox, Euzhan Palcy and Peter Weir – has been selected by the board of directors. I learned that the short film / cartoon short story branch governor Bonnie Arnold Fox suggested for Hersholt – Back to the future The star has never even been nominated for a competitive Oscar – and the idea has received strong acclaim. Governor branch manager Ava DuVernay Palcy champion. And the three music branch governors led what was ultimately the unanimity that drove Warren to eventual recognition; they apparently acted together, as her nomination was the only one accompanied by a brief video presentation to help verify the case. It worked!
