M.A.R.A.

Female Director & Lead Actress win!

Announced Sunday, April 25th, 2010 - Writer, Director, Executive Producer, MTV and HBO veteran, Cynthia Hsiung, won the Boston International Film Festival’s Indie Spirit Best Director Award for her film Are You For Great Sex? Lead actress of the film, Jessica Caban, won the Indie Spirit Best Actress Award. ROCK ON GURRRLS!!!

Are You For Great Sex lead actress Jessica Caban, writer/director/exec producer, Cynthia Hsiung, and lead actor Walter Vincent at the TriBeCa Grand Hotel private screening, New York City in February 2010. [Photo by Phil Nee]

Hsiung revealed that the feedback she received on the film was not only full of accolades, but also full of personal and private experiences. People divulged stories they hadn’t shared with anyone else and thanked her for making them feel less alone. In turn, Hsiung felt honored and privileged to be on the receiving end of such personal accounts. That Hsiung was able to ellicit such a reaction from her audience with her movie is perhaps one of the reasons why this film is a must see.

I will only tell you that it’s based on a true romance between two lovers with an undeniable sexual chemistry. It’s pretty delicious. I’ll leave you with one clip from the movie below. I found the best way to see this movie is to know as little about it as possible ahead of time. Like a virgin, touched for the very first time : ) I made it through the wilderness…

Keep your eyes peeled for Are You For Great Sex? in the film festival circuit this spring and summer. I will be posting updates and more info about Cynthia Hsiung as more news arises. For now I’m going to say ROCK ON and CONGRATS! to the multi-talented, Queens raised female writer/director of Chinese descent.

Thanks to Cynthia for giving me the first exclusive online interview!
Other Sources: IMDB, BIFF
Other keywords: famous asians, famous asian, asian female directors, boston international film festival, BIFF

Aziz Ansari

-currently plays Tom Haverford on NBC’s Parks & Recreation, which airs Thursdays at 8:30pm-that’s TONIGHT!!! (Also starring Saturday Night Live veteran, Amy Poehler, Parks & Recreation is brought to you by the producers of The Office.)

-also starred in films such as I Love You, Man and Observe and Report. He was most recently in Judd Apatow’s Funny People, with Adam Sandler and Seth Rogen, and is shown below on Jimmy Kimmel (July 2009) promoting the movie.

-writes for and performs in the MTV sketchcomedy series, The Human Giant.

-was born in Columbia South Carolina to Muslim Tamil Indian parents on February 23, 1983 and obtained an MBA in Marketing from NYU’s Stern School of Business in 2004. He began stand up comedy while at NYU, often performing at Upright Citizen’s Brigade, won a bunch of awards for being funny, and you can read the rest here.

Related Posts: Indian
Keywords: Aziz Ansari, Funny People, Parks & Recreation, The Human Giant, Live on Jimmy Kimmel, comedian, UCB
[photos 1, 2, 3,4]

famousfilipinos: (originally posted September 24, 2009)

Mindy Kaling
is a damn FUNNY woman. She currently stars as Kelly Kapoor on the Emmy-award winning, Ricky Gervais executive-produced, NBC hit show, The Office, which also stars Steve Carrell, Rainn Wilson, John Krasinski, and Jenna Fischer among a cast of hilarious and talented comedians. Kaling also co-executive produces and writes many of the show’s episodes. [More 2009 Emmy pics of Mindy Kaling here]

Vera Mindy Chokalingam was born June 24, 1979 in Cambridge, Mass to Tamil Hindu parents from India. She attended a private high-school and subsequently graduated from Dartmouth College in 2001.

In May 2009, NBC signed a 7-figure contract with Kaling to develop and star in a new comedy while continuing to write, produce and star in The Office. This is only 5 years after first being hired to write for the show.

Named one of the Top 10 Funniest Actresses in Hollywood by Entertainment Weekly in April 2009, Kaling’s success trajectory is not only enviable, but also, and more importantly, at least as I see it, encouraging. Female, Minority, 7 figure deal with a major network, string of successful movies, and starring and producing hit prime time tv shows all by the age of 30. PHENOMENAL! ROCK IT KALING…

More interesting stories about how Kaling first got her break to star in The Office and how her character was developed here. A list of her works can be seen on her IMDB file. She also has a blog where she posts photos and talks about things she buys that she likes…aptly named “things i bought that i like”.

The new season of The Office premiered on NBC,
Thursday, September 17th, 9pm

famousfilipinos:

Jessica Yu
is a recipient of an Academy Award for Documentary Short Subject for Breathing Lessons: The Life and Work of Mark O’Brien (imdb) (1996).

Her father’s family is from Shanghai and her mother’s is from Guangdong.

Born 1966 in Palo Alto, California, Jessica is an American film director, writer, producer, and editor. She has worked on documentaries, dramatic films, and television shows.

Jessica has also directed episodes of Grey’s Anatomy, West Wing, and ER.

famousfilipinos:

Jessica Tarahata Hagedorn was born (and raised) in Manila, Philippines in 1949. With her background, a Scots-Irish-French-Filipino mother and a Filipino-Spanish father with one Chinese ancestor, Hagedorn adds a unique perspective to Asian American performance and literature. Her mixed media style often incorporates song, poetry, images, and spoken dialogue.

Moving to San Francisco in 1963, Hagedorn received her education at the American Conservatory Theater training program. To further pursue playwriting and music, she moved to New York in 1978.

Joseph Papp produced her first play Mango Tango in 1978. Hagedorn’s other productions include Tenement Lover, Holy Food, and Teenytown.

In 1985, 1986, and 1988, she received Macdowell Colony Fellowships, which helped enable her to write the novel Dogeaters, which illuminates many different aspects of Filipino experience, focusing on the influence of America through radio, television, and movie theaters. She shows the complexities of the love-hate relationship many Filipinos in diaspora feel toward their past. After its publication in 1990, her novel earned a 1990 National Book Award nomination and an American Book Award. In 1998, La Jolla Playhouse produced a stage adaptation.

She lives in New York with her husband and two daughters, and continues to be a poet, storyteller, musician, playwright, and multimedia performance artist.

★ M.A.R.A.★

Female Director & Lead Actress win!

Aziz Ansari

Mindy Kaling

Jessica Yu