Over 200 APA Film Stars, Authors, Artists Nationwide Endorse John Kerry

Diverse "all-star" list volunteering nationwide for rallies, phone banks, media, door-to-door "to the last minute the Hawai'i polls close"

Release by United Coalition of Asian and Pacific Islander American Independent Arts, Culture and Media Professionals

October 28, 2004 - MILWAUKEE - A diverse and dedicated array of Asian-Pacific American (APA) arts, media, literary and entertainment figures today joined to unequivocally endorse Senator John F. Kerry for President.

The United Coalition of Asian and Pacific Islander American Independent Arts, Culture and Media Professionals was launched by filmmaker Eric Byler and author Stewart David Ikeda on Sunday and in 48 hours gathered a veritable “who's who” of today's APA culture-makers eager to sign an endorsement statement posted today at http://artists.apaforkerry.org.   

From mainstream movie stars to experimental performance artists, and from new immigrants to fifth-generation multi-racials, the Coalition joined to express their unanimous conviction that John F. Kerry is the best choice to "lead our country and all our diverse communities as the next President of our United States."

The burgeoning list of signatories included actors George Takei, Rosalind Chao, Tamlyn Tomita, Zoe Bui, Jacqueline Kim, Ravi Kapoor, Katie Luong, and Dennis Dunn; playwrights David Henry Hwang and Philip Kan Gotanda; filmmakers John Woo, Justin Lin, Greg Pak, Byler, Gene Cajayon, Lisa Onodera, and Grace Lee; authors Gish Jen, Garrett Hongo, Jessica Hagedorn, Phoebe Eng, Chang-rae Lee, David Mura, Marina Budhos, and Jeff Yang; stage and performance artists Ping Chong, Dan Kwong, Erin May Ling Quill; as well as architects, curators, cartoonists, digerati, and graphic, installation, multimedia and industrial artists.

"John Kerry has truly listened to, understood, and committed himself to taking positive action on our communities' specific concerns," says Ikeda.  "He has built a campaign outreach team, detailed policy plans, and a bold, positive vision for America that is more inclusive and more uniting than any I've seen before."

Byler added, "The members of our coalition are not involved in politics. But we are inspired by and create from our communities – and to the extent that we represent them, we wanted to issue a clear, positive message: APAs can help make a difference in this election, and we are taking it upon ourselves as a community to elect a President in John Kerry, who will restore our national security, our economy, and our dedication to the expansion of Civil Liberties, Civil Rights and equality under the law."

The coalition statement, supporting documentation, ongoing updates to the endorsement list, volunteer information, articles and other features can be located at http://artists.apaforkerry.org. Additional materials made available for media and webmasters including freely reprintable drop-in commentaries by supporters, links to downloadable organizing tools, in-language materials, PSAs, and more will be added late today at http://artists.apaforkerry.org/artists/media.html.

The group has also set up an audio blog with excerpts of John Kerry's speeches, APIA field volunteer reports, and endorsement messages from noted signatories to the coalition.   An Election Night live blog featuring coalition members and other commentators will be moderated by Jeff Yang, author, columnist, and founder of A Magazine at http://blog.apaforkerry.org/ .

####

For more information, contact artists@apaforkerry.org or call 414-510-3934 or 414-906-1125.

The United Coalition of Asian and Pacific Islander American Independent Arts, Culture and Media Professionals

A Partial list of Signatories as of the morning of November 2

Eric Byler (charlotte sometimes, TRE, American Knees)
Stewart David Ikeda (author What the Scarecrow Said, IMDiversity.com)
David Henry Hwang (M Butterfly)
Tamlyn Tomita (Robot Stories, Come See the Paradise, The Joy Luck Club)
Philip Kan Gotanda (The Wash, Life Tastes Good)
John Woo (Executive Producer, Woo Art international)
Jessica Hagedorn (writer, performer, Dogeaters, Charlie Chan is Dead)
David Mura (author Turning Japanese, Angels for the Burning)
Rosalind Chao (The Joy Luck Club, Thousand Pieces of Gold)
Gish Jen (author Mona in the Promised Land, The Love Wife)
Cindy Sison (producer, My American Vacation, American Adobo)
Justin Lin (director, Better Luck Tomorrow, Annapolis)
Maxine Hong Kingston (author, Woman Warrior, The Fifth Book of Peace)
Quentin Lee (filmmaker, Canadian citizen)
Chang-rae Lee (author Native Speaker, A Gesture Life, Aloft)
Greg Pak (writer/director Robot Stories)
George Takei (actor Star Trek, author To the Stars)
Dennis Dunn (The Last Emperor, Big Trouble in Little China, The Winter People)
Jacqueline Kim (charlotte sometimes, Red Doors, Volcano)
Karen Tei Yamashita (writer, Tropic of Orange, Circle K Cycles)
Gene Cajayon (The Debut)
Ravi Kapoor (actor, Crossing Jordan, director Barriers)
Jeff Yang (founder aMagazine, author Once Upon a Time in China, general manager Cultural DNA)
Tony Bui (director, Three Seasons)
Tim Bui (director, Green Dragon)
Jessica Yu (director, In the Realms of the Unreal, West Wing)
Jeanne Sakata (XXX2: State of the Union, The Sweetest Thing)
Helen Zia (author, activist, Asian American Dreams: The Emergence of an American People, and My Country Versus Me)
Ruth Ozeki (author All Over Creation, My Year of Meats, director Halving the Bones)
Robert Cazimero (musician, "The Brothers Cazimero")
Manu Boyd (musician, "ho`okena", Hawaiian scholar)
Marilyn Tokuda (Strawberry Fields, Farewell to the King, Frasier, Friends)
Katie Luong (actress Green Dragon)
Eddie Wong (Executive Director, NAATA)
Jim Herr (Sony Pictures Entertainment)
Lisa Onodera (producer Picture Bride, The Debut, TRE, American Knees)
Pooja Kumar (actress Flavors)
Greg Watanabe (Life Tastes Good, Only the Brave)
Jeanne Wakatsuki Houston (author Farewell to Manzanar, Legend of Fire Horse Woman, CA)
Phoebe Eng (Warrior Lessons, Leading Together to Save Our Lives)
Garrett Hongo (poet, author of Volcano and The River of Heaven)
Ping Chong (artistic director, Ping Chong & Company NY)
Marina Budhos (author The Professor of Light, Remix )
Parry Shen (actor, Better Luck Tomorrow)
Wes Kim (writer/director, Profiles in Science, Vision Test)
Joan Huang (producer Better Luck Tomorrow)
Roger Fan (Better Luck Tomorrow, Annapolis)
Sab Shimono (actor, Come See the Paradise, The Big Hit, Robot Stories)
Jane Valentine (actress/French translator)
50th Signatory! Dan Kwong (solo multimedia performance artist) Santa Monica
Cecilia Tsai (Quest USA)
Mia Riverton (Red Doors, CEO, Strong Medicine)
DC Wolfe (OnProductions)
Kimberly-Rose Wolter (charlotte sometimes, TRE)
Joyce Kim Lee (costume designer)
Michael Kang  (filmmaker, New York, NY)
Johanna Lee (filmmaker, New York, NY)
Tak Toyoshima (comic artist, "Secret Asian Man")
Catherine Park (producer)
Keith Kamisugi (Keithpr.com)
Ken Narasaki (actor, Asian Pacific American Media Coalition, EWPACTS)
Kip Fulbeck (filmmaker, author Paper Bullets, CA)
Chandra Prasad (author, editor, Mixed: A Multiracial Anthology CT)
Yayoi Lena Winfrey (editor, filmmaker, Brothers & Others, Watermelon Sushi, WA)
Billie Tsien (Architect/designer, American Folk Art Museum NYC)
Annie Katsura Rollins (performer/producer, Damn the Past, Aziatik Nation)
Yunah Hong (filmmaker Between the Lines, Becoming an Actress)
Peggy Hong (author Three Truths and a Lie, The Sister Who Swallows the Ocean)
Erin May Ling Quill (director, performer, China Dolls, Avenue Q)
Frances Kai-Hwa Wang (editor, Asian-American Village)
Steve Rohr (principal, Rohr Talent)
Sharon Omi (actress, EWPACTS)
Sarah Zhang (producer, Quest USA)
Feodor Chin (actor General Hospital)
Chil Kong (actor/director)
Dorinne Kondo (playwright/professor)
Konrad Aderer (filmmaker, New York, NY)
Lenore Chinn (artist, president, Queer Cultural Center)
Larry J. Tazuma (editor/writer Yolk, KoreAm Journal, Asia InPlay, Lions Gate)
Guy Aoki (media activist)
David Takami (author Divided Destiny: A History of JAs in Seattle)
Philip Chung (playwright, Lodestone Theatre Ensemble)
Benny Sato Ambush (stage director, producer, educator)
Joseph Kim (musician, Kite Operations)
David Yang (musician, Kite Operations)
Joe Wu (artist, calligrapher, designer, MTV Networks)
Sonya Rhee (documentary filmmaker, Soldados: Chicanos in Viet Nam)
Carmen Van Kerckhove (director Mixed Media Watch and New Demographic)
Robert C. Winn (filmmaker, Saigon U.S.A.)
Esther K. Chae (actor, L.A., CA)
William Dao (actor, museum associate, Museum of Chinese in the Americas)
Cynthia Lee (curator, Museum of Chinese in the Americas)
Jume Lee (artist, product/furniture designer)
Linda Lee (artist, photographer, Web developer, SPACE NYC)
Prince Gomolvilas (playwright, Big Hunk o' Burnin' Love, The Theory of Everything)
Jessica Chen Drammeh (community organizer, filmmaker Anomaly)
Eubin Kim (artist; designer; publisher, Koreanxchange)
Sandra Yamate (publisher, Polychrome Books)
Ron Domingo (actor, filmmaker, Brooklyn, NY)
100th Signatory! Francis Jue (actor, Pacific Overtures, Red, Thoroughly Modern Millie)
Ken Wada (Day of Independence, Torque, K-19)
Taro Goto (programmer, NAATA)
Fay Chew Matsuda (fmr exec director, Museum of Chinese in the Americas)
Lynn Chen (Saving Face, All My Children)
Meera Simhain (actress, Turbans, Crossing Jordan)
Cynthia Tom (surrealist painting, cynthiatom.com)
Nick Sakai (SAG-EEO NY Committee, Law & Order: Criminal Intent, Third Watch)
Flo Oy Wong (artist, co-founder of Asian American Women Artists Association)
Rick Edinger (actor, Pacific Overtures)
Steve Huang (writer, performer, "Peeling")
Daniel Jay Park (Kiss Me, Kate, Pacific Overtures)
Kevin J. Miyazaki (photographer & artist, kevinmiyazaki.com)
Grace Wing-Yuan Toy (poet, writer)
traci kato-kiriyama (Katalyst Productions/Tuesday Night Project)
Zoe Bui (actress, Three Seasons, director I am Viet Hung, Vietnamese Hero)
Elaine Lachica (musician/singer-songwriter, '9', 'Apolune')
Joy Huang (television producer, New York)
Bertha Bay-Sa Pan (writer/director Face)
Patricio Ginelsa (director, LUMPIA, Black Eyed Peas "The APL Song" music video)
Peilin Chou (VP of Original Series, Spike TV - MTV Networks)
Denise Uyehara (performance artist/playwright, Hello (Sex) Kitty, Big Head, Hiro)
Alice Wu (writer/director, Saving Face)
Francis Kim (musician, The Francis Kim Band)
Jodi Long (Flower Drum Song, M's Mom All American Girl)
Risa Morimoto (executive director, Asian CineVision; filmmaker)
Clint Jung (actor, Los Angeles, CA)
Toni Wang (musician, sanmusic.com)
Janet Yang (producer, Joy Luck Club, People vs. Larry Flynt)
Kristina Sheryl Wong (performance artist, writer, filmmaker, actor, activist, kristinawong.com)
Sabrina Shimada (Host of STIR)
Colleen Eustice-Sakai (media activist)
Francois Chau (actor, What's Cooking?)
Grace Lee (filmmaker, Barrier Device, LA, CA)
James Hou (director, Masters of the Pillow, The Pick-Up)
Melody Butiu (actor, A Perfect Wedding, The Intelligent Design of Jenny Chow, 36 Views)
Tim Hugh (festival director, FAAIM)
Jenny Choi (musician, founder, AIR Tour [Asians in Indie Rock])
Teresa Lee Chaisiri (singer/songwriter, PaperDoll, NYC)
Erwin Falcon (actor, New York, NY)
Diane Mizota (Trading Spaces: Boys vs. Girls, Austin Powers in Goldmember)
Kerry Yo Nakagawa (author, filmmaker, historian)
Czerina Salud (vocalist/mezzo soprano, Michigan Avenue Cantori, Lanialoha & Kupono)
S. Casper Wong (filmmaker, New York NY)
ManSee Kong
Jean Tsien (Documentary editor, Going Upriver: The Long War of John Kerry)
Kevin So (singer/songwriter/musician Brooklyn, NY)
Rumi Matsuyama (Web consultant)
NaRhee Ahn (filmmaker, Dragonlady Productions, columnist, The Bachelorette)
Peter J. Wong (18 Mighty Mountain Warriors)
150th Signatory! Harold Byun (writer, actor, 18 Mighty Mountain Warriors)
Takayo Fischer (actor, Tea, The Nisei Widows Club, Strawberry Fields, ER)
K. Scott Wong (Professor, History and American Studies, Williams College)
Miya Osaki (artist/musician, Asian Man Records)
Allen Teng (sculptor, L.A., CA)
Alyx Park (filmmaker, San Francisco, CA)
Dr. Craig K. Ihara (Coordinator, Asian American Studies Program, CSU Fullerton)
Aaron Yamasato (director, Blood of the Samurai, Ninja EX)
Lee Songe (Filmmaker)
Angela Oh (Activist, attorney, author One Woman's Journey)
Paul Nagano ("No sensible person can, in good conscience, NOT vote for Kerry.")
Dr. Randy Kaplan (Artistic Director, GENseng: Geneseo's Asian American Performance Ensemble)
Ahree Lee (graphic designer, New Haven, CT)
Curtis Choy (filmmaker, The Fall of The I-Hotel, What's Wrong with Frank Chin?)
Allison Sie (actress, Los Angeles, CA)
Keo Woolford (actor, recording artist, music producer)
Nayon Kim (singer/songwriter/actress)
Mike Park (musician/activist)
Natalie Kim (actor)
Telly Leung (actor, Flower Drum Song, Pacific Overtures)
Sophia Skiles (actor, activist -- Theaters Against War)
Suzi Takahashi (co-artistic producer of Ex.Pgirl)
Jason S. Yi (visual artist, Milwaukee)
Kim Ima (theatre artist, producer Robot Stories)
Peter X Feng, Ph.D. (author, Identities in Motion: Asian American Film & Video)
Yeni Mao (painter, NYC)
Laura Kina (Painter)
Shawn Wong (professor and author, Homebase, American Knees)
Anna Kang (filmmaker, Los Angeles, CA)
Phil Yu (angryasianman.com)
Edwin A. Santos (actor/producer, Soap Girl, The Last Eve)
Julie G. Cho (filmmaker and lecturer)
Maritoni Tabora (independent artist, producer/former Media Fund Director of NAATA)
Vic Chao (actor, Pearl Harbor, Miss Congeniality 2)
Curtis Chin (writer, founder Asian American Writers Workshop, activist, APA for Progress)
Chizu Omori (writer, producer, Rabbit In the Moon DVD)
Sekiya Billman (actress, Miss Saigon, Shanghai Moon, Liberty Heights, As the World Turns)
Alan Muraoka (actor, Sesame Street, upcoming Broadway Pacific Overtures)
C.N. Le (writer, web producer, Asian-Nation.org: The Landscape of Asian America)
Paul Igasaki (columnist, civil rights activist, former Vice-Chair of the U.S. EEOC)
Xu Xi (writer)
Tina Chang (poet, author of Half-Lit Houses)
Eileen Rivera (actress, Dogeaters)
Ralph B. Peña (Artistic Director, Ma-Yi Theater Company, NY)
Satsuki Ina (Children of the Camps, From a Silk Cocoon)
Gita Reddy (director/actress, NYC)
Eileen Tabios (author, Beyond Life Sentences, editor, APA Journal)
Wayland Quintero (SLANT Performance Group, NYC)
Di Quon (Actress and activist)
Robert Shinso (actor, director, art director of "charlotte sometimes")
200th Signatory! Daniel Dae Kim (actor, Lost, 24, ER, Spiderman 2, Angel)
Mary Anne Mohanraj (writer, director, Speculative Literature Foundation)
John H. Park (academic, activist, UIC)
Mira Kamdar (author, Motiba's Tattoos: A Granddaughter's Journey from America into her Indian Family's Past)
John Castro (writer, The Debut)
Conrad Cimarra (actor, The Debut)
Diana Fernandez (Regional Coordinator, The Debut)
Melanie Fontanilla (Marketing Coordinator, The Debut)
Patricio Ginelsa (Associate Producer, The Debut)
Lillian Prijoles (Regional Coordinator, The Debut)
Greg Spence (Post Production Coordinator, The Debut)
Velina Hasu Houston (author, playwright, The Politics of Life, Artistic and Discursive Voices of Multiethnic Asians)