HBO has announced submission information for its 2020 Asian Pacific American Visionaries (APAV) short film competition. Per Deadline, “Warrior” exec producer and CEO of Bruce Lee Industries Shannon Lee will guide the fourth annual competition, which is dedicated to showcasing filmmakers of Asian and Pacific Islander descent. Submissions open September 15.
The top three winning projects will be screened at the Los Angeles Asian Pacific Film Festival and featured on HBO programs.
“Insecure’s” Sujata Day served as ambassador at this year’s competition, which saw Julie Zhan’s “Zoetic,” So Young Shelly Yo’s “Moon Walk With Me,” and “Halwa,” co-directed by Gayatri Bajpai and Nirav Bhakta, take home the top prizes.
“One of the most important ways that we lift each other up is by creating opportunity for one another – opportunity to share our intimate stories, opportunity to be seen and heard, opportunity to grow through one another,” said Lee. “HBO APA Visionaries is creating opportunities that didn’t exist for someone like my father back when he was making media in the 60s and 70s, and I am honored and grateful to be an ambassador for the program this year.”
Jackie Gagne, vp of HBO’s multicultural marketing added, “At HBO, we are proud to be one of the industry players leading the conversation around diversity in the media. Heading into the fourth year of the Visionaries competition, we are excited to continue creating a platform for emerging APA filmmakers to showcase their talents and share their unique stories with a global audience.
All filmmakers of Asian or Pacific Islander descent are encouraged to apply. Submitted films must be live-action narratives under 15 minutes, be in English or contain English subtitles, and must not be publicly available online. Judges will include members from HBO, the Center for Asian American Media (CAAM), the Coalition of Asian Pacifics in Entertainment (CAPE) and Visual Communications.
The application will be open from September 15 – December 1. For more information, visit the HBO APA Visionaries website. Check out the introductory vid from Shannon Lee below.
