Artisan Books is presenting the book launch of “I AM A FILIPINO: And This is How We Cook”by Nicole Ponseca and Miguel Trinidad, featuring special guest Jose Antonio Vargas, Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist and author of DEAR AMERICA, with Moderator Elda Rotor on Monday, October 29th at the Consulate General of the Philippines, 556 5th Avenue in New York from 6:30-8PM. Click here to RSVP.
NOTE: There will be books for purchase of both “I Am a Filipino: And This is How We Cook” as well as Jose Antonio Vargas’s book “Dear America, Notes of an Undocumented Citizen”. Book Signing will also be taking place this evening.
Nicole Ponseca is the founder and creative director of Maharlika and Jeepney restaurants in New York City. A native of San Diego, Ponseca moved to New York to pursue a career in advertising but found her true calling upon discovering a lack of authentic Filipino food in the city and deciding to do something about it. Together with chef MiguelTrinidad, she opened Maharlika in 2011 and Jeepney one year later. Ponseca is also a motivational speaker for young Filipino adults and an active fund-raiser for charities in the Philippines. Both authors live in New York City. Find them on Instagram @nicoleponseca and @chefmigsnyc.
Jose Antonio Vargas is a Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist, Emmy-nominated filmmaker, and a leading voice for the human rights of immigrants. He is the founder and CEO of Define American, the nation’s leading non-profit media and culture organization that fights injustice and anti-immigrant hate through the power of storytelling. His memoir, Dear America: Notes of an Undocumented Citizen, was published by HarperCollins in fall 2018.
Elda Rotor is Vice President and Publisher for Penguin Classics. She oversees the U.S. editorial program including the works of John Steinbeck, Arthur Miller, Shirley Jackson, William Golding, and the Pelican Shakespeare series. She has created and edited several series including the Penguin Civic Classics and the Penguin Drop Caps, and co-produced Poems By Heart, named one of the Best Apps of the Year by Apple. For Penguin Books, she most recently edited Long Players by Peter CovielloandNot Quite Not White by Sharmila Sen. Previously, she worked at Oxford University Press. She is a board member for the Academy of American Poets, Kundiman, and Singapore Unbound.
Congratulations to Maria Regina “Regee” Tolentino Newport, founder and first president of the Culinary Historians of the Philippines (CHOP), who will celebrate the launch of her first book, Coconut Kitchen: Appetizers and Main Dishes, at National Book Store, Glorietta 1, Makati, Philippines, on October 14, 2017.
Coconut Kitchen, a cookbook made for the home cook, contains basic information on the coconut – highlighting its health benefits, the many products made from it, and how they can be used in cooking. It also gives provides more than 60 recipes of appetizers and main dishes from a wide variety of ingredients such as vegetables, seafood, meat, poultry, sauces and salad dressings, each using one or more coconut products.
Newport also features coconut-based recipes from the following well-known personalities in the culinary world: Amy Besa and Romy Dorotan, Norma Chikiamco, Pia Lim-Castillo, Elizabeth Ann Quirino, Ige Ramos, Beth Romualdez, and Editha C. Singian.
Newport is a Cordon Bleu graduate (summa cum laude) of the Orlando Culinary Academy in Florida. She founded and served as the first president of CHOP, a Manila-based nonprofit organization dedicated to the study, preservation, and promotion of the culinary heritage of the Philippines. She divides her time between Manila and Washington, D.C.
Coconut Kitchen: Appetizers and Main Dishes will be available in the Philippines for P395.00 at all branches of National Book Store and Powerbooks Store starting October 14, 2017. It is available online at www.anvilpublishing.com.
About Anvil Publishing
Anvil Publishing, Inc. is an eleven-time Publisher of the Year awardee by the Manila Critics Circle, and one of the country’s biggest general trade book publisher with titles spanning the broad rays of Filipino life: business, cookery, leisure, lifestyle, fiction, self-help, reference, and children’s.
Paul Nakauchi and Willem Dafoe attend the ‘Death Note’ New York premiere at AMC Loews Lincoln Square 13 theater on August 17, 2017 in New York City. Photo by Lia Chang
Paul Nakauchi (The Great Raid), currently appearing in Guthrie’s production of Sunday in the Park with George through August 20th, attended the New York premiere of the NetFlix original film “Death Note” at AMC Loews Lincoln Square 13 theater on August 17, 2017 in New York City.
LaKeith Stanfield, Willem Dafoe, Paul Nakauchi, director Adam Wingard, Shea Whigham, Nat Wolff, Margaret Qualley attend the ‘Death Note’ New York premiere at AMC Loews Lincoln Square 13 theater on August 17, 2017 in New York City. Photo by Lia Chang
Nakauchi, who plays Watari in the film, was joined on the black carpet by cast members Nat Wolff (Paper Towns) as Light Turner, Margaret Qualley (The Leftovers) as Mia Sutton, Scott Stuber, Shea Whigham (American Hustle) as James Turner, LaKeith Stanfield (Get Out) as L, Willem Dafoe (Spider-Man) as the voice of Ryuk, director Adam Wingard (Blair Witch, You’re Next); producers Masi Oka, Roy Lee, Dan Lin and Jason Hoffs, and executive producers Miri Yoon and Jonathan Eirich.
Co-writer Charlie Parlapanides, actors Willem Dafoe, Paul Nakauchi, Nat Wolff, Margaret Qualley, director Adam Wingard, actor Shea Whigham, producers Roy Lee, Jason Hoffs and Masi Oka, actor LaKeith Stanfield and co-writer Vlas Parlapanides attend the ‘Death Note’ New York premiere at AMC Loews Lincoln Square 13 theater on August 17, 2017 in New York City. Photo by Lia Chang
Based on the famous Japanese manga written by Tsugumi Ohba and Takeshi Obata, Death Note follows a high school student who comes across a supernatural notebook, realizing it holds within it a great power; if the owner inscribes someone’s name into it while picturing their face, he or she will die. Intoxicated with his new godlike abilities, the young man begins to kill those he deems unworthy of life.
Paul Nakauchi being interviewed on the black carpet of the ‘Death Note’ New York premiere at AMC Loews Lincoln Square 13 theater on August 17, 2017 in New York City. Photo by Lia Chang
Paul Nakauchi being interviewed on the black carpet of the ‘Death Note’ New York premiere at AMC Loews Lincoln Square 13 theater on August 17, 2017 in New York City. Photo by Lia Chang
Paul Nakauchi attends the ‘Death Note’ New York premiere at AMC Loews Lincoln Square 13 theater on August 17, 2017 in New York City. Photo by Lia Chang
Paul Nakauchi attends the ‘Death Note’ New York premiere at AMC Loews Lincoln Square 13 theater on August 17, 2017 in New York City. Photo by Lia Chang
Paul Nakauchi and Nat Wolff attend the ‘Death Note’ New York premiere at AMC Loews Lincoln Square 13 theater on August 17, 2017 in New York City. Photo by Lia Chang
Paul Nakauchi, Nat Wolff and Margaret Qualley attend the ‘Death Note’ New York premiere at AMC Loews Lincoln Square 13 theater on August 17, 2017 in New York City. Photo by Lia Chang
Margaret Qualley and Paul Nakauchi attend the ‘Death Note’ New York premiere at AMC Loews Lincoln Square 13 theater on August 17, 2017 in New York City. Photo by Lia Chang
Paul Nakauchi and Nat Wolff attend the ‘Death Note’ New York premiere at AMC Loews Lincoln Square 13 theater on August 17, 2017 in New York City. Photo by Lia Chang
Paul Nakauchi and director Adam Wingard attend the ‘Death Note’ New York premiere at AMC Loews Lincoln Square 13 theater on August 17, 2017 in New York City. Photo by Lia Chang
Paul Nakauchi attends the ‘Death Note’ New York premiere at AMC Loews Lincoln Square 13 theater on August 17, 2017 in New York City. Photo by Lia Chang
Producer and actor Masi Oka attend the ‘Death Note’ New York premiere at AMC Loews Lincoln Square 13 theater on August 17, 2017 in New York City. Photo by Lia Chang
Producers Masi Oka and Jason Hoffs attend the ‘Death Note’ New York premiere at AMC Loews Lincoln Square 13 theater on August 17, 2017 in New York City. Photo by Lia Chang
Producer Roy Lee and guest attend the ‘Death Note’ New York premiere at AMC Loews Lincoln Square 13 theater on August 17, 2017 in New York City. Photo by Lia Chang
Screenwriters Charley Parlapanides (L) and Vlas Parlapanides attend the ‘Death Note’ New York premiere at AMC Loews Lincoln Square 13 theater on August 17, 2017 in New York City. Photo by Lia Chang
Willem Dafoe attends the ‘Death Note’ New York premiere at AMC Loews Lincoln Square 13 theater on August 17, 2017 in New York City. Photo by Lia Chang
Shea Whigham, LaKeith Stanfield and Willem Dafoe attend the ‘Death Note’ New York premiere at AMC Loews Lincoln Square 13 theater on August 17, 2017 in New York City. Photo by Lia Chang
Producer Miri Yoon attends the ‘Death Note’ New York premiere at AMC Loews Lincoln Square 13 theater on August 17, 2017 in New York City. Photo by Lia Chang
attend the ‘Death Note’ New York premiere at AMC Loews Lincoln Square 13 theater on August 17, 2017 in New York City. Photo by Lia Chang
LaKeith Stanfield attends the ‘Death Note’ New York premiere at AMC Loews Lincoln Square 13 theater on August 17, 2017 in New York City. Photo by Lia Chang
LaKeith Stanfield attends the ‘Death Note’ New York premiere at AMC Loews Lincoln Square 13 theater on August 17, 2017 in New York City. Photo by Lia Chang
LaKeith Stanfield attends the ‘Death Note’ New York premiere at AMC Loews Lincoln Square 13 theater on August 17, 2017 in New York City. Photo by Lia Chang
LaKeith Stanfield attends the ‘Death Note’ New York premiere at AMC Loews Lincoln Square 13 theater on August 17, 2017 in New York City. Photo by Lia Chang
LaKeith Stanfield attends the ‘Death Note’ New York premiere at AMC Loews Lincoln Square 13 theater on August 17, 2017 in New York City. Photo by Lia Chang
“Death Note” launches globally on NetFlix on August 25th and will screen in select theaters in New York and LA.
Paul Nakauchi attends the ‘Death Note’ New York premiere at AMC Loews Lincoln Square 13 theater on August 17, 2017 in New York City. Photo by Lia Chang
Nakauchi’s film credits include The Great Raid and Dark Metropolis. He has been seen on television in “Deadbeat,” “ER,” “The Young and the Restless,” “General Hospital,” “Saturday Night Live,” “Star Trek: Deep Space Nine,” and “Knots Landing.” He is a sought after veteran voice over artist and his voice inhabits characters in the animated features The Invincible Iron Man, Doctor Strange, Legend of Korra, Star Wars the Clone Wars and Alpha and Omega; the television cartoons “Avatar: The Last Airbender” and “Batman: The Brave and the Bold,” as well as numerous video games including Cars 2, Call of Duty: World at War and Lost Planet 3 andPirates of the Caribbean: At World’s End, to name a few. Click here for clips of Nakauchi’s voice work.
Nakauchi played the Kralahome and understudied The King in Lincoln Center Theater’s Tony Award- winning production of Rodgers & Hammerstein’s The King and I at the Vivian Beaumont Theater, directed by Bartlett Sher.
Ken Watanabe as The King, Paul Nakauchi as the Kralahome and company. Photo by Paul Kolnik
In 2012, Nakauchi performed the role of Tatsuo Kimura in the world premiere production of Allegiance at The Old Globe in San Diego, opposite George Takei, Telly Leung, Lea Salonga and Michael K. Lee.
Lea Salonga as Kei Kimura, Telly Leung as Sammy Kimura, George Takei as Ojii-san, and Paul Nakauchi as Tatsuo Kimura in the premiere of Allegiance – A New American Musical at the Old Globe Theatre, before its Broadway run. Photo by Henry DiRocco
Nakauchi began his theater career in the National Tour of The King and I with Yul Brynner. He understudied and performed the role of The King of Siam on Broadway in the 1996 revival opposite Donna Murphy. He also played The King on London’s West End with Elaine Paige, and has toured Asia in the Broadway Asia production of The King and I, recreating the same role. He toured the U.S. in the First National Tour of Miss Saigon understudying and playing the role of The Engineer. Other Broadway credits include Chu Chem.
Paul Nakauchi and husband David Mateo attend the ‘Death Note’ New York premiere at AMC Loews Lincoln Square 13 theater on August 17, 2017 in New York City. Photo by Lia Chang
I caught up with Paul and his husband David Mateo over lunch at La Bonne Soupe. The interview below is edited for clarity.
Paul Nakauchi and husband David Mateo attend the ‘Death Note’ New York premiere at AMC Loews Lincoln Square 13 theater on August 17, 2017 in New York City. Photo by Lia Chang
Paul Nakauchi and husband David Mateo attend the ‘Death Note’ New York premiere at AMC Loews Lincoln Square 13 theater on August 17, 2017 in New York City. Photo by Lia Chang
Paul Nakauchi and husband David Mateo attend the ‘Death Note’ New York premiere at AMC Loews Lincoln Square 13 theater on August 17, 2017 in New York City. Photo by Lia Chang
Paul Nakauchi and husband David Mateo attend the ‘Death Note’ New York premiere at AMC Loews Lincoln Square 13 theater on August 17, 2017 in New York City. Photo by Lia Chang
Lia: Who is Watari? Paul: I would describe him as a character similar to Alfred in Batman, he’s a bit enigmatic, a fatherly caretaker, but with a mysterious edge. Adam had given me a book to read which was about several people who claimed they had been subjects of government sponsored mind control, and the techniques that were used to turn them into Manchurian Candidates of a sort for various covert activities. Often these subjects were trained from a very early age, and familiar childhood tunes were used in the process as a trigger to place them into a hypnotic state, so they would then carry out their assigned task. That’s how the Wizard of Oz song I sing to L plays into the story, and then when I’m in a trance like state, driving in the car, going to look for L’s actual name in the orphanage, I sing the same tune.
Paul Nakauchi as Watari and LaKeith Stanfield as L in NetFlix’s “Death Note”.
Lia: Where did you shoot the film?
Paul: I was in Vancouver for a month. I shot about 5 weeks. I had a nice trailer with a fireplace.
Lia: How did you land the job? Paul: I auditioned for it when I was in The King and I in New York. I put myself on tape and did a Skype session with Adam the director. In the audition they wanted me to sing a song. I sang the Sounds of Silence. I thought it fit with the theme.
Lia: Were you familiar with “Death Note” before? Paul: No, but Anime is so interesting. Prior to our film, the versions of “Death Note” included Manga, a cartoon, a live action-tv show, a musical and several films.
Lia: You are finishing your run in a non-traditionally cast production of Sunday in the Park with George at the Guthrie. What has it been like? Paul: All of the theater that I have done has always been Asian musicals- The King and I, Miss Saigon, Allegiance. I never thought I would play a 19th century French artist. Joe Haj the new artistic director at the Guthrie is a big champion of diversity and the plays he chooses and as well as the casts and creative staff he hires reflect that vision. With the huge success of Hamilton, I think theaters across the country are realizing that diversity onstage can bring into the theater a whole new audience and be profitable as well. In our production we have four people of color, Christine Toy Johnson, Mychael T Rambo, Justin Lee Miller and myself, and the audiences have been very enthusiastic!
Randy Harrison, Emily Gunyou Halaas, Christine Toy Johnson, Paul Nakauchi, Ann Michels, Sasha Andreev and Erin Mackey. Photo by T Charles Erickson.
The Guthrie is one of the best theater complexes in the country and I feel very fortunate to have had the opportunity to work there. It’s a lovely community of extremely talented artists, truly the jewel of the Midwest. Next year’s musical is West Side Story, and under Joe Haj’s direction it is sure to be wonderfully innovative. He plans to use a more modern dance vocabulary so it should be exciting.
Paul Nakauchi backstage at the Vivian Beaumont Theater in New York on Mar. 5, 2016. Photo by Lia Chang
Lia: What was your experience at Lincoln Center in The King and I? Paul: Every actor dreams of working at Lincoln Center, and doing the The King & I there was a dream come true. Bartlett Sher is a brilliant director, who does everything from straight plays, musicals and opera, and everyone and everything there is top notch, as well as having the best dressing rooms of any theater I’ve ever worked in!
Lia: In 2012, you appeared in the world premiere of George Takei’s legacy project Allegiance at The Old Globe. What are your remembrances of working with George? Paul: George Takei is an amazing man. I had a wonderful time working with on Allegiance. He’s been involved in Civil Rights activism for a long time. He actually ran for City Council is LA. He’s been a tireless advocate for LGTB rights. I admire him greatly. The Legacy project of Allegiance is something he is still doing, in fact he is going to do it in Los Angeles (2018). I feel fortunate to have worked with and to have met him. He’s the last generation of interment camp survivors. He’s really keeping that remembrance alive in terms of how it references today.
Paul Nakauchi and George Takei at the opening night party of Broadway’s ALLEGIANCE at Bryant Park Grill on November 8, 2017 in New York. Photo by Lia Chang
Lia: How long have you been doing voice work for animation? Paul: I’m the voice of Hanzo in the Blizzard Overwatch Games and recently attended Bliz Con- the Comic Con for Blizzard. It amazed me what a huge audience it has. It’s enormous. They had people from all over the world coming to that Bliz Con event in Anaheim. Gamers playing the games, panels, talking about new characters. Blizzard is a huge game and Overwatch recently won the 2017 Young People’s Choice Award for Favorite Game. I started doing that about 10 years ago.
I started doing voiceover for animation beginning with Marvel with Ironman and Dr. Strange. I actually did the animated version for Dr. Strange. I’m also doing a new NetFlix animated series – “Carmen Sandiego”. I play Shadowsan who is one of Carmen Sandiego’s teachers at the Spy Academy. That will be coming out in 2018. I’ve recorded about 6 episodes for that.
Gaming and “Death Note” tie in really well because it is a similar audience and similar age range.
Lia: What are the challenges of doing voice work? Paul: It takes an enormous amount of imagination, because you record the voice first and they design the animation around your VO tracks, plus keeping the scripts secret is big priority, so you only see the dialogue when you get to the studio on the day of your session, so you have to have the character fully emotionally realized in a cold reading. It’s daunting, challenging, fun and rewarding all at the same time!
A memorial service will be held on Sunday, April 9 for Peter Kwong, a pioneer in Asian American studies, a leading scholar of immigration, an award-winning journalist and filmmaker, from 5-8 p.m. at DCTV, 87 Lafayette Street in New York from 5:00 PM – 8:00 PM. Click here to RSVP.
Peter Kwong was born in Chunking, China in 1941. He came to this country to attend Whitman College in Walla Walla, Washington, where he received a B.A. in math and physics. He subsequently earned a B.S. in Civil Engineering at Columbia University before enrolling at Columbia to get a certificate in East Asian Studies and a Ph.D. in political science.
Peter Kwong, Mira Nair, Sree Sreenivasan, a guest, Margaret Fung, Alice Young, a guest, Jessica Hagedorn and David Henry Hwang at AALDEF’s 30th Anniversary Gala at PIER SIXTY, Chelsea Piers in New York on March 25, 2004. Photo by Lia Chang
Kwong’s journalism appeared in such outlets as The Nation, Village Voice, International Herald Tribune, the Globe and Mail, and Philadelphia Inquirer. He was frequently interviewed by the New York Times and other major news outlets. His essay on multi-cultural race riots in Los Angeles, published in the Village Voice in 1992, merited the Sidney Hillman Foundation Prize, the George Polk Award, and was nominated for the Pulitzer Prize. His 1990 article in the Village Voice on Chinese drug cartels, co-authored with Dusanka Miscevic, was also nominated for a Pulitzer.
(L-R) Professor Ming Xia, Jacqueline Glover, supervising producer, HBO Documentary Films, co-director Jon Alpert, Professor Peter Kwong and co- director Matthew O’Neill, the production team of ‘China’s Unnatural Disaster: The Tears of Sichuan Province’ at the screen at HBO in New York on May 5, 2009. Photo by Lia Chang
As with his scholarship and journalism, Kwong’s filmmaking always delivered a strong social message. His 1980 PBS film, Third Avenue: Only the Strong Survive, documented steep class divisions along Manhattan’s East Side, and won him an Emmy Award. His HBO documentary, China’s Unnatural Disaster: The Tears of Sichuan Province, co-produced with Jon Alpert, was nominated for an Academy Award in 2010. The heart-wrenching film highlighted corruption, incompetence and neglect by the Chinese government that became apparent as a result of the catastrophic earthquake of 2008 in Sichuan Provence that killed 70,000 people, including 10,000 children. The Chinese police detained Kwong and Jon Alpert during the course of the filming.
Professor Kwong had been a member of the Hunter faculty since 1993, where he was a Distinguished Professor in the Urban Policy and Planning Department and a Professor of Asian-American studies. He was also a member of the doctoral faculty in Sociology at the CUNY Graduate Center. Over his career, he taught as a Visiting Professor at Fudan University in Shanghai, the City University of Hong Kong, and the People’s University of China, as well as Princeton, Oberlin, Yale, Columbia, Berkeley, and UCLA.
Kwong had a passionate commitment to issues of social justice and a long record of activism concerning conditions in the Asian-American community. As an activist, he spoke regularly to the media on immigrant and labor issues. His scholarship was informed by vigorous public activism and the belief in advancing social causes through a combination of media and academia, both in the classroom and in the society at large. His career spanned the fields of scholarship, journalism and filmmaking, all directed to improve the lives of people who were marginalized by discrimination or social deprivation. A recent article in New York Magazine referred to him as the “Dean of Chinatown Studies.”
Dusanka Miscevic and Peter Kwong. Photo by Russell Leong
As a scholar, he was best known for his work on Chinese Americans and on modern Chinese politics. His books include Chinese America: The Untold Story of America’s Oldest New Community and Chinese Americans: An Immigrant Experience, co-authored with his wife, Chinese historian Dusanka Miscevic. His other books include Forbidden Workers: Chinese Illegal Immigrants and American Labor (selected by Barnes and Noble as one of the Ten Best Nonfiction Books of 1998), The New Chinatown, and Chinatown, New York: Labor and Politics 1930-1950. Kwong challenged the notion that Asians are a model minority, revealing in his research widespread class divisions, poverty, exploitation, drug abuse, and organized crime — all of which were exacerbated by decades of discrimination by a majority white society. At the time of his death, Kwong and his wife were completing a history of Chinese immigration in the western United States, and he was beginning to work on an autobiography.
Peter Kwong, a professor of Asian American studies at Hunter College presented His Holiness, the 14th Dalai Lama, with an Honorary Doctorate of Humane Letters on October 19, 2012. Photo: Sonam Zoksang
Kwong was a personal friend of the Dalai Lama, who, because of Kwong’s good graces, visited Hunter College on two occasions. Kwong and his wife Dusanka Miscevic reciprocated in 2011 by accepting an invitation from the spiritual leader to visit his residence in India.
Named “one of the 100 Most Influential Asian Americans of the Decade” by A Magazine, a memorial service celebrating Kwong’s extraordinary life and achievements will be held at Hunter College later this spring.
Kwong is survived by his wife, Dusanka Miscevic.
Founded in 1972, DCTV is an established non-profit media arts resource for NYC’s independent filmmaking community, providing affordable workshops, production equipment rentals, post-production facilities, renowned youth programming, and more – all under the same roof as its award-winning documentary production house. dctvny.org
Click here for the Lia Chang Articles Archive and here for the Lia Chang Photography Website.
Lia Chang is an actor, a multi-media content producer and co-founder of Bev’s Girl Films, making films that foster inclusion and diversity on both sides of the camera. Bev’s Girl Films’ debut short film, Hide and Seek was a top ten film in the Asian American Film Lab’s 2015 72 Hour Shootout Filmmaking Competition, and she received a Best Actress nomination. BGF collaborates with and produces multi-media content for artists, actors, designers, theatrical productions, composers, musicians and corporations. Lia is also an internationally published and exhibited photographer, a multi-platform journalist, and a publicist. Lia has appeared in the filmsWolf, New Jack City, A Kiss Before Dying, King of New York, Big Trouble in Little China, The Last Dragon, Taxman and Hide and Seek. She is profiled in Jade Magazine and Playbill.com.
Kwong was a pioneer in Asian American studies, a leading scholar of immigration, and an award-winning journalist and filmmaker.
Professor Kwong had been a member of the Hunter faculty since 1993, where he was a Distinguished Professor in the Urban Policy and Planning Department and a Professor of Asian-American studies. He was also a member of the doctoral faculty in Sociology at the CUNY Graduate Center. Over his career, he taught as a Visiting Professor at Fudan University in Shanghai, the City University of Hong Kong, and the People’s University of China, as well as Princeton, Oberlin, Yale, Columbia, Berkeley, and UCLA.
Peter Kwong was born in Chunking, China in 1941. He came to this country to attend Whitman College in Walla Walla, Washington, where he received a B.A. in math and physics. He subsequently earned a B.S. in Civil Engineering at Columbia University before enrolling at Columbia to get a certificate in East Asian Studies and a Ph.D. in political science.
Peter Kwong, Mira Nair, Sree Sreenivasan, a guest, Margaret Fung, Alice Young, a guest, Jessica Hagedorn and David Henry Hwang at AALDEF’s 30th Anniversary Gala at PIER SIXTY, Chelsea Piers in New York on March 25, 2004. Photo by Lia Chang
Kwong had a passionate commitment to issues of social justice and a long record of activism concerning conditions in the Asian-American community. As an activist, he spoke regularly to the media on immigrant and labor issues. His scholarship was informed by vigorous public activism and the belief in advancing social causes through a combination of media and academia, both in the classroom and in the society at large. His career spanned the fields of scholarship, journalism and filmmaking, all directed to improve the lives of people who were marginalized by discrimination or social deprivation. A recent article in New York Magazine referred to him as the “Dean of Chinatown Studies.”
As a scholar, he was best known for his work on Chinese Americans and on modern Chinese politics. His books include Chinese America: The Untold Story of America’s Oldest New Community and Chinese Americans: An Immigrant Experience, co-authored with his wife, Chinese historian Dusanka Miscevic. His other books include Forbidden Workers: Chinese Illegal Immigrants and American Labor (selected by Barnes and Noble as one of the Ten Best Nonfiction Books of 1998), The New Chinatown, and Chinatown, New York: Labor and Politics 1930-1950. Kwong challenged the notion that Asians are a model minority, revealing in his research widespread class divisions, poverty, exploitation, drug abuse, and organized crime — all of which were exacerbated by decades of discrimination by a majority white society. At the time of his death, Kwong and his wife were completing a history of Chinese immigration in the western United States, and he was beginning to work on an autobiography.
Kwong’s journalism appeared in such outlets as The Nation, Village Voice, International Herald Tribune, the Globe and Mail, and Philadelphia Inquirer. He was frequently interviewed by the New York Times and other major news outlets. His essay on multi-cultural race riots in Los Angeles, published in the Village Voice in 1992, merited the Sidney Hillman Foundation Prize, the George Polk Award, and was nominated for the Pulitzer Prize. His 1990 article in the Village Voice on Chinese drug cartels, co-authored with Dusanka Miscevic, was also nominated for a Pulitzer.
(L-R) Professor Ming Xia, Jacqueline Glover, supervising producer, HBO Documentary Films, co-director Jon Alpert, Professor Peter Kwong and co- director Matthew O’Neill, the production team of ‘China’s Unnatural Disaster: The Tears of Sichuan Province’ at the screen at HBO in New York on May 5, 2009. Photo by Lia Chang
As with his scholarship and journalism, Kwong’s filmmaking always delivered a strong social message. His 1980 PBS film, Third Avenue: Only the Strong Survive, documented steep class divisions along Manhattan’s East Side, and won him an Emmy Award. His HBO documentary, China’s Unnatural Disaster: The Tears of Sichuan Province, co-produced with Jon Alpert, was nominated for an Academy Award in 2010. The heart-wrenching film highlighted corruption, incompetence and neglect by the Chinese government that became apparent as a result of the catastrophic earthquake of 2008 in Sichuan Provence that killed 70,000 people, including 10,000 children. The Chinese police detained Kwong and Jon Alpert during the course of the filming.
Peter Kwong, a professor of Asian American studies at Hunter College presented His Holiness, the 14th Dalai Lama, with an Honorary Doctorate of Humane Letters on October 19, 2012. Photo: Sonam Zoksang
Kwong was a personal friend of the Dalai Lama, who, because of Kwong’s good graces, visited Hunter College on two occasions. Kwong and his wife Dusanka Miscevic reciprocated in 2011 by accepting an invitation from the spiritual leader to visit his residence in India.
Named “one of the 100 Most Influential Asian Americans of the Decade” by A Magazine, a memorial service celebrating Kwong’s extraordinary life and achievements will be held at Hunter College later this spring.
Click here for the Lia Chang Articles Archive and here for the Lia Chang Photography Website.
Lia Chang is an actor, a multi-media content producer and co-founder of Bev’s Girl Films, making films that foster inclusion and diversity on both sides of the camera. Bev’s Girl Films’ debut short film, Hide and Seek was a top ten film in the Asian American Film Lab’s 2015 72 Hour Shootout Filmmaking Competition, and she received a Best Actress nomination. BGF collaborates with and produces multi-media content for artists, actors, designers, theatrical productions, composers, musicians and corporations. Lia is also an internationally published and exhibited photographer, a multi-platform journalist, and a publicist. Lia has appeared in the filmsWolf, New Jack City, A Kiss Before Dying, King of New York, Big Trouble in Little China, The Last Dragon, Taxman and Hide and Seek. She is profiled in Jade Magazine and Playbill.com.
To commemorate the film’s 30th anniversary, John Carpenter, authors Tara Bennett & Paul Terry will be at Barnes & Noble at The Grove, 189 The Grove Drive Suite K 30 in LA on Saturday February 25, 2017 2:00 PM, where they will be signing copies of “The Art Of Big Trouble in Little China” and ‘The Official Making Of Big Trouble In Little China,” the only official, comprehensive behind-the-scenes look into the making of the 1986 cult classic film Big Trouble in Little China. What has been assembled is a wealth of material, including hundreds of never-before-seen photos, exclusive new cast and crew interviews, filming secrets behind the film’s iconic action sequences, original set designs, and much more!
This is a wristbanded event.
A wristband will be issued to customers who purchase
“The Art Of Big Trouble in Little China” or “The Official Making Of Big Trouble In Little China” from Barnes & Noble at The Grove beginning February 25th at 9am
• Limit 1 wristband per book
• No memorabilia please
For more information contact Barnes & Noble at The Grove at (323) 525-0270
TARA BENNETT is a New York Times Bestselling author and entertainment journalist. As an author or co-author, she’s written more than 20 official movie and TV companion books including Sons of Anarchy: The Official Collector’s Edition, Showrunners: The Art of Running a TV Show, Fringe: September’s Notebook (an Amazon Best Book of 2013), Lost Encyclopedia, The Art of Ice Age, and many more. Tara is also a contributing writer for SCI FI Magazine, Total Film, Blastr.com, and is a U.S. editor for SFX Magazine. She is also an adjunct TV writing professor at Rowan University.
PAUL TERRY is a bestselling author and award-winning music artist. He has written/edited official publications for the Bad Robot TV shows Alias, Lost, and Fringe, as well as for The Blacklist, LEGO, DreamWorks, Stars Wars, The Simpsons, Futurama, and Sleepy Hollow. Paul is also the author of the Top 10 book franchise. When he’s not writing books, Paul writes music. His film scores include Emily (starring Oscar-nominee Felicity Jones and Emmy-winner Christopher Eccleston) and the highly acclaimed chiller Care. Under his solo moniker of Cellarscape, his records include the award-winning album The Act Of Letting Go.
Click here for the Lia Chang Articles Archive and here for the Lia Chang Photography Website.
Lia Chang. Photo by Garth Kravits
Lia Chang is an actor, a multi-media content producer and co-founder of Bev’s Girl Films, making films that foster inclusion and diversity on both sides of the camera. Bev’s Girl Films’ debut short film, Hide and Seek was a top ten film in the Asian American Film Lab’s 2015 72 Hour Shootout Filmmaking Competition, and she received a Best Actress nomination. BGF collaborates with and produces multi-media content for artists, actors, designers, theatrical productions, composers, musicians and corporations. Lia is also an internationally published and exhibited photographer, a multi-platform journalist, and a publicist. Lia has appeared in the filmsWolf, New Jack City, A Kiss Before Dying, King of New York, Big Trouble in Little China, The Last Dragon, Taxman and Hide and Seek. She is profiled in Examiner.com, Jade Magazine and Playbill.com.
I just got my copy of The Official Making Of Big Trouble In Little China, the only official, comprehensive behind-the-scenes look into the making of Big Trouble in Little China, which debuted in theaters on July 2, 1986.
Kim Cattrall, Kurt Russell, Dennis Dun and Suzee Pai in Big Trouble in Little China (1986) (c) Twentieth Century Fox
The film featured Kurt Russell as Jack Burton, Kim Cattrall as Gracie Law, Dennis Dun as Wang Chi, James Hong as David Lo Pan, Victor Wong as Egg Shen, Kate Burton as Margo, Donald Li as Eddie Lee, Carter Wong as Thunder, Peter Kwong as Rain, James Pax as Lightning and Suzee Pai as Miao Yin.
Peter Kwong, Suzee Pai and Kim Cattrall in Big Trouble in Little China. (c) Twentieth Century Fox
BOOM! Studios is commemorating the 30th anniversary of the release of John Carpenter’s cult classic film Big Trouble in Little China with two books, The Official Making Of Big Trouble In Little China and The Art of Big Trouble In Little China, by authors Tara Bennett and Paul Terry.
The action-adventure film stars Kurt Russell as truck driver Jack Burton, who helps his friend Wang Chi (Dennis Dun) rescue Wang’s green-eyed fiancee (Suzee Pai) from bandits in San Francisco’s Chinatown. They go into the mysterious underworld beneath Chinatown, where they face an ancient sorcerer named David Lo Pan (James Hong).
James Hong as Lo Pan in Big Trouble in Little China (1986) (c) Twentieth Century FoxBig Trouble in Little China cast members Peter Kwong, Lia Chang and Gerald Okamura at JANM’s Tateuchi Democracy Forum in LA on April 8, 2015. Photo by Ed Miyashiro
Ms. Bennett and Mr. Terry have assembled a wealth of material, including hundreds of never-before-seen photos, exclusive new cast and crew interviews, filming secrets behind the film’s iconic action sequences, original set designs, and much more! Having played a Wing Kong Guard in the film, I am delighted to have been interviewed for the book. I met many of my cast members at a reunion screening in 2015 at at JANM’s Tateuchi Democracy Forum in LA.
Lia Chang and Donna Noguchi in John Carpenter’s Big Trouble in Little China (1986).
Despite being a box office bomb, a cult following has only grown for John Carpenter’s Big Trouble In Little China. In the thirty years since Kurt Russell’s All-American trucker got dragged into a centuries-old mystical battle for immortality and true love in San Francisco’s Chinatown, the fanbase for this western-cum-martial arts film has kept the memory of Jack Burton and Lo Pan alive. Packed with exclusive interviews and never before seen photos, The Making of Big Trouble in Little China will satisfy the devoted fan’s hunger for details about the Pork Chop Express, The Three Storms, and much more.
Packed with exclusive interviews and never before seen photos from the set, merchandise, and original art inspired by the film, including new pieces from the film collectible gurus at MONDO, The Art of Big Trouble in Little China will satisfy the devoted fan’s hunger for more trouble!.
TARA BENNETT is a New York Times Bestselling author and entertainment journalist. As an author or co-author, she’s written more than 20 official movie and TV companion books including Sons of Anarchy: The Official Collector’s Edition, Showrunners: The Art of Running a TV Show, Fringe: September’s Notebook (an Amazon Best Book of 2013), Lost Encyclopedia, The Art of Ice Age, and many more. Tara is also a contributing writer for SCI FI Magazine, Total Film, Blastr.com, and is a U.S. editor for SFX Magazine. She is also an adjunct TV writing professor at Rowan University.
PAUL TERRY is a bestselling author and award-winning music artist. He has written/edited official publications for the Bad Robot TV shows Alias, Lost, and Fringe, as well as for The Blacklist, LEGO, DreamWorks, Stars Wars, The Simpsons, Futurama, and Sleepy Hollow. Paul is also the author of the Top 10 book franchise. When he’s not writing books, Paul writes music. His film scores include Emily (starring Oscar-nominee Felicity Jones and Emmy-winner Christopher Eccleston) and the highly acclaimed chiller Care. Under his solo moniker of Cellarscape, his records include the award-winning album The Act Of Letting Go.
A Big Trouble in Little China reunion with Peter Kwong, screenwriter Gary Goldman, James Lew, George Cheung, James Hong, Lia Chang, Gerald Okamura, Jeff Imada, Joycelyn Lew, Al Leong and Eric Lee at JANM’s Tateuchi Democracy Forum in LA on April 8, 2015. Photo by Marissa Chang-Flores..
Click here for the Lia Chang Articles Archive and here for the Lia Chang Photography Website.
Lia Chang. Photo by Garth Kravits
Lia Chang is an actor, a multi-media content producer and co-founder of Bev’s Girl Films, making films that foster inclusion and diversity on both sides of the camera. Bev’s Girl Films’ debut short film, Hide and Seek was a top ten film in the Asian American Film Lab’s 2015 72 Hour Shootout Filmmaking Competition, and she received a Best Actress nomination. BGF collaborates with and produces multi-media content for artists, actors, designers, theatrical productions, composers, musicians and corporations. Lia is also an internationally published and exhibited photographer, a multi-platform journalist, and a publicist. Lia has appeared in the filmsWolf, New Jack City, A Kiss Before Dying, King of New York, Big Trouble in Little China, The Last Dragon, Taxman and Hide and Seek. She is profiled in Examiner.com, Jade Magazine and Playbill.com.
Artisan Books is presenting the book launch of “I AM A FILIPINO: And This is How We Cook”by Nicole Ponseca and Miguel Trinidad, featuring special guest Jose Antonio Vargas, Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist and author of DEAR AMERICA, with Moderator Elda Rotor on Monday, October 29th at the Consulate General of the Philippines, 556 5th Avenue in New York from 6:30-8PM. Click here to RSVP.
I just got my copy of 
