ABC, Viola Davis & Lisa Takeuchi Cullen take on "Ohana"

A new hour long drama titled, “Ohana” based on Kiana Davenport’s novel Shark Dialogues is in development for ABC. The series will follow the story of four hapa women who reunite after their grandmother passes away and leaves them the family plantation.

Lisa Takeuchi Cullen, a former Times writer will write the adaptation. Cullen told the Hollywood Reporter “This is a story we’re passionate about telling from the point of view of native Hawaiians – Pacific Islanders, people of Asian descent and people of hapa heritage.”

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The four main characters in Ohana will be of different mixed ethnicities including half white, half Japanese, half Filipino and half black. According to the Hollywood Reporter, “their unexpected shared inheritance will force them to overcome years of jealousies, misunderstandings, resentments and secrets.”  

Viola Davis and her husband Julius Tennon’s JuVee Productions will be teaming up with ABC on the upcoming series.

Chrisa Hickey [CC BY 3.0 (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0)], via Wikimedia Commons

Chrisa Hickey [CC BY 3.0 (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0)], via Wikimedia Commons

From Crazy Rich Asians to Lazy Rich Asians

Emmy winning writer Jessica Gao is developing a single camera comedy for ABC, which she titled “Lazy Rich Asians” after being inspired by the blockbuster film, “Crazy Rich Asians”.

The currently untitled sitcom will tell the story of Janet Zhao, a first-generation Chinese American woman who becomes the sole inheritor of her grandmother’s fortunes and according to the Hollywood Reporter, “finds herself the unwilling new matriarch of the family she’s spent her life trying to keep at arm’s length.”

Jessica Gao will not only pen the sitcom, but will also executive produce the new comedy. Gao has written for Silicon Valley, Take My Wife and Rick and Morty. This past weekend, Gao received an Emmy for the Rick and Morty episode, “Pickle Rick.”

 

Identity LA 2018 - ISA, Mike Shinoda, Jay Park, Cassey Ho, Jon M. Chu

For the past 3 years ISA (International Secret Agents) has hosted Identity LA to celebrate and commemorate Asian American Pacific Islander Heritage Month (formerly known as Asian Pacific American Heritage Month) and this year was another success for the team.

Presented by Los Angeles Councilmember David Ryu, the city of Los Angeles, Pacific Bridge Arts Foundation and ISA (founded by Wong Fu Productions and Far East Movement), the event showcased vendors from the AAPI community showcasing their unique products, a vast array of food trucks curated by Roy Choi which included The Boba Truck, BB Kyu, Belly Bombz, Chinese Laundry, Pho King Awesome, and Seoul Sausage as well as serving a platform for local artists to showcase their work.

The performances at Identity LA 2018 was definitely the high point of the festival which featured Asian and Asian American Pacific Islander artists. Filipina rapper Ruby Ibarra shined with her expressive and sharp-witted lyrics that touched upon her ethnicity and female empowerment. She wowed the crowd with her high energy performance and her effortless skills in rapping seamlessly from English to Filipino dialects. Ibarra also took the time to stress the significance of the festival stating, “I think it’s definitely important for us to have spaces like this, that allow a platform for artists such as myself to celebrate Asian Pacific American Heritage Month.” 

Other notable performances included Hotel Garuda, North Carolina rapper G Yamazawa, The Kinjaz, DJ Zo, and The Flavr Blue. Multi-platinum Korean American rapper, singer, and dancer Jay Park got the crowd dancing and singing along to his hits, and also invited Korean singer-songwriter Hoody to share the stage with him.  Hoody, who is signed under Park’s record label, AOMG showed off her sexy and sultry vocal skills during her own solo set right before Jay Park hit the stage.

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One of the highlights of Identity LA was headliner Mike Shinoda’s performance. Shinoda, who performed earlier in the day at KROQ’s Weenie Roast, sang familiar Linkin Park tunes and took a moment to give a touching tribute to his former band mate and close friend Chester Bennington. Shinoda also surprised the crowd by bringing along a couple of guests to share the stage with him, including fellow band member Joe Hahn for their song “Castle Rock” and Japanese singer Taka of ONE OK ROCK to sing Shinoda’s Fort Minor hit single, “Where’d You Go”.

Identity LA 2018 also took the time to recognize AAPIs who have made huge contributions in the community. This year’s honorees were the Asian Pacific Islander Forward Movement ,a non-profit organization whose mission is to “cultivate healthy, long-lasting and vibrant Asian and Pacific Islander communities through grassroots organizing.” Activist, artist and the creator of “The Pussyhat Project” Kristah Suh received the Activism award. The Digital Pioneer award was presented to fitness entrepreneur Cassey Ho, founder and creator of oGorgeous and Blogilates. Grammy winner and member of "The Stereotypes" Jonathan Yip was honored with the Musical Pioneer award and Director Jon M. Chu was presented with the Arts & Entertainment honor. Chu’s film directing credits include Now You See Me 2, G.I. Joe: Retaliation, Justin Bieber: Never Say Never, and the upcoming and highly anticipated film, Crazy Rich Asians. During his acceptance speech, Jon M. Chu did not hesitate to invite the audience to show their support and watch Crazy Rich Asians when it hits theaters in August.

Identity LA 2018 was a free and public event sponsored by Comcast | NBC Universal and Private Internet Access.

See below for a recap of this year’s Identity LA and a special performance of “In the End” by Mike Shinoda and fans at the end of the video.

JON CHU'S "CRAZY RICH ASIANS" TRAILER RELEASE

Trailers for the highly anticipated film, Crazy Rich Asians have just been released.

Based on the Kevin Kwan novel by the same name, Crazy Rich Asians follows 2 NYU professors; the dashing and exceptionally wealthy Nick Young and his economics professor girlfriend Rachel Chu.  Nick however, has kept his family fortune and background a secret to his friends in New York, including his girlfriend.  It isn’t until the two travel to Singapore for Nick’s best friends’ wedding, “the biggest wedding of the year” that Rachel realizes Nick’s family is one of the top ten wealthiest in Asia. Their relationship is put to the test when lies, deceit, family drama and a deep and mysterious past all come to light. 

Actors Henry Golding who plays Nick Young and Constance Wu, who plays Rachel Wu lead the Asian Cast. Other stars in the film include legendary actress and action star Michelle Yeoh (Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon), comedian Ken Jeong (ABC’s Dr. Ken, Hangover Triology, NBC’s Community), Harry Shum Jr. ( Fox’s Glee), British actress and model Gemma Chan (AMC’s Humans, Transformers: The Last Knight) and Nico Santos (NBC’s Superstore).

According to Warner Bros, Crazy Rich Asians is the first Hollywood studio backed film that is directed by an Asian American and stars an all-Asian cast in 25 years, since The Joy Luck Club. The Jon Chu directed movie is expected to hit theaters August 17th.