ASIAN INDUSTRY B2B OPENS UP FORUM ON FILM
AIB2B opened up a powerful discussion on the lack of Asian representation in film by showcasing Asian American talent, mostly from the Chinese and Filipino creative communities in July 12th. Educational lead Chi Ni opened up the event, introducing Randy Callender, a minister to open up in prayer and Christine Callender, Executive Director, led the pledge of allegiance.
AIB2B president Marc spoke of the vision of the group and its focus, highlighting the charitable, cultural, political, educational and business networking activities. He focused on the importance of meaningful action and care for society by getting involved in societal issues and providing a fellowship for business owners to make and subsequently build true connections.
Minji Chang was the first speaker, who spoke about her work with Kollaboration. As a Korean American, she expressed her unique perspective on the entertainment industry and work with the team behind “Crazy Rich Asians”, a movie coming out in August with an all-Asian cast. She also showed exclusive clips of the movie.
Baldwin Chiu and Larissa Lam then presented their full short, “Finding Cleveland”, a story about a fifth generation Chinese American, tracing his roots and finding various members of his ancestry scattered across the country and to an unlikely small town in Cleveland, Mississippi. These separations resulted from the “Chinese Exclusion Act” which separated families and changed their lives forever.
Patricio Ginelso presented a trailer for his independent movie “Lumpia 2”, a sequel to a successful first part over a decade ago. The trailer made the audience laugh and showed the journey of a filmmaker dedicated to his craft, speaking of stories as he went out on a two year tour to support the Filipino film “The Debut”. In addition, Craig Wilson spoke on his work in the Filipino American community.
The venue sponsor was Longo Toyota, which had a state of the art sound system and 3 large screens that was viewed by over 120 people. Our food sponsor was Dr. Sean Masaki Flynn, a hapa author of “Economics For Dummies” and candidate for Congress. He addressed the crowd briefly with his story being born in the Philippines and his passion for supporting the Asian community.
The AIB2B mission is to unite Asian American business owners and inspire them into meaningful action in charity and caring for the community. AIB2B regularly hosts about 100 business leaders at their monthly mixer on the second Wednesdays of each month in the San Gabriel Valley, with the next one in Fontana on August 8, featuring the charity “Hope Through Housing” and the great work they do to break the cycle of poverty.
AIB’s monthly mixer has had a great year. In May, over 125 influential business, political and community leaders came to hear the 39th Congressional District debates, featuring the three leading pro-business candidates–Young Kim, who advanced to the general election, former State Senate Minority Leader Bob Huff and Orange County Supervisor Shawn Nelson. The AIB2B March Mixer, sponsored by Wells Fargo, featured co-founder of East West Bank, Betty Tom Chu, and attracted almost 200 people.
