CAPE’s 35th Anniversary Gala Raises $350K As Randall Park, Manny Jacinto, The Women Of ‘The Pitt’ & More Celebrate

The Coalition of Asian Pacifics in Entertainment (CAPE) celebrated 35 years of advancing Asian American and Pacific Islander representation in film, television and media Saturday night at Downtown Los Angeles’ Vibiana, honoring a group of actors, creators and executives while raising more than $350,000 to support the organization’s continued work.

Presented by Lexus, CAPE’s 35th Anniversary Gala marked its first anniversary celebration in a decade. The organization traditionally holds its anniversary gala every five years, but the schedule was disrupted by the Covid-19 pandemic.

The evening brought plenty of laughs, but also a recognition that the progress CAPE and the broader AAPI entertainment community have made remains vulnerable amid an industry facing contraction, layoffs, and shrinking opportunities.

Host Asif Ali opened the ceremony with a series of jokes about the current state of AAPI representation and the entertainment business, thanking donors for supporting the arts rather than “building data centers and Flock cameras and sending folks into space.”

“This is a big year, a big occasion for CAPE,” Ali said, pointing to recent AAPI successes across television, film and music that included references to KPop Demon Hunters and Forgotten Island. “But the point is that CAPE’s work is proving that we can be anything; we need all of it to make change. We need everybody, we need CEOs, and we need Street Fighter. We can do it all.” He later added, “People are starting to be able to tell the difference between Asians, and that is progress.”

CAPE Executive Director and CEO Michelle K. Sugihara offered a more sobering assessment of the current industry landscape ahead of the evening’s fundraising push. “Tonight is a celebration of the advances we have made. It is also a moment to take stock of where we are today,” Sugihara said, pointing to milestone wins in representation at award shows and the box office.

“When CAPE started, there seemed to be a ceiling on how much we could ask for. Then for a brief time in the past few years, it seemed that the ceiling had shattered, but it was short-lived. Unless we stay vigilant, that ceiling will descend upon us again.”

Sugihara cited cuts to arts funding, shifting corporate priorities, industry contractions, mass layoffs and shrinking writers’ rooms. “The truth is, it is a strange and concerning time, but nobody ever said a career in the arts would be stable,” she said. “If I can think about what CAPE can try to be, I hope we can provide some measure of stability and strength in this rapidly changing industry.”

Since taking the helm in 2015, Sugihara said CAPE has grown from one fellowship program to nine fellowships and grants. The organization also consults with major studios and streamers on scripts, content and promotion, conducts research, creates resources for writers’ rooms and creative executives, and awards production grants.

The gala’s fundraising reflected the organization’s need for continued support. The evening began with approximately $150,000 raised and reached $181,000 before Ali and his Delhi Boys co-star Saagar Shaikh took the stage for a 10- to 15-minute fundraising break.

The pair made playful appeals to the “many rich people” in the room and referenced The Pitt’s recent Emmy haul as they pushed toward CAPE’s goal of raising at least $350,000 by the end of the night.

Several donations exceeding $20,000, including contributions from Netflix, STARZ and Paramount, quickly pushed the total past the goal to $351,118.

One donor also got in on the corporate humor, contributing $35 and identifying the gift as coming from the newly merged Paramount-Warner Bros. company, Skydance, after Paramount made its sizable donation.

Looking back on his two decades-plus in the industry, Randall Park, the second honoree of the evening, accepting the Renaissance Award, delivered one of the night’s biggest laughs when he compared his career as an actor, writer and director to the great Renaissance figures Leonardo da Vinci and Michelangelo. “I say this with humility. I can’t think of anyone who deserves this award more than me,” Park joked. After describing da Vinci and Michelangelo’s accomplishments, Park offered his own resume: “The man who played Asian Jim in one scene of The Office. Kim Jung Un in a movie that almost started a war. And in an episode of House, M.D., I played a man who tried to circumcise himself. Look it up, it’s a real thing.”

But his speech eventually moved away from the joke and toward the community that has supported him throughout his career. “Look, all of this career stuff is great, but the best stuff happens amongst our family and friends and our community,” Park said. “So I want to take this time to thank my family and thank my friends and thank you all because you all are my community.”

Accepting the Radiance Award for the women of The Pitt, executive producer and writer Simran Baidwan was joined onstage by members of the cast and crew, including Isa Briones and Tal Anderson. The series’ AAPI talent also includes Supriya Ganesh, Amielynn Abellera and Krista Villanueva.

“This means more to me than I can adequately express,” Baidwan said. “Yes, it is a recognition of all the hard work that comes from behind the camera to in front of the camera, but it’s also a recognition that representation matters. Our stories matter. We matter,” she continued. “Gina Prince-Bythewood once said: ‘Cultural specificity doesn’t yell your name, it brings you in.’ And in The Pitt, we truly take that to heart by spending great time and care to tell authentic, meaningful, complex stories from the very perspectives of AAPI women and non-binary folks working in the healthcare industry, all of whom are too often tokenized or cast aside from television.”

Baidwan added: “But as API writers, actors, directors and producers, we’ve been given the privileged platform with which we can not only entertain, but also educate, elevate and effectuate positive change in the way the world sees us.”

Baidwan also credited showrunner and creator R. Scott Gemmill, along with John Wells and Noah Wyle, as “fearless allies” in that effort.

Jacinto closed the ceremony by looking back at his first CAPE gala 10 years ago. He recalled seeing actors and creatives he had admired from afar, including Ali Wong, Bing Chen and Daniel Dae Kim. He also remembered that the invitation gave him an excuse to ask a woman out on a date. “Being invited also gave me an excuse to ask a girl out on a date as well, so thank you, CAPE, for that, for being my wing man,” Jacinto said of his then-girlfriend, now wife Dianne Doan.

Jacinto joked about how much his peers had accomplished over the past decade, from Wong’s Emmy win for Beef to Kim’s ever-sharp cheekbones, but said one thing had remained consistent: CAPE’s support for the community. “They continue to push diverse stories to connect all of us and provide resources to upcoming talent, especially to those who don’t necessarily feel like this industry is meant for them,” he said.

Other honorees of the night included Walt Disney Studios’ Kalikolehua Hurley, who received the Changemaker Award; Ben Wang, who received the Rising Star Award; Kitao Sakurai, who received the Visionary Award; Netflix executive Jinny Howe, who was honored with the Decision Maker Award; and filmmaker Cami Kwan, who spoke on behalf of CAPE’s Julia S. Gouw Short Film Challenge program.

The evening also featured presenters including Auliʻi Cravalho, Nisha Ganatra, Ali Ahn, Sherry Cola, Lilly Singh, and Callina Liang, as well as the indie band Chanpan.