CAPE Celebrates the Graduation of Executives for the 5th Annual Leaders Fellowship
(L-R; First Row) Emily Furutani, Evelyn Hu, Janice Lee; (Second Row) Mahak Jiwani, Christina Raquel, Sam Campos, Wendy Chuong
Los Angeles, CA – CAPE (Coalition of Asian Pacifics in Entertainment), the leading film and television industry organization for Asian and Pacific Islanders, celebrates the graduation of 2021 Class of executives selected for its fifth annual CAPE Leaders Fellowship, a coveted industry-leading accelerator that equips rising creative executives with the skills and professional network to break into the VP ranks and beyond.
The program took place virtually where fellows participated in master classes, workshops, roundtables, and one-on-one mentoring sessions with high-level industry executives.
Led by top industry executives, the Fellowship is co-chaired by CAPE Board Members Albert Cheng, COO and Co-Head of Television, Amazon Studios; Naia Cucukov, EVP of Development and Production, Walden Media; and Peter McHugh, Partner and Manager, The Gotham Group.
“With the continued awareness and popularity of CLF we were honored to consider and meet so many impressive candidates,” said CAPE Leaders Fellowship Co-chair and Board Member Peter McHugh. “We congratulate this exceptional class of executives and welcome them to this fellowship for today and tomorrow’s leaders. We look forward to their continued ascent in the industry and we hope the conversations and connections over the last few weeks have just begun and will continue to benefit the fellows throughout their careers.”
For the first time ever in the fellowship, the Class of 2021 consisted of all women (expanded bios below):
Christina Raquel | Director, Development, Film, Outlier Society
Emily Furutani | Director, Comedy Development, Universal Television
Evelyn Hu | Manager, Scripted Series - Spectacle & Event TV, Netflix
Janice Lee | Manager, Original Independent Film, Netflix
Mahak Jiwani | Manager, Scripted Content, Jigsaw Productions
Sam Campos | Manager, Drama Development, ABC Entertainment
Wendy Chuong | Manager, Original Series, Netflix
2021 CAPE Leaders Fellowship Graduation at Ca’ Del Sole in Toluca Lake, California. Photo by Hao Feng.
The program has already seen multiple success stories with alumni promoted into the senior ranks including: Jon Wu, Head of Filmed Content, The Green Room; Lindsey Gui, VP, Content Business Operation, WB Animation and Cartoon Network Studios; Kenny Tsai, Vice President, Current Programming, Universal Television; Katharine Wu, Genre Series Executive, Amazon Studios; Alex Lin, Film and TV Development Executive, 88rising; Rebecca Cho, SVP, Film Development and Production, Proximity Media; San Heng, 2021 Emmy Award-Winning Executive Producer, RuPaul's Drag Race Untucked. Additionally, all executives from the 2018 and 2019 classes have since been promoted.
Speakers this year include Nina Yang Bongiovi (Co-Founder & Producer, Significant Productions), Aaron Edmonds (VP, Motion Pictures Development and Production, Lionsgate), Laverne McKinnon (Producer/Partner, K&L Productions), Jessica Kumai Scott (President, Kaling International), program alumni Mohan Mandali (Fabel Entertainment) and Nayantara Roy (STARZ), among others.
"A wide range of research from the Harvard Business Review to the Ascend Foundation confirms that Asian Americans are the least likely race/ethnic group to be promoted from individual contributor roles into management," said CAPE Board Chair Sanjay Sharma who is also the Founder & CEO, Marginal MediaWorks. "There is so much work to be done both in front of and especially behind the camera - in the executive and decision making ranks of Hollywood. For years, CAPE’s CLF Program has focused on sourcing, nurturing and networking the next gen of Asian American leaders across studios, streamers and agencies, ensuring these organizations move from just diversity in hiring toward diversity in promotion."
“In tandem with our CAPE New Writers Fellowship, the CAPE Leaders Fellowship completes our bottom-up and top-down approach to changing the narrative Hollywood tells about APIs,” adds CAPE Executive Director Michelle K. Sugihara. “Dismantling the systemic issues in film and television cannot be done without these executive decision-makers.”
Fellowship partners include Netflix, ViacomCBS, and STARZ and is supported, in part, by the Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors through the Los Angeles County Department of Arts and Culture.
The CAPE Leaders Fellowship is one of three development programs at CAPE along with the CAPE New Writers Fellowship, which will enter its tenth year in 2022 and recently opened for submissions, and the CAPE Animation Directors Accelerator, which made its inaugural launch last month.
For more information, visit capeusa.org.
About CAPE
CAPE is the premier non-profit organization creating opportunities and driving change for Asian and Pacific Islander (API) success in Hollywood. We work to shift culture through storytelling to create a better world. For the past 30 years, we have fought for API representation in film and television, because what we watch on our screens should reflect the world in which we live and project a better one. CAPE advances representation for APIs in Hollywood through three main verticals: (1) nurturing and engaging creative talent and executive leadership; (2) providing cultural script consulting and talent referrals; and (3) championing projects for critical box office and streaming success. Follow @capeusa on Instagram and Twitter.
EXPANDED BIOS
Christina Raquel is the Director of Development in Film at Outlier Society, where she helps source, develop, and oversee projects on their growing slate. Before joining Outlier Society as an assistant, Christina got her start at WME, working in the literary and motion picture departments. A proud daughter of Filipino immigrants, Christina was born and raised in Los Angeles. She received her BA from Columbia University.
Emily Furutani is a fifth-generation Japanese American hailing from Los Angeles. She’s currently Director of Comedy Development at Universal Television and has worked on such shows as Kenan (NBC), Connecting… (NBC) and Peacock’s upcoming comedy series Bust Down. Prior to her role, she was Manager of Current Programming at UTV and covered shows such as Magnum, P.I. (CBS), Sunnyside (NBC) and Never Have I Ever (Netflix). Emily began her career at NBCUniversal International Studios and is a graduate of San Francisco State University where she majored in Broadcast Electronic Communication Arts.
Evelyn Hu is a creative executive at Netflix, where she and her team develop and produce Spectacle & Event TV content for audiences around the world. She serves as an exec on shows including The Chair, Three Body Problem, Sandman, Vikings Valhalla and Archive 81. Prior to Netflix, she worked in International Film Sales at AGC Studios and Shanghai-based ministudio Fundamental Films. She began her career as a Deal Advisory & Strategy consultant at KPMG specializing in Media & Technology.
Janice Lee is a manager in Netflix's Original Independent Film department. She served as creative executive on films including THE KISSING BOOTH franchise, ALL TOGETHER NOW, THE DEVIL ALL THE TIME, and upcoming films NO ONE GETS OUT ALIVE and THERE’S SOMEONE INSIDE YOUR HOUSE. Prior to Netflix, Lee was an executive at eOne/Sierra-Affinity where she supported titles ATOMIC BLONDE and HOW IT ENDS. Lee has also worked at Imagine and ICM. Before that, she got her start freelancing in production. She is a graduate of Boston University’s Film Production program.
Mahak Jiwani is a Manager of Scripted Content at Jigsaw Productions, splitting her time between the documentary and scripted departments, where she sources and develops compelling and diverse stories. She is also working as an associate producer on Alex Gibney’s latest documentary. Prior to Jigsaw, she worked as a production coordinator on narrative and documentary films and has produced several short films around the world. Her film DARLING won the Orizzonti Award for Best Short Film at Venice Film Festival, a first for a Pakistani film. She is a graduate of Columbia University’s Creative Producing program.
Sam Campos is a Manager in Drama Development at ABC Entertainment. In this position, she oversees projects from pitch to series as well as pursuing material to develop as dramas for the network. She began her career at Anonymous Content before starting at ABC as an assistant. There, she was promoted to coordinator and eventually manager. A native of the Chicagoland area, she graduated from DePaul University.
Wendy Chuong is a Manager of Original Series at Netflix on the Overall Deals Team where she oversees 21 Laps, Brad Falchuk, Steve Blackman, and many more. She has shepherded projects like Shadow & Bone, One Piece and Portrait of a Thief. Prior to Netflix, she graduated from USC before working at The CW in Development. Wendy was born in Shanghai and grew up in Atlanta, GA where she was raised by K-dramas and fantasy movies, giving birth to her love of books, IP and stories that champion inclusive, celebratory storytelling for everyone like her who longs to be seen.