For far too long, Hollywood has been an insular, exclusive club...and somewhat of a “boys’ club” at that. But times are changing.
CAPE has joined forces with Janet Yang Productions to provide short film production grants of $25,000 each to four Asian and/or Pacific Islander woman or non-binary filmmakers. The grant is funded for Year 3 by Julia S. Gouw with additional support from Asian Women Leadership in Philanthropy Fund, Sandra Choi, Cindy Huang, Luyi Khasi, Jessy Li, Priscilla Lim, Jean Shim, Monica Suryapranata, Toni Wang, and Gillian Yu.
The four grantees in the Julia S. Gouw Short Film Challenge will be offered unparalleled networking opportunities with Emmy Award- and Golden Globe-winning Hollywood producer Janet Yang and the CAPE network, along with the chance to submit films to potential buyers and platforms with access to industry professionals including agents, managers, producers and studio executives.
THE JULIA S. GOUW SHORT FILM CHALLENGE IS BACK FOR THE 2025 CYCLE.
APPLICATION DETAILS BELOW.
OUR 2024 GRANTEES
DIA FRAMPTON
“You Have Arrived”
Dia Frampton (she/her) always knew she wanted to be a storyteller. She believes that movies can create change, and are a vital way to help people empathize with others. She first started telling stories through music, performing her original songs on tour across the US, Europe, and Asia. But after having written songs for screen, she started writing her own screenplays. She has completed multiple feature film scripts, and is currently working on a new coming-of-age feature about two Korean American sisters growing up in Utah. She’s currently repped at Luber Roklin and Authentic management.
JILL SACHS
“Taga”
Jill Sachs (she/her) is a mixed Filipina-American writer-director, passionate about using genre to challenge oppressive narratives and amplify the voices of those whose fears and desires are often overlooked. Jill earned her MFA in Directing from AFI, and was a Finalist of both the Disney-AFI Underrepresented Storytellers Initiative and the 2023 Julia S. Gouw Short Film Challenge. She won 2nd place at the 2024 Screencraft Short competition, with her travel/folk horror, TAGA. Her films have won awards at festivals like BendFilm, Cinequest, Mallorca, Filmquest and more. Jill currently works in animation at Psyop, and enjoys backpacking, art and all things spooky.
LINDSAY WATSON
“When Life Gives You Lemons”
Lindsay Watson (she/her), a Native Hawaiian writer and director from Maui, began her career as an actress having starred in films like Netflix’s FINDING ‘OHANA, immersing herself in the world of performance. During this time, she discovered a profound passion for storytelling. Driven by a fascination with the complexities of the human experience, Lindsay strives to tell stories that reflect real life – all while adding a flare of her Hawaiian upbringing. She is determined to create stories and opportunities that uplift her fellow Native Hawaiians. In 2022, Lindsay wrote, directed, and produced her debut short film, LOTTO BOY, which is currently in post-production.
RADHA MEHTA
“Sunna (Listen)”
Radha Mehta (she/her) is a civil engineer-turned-filmmaker with an MFA in Film Directing at AFI; a Disability Belongs Entertainment Fellow; a BIPOC Deaf Arts Grant Recipient; and voting member of The Recording Academy. Her works stem from personal experience as a South Asian first-gen mother with the disability of being hard-of-hearing and explores themes of motherhood, women empowerment, and dismantling cultural taboos around mental health and disabilities. Radha's award winning films include DOSH (Slamdance Spirit Award); EVAN EVER AFTER (Florida Film Festival & Out On Film Jury Award); and BEING GINA (STARZ/Lionsgate/WRAP Top 3 Finalist).
SEERET SINGH | “Good Indian Girl”
Honorable Mention
Seeret Singh (she/her) is an LA-based Punjabi-Sikh actor, writer, and director driven by art with a social conscience. Born and raised in post-9/11 New York, Seeret quickly became acquainted with society’s dangerously misinformed perceptions of brown communities and the media’s role in perpetuating them. Now she’s dedicated to telling stories for her communities that show all dimensions of the marginalized experience. Her films have screened in museums, universities, and festivals internationally. Her current project “SORRY AUNTIE” is an exploration of the multi-generational effects of cultural taboo. If Seeret were a tea, she’d be a light and floral jasmine.
2024 FINALISTS
Afia Nathaniel (she/her) is one of Pakistan’s foremost female auteurs whose debut feature DUKHTAR premiered to a rousing reception at Toronto in 2014 and became Pakistan’s Official Oscar Submission, playing to critical acclaim in more than 20 countries, especially in US where it was honored as a Critics Pick (Village Voice), labelled as “exquisite” by New York Times, and billed as “a road journey to end all road journeys” by Huffington Post. In 2022, as the NBCU Female Forward Fellow, Afia became the first Pakistani-American female director to be hired by a US network/studio in episodic directing for one-hour dramas.
Katherine Chou (she/her) is a Taiwanese American writer and filmmaker whose work explores identity and personhood through a magical realist lens. Her short, “A Cure For All Things,” screened at festivals internationally with support and recognition from Visual Communications’ Armed With a Camera Fellowship, Starz, Women in Film, and The Wrap. She is an alum of the NAFF Fantastic Film School and produces theatre with Artists at Play. Previously, she worked in post-production on films at HBO, Warner Bros., and 20th Century Studios. A graduate of Sciences Po Paris, she has called many places home across North America, Europe, and Asia.
Meena Ramamurthy (she/her) is a comedy writer/director from the Texas border. Meena wrote on Boons and Curses, a Netflix adventure-comedy inspired by the warrior legends of South Asia. She also wrote on Ghee Happy, the Annie award-winning Netflix series about playful Hindu gods. Meena is the creator of The FOB and I, a webseries about Indian identity featured by NBC and called “a solution to Hollywood’s diversity problem.” Meena is a graduate of University of Texas’ film program and USC’s M.F.A in Film and TV Production. She is passionate about writing stories of women with wild ambitions.
THANK YOU TO OUR YEAR 3 DONORS
THANK YOU TO OUR YEAR 3 IN-KIND DONORS
PAST GRANTEES
2023 GRANTEES
DOROTHY XIAO
“Only in This World”
Official website: dorxiao.com
KRISTY CHOI
“You Left Me a Ghost”
Official website: kristy-choi.com
RIPPIN SINDHER
“Flight 182”
Official website: sindherella.com
SHRUTI PAREKH
“Zari”
Official website: shrutiparekh.com
2022 GRANTEES
BANBAN CHENG
“Hearsay”
Official website: chengfilm.com
LIZ SARGENT
“Take Me Home”
Official website: sargentliz.com
RAGINI BHASIN
“Happy Rakhi”
Official website: raginibhasin.com
JANET YANG is an Emmy Award and Golden Globe-winning Hollywood producer and currently the President of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences.
Yang has worked with some of the most formidable filmmakers and talent in the world. She came to prominence through her collaboration with Steven Spielberg on Empire of the Sun (Warner Bros). That was followed by a long partnership with multiple Academy Award-winner Oliver Stone—where she served as Executive Producer on the iconic The Joy Luck Club (Disney), and as a Producer on the Golden Globe-winning The People vs. Larry Flynt (Columbia Pictures). Her most recent credit is as an Executive Producer on the Oscar-nominated animated feature, Over the Moon. Based on her original story, the film was directed by legendary animator Glen Keane and released on Netflix in 2020.
Among her many other credits are: the Sundance award-winning Dark Matter (Universal Pictures) with Meryl Streep; The Weight of Water (Lionsgate) directed by Academy Award winner Kathryn Bigelow with Academy Award winner Sean Penn; Savior (Lionsgate) with Dennis Quaid; South Central (Warner Bros.) directed by Steve Anderson; High Crimes (Fox) with Morgan Freeman; a Chinese adaptation of the acclaimed Disney franchise High School Musical; cult favorites Zero Effect (Columbia Pictures), by Jake Kasdan, and Shanghai Calling with China Film Group. Yang won an Emmy and Golden Globe Award for the HBO movie Indictment: The McMartin Trial.
Most recently, Yang was named one of the “50 Most Powerful Women in Hollywood” by the Hollywood Reporter, Variety's Power of Women 2023, and was featured on the Forbes 2024 “50 over 50” List.
Yang is a co-founder of Gold House, serves on the IMAX China Board, the Forbes APEX VIP Founding Advisory Board, and the Board of Unified Youth, a mental health initiative.
Yang is the first Asian American president of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences and also has a pillar dedicated to her inside the Renzo Piano-designed Academy Museum of Motion Pictures.
For more information, visit janetyang.com.
JULIA S. GOUW is the Chairwoman of Piermont Bank, a commercial bank in New York. She was the former President and Chief Operating Officer of East West Bank.
Gouw was ranked one of the “25 Most Powerful Women in Banking” five times by American Banker magazine and has received the Los Angeles Business Journal’s “Women Making a Difference” award two times in recognition of her achievements and philanthropic contributions.
Gouw was a board member of the Trusteeship, an International Women’s Forum affiliate organization that connects preeminent women in leadership positions across various professional fields.
Gouw currently serves as a member of the Board of Directors of Pacific Life and VIZIO (NYSE: VZIO). She was appointed as a Commissioner of Ontario International Airport Authority (OIAA) in September 2016. The OIAA provides overall direction for the management, operations, development and marketing of Ontario International Airport in Southern California.
Gouw is a member of the Board of Advisors of the Ronald Reagan UCLA Medical Center. She was the founding chair of Executive Advisory Board of the UCLA Women’s Health to promote women’s health both in research and medical treatments. She also endowed the UCLA Chair of Mood Disorders Research especially in women in memory of Dr. Lori Altshuler.
Born and raised in Indonesia, Gouw came to the United States in 1978 where she earned her B.S. degree in accounting from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign.
