Who are the Filipino creative minds in Hollywood?

She had her breakthrough role as  Cassandra in Wayne’s World and Wayne’s World 2. Subsequently, Tia Carrere returned to her Hawaiian roots,  starring in Disney’s animated film Lilo & Stitch. At the same time, on the musical front, she was nominated  four times and won the Grammy twice with her records ‘ikena and Huana Ke Aloha. Her recent appearances  were in Michael Patrick King’s series AJ & the Queen starring RuPaul, Amblin Films’ Easter Sunday starring  JoKoy and Mindy Kaling’s Never Have I Ever.  

The seasoned TV showrunner has over 15 years wealth of experience producing unscripted shows for television. Vanessa Ballesteros has led large production teams to execute creative requirements for many top-rated series on broadcast and cable networks, including ABC, CBS, FOX, ESPN and MTV. Ballesteros received two Emmy nominations for The Amazing Race in two consecutive years. As a senior producer of the hit reality show, she won the Emmy for Outstanding Reality-Competition Program in 2014.

A member of the Hollywood’s Motion Picture Editors Guild, Producers Guild, Television Academy and a licensed FAA Part 107 drone pilot, Mark Arbitrario is a television producer and director creating content in Asia and the US. He was executive producer and director of Asia’s Next Top Model 4 and the show director for Character Media’s Unforgettable Gala Awards. He first started his career editing Emmy award-winning American series, The Voice, Survivor and The Contender.

Born in California, the American actor and producer with Filipino roots Dante Ebasco is best known as the voice actor for Prince Zuko in the 2005 animated television series Avatar: The Last Airbender and Jake Long in American Dragon: Jake Long. He’s also known for his roles in the movies Hook (1991), But I’m a Cheerleader (1999), Hang Loose (2012) and Fakin’ Da Funk (1997). Last year, he appeared alongside Filipino actor KC Concepcion in Asian Persuasion, a movie directed by Tony and Grammy winner Jhett Tolentino.

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As the founder and principal partner of Mano Y Mano Media, a premium, boutique media strategy firm, Winston Emano has represented more than 230 feature films and more than three dozen current NBA and NFL athletes. His works have resulted in 28 All-Interview team selections, five Academy Awards, three Peabody Awards and two Independent Spirit Awards, two Webby Award and client endorsement valuations totaling well over a quarter of a billion dollars. He also co-founded the popular annual Asian Filmmakers Reception at the Sundance Film Festival.

Newly minted president of theWest Coast Entertainment  Marketing division of 42West, Annalee Paulo oversees theatrical, streaming, corporate and personal PR campaigns. For almost  20 years, she has worked on campaigns for A24, Amazon, Apple TV+, Focus Features, Disney, HBO, HBO Max,  Funimation, Netflix and Lionsgate. She also leads personal PR for film and entertainment luminaries.

Helming his eponymous publicity and marketing firm, David  Magdael & Associates, for the last two decades, David Magdael has been helping filmmakers strategise their campaigns for some of the world’s most prestigious film festivals. The strategist has also been a longtime Academy of Motion  Pictures Arts and Sciences member and co-director of the LA Asian Pacific Film Festival since 1997. He is a mentor at the Sundance Institute Documentary Producers Lab and with other institutions, universities,  festivals and media organisations.

The multi-Emmy Award winner is a founding producer of shows that redefined news and re-branded genres of daytime viewership in America. Lisa Lew was one of the founding executive producers and creators of the revolutionary Last Shot with Judge Gunn, an American reality-based nontraditional court show. As president of P&L Media Lew, together with her husband and business partner, Peter Brennan, Lew was one of the key figures behind the launching of Rupert Murdoch’s Fox Network. She has won eight Emmy awards, a fruit of years of production of legal and high-profile stories throughout the world. 

California-born talent manager at Authentic Entertainment, Chris Lee specialises in working with Asian talent and advocates creation of stories that represent Asian culture. Lee graduated from California State University San Marcos with a business degree in Information Technology. He has worked at various agencies spanning different departments from unscripted, below the line and talent.

As the trailblazing leader of Birns and Sawyer, a professional film production equipment provider, Mari Acevedo spearheaded the company’s initiative to launch a filmmaker grant aimed at supporting aspiring filmmakers from underserved communities. Her visionary leadership culminated in  the successful launch of the inaugural FilAm Creative Film Festival, drawing thousands of attendees—an  exceptional achievement for a first-year festival in the competitive Los Angeles landscape. 

As the assistant executive director of DGA, Faith Santilla now holds a position which makes her the highest-ranking Asian in all entertainment industry labour.  In her capacity, her deep union experience and specialised labour knowledge is instrumental in the industry, specifically in working with assistant directors (AD) and unit production managers (UPM) in the western region and liaising with the Guild’s Western AD /UPM Council. 

Filipino-American Francis Dela Torre is an award-winning music video director as well as a producer and cinematographer. Since 2019, he has worked on Electric Entertainment’s television series, Almost Paradise,  created by Dean Devlin, writer /producer of Independence Day, Stargate and The Patriot.

One of the first Filipino women in the DGA, Marie Jamora has directed episodes of  Queen Sugar, Fire Country, The Resident, Grease: Rise of the Pink Ladies and both seasons of The Cleaning  Lady. She produced and directed her films Flip the Record and Harana, which respectively won the Grand Jury Awards for Best Narrative Short at Urbanworld and the Sarasota Film Festival. Her feature What Isn’t There (Ang Nawawala) internationally premiered at the Slamdance Film Festival after winning the Audience Award at the Cinemalaya Film Festival.

Always in attendance at red carpet events in Hollywood, Sthanlee Miradior’s works have been used in top entertainment news channels and lifestyle magazines and distributed to major publications in the US and more than 40 territories worldwide. He has an impressive portfolio spans 24 years of covering major Hollywood awards shows, movie premieres, film festivals and other celebrity events.

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Husband-and-wife tandem Janet and Ruben Nepales are two reputable names in Hollywood’s entertainment scene. Janet is the first  Filipina voting member and Associate of the Golden Globe Awards, where she has been a member since  2008. She was also an executive producer of the Golden Globes for four consecutive years. Ruben, on the  other hand, has won six first prizes from the National Entertainment Journalism and awards from the  Southern California Journalism Awards, presented by the Los Angeles Press Club. He was the first Filipino to be elected to membership to Hollywood Foreign Press Association (HFPA), which was renamed the Golden Globes, the body of international journalists that votes on and presents the prestigious Golden Globe Awards. 

The Emmy Award-winning reporter Victoria Recaño is a correspondent at Inside Edition, which pioneered the television news magazine format in the US. Sitting down with some of the most influential people in the world, including Bill Gates, US  President Barack Obama, Tom Cruise and Wolfgang Puck, she has covered stories ranging from business and politics to entertainment and lifestyle. 

Founder and CEO of LXV Enterprises, LLC, an independent producer and director, Ted Benito’s mission is to produce, present and promote the talents of Filipinos, Filipino-Americans and Asian-Americans in all genres of creative and performing arts. His notable projects include After the Storm: A Fundraiser for Typhoon  Haiyan Victims and the Manila International Film Festival 2024. 

Accomplished actor and director Mark Dacascos Dacascos recently played Kong Pak,  one of the lead roles in the critically acclaimed HBO Max series Warrior. His most memorable recent performance was portraying the lethal assassin Zero in John Wick: Chapter 3 Parabellum opposite Keanu  Reeves and Halle Berry. His turn as The Chairman of the Food Network’s hit show, Iron Chef America,  launched him into pop icon status with over 200 episodes and counting on the Food Network. He also took his turn on the dance floor, transforming his martial arts moves into dancing magic on ABC’s hit show,  Dancing With the Stars. His first directing stint was with the Showdown in Manila feature film starring Casper  Van Dien and Tia Carrere.

Prolific actor Lou Diamond Phillips has received an Emmy nomination for Outstanding Actor  in a Short Form Drama or Comedy for his roles in Amazon’s Conversations in LA and History Channel’s  Crossroads of History. Recently, he starred in Fox’s series, Prodigal Son and the acclaimed Netflix series, Longmire, which is based on the Walt Longmire mystery novels by Craig Johnson. Born in the Philippines, Phillips grownup in Texas and is a graduate of the University of Texas with a BFA in Drama.

An MFA graduate from the American Film Institute, Sandra Valde Hansen has done feature films, television shows and documentaries. Recently, the talented cinematographer has completed working with showrunner and New York Times Best Selling Author Jenny Han on her two TV series, XO, Kitty Season 1 for Netflix and The Summer I Turned Pretty Season 2 for Amazon. In 2022, she fulfilled her lifelong dream of becoming a member of the prestigious American Society of Cinematographers.

These creative minds and talented individuals along with local Filipino filmmakers, and organisations like the MMFF and the MIFF are mutually supporting each other to achieve one goal: to uplift the Philippine cinema industry—one of Asia’s first—and seek audience beyond our borders. “We’ve made a few successes here and there; the talent is clearly there. But as far as doing something collectively that’s identifiably Filipino, we’re not quite there as yet. So that’s what we’re trying to do,” says Emano. “Let originality shine. This is an interesting time to be in theatrical distribution. Still, I’m also a believer that in an era of hybrid distribution, what’s going to win are original stories and quality of work. Again, the desire must be to have our films seen outside our own spheres.” 

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