Gold House and CAPE (the Coalition of Asian Pacifics in Entertainment) have once again teamed up to announce the third annual Gold List, featuring Asian creatives in entertainment. The list not only recognizes and honors numerous incredible talented Asians in an industry that too often overlooks them, but also highlights their achievements heading into awards season.
It’s no surprise that critical darling Everything Everywhere All At Once is recognized in a variety of categories, including Best Picture, Best Original Screenplay, Best Director (Daniels), Best Performance in a Leading Role (Michelle Yeoh), Best Performance in a Supporting Role (Ke Huy Quan) and Breakout Performance (Stephanie Hsu).
It has been an incredible year for AAPI stories pushing the boundaries of expectations for what an Asian American story can be. Through films like Turning Red, After Yang, Umma, and many more, we are getting a taste of what it looks like for our stories to be refracted through the many prisms of genre and experimentation, a privilege once only reserved for storytellers not stuck in the margins. I, along with the rest of the Everything Everywhere All At Once family, are so honored to be a part of this moment for our community, and can’t wait to see what happens next.
Daniel Kwan (Daniels), Writer-Director of Everything Everywhere All At Once
In addition to Everything Everywhere All At Once, I appreciated that films like the Indian breakout hit RRR, Pixar’s Turning Red, and the Jeremy Lin documentary short film 38 At the Garden were all honored.
Reviewing the list, it really made me appreciate how many talented Asian creatives are currently thriving in the industry; an industry that historically actively worked to exclude them (as Ke Huy Quan). We certainly need more diverse creatives of all backgrounds in entertainment but it’s inspiring to see all of these amazingly talented people overcoming the systemic barriers.
I also greatly appreciate the work that organizations like Gold House and CAPE do to help fight those systemic barriers. While I have my own reservations about industry awards in Hollywood, the reality is that winning an award like the Academy Awards, Golden Globes or Emmy Awards can go a long way towards helping diverse talent land more roles. Hopefully the awards voters will be able to refer to the Gold List to conveniently identify Asian talent that deserve to be recognized.
Head over to https://goldhouse.org/goldlist/ for the full list of honorees!
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GOLD HOUSE & CAPE LAUNCH 2023 GOLD LIST TO CELEBRATE TOP ASIAN FILM ACHIEVEMENTS AND GUIDE VOTERS AS AWARDS SEASON TAKES OFF
Los Angeles, CA – Gold House and CAPE (Coalition of Asian Pacifics in Entertainment) debuted the third annual Gold List to guide voters ahead of the awards race by spotlighting and honoring the most outstanding work by Asian filmmakers and talent in the past year, as voted on by the community’s top creatives and leaders.
The groundbreaking Everything Everywhere All At Once leads with wins for Best Picture, Best Original Screenplay, Best Director (Daniels), Best Performance in a Leading Role (Michelle Yeoh), and Best Performance in a Supporting Role (Ke Huy Quan), with several honorable mentions.
International hits RRR and Decision to Leave garnered 5 honors each across the major categories, with RRR winning Best Original Song for “Naatu Naatu.” PIXAR’s Turning Red earned Best Animated Film; David Siev’s Bad Axe leads for Best Documentary; Dolly De Leon and Stephanie Hsu won for Breakout Performance, and Joyland rounded out the list with Breakout Independent Film.
In a year where Asian-helmed films continue to reach massive commercial success—from Everything Everywhere All At Once landing as A24’s highest-grossing film and Turning Red launching as Disney+’s most-watched film premiere—the Gold List is pushing for recognition by the gatekeepers of Hollywood’s biggest awards.
Indeed, Academy Award wins for Michelle Yeoh or Ke Huy Quan would make history again—no person of East, South, or Southeast Asian descent has ever won Best Actress, and the last (and only) actor of Asian descent to win Best Supporting Actor was Haing S. Ngor in 1984.
“Since its inception just 2 years ago, 15 Gold List honorees have gone on to receive Academy Award wins or nominations,” says Jeremy Tran, Executive Director and COO of Gold House. “Chloé Zhao, Youn Yuh-jung, and Riz Ahmed’s history-making wins, to name a few, underscore why vehicles like the Gold List that celebrate the most impactful creative achievements from and among the Asian community are essential signals that generate new creative development, production, and distribution opportunities for traditionally unrecognized communities.”
“The tides of authentic representation and storytelling are gradually and steadily turning as illustrated by this year’s impressive list,” said Michelle K. Sugihara, Executive Director of CAPE. “While incredible films and performances led by diverse artists have long-existed, they were often overlooked by Hollywood. The Gold List was created to accelerate much-needed change during the awards season by highlighting the year’s best Asian-led films across mainstream and grassroots campaigns.”
Amplifying Asian talent during the awards race serves as an extension of the critical cultural consultation, next generation talent fellowships, and the groundbreaking #GoldOpen movement from the two organizations—collectively ensuring the authentic and affirming portrayal of Asian Pacific stories while propelling them to the top of the box office, including hits like Crazy Rich Asians, Parasite, and Everything Everywhere All At Once.
The Gold List spans 14 categories, and for the first time, adopted gender-neutral acting categories to be inclusive of nonbinary artists. Prominent leaders from the Gold Open Advisory Council, Gold House Members, CAPE Board Members and Advisors, and entertainment industry heavyweights consist of the Gold List voting body.
The full list of Gold List selections are below:
Best Picture
Everything Everywhere All At Once
Honorable Mentions: Decision to Leave and RRR
Best Director
Daniels (Everything Everywhere All At Once)
Honorable Mentions: Park Chan-wook (Decision to Leave) and S.S. Rajamouli (RRR)
Best Performance in a Leading Role
Michelle Yeoh (Everything Everywhere All At Once)
Honorable Mentions: N.T. Rama Rao Jr. (RRR), Park Hae-il (Decision to Leave), Ram Charan (RRR), Song Kang-ho (Broker), Tang Wei (Decision to Leave)
Best Performance in a Supporting Role
Ke Huy Quan (Everything Everywhere All At Once)
Honorable Mentions: Dolly De Leon (Triangle of Sadness), Gemma Chan (Don’t Worry Darling), Hong Chau (The Whale), Stephanie Hsu (Everything Everywhere All At Once), Steven Yeun (Nope)
Best Original Screenplay
Daniels (Everything Everywhere All At Once)
Honorable Mentions: Domee Shi and Julia Cho (Turning Red) and Park Chan-wook and Jeong Seo-kyeong (Decision to Leave)
Best Adapted Screenplay
Kazuo Ishiguro (Living)
Honorable Mention: Kogonada (After Yang)
Best Animated Feature
Turning Red
Honorable Mention: Inu-Oh and Run, Tiger, Run!
Best Documentary Feature
Bad Axe
Honorable Mentions: All That Breathes and Hidden Letters
Best Original Song
“Naatu Naatu” by M.M. Keeravani, Kaala Bhairava, and Rahul Sipligunj (RRR)
Honorable Mentions: “New Body Rhumba” by Nancy Whang, Pat Mahoney, and James Murphy (White Noise) and “This Is A Life” by Son Lux, Mitski, and David Byrne (Everything Everywhere All At Once)
Best Live Action Short
Moshari
Honorable Mentions: Lori and The Gift
Best Animated Short
Love, Dad
Honorable Mentions: 7 Lbs 8 Oz and Bird in the Peninsula
Best Documentary Short
38 At The Garden
Honorable Mentions: As Far As They Can Run and The Elephant Whisperers
Breakout Performance
Dolly De Leon (Triangle of Sadness) and Stephanie Hsu (Everything Everywhere All At Once)
Breakout Independent Film
Joyland
For more information about the Gold List, visit thegoldlist.org.
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ABOUT GOLD HOUSE
Gold House powers cultural change by uniting, investing in, and elevating Asian Pacific creators and companies. Our innovative programs and platforms include membership systems and events to fortify relationships within the Asian Pacific community and across marginalized communities (#StopAsianHate); investments in the next generation of top Asian Pacific founders, creatives, and social impact leaders (Gold House Futures, Gold House Ventures); and the promotion of affirming Asian Pacific projects and narratives (Gold Story Consultation, Gold Open, Gold List, A100 List). To learn more, visit www.goldhouse.org or follow @GoldHouseCo on Instagram, Twitter, Facebook, and LinkedIn.
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 or visit our website at capeusa.org.
Ron is the founder and Editor-in-Chief of POC Culture. He is a big believer in the power and impact of pop culture and the importance of representation in media.
