Variety and Gold House Announce APIs Up Next in Entertainment for 2024
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In collaboration with Gold House, Variety unveils its first list of Eight Asian Pacific Islanders: Up Next in Entertainment.
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The list celebrates Asian Pacific Islanders across the diaspora of entertainment and highlights rising global talent. The group are changemakers from TV and the executive side. These are individuals whose work is about making change and having an impact. They are “up next” for major recognition in the industry.
Bing Chen, co-founder and CEO of Gold House, says, “We’re more inspired than ever by the level and breadth of talent our community continues to power. From filmmakers to executives to augmenters, the eight APIs Up Next in Entertainment are redefining their roles and creating a more excellent and equitable future for creativity.”
Here are this year’s honorees.
Jeremiah Abraham
Founder and CEO,
Tremendous Communications
From potential computer engineer to entertainment powerhouse: Abraham says everything he does is in service of one vision — uplifting Asian American voices, talent and value within entertainment. Tremendous Communications has helped work on publicity and consulting for projects like “Everything Everywhere All at Once,” “Joy Ride” and “Never Have I Ever.” His clients include Paramount Pictures, Netflix and more.
Abraham also served as a co-producer on the Tony Award nominated “Here Lies Love,” the first
Broadway musical to feature an all-Filipino cast. He also serves on the board of directors for Filipinos
Advancing Creative Education (FACE) and on the board of advisers for FilAm Arts.
“I want to make sure that the work that we’re doing inspires folks to start their own thing, enables our creators to get the attention and opportunities that they deserve,” Abraham says. “We’re so talented. We’re tremendous.”
Influences: Filmmakers Diane Paragas and Isabel Sandoval, and publicist Terra Potts.
Simone Kessell
Actor
In Showtime’s “Yellowjackets,” Kessell stars as the version of teen plane crash survivor Lottie Matthews — who happens to be a cult leader.
This trait was a draw for Kessell, who considers herself a character actor. “I love an accent. I love physicality. I love a costume — hair, makeup. Things that take me places.”
As an actor of Māori heritage, Kessell speaks to the importance of representation: “Growing up in New Zealand, you don’t often see Māori or Pacific Islanders portrayed in a loving light.
We’re either the addicts or the poor single mums or the broken families … I was determined to shake that tree.”
Kessell is excited to be a founder of the Actors Koha, a nonprofit empowering young Māori and Pacific Islanders to pursue acting: “If I can use the recognition, my tenacity, my hard work in this industry, to show the younger generation, saying, ‘There is more. You can dream big. You can afford to have your dreams.’
Next up, she stars in AppleTV+’s “The Last Frontier.”
Influences: Rachel House, Cliff Curtis, Taika Waititi
Christina Li Collins
VP, Integrated Planning Synergy Walt Disney Co.
Collins has held several roles, from A&R to digital marketing across a plethora of different industries. Since 2023, Collins has led a team at Disney facilitating collaborations between the House of Mouse and its various business partners, which most recently includes the launch of Hulu on Disney+, preparing
for D23: The Ultimate Fan Event in August and working on synergy activations for the hit show “Shōgun.” She is also the co-leader of Impact, one of Disney’s AAPI employee resource groups that works to foster representation and community within the Disney Corp.
Collins aims to pass forward her experience to the next generation by volunteering on the board at Young
Storytellers, a nonprofit that provides mentorship to aspiring filmmakers.
“As AAPI stories and creatives become more prominent in entertainment, I’m glad we’re uplifting AAPI marketing and business leads alongside. Greater representation of AAPI leaders in marketing and distribution will help prioritize and amplify these stories at every touchpoint,” she says.
Influences: Ally Maki, Adam Grant and Simon Sinek
Erica Ling
Agent, WME
Hailing from the San Gabriel Valley, Ling started her career as an entertainment attorney at William Morris Endeavor (WME) almost eight years ago and later made the switch to agent. Ling is fluent in Mandarin, frequently navigating business between Hollywood and Asia.
Ling is always on the hunt for new artistic points of view and for genuinely human stories that can speak
to the larger collective experience. “Entertainment is so much bigger than it was just five years ago, and with the rapid globalization of cultures and content, there is an even greater need now for passionate representatives from all walks of life to identify and champion great talent,” says Ling.
She often reaches beyond writers, directors and actors to professionals in other industries such as food, music, fashion and art to find her next project. Ling believes that everyone has an important story to be told.
Influences: Phil Sun and Theresa Kang
Dana Ledoux Miller
Showrunner, Screenwriter
Miller served as showrunner and co-creator of the Netflix series “Thai Cave Rescue” and is currently co-writing the upcoming live-action “Moana” as well as writing for “Moana 2,” the animated sequel premiering in November. She co-founded Pasifika Entertainment Advancement Komiti (PEAK), which helps to foster space for creatives in Pasifika communities.
Miller, who is Samoan, says sitting in the theater watching the first “Moana” film and hearing it start with a chant done in Samoan made her weep. She says she knew at that moment that the movie would help change the way Pacific Islanders were viewed by the world and pave the way for more stories, which she is enthralled to be a part of telling.
“I’m always looking towards how I can support projects that are changing the way people think about Pacific Islanders,” Miller says. “The stories I tell are important, but I would say the work the community work is equally important. I think I’m no longer one without the other.”
Influences: Her University of Hawaii adviser and filmmaker Merata Mita
Young Mazino
Actor
Mazino’s breakout performance in the Netflix series “Beef ” earned him an Emmy nomination for supporting actor. Up next, he’s joining Season 2 of HBO’s “The Last of Us.”
“I started out playing characters that were so one-dimensional, in every shape and form,” Mazino says. “So now I’m much more eager to go the opposite way and play a character that requires me to expend a lot of my own energy and myself to figure it out.”
Mazino imagines a more diverse industry with “incredible artists emerging from the AAPI community.”
He emphasizes that he doesn’t want to be reduced to his ethnicity; he seeks roles transcendent of race. “If ‘Beef’ was any indicator, that’s like, yeah, we’re Asian. Get over it. We’re going to make some dope shit.”
Reflecting on his acting journey, Mazino says, “It feels like I’m tight roping really high up in the air. But it’s an absolutely beautiful view.”
Influences: Middle school orchestra teacher Mr. Caviness who “recognized [his] affinity for art,” lucid body movement teacher Thiago Felix, acting teacher/director Alex Purcell
Ambika Mod
Actor
Mod stole viewers’ hearts — and broke them — as Emma Morley in the hit Netflix romantic drama series “One Day.”
Mod says of her character, “Playing this woman — this sort of every woman — who grows up and faces the obstacles and hardships that women will relate to was really eye opening.”
Upon its release, social media was flooded with posts reacting to the show — you might even see TikTokers lip-synching to Mod’s dialogue. “I was all over everything like mayo. I went in deep, deep, deep,” Mod says of the internet craze. “I read everything, good and bad, which probably wasn’t
the best idea. But I’ve definitely had a sense of how massive it’s been and the impact it’s having on people.”
As for what’s next, Mod says, “I’m honestly just holding out for the right next thing that gives me a real gut punch. I’m looking forward to maybe writing again and working on my own stuff.
Influences: Ayo Edebiri
Sean Wang
Director, “Didi” “Nai Nai & Wài Pó”
“It felt very surreal, very bonkers,” says Wang as he reflects on his Oscars experience. He still can’t get over that his documentary short film, “Nai Nai and Wai Po,” landed a nomination. The film looked at the bond between his paternal and maternal grandmothers. But what was truly surreal was seeing them on the front page of Vanity Fair, the New York Times and GQ. “Those are my grandmas,” he says.
This year saw Wang transition from short films to features. He made his feature film debut ,“Didi,” and took it to Sundance, where Focus Features snapped up the coming-of-age film. It’s set for a July release. The seeds of “Didi” began seven years ago when Wang was thinking about films that shaped him as an adolescent. He wanted to write something about his personal experience, hyper-specific to stuff he hadn’t seen in films from that era.
It’s been a whirlwind for Wang. As “Didi’s” release date approaches, he looks forward to getting creative. “I’m ready to write again,” he declares.
Influences: Spike Jonze, Edward Yang and Carlos López Estrada
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