OUR MISSION
CAPE champions diversity by educating, connecting, and empowering Asian American and Pacific Islander artists and leaders in entertainment and media.
CAPE empowers Asian and Pacific Islander voices in entertainment by championing people, stories, and culture.
CAPE’s impact:
People: CAPE supports creatives and executives through our career development programs and grants.
Stories: CAPE amplifies projects for critical box office and streaming success, advocating for representation that reflects the depth and nuance of Asian and Pacific Islander communities.
Culture: CAPE changes the cultural landscape through our consulting and talent referrals.
Through our industry-renowned work, CAPE is breaking barriers to representation from the writers’ room to the boardroom to your living room.
Founders Chris Lee, Wenda Fong, and Fritz Friedman with Director Ang Lee.
OUR HISTORY
CAPE was founded in 1991 by three Asian American executives working in Hollywood: publicist Fritz Friedman, television producer and creative executive Wenda Fong, and film producer and executive Chris Lee. They saw a need in the industry for Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders to regularly connect and support each other.
In October of 1991, a handful of friends and colleagues met in the private room of The Mandarin in Beverly Hills and determined that there was interest, support, and the desire to create a new organization with the common goal of advancing Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders in the entertainment industry. It was a time when pioneers like Wayne Wang (JOY LUCK CLUB), Ang Lee (WEDDING BANQUET), and Steven Okazaki (Oscar-winning DAYS OF WAITING) were punching through decades of media stereotypes. Hollywood had yet to grasp that Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders were about to become a significant force in the world´s most influential cultural industry.
On November 5, 1991, CAPE launched its first official mixer with 90 Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders film and television executives, producers, directors, writers, and actors. CAPE has grown tremendously from its humble beginnings in 1991 to an outreach of thousands of supporters. CAPE has become a mighty force in Hollywood. Many Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders have fostered and advanced their careers in entertainment by attending our numerous educational programs and opportunities that offer the tools and connections to excel in a highly competitive industry. CAPE gives voice and a forum to emerging and established actors, writers, directors, producers, agents, and executives, and has helped improve the landscape, relevance, and empowerment of AAPIs in the entertainment industry.