OUR STORY
In 2022, CAPE joined forces with Janet Yang Productions to form the Julia S. Gouw Short Film Challenge to provide short film production grants to four filmmakers in an effort to support Asian and Pacific Islander Women and Non-Binary filmmakers and their stories. The grant is supported and named after philanthropist Julia S. Gouw with additional support from Asian Women Leadership in Philanthropy Fund.
Four grantees are provided with a grant of $25K USD each as well as additional resources to make their short film possible. In addition, the grantees will be offered unparalleled networking opportunities with Emmy Award- and Golden Globe-winning Hollywood producer Janet Yang and the CAPE network as well as access to high-level industry professionals including agents, managers, producers and studio executives and more. The 2025 to 2026 submission cycle with mark a 5 year milestone of the Challenge.
APPLY TO YEAR 4 OF THE JULIA S. GOUW SHORT FILM CHALLENGE!
Submissions are open now until Friday, November 7, 2025 at 11:59 PM PT.
Please Note: Grant awardees must be prepared to film and produce their short film from March to September 2026.
Please prepare or complete the following application components prior to beginning the application form (full preview here):
Complete, original script (maximum 15 pages, PDF Format only, under 100 MB)
All identifying markers must be stripped. You may watermark pages with “CAPE/JYP” but not with any identifying markers.
We do not accept revised or replacement scripts after submission - no exceptions.
Artistic Statement about your submitted short film script (maximum 3000 characters, or approximately 500 words)
Submission Release Form (PDF Format Only)
Resume (1 page, PDF Format Only)
Non-Refundable $25 Application Processing Fee via PayPal
Please save receipt as PDF or screenshot for proof of payment. PDFs of email receipts or confirmations are also accepted.
PLEASE NOTE: To access the Google Form application, you must log in with a Google/gmail account.
Eligibility Requirements:
Your work and and your script should be consistent with CAPE’s mission to champion diversity by educating, empowering, and connecting Asian, Native Hawaiian and Pacific Islander artists and leaders in entertainment.
Your short film script must feature an Asian or Pacific Islander (Native Hawaiian, Maori, and Pasifika included) female or non-binary protagonist (regardless of age).
Your project may have co-writer(s) and/or co-director(s). However, as the applicant, you must have written the submitted script and must plan to direct the funded short film.
You must be at least 18 years old or older to apply.
You may submit multiple scripts, but each will require a separate application and $25 processing fee each.
Applicants must be authorized to work and have ability to accept paid work in the United States. CAPE does not sponsor or assist with visas or immigration.
Your script must be 15 pages maximum (not including title page).
Your script must be in PDF format and in industry format.
For the application, scripts must be written in English and/or translated in English (if other languages are used).
Narrative live-action and / or animated short film scripts will both be accepted.
Your script must not contain any identifying information (name, email, rep information) on any pages. You may include WGA or copyright registration numbers if you wish, but it is not necessary. Generic watermarks such as “CAPE/JYP” are also allowed.
Your script must be original and you must own all rights to the script free and clear.
Your script must not be under an option and you must have sole authority over changes to the script.
If your short film is at any stage of production, principal photography must not have started before December 9, 2024.
Additional Program Requirements:
If awarded the grant, you must produce a short film based on the pre-approved script submitted to the challenge.
Final projects must be no more than 15 minutes in length inclusive of credits.
Participants are not allowed to act in their film under the the Julia S. Gouw Short Film Challenge.
Grantee’s short film can be shot anywhere in the world. (For example, past grantees have shot their short film in India and Philippines.)
For any questions, please email programs@capeusa.org. Please, no calls checking on the status of your application.
CAPE and Janet Yang Productions do not provide feedback or coverage for submissions. No exceptions.
PAST GRANTEES
YEAR 4 | 2025 GRANTEES
CAMI KWAN
“Paper Daughter”
Website: cmkwan.weebly.com
NADINE JIN
“Silent Voices”
Website: nadinejin.com
RACHEL LEYCO
“Milk & Honey”
Website: officialrachelleyco.com
SUHASHINI KRISHNAN
“Two Questions and a Wish”
Website: tinytitanproductions.com
YEAR 3 | 2024 GRANTEES
DIA FRAMPTON
“You Have Arrived”
Website: diamusic.net
JILL SACHS
“Taga”
Website: jillsachs.com
LINDSAY WATSON
“What We Carry”
RADHA MEHTA
“Sūnna (Listen)”
Website: radhamehta.com
YEAR 2 | 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
YEAR 1 | 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 and Golden Globe-winning Hollywood producer and 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.) d; "High Crimes" (Fox) with Morgan Freeman; a Chinese adaptation of the acclaimed Disney franchise "High School Musical"; cult favorites "Zero Effect," 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 GoldHouse, serves on the IMAX China Board, the Forbes APEX VIP Founding Advisory Board, and Asia Society’s Southern California Advisory Board.
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. Learn more at 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.
