On May 21 during Gold House‘s inaugural Gold Gala, Everything Everywhere All At Once star and industry legend Michelle Yeoh was presented with the SeeHer Award for defying gender stereotypes with her impressive tapestry of a career. She was presented with the award by Everything Everywhere All At Once producer Jonathan Wang, Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings director Destin Daniel Cretton as well as Crazy Rich Asians director Jon M. Chu. At one point during her inspiring acceptance speech she jokingly told the filmmakers — all who have worked her — to get on their knees as she spoke. And they did because that’s what you do when you are in the presence of a queen.
The Gala celebrated Gold House’s 2022 A100 List, an annual list that honors the most influential API leaders in American society and culture. During the Gala, Gold House’s Bing Chen announced that SeeHer, a movement to eliminate gender bias in advertising and entertainment, would be teaming with Gold House to develop an AAPI #WriteHerRight storytelling guide that features key insights to empower brands and storytellers to apply an intersectional lens to their work and help AAPI women and girls see themselves authentically reflected in content.
SeeHer also showcased a SeeHer PSA featuring Olympic gold medalist Sunisa Lee, produced by Velocity, Paramount’s in-house branded content studio.
Happy AAPI Heritage Month🤍 As the first Hmong woman to win gold on the US gymnastics team, I’m proud to inspire the next generation of Asian American women to break molds and dream bigger dreams than they ever thought possible. If you can #SeeHer you can be her. @SeeHerOfficial pic.twitter.com/vy6512vPcK
— Sunisa lee (@sunisalee_) May 9, 2022
A recent survey showed that 73% of Asian women feel that persisting stereotypes are the biggest barrier to gender equality. Further, only 18% of AAPI women say women are shown as successful. To help change this narrative, the AAPI #WriteHerRight guide will provide creative teams in advertising and entertainment resources that bring awareness to potential blind spots and unconscious biases. The guide will also illuminate the immense opportunity that lies in authentic representation and will emphasize the need to invest in AAPI female talent in front of and behind the camera.
“Storytellers have the power and responsibility to reflect their audiences with authenticity,” said Jeannine Shao Collins, president, SeeHer, Association of National Advertisers. “This guide will help foster nuanced reflections of women and girls across diverse AAPI communities, so they can see themselves and their limitless potential. I am very proud to be working with Gold House to spearhead this initiative.”
“What we see and hear changes what we believe which directly impacts who we can become,” said Rose Yan, Head of Marketing, Gold House. “Projecting authentic, affirming portrayals of the AAPI community—especially women—on big and tiny screens, scripts and books, soundtracks and playlists is one of the principal, critical steps to ensuring that the world we experience helps empower the world we live in.”
This will be the fourth #WriteHerRight guide developed by SeeHer. SeeHer launched the first guide, a tip sheet for showrunners on inclusive storytelling for female characters, in 2020, followed by the #WriteHerRight guide for Black female characters in partnership with OWN and the #WriteHerRight guide for Latina characters in partnership with NBCUniversal Telemundo in 2021.
SeeHer members AMC Networks and Paramount are the first media partners who have formally committed to participating in the guide, with additional members expected to join as the resource is being developed.
In addition, Gold House unveiled their new slate of initiatives during the event including:
- June 25 Unity March in Washington, D.C. : The API leadership collective is partnering with Asian Americans Advancing Justice, APIAVote and more than a dozen other activist organizations for an event to declare API support and solidarity for socioeconomic and cultural equity and racial justice, alongside other disenfranchised populations.
- Gold Storybook: Created with support from partners including The Walt Disney Co., Gold House has published a guide based on its half-decade of experience consulting with studios and production companies on authentic API depictions from a project’s development through release. Its resource hub will also include complementary efforts like Gold House’s SeeHer partnership and its partnership with Proctor & Gamble on the importance of Asian names, as well as Define American’s media guide on immigration narratives.
- Gold House Venture Network: After launching its $30 million venture fund, Gold House has now built out a vehicle for its members to invest and seek board and advisor seats on API-founded startups.
