Tuesday, January 29, 2013

Kevin Tsujihara, The 1st Asian American To Run A Major Hollywood Studio


Okay, I'm late to the party on this one, but I had to blog about it regardless since it is a Jeremy Lin like watershed moment for Asian Americans. Kevin Tsujihara will become the first Asian American ever to be CEO of Warner Bros, let alone any major Hollywood studio and will be replacing Barry Meyer who has held the position for almost 14 years. According to the LA Times, Meyer had some kind words to say about Tsujihara,
"Everyone needs a leader, and Kevin was the person best equipped to unify the company at this time," Meyer said in an interview. "We just thought he was the best choice for the whole company...It was about the person and the character of the person," Meyer said. "The digital transition is one that is happening and it is affecting every part of our company. Kevin has really been at the forefront of that, and leading that charge, but Warner Bros. is really about the products that it makes."
I hope this means that more Asian Americans will finally have a fair shot at the big screen devoid of tokenized stereotypical Asian characters.

Sessue Hayakawa, Anna May Wong in "Daughter of the Dragon"

The late, great Sessue Hayakawa would be so proud of Kevin. Both are Japanese-American, hardworking and charismatic individuals who serve as role models for everyone regardless of skin color. The only difference between the two is that Sessue was way ahead of his time given America's demographics during the early 1900s while someone like Kevin could've come much sooner in this day in age of globalization and increasing diversity.  

I'll take a wild guess that Kevin has encountered all sorts of obstacles along the way due to his ethnicity, and that is why his victory is even sweeter. If this is indeed the case, he defied incredible odds to become CEO by demonstrating his value to Warner Bros. I'm sure his contender for the top spot, Bruce Rosenblum is nothing to sneeze at and is a great executive as well, but today I want to give a Kevin a solid high-five. Hooray!!

3 comments:

  1. good find, lets hope hes not yet another ass-licking whitewashed kowtowist.

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  2. Haha. Well, you can't always bite the hand that feeds you, but to your point, one can only hope that Tsujihara is able to take a stand against typical propagandizing movies that either neglect or mock Asians.

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  3. Just out of curiosity, shouldn't these directors be aware about the whole negativity and insecurities Hollywood have against Asian males? It's so prevalent and so in our faces that it's even hard not to notice. I hope Kevin will be able to make more than a dent and not fall into the whole tired conformist role with the whole Asian mockery.

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