Project Summary

Project Logline - American Gilded Age activist Wong Chin Foo – a then-famous speaker and prolific writer in the mainstream press – champions citizenship and equality as anti-Asian bigotry culminates in the Chinese Exclusion Act of 1882, and forges a path for today’s Asian Americans to claim their rightful place in a "more perfect union" and reclaim whitewashed history.

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1. Project Description

a. Story Summary / Synopsis - This is the world’s first comprehensive documentary on the life of Wong Chin Foo, a famous American Gilded Age journalist, speaker, and forerunner of Martin Luther King Jr., who is being rediscovered at a critical point in the United States history. After Wong falls from childhood privilege to poverty in China, he moves to America where he becomes naturalized and wields pen and pulpit to defy racists seeking to banish Chinese from the United States. The film draws parallels between the issues in Wong’s day with today’s anti-Asian harassment and U.S.-China tensions. (TRT=1:56:46)

Long before Dr. King dreams of an America that judges people according to the “content of their character,” Wong declares that only “character and fitness should be the requirement of all who are desirous of becoming citizens of the American Republic.” The struggle continues as AAPI activists seek the same recognition over a century after Wong's death in 1898.

In China, Southern Baptist missionaries rescue Wong, 10, and his bankrupt father from begging on the streets and send him to study in America. After about 3 years, he returns to China, preaches democracy, and is wanted for treason. He flees to America, leaving behind his wife and newborn son. In San Francisco, with the help of a local missionary, he frees young Chinese girls aboard his ship who had been sold into prostitution, earning the wrath of the slave traders – part of a life-long series of run-ins with the Chinese underworld, whites, Christians, authority figures -- anyone who offends his sense of justice and equality.

Wong becomes a U.S. citizen in 1873 in Grand Rapids, Michigan. He charms American society with his unlikely wit, sophistication, and superior command of the English language. New Age guru Helena Blavatsky, the founder of the Theosophical Society, introduces him to the press as a “Buddhist missionary” and arranges a nationwide lecture tour for him. He speaks and writes about all things Chinese in popular periodicals and newspapers, demystifies Chinatown, and becomes the loudest advocate for the community in the “Gold Mountain.” He befriends New York Deputy Sheriff Tom Lee, the de facto mayor and mob boss of Chinatown, who hosts a massive picnic and banquets with Wong to impress white society, buy friends, and influence. He believes acculturation offers the surest path to political rights and urges his compatriots to adopt American ways, give up opium and gambling, and learn English – to little avail.

YELLOW PERIL: After the transcontinental railroad is completed in 1869, largely with imported Chinese labor, the country plunges into the Long Depression. Chinese become convenient scapegoats. About 20 Chinese are massacred in Los Angeles’ Chinatown in 1871, the largest U.S. lynching at the time. Laws targeting Chinese are enacted, such as the Page Act of 1875 which banned “immoral” women from the Orient from immigrating to the United States. This reinforces the stereotype of the over-sexualized Asian dragon lady, and results in bachelor societies in Chinatown, buttressing the caricature of the nonsexual, effeminate Asian male who does laundry – one of the few job options available to them due to discrimination.

Wong is alarmed and becomes more outspoken and radical as Congress passes the Chinese Exclusion Act of 1882. He coins the term “Chinese American” as the English name of his Chinese newspaper in 1983, defining a new identity for his countrymen in the New World. The impact of Chinese Exclusion on United States policy, education, media, and entertainment is still being felt today as seen in the scapegoating of Asians during the COVID pandemic, the whitewashing of Asian roles by Hollywood, and the United States - China trade war.

Wong challenges Irish demagogue Denis Kearney -- whose mission is to “eradicate Chinese from the content” -- to a duel and heckles him at Cooper Union in New York, giving him his choice of weapon: chopsticks, Irish potatoes, or Krupp guns. Kearney, who had turned up his anti-Chinese rhetoric to fuel his political ambitions, finally relents to a public debate that Wong famously wins. He founds the first United States association of Chinese voters in 1884 and fights for citizenship rights for his countrymen as Chinese are assaulted, massacred, and driven out of numerous cities throughout the country. AAPI activists today continue to urge the community to speak up against aggressors and vote.

Wong outrages Christians with his 1887 essay "Why Am I a Heathen?" in the North American Review. The essay, reprinted as far as Britain, prompts a response, "Why I Am Not a Heathen," from fellow Chinese immigrant Yan Phou Lee, a devout Christian. His call for the Chinese to give up the vices of opium and gambling wins him, enemies, within his community, but their verbal and physical assaults embolden him even more.

CULTURAL WARFARE: Wong offers $500 (equivalent to $15,000 today) to anyone who can prove that the Chinese eat rats, an image used to sell a popular rat poison. He opens a Chinese theater in New York, sets up a language school, and briefly opens a Confucian temple to show Americans real Chinese culture. This is to counter stereotypes in media and entertainment, e.g. in popular songs such as “Ah Sin!” about a wily Chinese servant who hides cards up his long sleeves. Bret Harte and Mark Twain turn the song into a Broadway-level “comedic melodrama” performed by a white actor in yellowface. Using resources unavailable in Wong’s time, Asian-American producers, artists, and social media influencers continue his mission – by creating shows with principal AAPI characters, campaigning to end yellow-face and whitewashing onstage and onscreen, and taking Hollywood to task for excluding Asians from the creative process and industry awards.

GRAPHIC LESSONS: On the campus of Stanford University, six young Stanford artists in a Creative Writing Program led by Shimon Tanaka read Wong's biography as they prepare to create a graphic novel about the activist's life. They decide that Wong’s character flaws add to his compellingly human story and do not diminish his heroism in challenging the oppressive status quo at a time when Asians faced systematic discrimination.

CIVIL RIGHTS: Harnessing the power of coalition building, Wong forms the Chinese Equal Rights League and rallied white supporters to pressure politicians to end Chinese Exclusion. He briefly forms a political party. After Congress extends exclusion with the 1892 Geary Act, Wong testifies on Capitol Hill -- probably the first Asian to do so – urging its repeal. Congressmen are unmoved but Wong’s efforts bear fruit three months later. After a massive boycott by the Chinese against registering for photographic IDs under the new law, Washington modifies enforcement procedures to avoid shipping them all back to China at great cost. Chinese American leaders such as Wong also turn to the courts for justice since the law denies the community the right to vote. In 1898 the U.S. Supreme court rules for birthright citizenship in the landmark case of the United States of America versus California-born Wong Kim Ark.

That year, Wong leaves for China to see his wife and son. In Hong Kong, he obtains a new U.S. passport that is quickly revoked on State Department orders as some officials believe the Chinese Exclusion Act voided his U.S. citizenship. In Shandong, he dies of heart failure in obscurity and is forgotten in his adopted country of over two decades – until now, when his words and actions clearly resonate as anti-Asian hatred and crimes fill the headlines once again.

Richard Chang (张德胜) and Douglas Ross (道格拉斯·罗斯) request a Production Grant from the National Endowment for the Humanities to begin production on a groundbreaking 90-minute documentary feature film titled “Citizen Wong.”

We are seeking funds to start conducting on-camera interviews with experts, capture location B-roll footage and collaborate with scholars to enhance the project’s humanities content. We must purchase archive footage and photos; cover travel costs and payroll for the production team and coordinate with the post-production team of editors, SFX animators, and compose original music. Because of the project’s broad reach and scope with its promise to bring important historical points and humanities topics to audiences, we seek the production award of $700,000.00.

b. Topic Summary - Wong Chin Foo’s words and activism are especially poignant today as America wrestles with growing xenophobia and anti-Asian harassment. The film helps to reclaim whitewashed American history and empower under-represented minorities by presenting a forgotten Asian-American pioneer who dared to dream and fight for equal rights and challenge the status quo with the charisma and eloquence of a Southern Baptist preacher. It helps to establish Wong’s rightful place in the American consciousness.

Imagine the loss if Martin Luther King, Jr. had disappeared from history. How would generations of Blacks have grown up, with no knowledge of this role model? The discovery of Wong Chin Foo would be a pivotal, life-changing moment for Asian Americans that affects the rest of their lives, the nation, and even China.

Through this extensively researched telling of Wong’s life, viewers may glean valuable lessons from America’s past to inform future decisions in government, industry, and education. This documentary would serve as an essential resource for thought leaders, teachers, and students, and help to shift the paradigm of Americans toward “a more perfect union” that embraces diversity.

The need for this film has become more urgent as anti-Asian hatred has intensified during the COVID pandemic, with politicians and celebrities such as former President Donald Trump using terms like “Chinese virus” and “Kung flu” that give racists license to attack Asians -- just as the Chinese Exclusion Act did in Wong’s time. People who look “Chinese” are increasingly vulnerable as China is accused of spying, dumping and other violations in the escalating U.S.-China trade war.

Stop AAPI Hate, a national coalition that gathers data on racially motivated attacks related to the pandemic, received 9,081 incident reports between March 19, 2020, and June 2022. Of those, 4,548 occurred in 2021, and 4,533 this year. Support within and outside the AAPI community for this project has strengthened as a result.

c. Connection to the story – Richard Chang and Douglas Ross make up the ideal team to produce this groundbreaking film, with their decades of experience in all necessary aspects of storytelling, support from the Asian-American community and authoritative sources, and passion to share Wong's story.

Richard Chang discovered Wong Chin Foo in 2003 when hired to speak his words in Bill Moyers' documentary, "Becoming American: The Chinese Experience." He could not believe that such a dynamic pioneer activist could have disappeared from history, and resolved that Wong should be as well-known as Martin Luther King, Jr. He knew that presenting this eloquent Asian romantic leading man in an American Gilded Age documentary or drama would shatter stereotypes, strip producers of excuses to exclude Asian Americans from principal roles, and empower minorities by showing a positive image of themselves on screen.

Richard, a veteran Reuters editor, identifies with Wong as a foreign-born ethnic Chinese journalist in America. His research ultimately led him to Wong’s great-great grandson Wang Fan, a historian in Beijing, whom he visited in August 2014 on a trip that included places where Wong lived in Shandong Province. He has channeled Wong in reenactments for a China Central TV documentary and New York's Chinatown Arts Festival. Richard’s play about Wong had its off-Broadway world premiere in April 2022, and he is also developing a feature film and TV series. At the Asian American Journalists Association convention in July 2022, he was struck by the theme of bringing our entire selves to our jobs. Asian-American journalists are asserting themselves as Wong boldly did in his time, and Chang is part of this movement to tell stories about the community without apology.

For over 40 years, Douglas Ross has developed a deep connection with the Chinese communities in San Francisco, Honolulu, New York, and Washington, DC - Maryland. In 2000, he married Wang Danlu in Harbin, China. In Hawaii, he worked for the Mayor’s Office and created Honolulu Municipal TV and produced the documentary, "Hawaii's Chinatown," which first aired on PBS Hawaii in 2004. In 2005, he produced a weekly series “Global View” for History International Channel in New York City that frequently presented Chinese topics. Douglas followed that series with a feature documentary for the series on The History Channel titled “Engineering An Empire - China” which toured ancient engineering wonders of China such as the Great Wall, Grand Canal, Dujiangyan Irrigation System, Terra Cotta Warriors, and Zheng He's world sailing fleet. Ross produced an Internet series titled “Profiles”, which introduced rising star talent from the Chinese American community that included musicians, comedians, actors, writers, and even a magician.

After moving to the DC area in 2006 to work for NASA-TV, Douglas created Wang-Ross Communications. He produced the feature documentary, “Black Hearts” in 2016 which reveals how WWII Allied POWs and Chinese slave laborers were imprisoned and tortured by Japanese captors in occupied China. The documentary was chosen to play at several international film festivals in China, Japan and America. Douglas has written an eight-episode limited series titled “Guests of the Emperor,” which follows the true story of two Allied officers who, with fellow soldiers, heroically endure forced labor, biological experiments and inhumane torture in a WWII Japanese POW camp hidden in China but once freed are silenced and shunned by their governments. He has also written "East Wind," a 10-episode limited series based on the extraordinary life of Dr. Sun Yat-sen who risks everything to save China from the corrupt Qing dynasty. Douglas has volunteered his videography skills to the community organization Miss Chinese-American Pageant 2009-2012 and the Pacific Asian American Pageant 2012-2019. Douglas is leveraging his access within the Chinese community to reach out to contacts in academia, community leaders, and non-profit organizations interested in participating in "Citizen Wong." He has been a Producers Guild of America member since 2009 and is an International Documentary Association member.

d. Artistic Approach - An entertaining hybrid of styles captivates viewers while educating them about forgotten American history. Dramatizations in period costumes and historically accurate locations animate Wong Chin Foo's speeches and writings. Drone aerial and B-roll footage establish context. Late-1800s cartoons showing, e.g. Uncle Sam kicking a Chinaman out and an "Anti-Chinese Wall" become shadow puppets as history literally comes to life. Archival footage, photographs, maps, artifacts, and historic documents show what the narrator and interviewees (academics, AAPI leaders, celebrities, and other subject matter experts) are talking about.

The film may resemble CAAM's "Asian Americans" and Ric Burns' "Chinese Exclusion Act," but "Citizen Wong" feels more like a drama as it focuses on one man's epic journey, using a single-camera ‘film-style’ format with 6K digital video technology and artistic lighting. An original music score by Emmy Award-winning composer John Keltonic with Chinese elements helps to draw viewers into Wong's mind and the outside world.

e. Appropriateness for Public TV - This American Gilded Age story has never been seen on TV: featuring a real-life Asian-American hero who fights injustice with words, in perfect English, instead of kungfu. This milestone would be an eye-opener for audiences used to seeing Asians as coolies, gangsters, nerds, dragon ladies, and other stereotypes. This would intrigue viewers of all ages and groups interested in PBS's "Masterpiece Theatre" and "American Experience"; HBO's "The Gilded Age"; and United States and Chinese history, politics, law, and other related subjects. It would raise awareness of historical events of institutional bigotry by the U.S. government, the press, and public opinion, and provide context to understand and resolve the root cause of today's anti-Asian hate crimes.

The Public Broadcasting Service (PBS) is the ideal broadcast and streaming exhibitor with its nationwide broadcast network, online streaming sites, and wide demographic audience for socially conscious content. All "Citizen Wong" elements align with approved PBS content: history biopics of underrepresented ethnic groups like the Chinese. The AAPI community will promote the documentary widely. Its message can be reinforced by supplemental educational materials created by producers and exhibitors for young viewers in high school and university classrooms.

f. Project Stage and Timeline

Development: Currently applying for grants to continue the project, gathering elements such as archival materials, making initial lists of SMEs, test shot reenactments, and creating a budget, pitch deck, and sizzle reel.
Pre-Production: (1 month) - Confirm SMEs for preliminary interviews on Zoom. Review shooting permit requirements; visit online archives, museums, and libraries; and explore other locations. Pursue additional fundraising initiatives.
Production: (5 months) - Interview SMEs, dramatizations, shoot B-roll, puppet performance, collect archive elements in NYC Chinatown, San Francisco’s Chinatown, Angel Island, CA, Stanford University, Locke, CA; Chicago, IL, Washington, DC; NARA, MD; Rutgers University, New Jersey, University of Delaware; Hengdian World Studios in Dongyang, Zhejiang Province and Penglai District, Yantai, Shandong Province. The associate producer arranges local support crews, equipment, per diem, accommodations, and transportation.
Pre-Post Production: (1 month) - Write rough VO script, review all footage, and match picture and script in outline form. The narrator/host records the final voiceovers. Order VFX from the contracting vendor.
Post Production: (5 months) - Finalize each segment for assembly, original music added, add VFX, audio mix, color correction, and lock picture. Work with the PBS webmaster and a web consultant to create a standalone website. Collaborate with PBS Programming and PBS LearningMedia on completing online content presence and interstitials.
Distribution: Deliver the completed program to NETA for transmission to partner PBS stations. Work on PBS ad campaign. Prepare PR campaign. Distribute the program through Kanopy to high schools and universities using a secure sign-in system.

2. Audience and Distribution

a. Distribution and Marketing Strategy - The project team will coordinate with the PBS Editorial Strategy team to establish an expanded web presence on pbs.org to engage audiences. Web elements, which adhere to PBS standards, include cast and character bios, photo and video galleries, behind-the-scenes video, VR/360 video, interactive features, and article/blog content. Web marker text displayed onscreen during the body of the program with four placements during the 90-minute program will direct viewers to project websites and social media sites. PBS maintains a presence on several social media platforms, including Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, and others. The PBS Social Media team assesses which platform(s) will best support the program’s themes and potential audience opportunities. The project team is working with The National Educational Telecommunications Association (NETA) to offer a simple, nationwide program distribution service for a nominal fee. The NETA Program Service delivers 1,200+ program hours a year via its public TV interconnection distribution service to every Community Service Grant (CSG) qualified public television licensee in the United States. NETA members represent 277 member stations in 46 states, the Virgin Islands, and the District of Columbia. Once the negotiated “PBS Television Rights” limited licensing term is agreed upon followed by its expiration term, the program can be additionally distributed to other digital platforms.

b. Intended Audience - 1. General Audience on PBS's nationwide broadcast network:

- Asian Americans interested in issues affecting their community.

Viewers of all ages and backgrounds are interested in socially conscious content, US and Chinese history and politics, and other related subjects.
Fans of PBS's "Masterpiece Theatre" and "American Experience" and HBO's "The Gilded Age” enjoy dramas and biographies.

2. College and high school students using online sites for viewing and downloading study materials via the PBS LearningMedia website. The documentary and supplementary materials will be offered to humanities departments at US universities to serve as educational tools.

c. Audience Engagement - The producers have strong connections to the AAPI community which is hungry for such a film and its supplementary educational tools, and is eager to spread the word. Pent-up demand is high due to the rise in anti-Asian hate crimes, and as New York, California, and other states increasingly pilot or mandate Asian-American studies that require educational tools. Likely screening venues include the Museum of Chinese in America, Chinese Historical Society of America, and Chinese American Museum in Washington, D.C., and at events during Asian Pacific American Heritage Month.

AAPI social influencers and other partners will include Gold House, The Alliance for Asian American Justice, AAPI Equity Alliance, Chinese for Affirmative Action, Asian American Legal Defense and Education Fund, and OCA-Asian Pacific American Advocates. Partnerships will also include non-AAPI groups such as the American Civil Liberties Union, NAACP Legal Defense and Educational Fund, and Color of Change.

d. Accessibility - A second platform should exhibit the program in regional school districts, particularly for students. This mass distribution will be achieved with Kanopy, an online video streaming service platform partnered with universities, high schools, and public libraries. The project is focused on offering the series free of charge to over 3,000 American universities; 13,800 public school districts; and 90 specially designated schools with humanities and history curricula. Kanopy can be streamed free of ads and is available on Apple TV, iPhone, iPad, Android, AndroidTV, Chromecast, Roku, FireTV, FireTablet, and Samsung to students and educators who sign up for a free membership. Unique web tag texts are displayed at the end of the program episode which will direct administrators and their educators to the Citizen Wong expanded website on pbs.org which contains the documentary series, full interviews with SMEs, bonus footage, and additional educational materials for instructors and students.

3. Bios of Creative Personnel - Richard Chang, (张德胜) is a multi-hyphenate storyteller on stage and screen, and a veteran Reuters journalist. His works reflect his background as a Chinese-Malaysian performer in Asian and Western theater, dance and opera; puppetry, and improv comedy. His play about Wong Chin Foo, "Citizen Wong," had its off-Broadway world premiere in April 2022. His solo comedy, "Goy Vey! Adventures of a Dim Sun in Search of his Wanton Father," was declared the "Greatest Show in Festival's History" at the Leeds (UK) International Jewish Performing Arts Festival. Screen roles include New York, I Love You, "Windhorse," "Saving Face," "Never Forever," "Chasing America," "Return to Paradise"; and NBC-TV series “Kidnapped."

As a journalist, he has worked for Radio Australia, Singapore Broadcasting Corp, and Reuters as a reporter, editor, and forum producer. He has been awarded multiple new works grants and has been an Urban Artist Initiative/New York City fellowship recipient.

Websites: https://www.citizenwong.com/

IMDb: https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0151801/

Douglas Ross (道格拉斯·罗斯) has worked in the television industry for over 40 years as a Producer, Writer at USAID, IFC-World Bank, SmartShoot, NASA-TV, Cortina Productions, USPS-TV, AETN-The History Channel & History International Channel, Saudi Aramco, HMTV-City & County of Honolulu, Stella Adler Academy of Acting-LA, CA, WLRN-17 PBS of Miami, FL, Warner-Amex of Dallas, KERA-13 PBS, Television Production Instructor at USC Annenberg School of Communications and Journalism in Los Angeles, CA; Instructor at Henan University, Kaifeng, China. He received a Bachelor's in Radio-Television-Film from the University of Texas at Austin. Douglas created “Engineering an Empire: China” for The History Channel, as part of a series on engineering marvels of the ancient world. At Wang-Ross Communications, he has produced feature documentaries “Black Hearts”, “Hawaii's Chinatown”, and “a NORML life” which earned official selections for international film festivals and seen on Netflix, Hulu, Amazon Video Prime, and iTunes.

• Producers Guild of America, Producers Council Member since 2009.

(AAPI Working Group, Documentary & Non-Fiction Committee)

• International Documentary Association, Member

He married Wang Danlu in Harbin, Heilongjiang, China; speaks conversational Mandarin Chinese, and lived in China for over six years. Douglas has published several books, including Paradigm Shift: All Is Connected and Prepare & Prosper for Climate Crisis. He currently writes screenplays, and authors books, and resides in Rockville, Maryland, with his family.

Websites: https://www.iChinese.tv

https://www.linkedin.com/in/dsross007/

IMDb: https://tinyurl.com/y6m47j3r

Scott D. Seligman is an award-winning writer, a historian, a genealogist, a retired corporate executive, and a career "China hand." He holds an undergraduate degree in American history from Princeton University and a master's degree from Harvard University. Fluent in Mandarin, he lived in Taiwan, Hong Kong, and China for eight years and reads and writes Chinese. He has worked as a legislative assistant to a member of the US Congress, lobbied the Chinese government on behalf of American businesses, managed a multinational public relations agency in China, served as spokesperson and communications director for a Fortune 50 company, and taught English in Taiwan and Chinese in Washington, DC. Scott speaks fluent Mandarin Chinese can read and write Chinese characters and lived for over 8 years in China.

He is the author of nine books, including The Great Kosher Meat War of 1902: Immigrant Housewives and the Riots that Shook New York City, which won gold medals in the 2021 Independent Publisher Book Awards and the 2020-21 Reader Views Literary Awards; The Third Degree: The Triple Murder that Shook Washington and Changed American Criminal Justice, which won a gold medal in the 2019 Independent Publisher Book Awards and The First Chinese American: The Remarkable Life of Wong Chin Foo. He is also co-author of the best-selling Cultural Revolution Cookbook and Now You're Talking Mandarin Chinese.

He has published articles in the Smithsonian magazine, The Atlantic, the Washington Post, the Seattle Times, the Asian Wall Street Journal, the China Business Review, Tablet Magazine, The Forward, China Heritage Quarterly, The Cleaver Quarterly, Bucknell Magazine, Howard Magazine, the Smithsonian Asian Pacific American Center blog, the New York History blog, the Granite Studio blog and Traces, the Journal of the Indiana Historical Society. He has also created several websites on historical and genealogical topics. He lives in Washington, DC.

Websites: www.seligmanonline.com/

http://www.firstchineseamerican.com/

Jack Yan (严建华) owns Creative Pro Studio, which specializes in still photography, and has over 20 years of experience in commercial fashion, products, magazines, portraits, model portfolios, and film production. He also shoots videos for stage and screen. He was the chief photographer for Pacific Asian American Pageant from 2013 to 2017. Jack is fluent in English, Chinese Mandarin, Cantonese, and the Southwest China dialect, and has a deep knowledge of Chinese culture and history.

www.creativeprostudio.com

John Keltonic - Composed original music for television and films for over 20 years including film scores, full symphonic works, Capella choirs, and album work. John’s credits include over forty documentaries on PBS, NBC, Ken Burns's The Roosevelts, History Channel, Library of Congress, the Smithsonian Institute, Discovery Channel, NASA, Boston College, the Supreme Court, and National Public Radio with works performed by the London Symphony, the Victoria Symphony, Milwaukee Symphony Orchestra, Wichita Symphony, the Hartford Symphony, and many others.

https://jdkmusic.com

Ky-Gan Teng - (腾基甘) Scriptwriter. Ky-Gan has had 5 musicals (with 2 reruns), 5 plays, and 2 short films produced. He won the ISA's Table Read My Screenplay Genre Competition 2021, placed Semifinalist in Emerging Screenwriters; Quarterfinalist in the Nicholl Fellowships, Scriptapalooza Screenplay, and CineStory Feature Fellowship; Finalist in New Works Series New York and the ISA Virtual Pitch. He is working on stories about technology (cryptocurrency, NFTs, blockchain, the Metaverse, etc) and has a special love for biopics.

https://www.tengkygan.com/

Carl Filoreto - Carl has a vast range of cinematography experience and has applied his talents for long-form episodic programs like Dateline NBC and ABC News 20/20; national and international travel food programs; sports features; corporate branding and CEO messaging; national news coverage and news features. Carl has a broad clientele and has developed the skills needed to deliver positive results across the board.

https://colorado4k.com

4. Fundraising Strategy and Grant Impact

a. Fundraising Strategy - Due to its complex storyline, numerous location shoots, and a large number of required interviews, the producers are seeking additional grant opportunities with many funders. Our goal is to leverage the production grants to attract more sponsors to the project that are familiar with sponsoring PBS programs such as NEH-National Endowment for the Humanities, ITVS Open Call, Roy W. Dean Grant, and the American Documentary Fund.

Citizen Wong producers have made inquiries with the director of PBS Programming and Development in Arlington, VA about assisting the project with funding from leading corporate and non-corporate underwriters and sponsors such as the Park Foundation, MacArthur Foundation, Reva & David Logan Foundation, Perspective Fund, Wyncote Foundation, NYC Cultural Affairs, National Endowment for the Arts, and the New York Council on the Arts.

b. Funding to Date / Submitted Grant Applications

c. Amount Requested / Grant Impact - The funding to date shows that several grants that have been awarded to fund the theater play, Citizen Wong. Excerpts from the play will be used within the documentary. As more funds are awarded to the project, we have been accepted by The Film Collaborative, a 501(c) 3 organization to act as our Fiscal Sponsor to control the personnel payroll, work/travel costs, and general expenses.

We are seeking funds to start conducting on-camera interviews with experts, capture location B-roll footage, and collaborate with scholars to enhance the project’s humanities content. We must purchase archive footage and photos; cover travel costs and payroll for the production team and coordinate with the post-production team of editors, SFX animators, and compose original music. Because of the project’s broad reach and scope with its promise to bring important historical points and humanities topics to audiences.

5. Work Sample

Director’s Prior Work - Hawaii’s Chinatown traces the arrival of Chinese sojourners to Hawaii as early sugar plantation laborers then rising into successful merchants, politicians, and community leaders on Honolulu’s waterfront. Overcoming hardships, prejudice, and catastrophes, the sojourners endured and assimilated into Hawaii while retaining Chinese customs and traditions. Aired on PBS Hawaii. https://vimeo.com/176188656

Engineering an Empire - China, The History Channel. For over 4000 years, the world's greatest empires have come and gone--only China has survived the test of time. Century after century, China's regal emperors mobilized immense peasant armies to accomplish engineering feats unparalleled in human history. Among the groundbreaking innovations were the world's longest canal and a naval fleet mightier than all those of Europe combined. However, none can compare to the colossal 4,000-mile wall that stands as the most ambitious construction project ever built. From such heights came spectacular death spirals, as dynasty after dynasty, consumed by vanity and greed was stripped of power by the people it had ruled. Peter Weller hosts. https://www.dailymotion.com/video/x5xh14h

Current Sample/Sizzle Reel - This sizzle reel represents some of the content the media team will be recording for use within the feature-length documentary. The clip contains interviews from Scott Seligman, author of The First Chinese American: The Remarkable Life of Wong Chin Foo, archival photos, maps, artifacts, newspapers, news video clips, and other AAPI-centric videos. Many of the clips are taken from test shoots with producer/actor Richard Chang as Wong Chin Foo. https://youtu.be/lh5JyNoP_c8

6. Community Care and Safety

Using the Producers Guild of America (PGA) COVID Safety Protocols for Producing Independent Productions. In accordance with federal, state, AMPTP, and union guidelines, before beginning pre-production, the production company will have an infectious disease safety plan and have conducted a risk assessment to address ways the COVID-19 hazard will be mitigated in the production. We recommended that our production processes be altered to adapt to COVID-19, rather than adapting COVID-19 processes to existing production practices. This plan will be communicated to every cast and crew member before beginning work on a production and employment is contingent on agreement to comply with the plan.

The producers of the project are also adopting the PGA’s Green Production Guide Toolkit which includes Best Practices, Carbon Footprint Calculator (PEAR), Food & Material Donations, Plywood Tracking (PLUM), and Sustainable Practices Checklist (PEACH).

7. Charitable Purposes and Statement of Public Benefit

Citizen Wong's mission is to advance equity, justice, and agency for Asian Americans by dismantling systemic racism and building a multiracial movement to end anti-Asian American and Pacific Islander (AAPI) hate. The producer's team approach recognizes that to address anti-Asian racism effectively, we must work to end all forms of structural racism leveled on all communities of color by first partnering with each other on projects like this one. In addition to the documentary, Citizen Wong producers and exhibitors must create and offer supplemental educational materials for viewers in high school and university classrooms.

8. Subject Matter Experts (Humanities Advisors)

Shimon Mark Tanaka

Program Lecturer

Creative Writing Program, Department of English

Stanford University

stanaka@stanford.edu

Ling-chi Wang

Professor Emeritus

Asian American and Asian Diaspora Studies

UC Berkeley

415-922-4380

wanglingchi@gmail.com