Gold House's 2nd Annual Gold Gala Sees Stars, New Ventures, and 'Gold Bridge'

LOS ANGELES, May 10, 2023 (Newswire.com) - Yesterday, Gold House, the leading cultural ecosystem that unites, invests in, and champions Asian Pacific creators, companies, and communities, hosted its 2nd annual Gold Gala entitled "Gold Bridge," at The Music Center, a modern prestigious location where the Oscars were held in years past, honoring the 2023 A100. The A100 honors the 100 Asian and Pacific Islanders who have most significantly impacted culture and society in the last year, voted on by the top Asian Pacific nonprofit, business, and creative leaders. 

Honorees Ke Huy Quan (Academy Award-winning Actor), Sandra Oh (Actor, Producer), Iman Vellani (Award-winning Actor), Eva Longoria (Actor, Producer, Director), Neal Mohan (CEO, YouTube), Radhika Jones (Editor-in-Chief, Vanity Fair), Geena Rocero (Author, Producer, Director, Trans Rights Advocate), cast and creators of Everything Everywhere All at Once (Actors Stephanie Hsu, Ke Huy Quan, Harry Shum Jr. and Producer Jonathan Wang, who took the stage with Michelle Yeoh at last year's inaugural Gold Gala), cast and creators of The Joy Luck Club (Executive Producer Janet Yang and Actors Ming-Na Wen, Tamlyn Tomita, Lauren Tom, Rosalind Chao, Lisa Lu, and more), Andrew and Peggy Cherng (Co-Founders and Co-CEOs, Panda Express), Lea Salonga (Tony Award winner, Disney Legend, Singing voice of Mulan) and Dominic Ng (Chairman and CEO, East West Bank) were present to receive their special honors in recognition of their transformative impact on culture. Each received a custom Gold Clover, designed by Maia Ruth Lee, as a representation of the infinity knot prevalent in Asian culture.

The cast of Joy Ride (Ashley Park, Sherry Cola, Stephanie Hsu, Sabrina Wu) honored the cast and creators of The Joy Luck Club (Janet Yang, Ming-Na Wen, Tamlyn Tomita, Lauren Tom, Rosalind Chao, Lisa Lu, Kieu Chinh) to celebrate their 30th anniversary, bringing everyone to tears. Eva Longoria brought the house down with her commitment to the Latino community to partner with the Asian community alongside a Who's Who of Latino celebrities and leaders. The interactive program saw the return of Gold House's signature "Give/Get," where guests offered something to the community and asked for something they needed: Olympic gold medalist Chloe Kim offered snowboarding lessons to Bella Poarch; Westworld creator Lisa Joy Nolan asked for attendees to join her in striking with the WGA; poet Rupi Kaur offered to write anyone a love poem to a secret admirer; chef Eddie Huang offered acting opportunities; NBA CMO Tammy Henault offered courtside seats; American Advertising Federation Chair Helen Lin offered free marketing campaigns to startups; and Brooks Brothers CEO Ken Ohashi asked to collaborate with partners who want to visually reimagine America. In addition, the historic evening included Netflix debuting a comprehensive 2023 slate of Asian Pacific content, including the trailer for the final season of Never Have I Ever. Academy Award-winning actress Brie Larson and Ms. Marvel creator Sana Amanat presented Marvel Cinematic heroine Iman Vellani with the first-ever New Gold Award. The awards ended with the presentation of the Gold Icon award to the cast and creators of Everything Everywhere All At Once, which include Ke Huy Quan, who had been honored with the Leading Man Award earlier in the evening. 

Ashley Park, Celine Song, Chloe Kim, Eugene Lee Yang, Daniel Dae Kim, Miky Lee, Destin Daniel Cretton, Garry Tan, Hemant Taneja, Janet Yang, Jeannie Mai Jenkins, Johnny Suh, Krystal Ka'ai, Lisa Ling, Poorna Jagannathan, Prabal Gurung, Krystal Ka'ai, Rob Bonta, Sabrina Wu, Sherry Cola, Stephanie Hsu, Tan France, and more presented on-stage. Additional notable attendees included Alan Kim, Amna Nawaz, Anna Cathcart, Bella Poarch, Chloe Bennet, Crystal Kung Minkoff, Domee Shi, Eric Nam, Jamie Chung, Jessica Henwick, Liza Soberano, Maitreyi Ramakrishnan, Meena Harris, Mike Van, Natasha Liu Bordizzo, Patrick Starrr, Randall Park, Ross Butler, Rupi Kaur, Sasha Calle, The Rose (Jaehyeong Lee, Kim Woo-song, Lee Hajoon, Dojoon), Taecyeon, and Sharmeen Obaid-Chinoy. Executives included Bernard Kim (CEO, Match Group); Ida Liu (Global Head, Citi Private Bank), Li Li Leung (CEO, USA Gymnastics); Midas investors Hans Tung (GGV), Eric Kim (Goodwater), Steve Jang (Kindred), Steve Lee (SV Angel); the founders of Twitch, sweetgreen, DoorDash, Squarespace, Kabam, Nextdoor, pubG, and Rotten Tomatoes; entertainment titans like Asad Ayaz (CBO, Disney), Albert Cheng (Head of Amazon Prime Video US), Marian Lee Dicus (CMO, Netflix), Mike Van (President, Billboard), Joseph Chang (CEO, Kakao Entertainment), Steve Chung (Chief Global Officer, CJ ENM), and Jessica Sibley (CEO, TIME); and marketing titans Helen Lin (CDO, Publicis Groupe), Michelle Tang (Global Chief Growth Officer, McCann), Musa Tariq (CMO, GoFundMe), Tammy Henault (CMO, NBA), Hannah Yang (Chief Growth Officer, New York Times), Kathryn Kai-ling Frederick (CMO LA Rams), Masako Konishi (CMO, Forever 21), and Tesa Aragones (CEO, AKQA). 

Gold House highlighted this momentous occasion by debuting its next phase "Gold Bridge," which includes cross-pollinating industries and shared opportunities with fellow communities.

• Bridging Creatives with the Gold House Creative Equity Fund and Gold Consultancy Expansion: investing $10 million through a studio-inspired fund in filmmakers (including a new producer track with Aum Group and Netflix), journalists, fashion designers, contemporary artists, musicians, and more. Gold House will finance projects and creators, provide career-defining tools and education (such as sustainability training), produce creative extensions (e.g. musicians will produce soundtracks with the filmmakers), and deliver mainstream promotion. Founding partners include Spotify, Netflix, Endeavor, East West Bank, Conde Nast, AEG, Panda Express, Google, GoFundMe, Julia Gouw, and John Doerr. Gold House's Storybook and Gold Consultancy that advise on casting, storylines, product placement, and more announced its industry expansion to advertising, sports, music, gaming, books, and Broadway. They were announced by Conde Nast Entertainment President Agnes Chu, super-producer Nina Yang Bongiovi (who is leading the new Producer Accelerator), Gold House COO Jeremy Tran, and Gold House Futures General Manager Christine Yi.
• Bridging Businesses with Gold House Ventures' Advisory Council: an expansion of Gold House Ventures that has deployed $10 million to 68 companies and placed 30 diverse Board roles, Gold House has partnered with the top venture capitalists to turbocharge deal flow, expertise, and more, including: Garry Tan (Y-Combinator), Hemant Taneja (General Catalyst), Aileen Lee (Cowboy Ventures), Anjula Acharia (A-Series Investments), Eric Kim (Goodwater Capital), Eurie Kim (Forerunner Ventures), Hans Tung (GGV Capital), Lynne Chou O'Keefe (Define Ventures), and Ramneek Gupta (Pruven Capital).
• Bridging Communities with Latino leaders: inspired by Gold House, top Latino leaders across Hollywood, media, and technology announced the definitive Latino cultural collective that will reshape public opinions about the community through research, consulting, and LatinOpens. In attendance were Ruben Garcia (former MD of Multicultural at CAA), Karla Pita Loor, Gloria Calderó Kellet, actors Sasha Calle (The Flash) and Michael Cimino (Love, Victor), and director Angel Manuel Soto (Blue Beetle). A new venture with The Academy of Motion Pictures Arts & Sciences and other top multicultural groups was also teased for release in the coming months.

The evening kicked off with a cocktail reception, presented by Hennessy X.O, featuring a custom bar and cocktail designed in partnership with Humberto Leon, the co-founder of Opening Ceremony, and his team at award-winning restaurants CHIFA and Monarch. Gold Bottles of Armand de Brignac (Ace of Spades) champagne flowed throughout the night, as guests celebrated Asian Pacific excellence. 

The evening began by ascending a stunning gold stairwell and elaborate gold carpet. Meta continued its long-standing partnership with Gold House through custom content and media amplification on the Gold Carpet and beyond. Guests wore their interpretation of multicultural black tie, and many wore modern versions of their ancestor's cultural garb. Genesis Motor America hosted transportation for some of the honorees in the award-winning Genesis G90 and Genesis GV80, in addition to displaying the new 2023 Genesis Electrified GV70 for guests to enjoy.

The afterparty, presented by Spotify, featured a Gold Beats Playlist spun by DJ Hu Dat, while guests enjoyed a dessert presentation provided by CHIFA, Flouring LA, and Lavender and Truffles. Guests were also treated to custom late-night bites by Panda Express. 

The Gold Gala was produced by long-time industry leader Sequoia Productions; the name behind prestigious events including Emmys Governors Ball, Oscars Governors Ball and G'Day USA Gala. 

The day after the momentous evening, over 100 of the most influential Asian Pacific women and non-binary leaders across industries gathered for the Gold Women Brunch to kick off Gold Women, a new venture to create meaningful connections, sustaining spaces, and increased promotion opportunities (e.g., Board placements) for this singular group. 

ABOUT GOLD HOUSE

Gold House powers and propels Asian Pacific communities across every corner of culture to power tomorrow for all. Through a suite of innovative programs, the leading cultural ecosystem unites, invests in, and champions Asian Pacific creatives and companies. To learn more, visit www.goldhouse.org or follow @GoldHouseCo on Instagram, Facebook, Twitter, and LinkedIn.

Source: Gold House