MEET THE CREATIVE TEAM

PRODUCER/DIRECTOR/EDITOR
Emiko Omori – has produced, directed, shot, and edited: To Chris Marker, an Unsent Letter; Ed Hardy: Tattoo the World; Passion and Power: the Technology of Orgasm; California and the American Dream: Ripe for Change; Hot Summer Winds for PBS’ American Playhouse, and Rabbit in the Moon, for which she received a National Emmy award for Outstanding Historical Program. Rabbit in the Moon premiered at Sundance Film Festival, and was broadcast on public television’s POV. Omori was a pioneer American Asian camerawoman at KQED’s Newsroom, has taught at the University of Southern California, San Francisco State University, and San Francisco City College, and is a member of the Academy of Motion Pictures. She was recently featured in “Director’s Forte Night” at the MOMA in New York City, and an installation of When Rabbit Left the Moon was shown at the San Francisco Asian Art Museum.

EXECUTIVE PRODUCER
Gayle K. Yamada, Ph.D. – is returning to the world of filmmaking, after earning a Ph.D. in Interdisciplinary Humanities. She has directed, produced, written, and been the executive producer of programs for public television and radio for more than three decades. Her national credits include: The Spirit of Taiko; Uncommon Courage: Patriotism and Civil Liberties; Yan Can Cook: Cooking at the Academy; Maxine Hong Kingston: Talking Story; Artwear: The Body Adorned; Czeslaw Milosz: The Poet Remembers; and Julia Morgan: A Life by Design. Her many awards include: an Edward R. Murrow Award, first place in the Asian American Journalists Association in both television and radio, and election to the Silver Circle of the National Academy of Television Arts and Sciences. She has co-authored two books, taught at the university and secondary school levels, and served on several cultural and broadcast industry boards.

PRODUCER
Lydia Tanji – is a first-time producer. As a costume designer, her credits include: Hot Summer Winds, The Joy Luck Club, Carved in Silence, Unfinished Business, Dim Sum, A Thousand Pieces of Gold, The Wash, and Life Tastes Good which premiered at Sundance Film Festival. She has worked on re-creations for televised documentaries: We Shall Remain: Trail of Tears; Transcontinental Railroad; the Massie Case; Gold Rush; and American Experience: The Chinese in America with Bill Moyers for PBS. She is a recipient of the Woman Warrior award from the Pacific Asian American Women Bay Area Coalition and co-chaired the Oakland Museum’s ethnic/cultural guild which put on the first Asian American Pacific Heritage Month celebration.

PRODUCER
Wylie Wong – is an antique Asian Art dealer/collector, and the savior of 700+ May’s Photo Studio photographs, which he donated to Stanford University’s Green Library. He received his MFA from California College of Arts and Crafts, ran two noted contemporary art galleries before opening his own business twenty years ago. He has been on the board of the SF Chinese Culture Center, a League member of the Asian Art Museum, and consultant for Chinese Historical Society of America. Wong has also curated many exhibitions for the Chinese Culture Center; an exhibition of May’s photographs at the Bank of America, Transamerica corporation that traveled to Hong Kong and China and the SF international airport; as well as the Triangle Gallery, and an online exhibition for the Museum of Performance & Design where he donated 400 prints of May’s Studio photographs.

Corinne Chan Lee Takayama is the granddaughter of Leo and Isabella May Chan Lee. She grew up in San Francisco’s Chinatown, in a downstairs flat from her grandparents. Corinne was immersed in Chinatown life, attending Commodore Stockton (elementary) School, taking ballet lessons from dancer Tony Wing, and attending Chinese language school for two hours daily. Corinne attended Lowell High School then the University of Hawai’i, Hilo, in Early Childhood Education. She taught for 30 years. Corinne lives with her husband, Brian, on the Big Island of Hawai’i, and is the mother of three sons.