HBO Max Announces 6th Annual Asian Pacific American Visionaries Short Film Competition

HBO Max, a leader in innovative and iconic entertainment known for serving award-winning programming, announced TODAY the call for submissions for its annual Asian Pacific American Visionaries (APAV) short film competition. Submissions will open on January 18, 2022 at 9:00AM PST.

Formerly known as the HBO APA Visionaries Short Film Competition (established in 2016), the program provides a platform for emerging filmmakers to share their unique and diverse perspectives of the Asian and Pacific Islander community. Now in its sixth year, APAV serves to showcase cinematic storytellers of AAPI descent, awarding the top three winners with cash prizes and the opportunity to have their projects premiere on HBO Max following their theatrical screening at the 2022 Los Angeles Asian Pacific Film Festival.

"Going into the sixth annual APA Visionaries Short Film Competition I'm proud to see the impact and growth the competition has had on the industry," said Jackie Gagne, Senior Vice President, Multicultural Marketing, HBO Max and HBO. "At a time when the most personal stories are also the most universal, the diversity of our storytellers is more important than ever. Our competition is designed to celebrate emerging creative APA filmmakers and the unique experiences and unsung talents that exist within the Asian Pacific American community."

For this year's competition, HBO Max is seeking emerging storytellers whose works respond to this year's theme of the "Power of Love." Films should center and portray ways in which Asian Pacific Americans perceive and show love in their relationships, friendships, or families. Poppy Liu, who is featured in Max Original Series "Hacks," serves as the ambassador and spokesperson for the 2022 HBO Max Visionaries program. Previous ambassadors have included Jamie Chung ("Lovecraft Country"), Shannon Lee (Executive Producer of Cinemax's "Warrior"), Sujata Day ("Insecure"), Leonardo Nam ("Westworld") and Jimmy O. Yang ("Silicon Valley").

"I'm so honored to be an ambassador for the 2022 HBO Max APA Visionaries Short Film Competition," said Poppy Liu. "I think some of the most exciting work in our community is happening at the indie level and this is an incredible opportunity to bring visibility to those stories that have yet to make their way to the mainstream: stories that exist at the intersections of our identities, stories that expand the narrow understanding of the AAPI experience, stories that celebrate the abundance and range of talent within our community. I'm so excited to see the work that emerges from this competition and discover some of my new favorite filmmakers."

For complete rules and guidelines, visit here. All submissions are due by March 1st at 11:59PM PST. Follow the conversation on social media using #hbomaxvisionaries.

Judges for the competition include HBO Max executives and representatives from leading Asian American media organizations including the Center for Asian American Media (CAAM), the Coalition of Asian Pacifics in Entertainment (CAPE) and Visual Communications.

Submission Criteria

Running time: 10-15 minutes, inclusive of credits
Films must have been directed by a person of Asian or Pacific Islander descent
Director and Co-director(s) must be a resident of one of the 50 United States or Washington, D.C.
Films must be in the English language or contain English subtitles (common foreign words/phrases are acceptable without subtitles)
Film must not be publicly available online through May 31, 2022
Films must have commenced principal photography on or after January 1, 2021
Films must not have had any previous exhibition on broadcast or cable (by means of any method or medium) or online.
Films must be an original live action narrative (no documentaries or animation).
Employees of HBO and other WarnerMedia entity and their immediate family members are not eligible to participate

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