Board of Directors

The creative and visionary force behind FMA Entertainment. Andy’s dynamic personality and energetic spirit has made him an innovator in the field of entertainment. Along with his extensive resume of film and television credits, Andy is the creator and producer of the Stripped Concert Series, FMA Fashion Week and Fashion Rocks Vancouver as well as FMA Awards Gala annual event, a large-scale fashion, music and art concert. Andy received three LEO Awards Nominations with current hit television series “FMA Entertainment Weekly” and “Real Estate 101”. His current projects include television series “My Pet Diaries” and “The Big Show”. Andy is also one of the producer of Vogue’s (US) Fashion Night Out Vancouver and board of director of Miss World Canada (2012 and 2013).

Barbara is a writer and independent filmmaker in Vancouver. She has worked as a broadcast journalist/reporter and received the national Radio and Television News Directors’ Association (RTNDA) Award for Best Editorial in 1998. Her film IN BETWEEN THE LAUGHTER was one of the National Film Board’s REELDIVERSITY 2004 winners which aired on CBC and PBS. Barbara continues to support North American Asian artists in mainstream media and is currently working on a music documentary about Asians in the music industry as well as finishing her horror screenplay.

Ken Takagi was born in Los Angeles, has lived in Seattle, New York and Tokyo, but Vancouver has always been his home. The Vancouver Asian Film Festival’s mission statement is one that he’s very excited about and is looking forward to promoting dynamic and innovative images of Asians, while working with Asian filmmakers from around the world.

A proud Vancouverite, Leon has lived in Singapore, Hong Kong, San Francisco, and Toronto, bringing a global perspective to his work. As a successful creative media entrepreneur and creator of North America’s largest Real Estate Television Network, Leon taps into his powerful network of industry partners to lead award winning multimedia projects. In 2009 Leon founded LNG Studios, which has quickly risen to become one of Canada’s premiere architectural visualization and animation studios with cutting edge 3D laser scanning and rendering technology. Through his broadcasting network Leon has provided programming for many lower mainland communities as well as fostered new talent and provided support, training and production services to non-profit organizations.

Mel Nor Lee is a mortgage broker with BMO and has a keen interest in Asian culture and film. She has always been aware of the curious divide between her reality growing up Asian Canadian, and the presentation of her reality as portrayed in western films. It has been her privilege to support an organization that constantly challenges the stereotypes of the Asian Canadian experience and supports local artists to develop and hone their craft.

Mark is an in-house lawyer at BroadbandTV (BBTV), a global media and technology company and the third largest multi-channel network (MCN) in the world. As BBTV’s Legal Counsel, Mark advises the company on a wide range of commercial and intellectual property issues, including the distribution and licensing of digital content and the management of electronic rights, and is also responsible for negotiating and drafting BBTV’s commercial agreements. Prior to BBTV, Mark worked as Corporate Counsel and Chief Copywriter for Stuck, a branding agency that he co-founded during law school, and as a litigation associate at BLG, one of Canada’s largest national law firms.

Board Advisory

As past festival director and executive director and handling programming and advisory duties this year, Peter continues to channel his inner-Asian. Conceived in Kowloon and raised on Fantasy Island and Captain Crunch, Peter is fortunate to be allergic to math and chicken’s feet and aspires to doctor… his transcripts. He continues to channel his inner-filmmaker every summer as co-founder of the Mighty Asian Moviemaking Marathon (MAMM) along with Barbara Lee.

As a writer, sometimes ‘slash’ director, Kathy’s films have screened at numerous festivals, receiving two Golden Sheaf nominations and a Leo award nomination. Her scripts were selected for Whistler International Film Festival’s Short Scripts Competition and twice for CityTV’s Cinecity Initiatives as well as produced for broadcast on CityTV. Last winter, “Red Letters”, an original musical she co-wrote was produced by Vancouver Asian Canadian Theatre and toured three cities in BC.

Mona is a director with a background in sound design as a graduate from Vancouver Film School’s Sound Design program. Mona’s most recent project is a feature length comedy entitled Everything Louder Than Everything Else which premiered at the Whistler Film Festival in 2010. She was also co-director/editor/producer for a feature length documentary about Vancouver indie rock band Ladyhawk’s recording session in an abandoned farmhouse in Kelowna entitled, Let Me Be Fictional.