We are pleased to herald the New Year with news from our friends at the Academy of Motion Picture Arts & Sciences that the Los Angeles Asian Pacific Film Festival has been APPROVED as an Academy Award®-qualifying festival for Short Film Awards. Now, the recipient of the Film Festival's Golden Reel Award will be eligible for consideration for an Oscar® in the Animated Short Film/Live-Action Short Film category, without the standard theatrical run, subject to compliance with Academy® guidelines.

HBO today announced the launch of HBO Asian Pacific American Visionaries, a short film competition dedicated to showcasing emerging APA directors with unique perspectives of the Asian Pacific American experience. Three winning films will be awarded cash prizes and make their premiere at the Los Angeles Asian Pacific Film Festival in April 2017 and offered the opportunity to license their film to premiere exclusively on HBO (and/or its on-demand, digital and/or social platforms) during Asian Pacific American Heritage Month in May 2017. The deadline for entries is November 7, 2016. Join the conversation on Twitter with hashtag #hbovisionaries.

In a press statement released July 7, the California Arts Council has announced a grant award of $56,000 to Visual Communications as part of its Creative California Communities program. The grant will be utilized to expand FfF Interactive Little Tokyo!, a multi-format transmedia project that was a highlight of the 2016 Los Angeles Asian Pacific Film Festival. Visual Communications was one of only forty-one grantees statewide for this program.