Tadashi Nakamura is an Emmy-award winning filmmaker and the Director of the Watase Media Arts Center, a production company of the Japanese American National Museum. Tadashi was named CNN’s “Young People Who Rock” for being the youngest filmmaker at the 2008 Sundance Film Festival. Now with over 20 years of filmmaking experience, his films include MELE MURALS (2016), JAKE SHIMABUKURO: LIFE ON FOUR STRINGS (2013), A SONG FOR OURSELVES (2009), and PILGRIMAGE (2006). He is currently working on THIRD ACT, about his pioneering filmmaker father, Robert A. Nakamura, and his current battle with Parkinson’s Disease.

Tadashi has an M.A. in Social Documentation from UC Santa Cruz and a B.A. in Asian American Studies from UCLA. He made the DOC NYC ‘40 Under 40’ list in 2019 and was a 2020-2022 Firelight Media Documentary Lab Fellows and a 2022-2023 Sundance Asian American Fellow. He is currently a mentor for the 2024 CAAM Fellowship and recipient of the 2024 Rockwood Documentary Leaders Fellowship.

Nobuko Miyamoto is a groundbreaking artist, activist, and Artistic Director of Great Leap. Born in Los Angeles in 1939, she began her career as a dancer and actress, performing in productions like West Side Story and Flower Drum Song. In the 1970s, Nobuko shifted her focus to political activism, co-creating the influential album A Grain of Sand, the first to address Asian American identity through music. She founded Great Leap in 1978 to use the arts for social change, blending music, dance, and theater to uplift underrepresented voices. Nobuko’s work continues to inspire new generations of artists, and her memoir, Not Yo’ Butterfly, chronicles her journey as a pioneer in the Asian American movement.

Derek Nakamoto has enjoyed an illustrious career spanning five decades, working with some of the world's most influential music artists and prestigious ensembles. His eclectic projects blend diverse cultures and eras into unique musical works. Derek has produced albums for artists such as Teddy Pendergrass, the O’Jays, and Nobuko Miyamoto, and has worked with Keiko Matsui, Michel Colombier, and many others.

Duane Kubo was one of the founders of Visual Communications, a media group that began in 1970 in Los Angeles to develop and support the voices of Asian American and Pacific Islander filmmakers and media artists. He made Cruisin’ J-Town (Visual Communications, 1974). Visual Communications (VC) is the nation’s premier Asian Pacific American media arts center. Duane later went on to co-direct (with Robert Nakamura) and produce the VC production HITO HATA: RAISE THE BANNER (1980), the first feature length narrative film created exclusively by Asian Americans. Kubo moved back to his native San Jose, CA in 1982 and started teaching at De Anza College in Cupertino, CA. He later became dean of the Intercultural/International Studies Division, teaching Asian American Studies and overseeing the Ethnic Studies and International Studies programs. Retired from De Anza College, Duane volunteers in San Jose Japantown by running J-Town Community TV (youtube.com/c/jtowncommunitytv) and the J-Town FilmFest (now called Silicon Valley Asian Pacific FilmFest).