Tim Toyama (born April 28, 1952 in

Chicago Chicago is the List of municipalities in Illinois, most populous city in the U.S. state of Illinois and in the Midwestern United States. With a population of 2,746,388, as of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, it is the List of Unite ...

, Illinois) is a playwright and producer. He is ''

Sansei is a Japanese and North American English term used in parts of the world (mainly in South America and North America) to refer to the children of children born to ethnically Japanese emigrants (''Issei'') in a new country of residence, outside o ...

'' (third-generation

Japanese American are Americans of Japanese ancestry. Japanese Americans were among the three largest Asian Americans, Asian American ethnic communities during the 20th century; but, according to the 2000 United States census, 2000 census, they have declined in ...

) living in Los Angeles, California. He is co-founder of the

Asian American Asian Americans are Americans with ancestry from the continent of Asia (including naturalized Americans who are immigrants from specific regions in Asia and descendants of those immigrants). Although this term had historically been used fo ...

media company Cedar Grove Productions, and its sister

Asian-American theatre Asian American theatre refers to theatre written, directed or acted by Asian Americans. From initial efforts by four theatre companies in the 1960s, Asian-American theatre has grown to around forty groups today. Early productions often had Asian ...

company, Cedar Grove OnStage. He attended

California State University, Northridge California State University, Northridge (CSUN or Cal State Northridge), is a public university in the Northridge neighborhood of Los Angeles, California, United States. With a total enrollment of 36,848 students (as of Fall 2024), it has the ...

(CSUN) as an English major.

Productions

His plays have been produced at The Complex in Los Angeles and The Road Theatre Company at the

Lankershim Arts Center Lankershim Arts Center, also known as the Department of Water and Power Building, is an art center and historic building located at 5108 Lankershim Boulevard in the NoHo Arts District in North Hollywood, California. Originally built for the Los ...

North Hollywood North Hollywood is a neighborhood and district in the San Fernando Valley of Los Angeles, California. The neighborhood contains the NoHo Arts District, El Portal Theater, several art galleries, and the Academy of Television Arts & Sciences. Th ...

, California. His best-known work is '' Visas and Virtue'', which is based on the story of

Holocaust The Holocaust (), known in Hebrew language, Hebrew as the (), was the genocide of History of the Jews in Europe, European Jews during World War II. From 1941 to 1945, Nazi Germany and Collaboration with Nazi Germany and Fascist Italy ...

rescuer Chiune "Sempo" Sugihara, who was known as "The Japanese

Schindler Schindler is a German surname that is derived from the German word "schindel", which means " shingle". This suggests that the original bearers of the name were in the roofing business. Variations and alternate spellings of the name include: Shindl ...

". Adapted into a short film by actor-director

Chris Tashima Christopher Inadomi Tashima (born March 24, 1960) is a Japanese American actor and director. He is co-founder of the entertainment company Cedar Grove Productions and Artistic Director of its Asian American theatre company, Cedar Grove OnStage. ...

, the 26-minute drama received the

Academy Award for Live Action Short Film The Academy Award for Best Live Action Short Film is an award presented at the annual Academy Awards ceremony. The award has existed, under numerous names, since 1957. From 1936 until 1956 there were two separate awards, ''Best Short Subject, On ...

in 1998.70th Oscars winners
on IndieWire In addition to serving as the film's executive producer, Toyama co-founded Cedar Grove Productions with Tashima and producer Chris Donahue. By producing professional dramatic films intended for entertainment and educational use, Cedar Grove Productions has brought forth

stories, history and issues which were previously either glossed over in textbooks or ignored by the mainstream media. Cedar Grove Productions "remains dedicated to developing and producing projects that boldly defy mainstream Hollywood by giving Asian Americans the spotlight on stage, and the close-up on screen." Toyama teamed up with

Aaron Woolfolk Aaron Woolfolk (born in Oakland, California) is an American film director, screenwriter, Film producer, producer, and playwright. He shot his first feature film ''The Harimaya Bridge'' in Kōchi Prefecture, Japan and San Francisco. The film had ...

to write ''Bronzeville'', a play that centers around Los Angeles's Little Tokyo district during

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

, where

African Americans African Americans, also known as Black Americans and formerly also called Afro-Americans, are an American racial and ethnic group that consists of Americans who have total or partial ancestry from any of the Black racial groups of Africa ...

became the primary residents after the

internment of Japanese Americans United States home front during World War II, During World War II, the United States forcibly relocated and Internment, incarcerated about 120,000 people of Japanese Americans, Japanese descent in ten #Terminology debate, concentration camps opera ...

. The play premiered worldwide in April 2009, produced by the Robey Theatre Company in association with the Los Angeles Theatre Center. In October 2009, the play was nominated for an

Ovation Award The Ovation Awards were a Southern California award for excellence in theatre, established in 1989. They were given out by the non-profit arts service organization LA Stage Alliance and are the only peer-judged theatre awards in Los Angeles. Win ...

for Original Playwriting. Toyama's play ''Independence Day'' was also adapted to the screen by Cedar Grove Productions as a half-hour

television special A television special (often TV special, or rarely television spectacular) is a standalone television show which may also temporarily interrupt episodic programming normally scheduled for a given time slot. Some specials provide a full range of en ...

for

PBS The Public Broadcasting Service (PBS) is an American public broadcaster and non-commercial, free-to-air television network based in Arlington, Virginia. PBS is a publicly funded nonprofit organization and the most prominent provider of educat ...

. Inspired by his father "Zip" Toyama's World War II experience in a U.S. internment camp for Japanese Americans, '' Day of Independence'' received a Regional

Emmy The Emmy Awards, or Emmys, are an extensive range of awards for artistic and technical merit for the television industry. A number of annual Emmy Award ceremonies are held throughout the year, each with their own set of rules and award catego ...

Nomination in 2006 from the

NATAS The National Academy of Television Arts and Sciences (NATAS), also known as the National Television Academy until 2007, is an American professional service organization founded in 1955 for "the advancement of the arts and sciences of television ...

Northern California Chapter, in the category of Historical/Cultural - Program/Special. Toyama co-wrote the screenplay and served as executive producer on the film. In addition to its PBS broadcast, the film has been shown at over sixty international film and video festivals and has garnered twenty-five awards. Toyama is working on several new plays, including ''Memorial Day'', which is about the 100th/ 442nd, the segregated Japanese American fighting unit of World War II, and ''Yuri and Malcolm X'', about the life of

Nisei is a Japanese language, Japanese-language term used in countries in North America and South America to specify the nikkeijin, ethnically Japanese children born in the new country to Japanese-born immigrants, or . The , or Second generation imm ...

civil rights Civil and political rights are a class of rights that protect individuals' political freedom, freedom from infringement by governments, social organizations, and private individuals. They ensure one's entitlement to participate in the civil and ...

activist Yuri Kochiyama and her friendship with

Malcolm X Malcolm X (born Malcolm Little, later el-Hajj Malik el-Shabazz; May 19, 1925 – February 21, 1965) was an African American revolutionary, Islam in the United States, Muslim minister and human rights activist who was a prominent figur ...

Achievements

He has served on the Artistic Board at The Road Theatre Company as well as the Literary Committee at

East West Players East West Players is an Asian American theatre organization in Los Angeles, founded in 1965. As the nation's first professional Asian American theatre organization, East West Players continues to produce works and educational programs that give ...

. He has been honored with awards from various community organizations, including "Japanese American of the Biennium" awarded by the National JACL, a Community Award from the Japanese American Service Committee of Chicago, Special Recognition from the Japanese American Cultural and Community Center of Los Angeles, a Visionary Award from East West Players, and a Humanitarian Award from The 1939 Club, a Holocaust Survivors' organization.The "1939" Club history
/ref> In July 2008 Toyama received the Ruby Yoshino Schaar Playwright Award presented by the New York/National JACL for his play ''Yuri and Malcolm X''.

Trivia

* He has made

cameo appearance A cameo appearance, also called a cameo role and often shortened to just cameo (), is a brief guest appearance of a well-known person or character in a work of the performing arts. These roles are generally small, many of them non-speaking on ...

s in several independent films including '' Day of Independence'', '' Stand Up for Justice'', ''The First Battle'', ''

Americanese ''Americanese'' is a 2006 American romantic drama film directed by Eric Byler and starring Chris Tashima, Allison Sie, Kelly Hu, Ben Shenkman, Autumn Reeser, and Joan Chen. It is based on the novel '' American Knees'' by Shawn Wong, concernin ...

'', ''American Zombie'' and ''Mamo's Weeds''.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Toyama, Tim 1952 births California State University, Northridge alumni American male dramatists and playwrights American dramatists and playwrights of Japanese descent Living people