Lisa Onodera is an American independent film producer, of such noted films as ''

Picture Bride The term picture bride refers to the practice in the early 20th century of immigrant workers (chiefly Japanese, Okinawan, and Korean) in Hawaii and the West Coast of the United States and Canada, as well as Brazil selecting brides from their nat ...

'', '' The Debut'' and ''

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 ...

''. She grew up in Berkeley, California, and attended

UCLA The University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) is a public land-grant research university in Los Angeles, California, United States. Its academic roots were established in 1881 as a normal school then known as the southern branch of the C ...

where she received a degree from the School of Motion Picture and Television. Early film credits include serving as Associate Producer on

Arthur Dong Arthur Dong (born October 30, 1953) is an American filmmaker and author whose work centers on Asia America and anti-gay prejudice. Career Arthur Dong was born on October 30, 1953, in San Francisco, San Francisco, California. He graduated from Ga ...

's documentary, ''Forbidden City, USA'' and the Frontline documentary, ''The Monster That Ate Hollywood''. Onodera produced the 1995

Sundance Film Festival The Sundance Film Festival is an annual film festival organized by the Sundance Institute. It is the largest independent film festival in the United States, with 423,234 combined in-person and online viewership in 2023. The festival has acted ...

Audience Award winner, ''

'', directed by

Kayo Hatta Kayo Hatta (March 18, 1958 – July 20, 2005) was an American filmmaker, writer, and community activist. She directed and co-wrote the independent dramatic feature-length film ''Picture Bride'', which won the Sundance Film Festival Audience Award i ...

,Kayo Hatta bio at NYAAIFF 2006
/ref> starring

Youki Kudoh is a Japanese actress and singer. She won the award for best newcomer at the 6th Yokohama Film Festival for ''The Crazy Family (1984 film), The Crazy Family''. She also won the awards for best actress at the 16th Hochi Film Award and at the 199 ...

Akira Takayama is a Japanese director. He is the leader of the theatre unit Port B, which he founded in 2003 to create site-specific performances. Life, career, and style Takayama was born in 1969 and spent several years in Germany studying theatre and lin ...

Tamlyn Tomita Tamlyn Naomi Tomita (born January 27, 1966) is an American actress. She made her screen debut as Kumiko in '' The Karate Kid Part II'' (1986) and reprised the character for the streaming series '' Cobra Kai'' (2021). She is also well known for ...

, and

Toshirō Mifune was a Japanese actor and producer. The recipient of numerous awards and accolades over a lengthy career, he is widely considered one of the greatest actors of all time. He often played hypermasculine characters and was noted for his commandin ...

. The film, considered a landmark

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 ...

work, also received an

Independent Spirit Award The Independent Spirit Awards, originally known as the FINDIE or Friends of Independents Awards, and later as the Film Independent Spirit Awards, are awards presented annually in Santa Monica, California, to independent filmmakers. Founded in ...

nomination for Best First Feature, and was released by

Miramax Films Miramax, LLC, formerly known as Miramax Films, is an American independent film and television production and distribution company owned by beIN Media Group and Paramount Global. Based in Los Angeles, California, it was founded on December 19, ...

. From 1997 to 2002, Onodera ran the production company, Celestial Pictures, with producer Peter Shiao. The company developed a number of

projects, and co-financed and co-produced Jule Gilfillan's ''Restless'', a romantic drama set and shot in Beijing, China. In 2000, she produced

Gene Cajayon ''The Debut'' is a 2000 coming-of-age comedy-drama film directed and co-written by Gene Cajayon in his directorial debut. Incorporated themes of Philippine culture, struggling with heritage identity and racism, the title of the film refers to th ...

Filipino American Filipino Americans () are Americans of Filipino ancestry. Filipinos in North America were first documented in the 16th century and other small settlements beginning in the 18th century. Mass migration did not begin until after the end of the Sp ...

feature, '' The Debut'', starring

Dante Basco Dante Roman Basco (born August 29, 1975) is an American actor. He is known for his role as Rufio, the leader of the Lost Boys, in Steven Spielberg's ''Hook'', Dolph in the cult film '' But I'm a Cheerleader'', the lead character Ben Mercado in th ...

, which won the Audience Award at the

Hawaii International Film Festival Hawaii ( ; ) is an island state of the United States, in the Pacific Ocean about southwest of the U.S. mainland. One of the two non-contiguous U.S. states (along with Alaska), it is the only state not on the North American mainland, th ...

and Best Feature at the

San Diego Asian Film Festival The San Diego Asian Film Festival (SDAFF) is an annual film festival in San Diego San Diego ( , ) is a city on the Pacific coast of Southern California, adjacent to the Mexico–United States border. With a population of over 1.4 million, ...

. The film also received an AMMY Award for Best Independent Feature, and a MANAA Media Achievement Award, while breaking

indie Indie is a short form of "independence" or "independent"; it may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media *Independent media, media free of influence by government or corporate interests *Indie art, fine arts made by artists independent of commer ...

distribution records with a $2 million box office return during its theatrical release in 2003. In 2003, Onodera produced the

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 ...

nominated half-hour

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 ...

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 ...

, '' Day of Independence'' for Cedar Grove Productions, which told the story of a young ''

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 ...

'' (second-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 ...

) baseball player facing the

Japanese American internment During World War II, the United States forcibly relocated and incarcerated about 120,000 people of Japanese descent in ten concentration camps operated by the War Relocation Authority (WRA), mostly in the western interior of the country. Abou ...

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 ...

. In 2006, she produced Eric Byler's ''TRE'' and Emily Skopov's '' Novel Romance''. In 2006,

IFC Films Independent Film Company (formerly IFC Films) is an American film production and distribution company based in New York City, New York. It is an offshoot of IFC (U.S. TV channel), IFC, owned by AMC Networks. It mainly distributes independent fil ...

released ''

'', an adaptation of Shawn Wong's Asian American novel, '' American Knees'', which Onodera optioned in 1995, the year the book was first published. Written for the screen and directed by Eric Byler, and produced by Onodera, the film made its world premiere at the

South by Southwest Film Festival South by Southwest (SXSW) is an annual conglomeration of parallel film, interactive media, and music festivals and conferences organized jointly that take place in mid-March in Austin, Texas. It began in 1987 and has continued growing in both s ...

(SXSW), winning the SXSW Audience Award for Best Narrative Feature and a Special Jury Prize for Outstanding Ensemble Cast.Americanese wins at SXSW
on IndieWire

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Onodera, Lisa Film producers from California American people of Japanese descent Businesspeople from Berkeley, California UCLA Film School alumni Living people American women film producers Year of birth missing (living people) 21st-century American women