HBO® Celebrates Asian American and Pacific Islander Heritage Month With New East of Main Street Special

NEW YORK, April 27, 2015 /PRNewswire/ -- In celebration of Asian American and Pacific Islander Heritage Month, HBO will unveil the fifth installment of its acclaimed documentary series East of Main Street on May 1. East of Main Street: Taking The Lead will be available on HBO On Demand, HBO GO, and HBO NOW, and showcases a select group of Asian Americans in various stages of their movie and television careers. To celebrate the film, HBO is hosting a VIP screening and panel discussion with some of its stars, including Aasif Mandvi, Sheetal Sheth and more in New York City on May 6.

Directed and produced by Jonathan Yi, East of Main Street: Taking the Lead showcases the personal journeys of a talented group of performers through in-depth interviews. The special gives viewers inside access into their lives and art, from their daily struggles to their greatest achievements.

"This year, with so much attention being paid to racial and cultural diversity in Hollywood, we wanted to examine what it takes for Asian Americans to succeed in the entertainment industry," said Yi.

"The award-winning East of Main Street series garnered attention from prevalent actors who expressed interest in getting involved," said HBO Senior Vice President for Multicultural Marketing Lucinda Martinez. "We're excited to give audiences the opportunity to hear from and be inspired by them, with this newest installment."

A preview trailer for East of Main Street: Taking the Lead can be viewed here:  https://youtu.be/YWTvMSmtRJ4 
Viewers can also access previous episodes of East of Main Street on HBO's YouTube channel: https://youtu.be/YWTvMSmtRJ4?list=PLO79iP69FaZP0ZnKmo3mgHFqfbsAfM-UW

East of Main Street: Taking the Lead will be available on HBO On Demand, HBO GO, and HBO NOW beginning May 1st and throughout the entire month.  The special will also be offered on HBO's YouTube platform for a limited time on May 4-6th for non-HBO subscribers to enjoy.

About HBO
Home Box Office, Inc. is the premium television programming subsidiary of Time Warner Inc. and the world's most successful pay TV service, providing the two television services – HBO^® and Cinemax^® – to approximately 122 million subscribers worldwide.  The services offer the popular subscription video-on-demand products HBO On Demand^® and Cinemax On Demand^®, as well as HBO GO^® and MAX GO^®, HD feeds and multiplex channels. Beginning in April 2015, HBO will also offer a standalone video streaming service, HBO NOW, in the U.S. Internationally, HBO branded television networks, along with the subscription video-on-demand products HBO On Demand and HBO GO, bring HBO services to over 60 countries.  HBO and Cinemax programming is sold into over 150 countries worldwide.

About Jonathan Yi
Jonathan Yi is a director and cinematographer, most often working in the realms of commercial production and documentary. His documentary feature "Mad Tiger" will be in theaters nationwide in August 2015. His client list in the advertising world includes Nike, Smirnoff, HP, Kleenex, JetBlue, Stride, Trident, Kotex, Microsoft, SAP, TD Ameritrade, Schick and American Express, among many others.

Outside of the ad space, Yi has directed five installments of HBO's award-winning series East of Main Street and shot projects for Paul McCartney, Twisted Sister, Poison, Daniel Johnston, Mates of State and The Locust. Shift, a film that Jonathan shot, directed and produced, has also won many accolades and played in many film festivals. As a director/cinematographer, Yi's work has been showcased in such magazines as Creativity and Vice. Yi teaches 16mm and digital cinematography at NYU's Tisch School of the Arts. He also consults for Canon USA. Yi attended New York University's Tisch School of the Arts Film Program.

Credits
Director and Producer: Jonathan Yi
Executive Producers: Louis Tancredi, Chrissie Hines
Cast: Lucy Liu, Daniel Dae Kim, BD Wong, Aasif Mandvi, Russell Wong, Lucille Soong, Jimmy O. Yang, Melanie Kannokada, Dennis Oh, Sheetal Sheth, Raymond J. Lee, Nivedita Kulkarni, Tobias Wong, Michelle Goike, Veronica Reyes-How, Katarina Zhu.

PRESS CONTACT:
Marisa McWilliams
Team Epiphany
347-990-1051
[email protected]

Mellony Torres
HBO
212-512-7552
[email protected]

SOURCE HBO

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