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Lowedown Productions - Felicia Lowe

Bio / Resume

Felicia LoweFelicia Lowe is an award winning independent television producer, director, and writer with more than 30 years of production experience. Her current film, “Chinese Couplet” is in post production. Lowe received an EMMY for Best Cultural Documentary for “Chinatown: The Hidden Cities of San Francisco.” The lively hour-long piece on the history of San Francisco’s oldest neighborhood has been broadcast numerous times on PBS. “Carved in Silence,” a documentary about the experiences of Chinese immigrants detained on Angel Island Immigration Station and “China: Land of My Father,” a personal journey to China to meet her paternal grandmother have garnered numerous awards and have also been broadcast on PBS and abroad. Her innovative works have screened in film festivals, museums and are used in classrooms across the country. Lowe has taught film production and scriptwriting at San Francisco State University and Stanford University. She’s been actively involved with the preservation of the Angel Island Immigration Station.

RESUME

PRODUCTION EXPERIENCE

A New Land, A New Song – Commissioned to design, produce and direct three screen multi-media projections for a program performed live by the San Francisco Girl’s Chorus and Cypress String Quartet featuring the premiere of Angel Island Passages at the Conservatory of Music, San Francisco, 2010.

Him Mark Lai – Producer/Director of fundraising trailer on Him Mark Lai, an engineer by day and scholar by night who’s been called the “Dean of Chinese American history,” 2010.

Immigration Station Soundscapes – Producer/Director of multi-source audio track installations played as part of the interpretative tour of the rooms where immigrants were detained at Angel Island Immigration Station, 2009.

“Him Mark Lai – Master Archivist” – Producer/Director of five minute tribute tape of historian Him Mark Lai for the Chinese Historical Society of America, 2008.

“Chinese Couplet” – Two lines of verse that form a unit, like mother and daughter, each line reflects and informs the other. The revelation of a long held family secret launches a search by the filmmaker to find answers about the circumstances surrounding her mother’s illegal emigration from China to America during the Chinese Exclusion era. In post-production.

“Chinatown YWCA” – Producer/Director of a museum installation piece commissioned by the Chinese Historical Society of America about the Chinatown YWCA from the turn of the century to its closure and its positive influence in girl’s and women’s lives.

“Chinatown” – Producer/Director of one hour documentary about the history and evolution of San Francisco’s oldest neighborhood and the resiliency and strength of its residents. Winner of Northern California EMMY for Best Cultural Documentary, CINE Golden Eagle, and National Educational Media Network Silver Apple. Used extensively in classrooms and frequently broadcast on PBS.

“Difficult Dialogues” – Producer/Writer of an half hour Annenberg/CPB funded instructional tape for the Center for Intercultural Relations at California State University at Hayward to facilitate difficult dialogues in classrooms.

Segment producer and writer for KQED’s “Green Means,” KRON’s “For Those Who Care,” KPIX’s “All Together Now,” HBO’s “The Fall of Saigon” and “Medal of Honor.”

“Carved in Silence” — Producer/Director/Writer of National Endowment for the Humanities funded documentary with dramatic re-creations about the impact of detention on Chinese immigrants at Angel Island Immigration Station. Winner of a CINE Golden Eagle, Chris Plaque, National Educational Film and Video Association Honorable Mention. Broadcast on PBS, International Channel, and used in classrooms nationwide. The documentary served as an effective tool in raising awareness and funding to restore and preserve this “Ellis Island of the West.”

“China: Land of My Father” — Producer/Director/Writer of a personal documentary filmed in the People’s Republic of China about a first-time meeting with my paternal grandmother. EMMY nomination, CINE Golden Eagle, American Film Festival Red Ribbon Award,1980. Broadcast on PBS.

“Year of the Rooster”, “Year of the Monkey”, “Year of the Ram” – Co-host and producer of San Francisco’s Chinese New Year’s parade and celebration with filmed vignettes interspersed through the broadcast. KQED-TV, San Francisco.

“Turnabout” – Reporter/field producer for a weekly PBS series on the changing roles of men and women. Produced films on diverse topics from women in prison to women and religion. The series won three EMMY awards from 1976-78. KQED-TV.

Reporter, Producer, Newswriter for KGO-TV News and KNBC-TV News covering hundreds of stories ranging from breaking news to features and mini-documentaries. Nominated twice for Northern California EMMY awards.

“The Electric Company” – Assistant to the story editor in writing, researching story ideas, working with artists and writers at Children’s Television Workshop, New York.

SPECIAL SCREENINGS

American Educational Film and Video Festival, American Film Festival, American Film Institute Film Festival, Asian American Film Festivals in San Francisco, Los Angeles, New York, CINE Golden Eagle, Film Arts Foundation Film Festival, Global Village, New York, Hawaii International Film Festival, Hong Kong Film Festival, Houston International, Mill Valley Film Festival, Museum of Modern Art, Museum of Natural History, Museum of American History, Women in Film Festival, New York, Smithsonian, Washington D.C., Ellis Island, Museum of the Chinese in Americas, New York.

HONORS and AWARDS

  • Squaw Valley Screenwriting Workshop fellow, August, 2009.
  • Recipient of an Individual Artists Grant from the San Francisco Arts Commission, 2007.
  • Awarded grants from the Center for Asian American Media, Wallace Alexander Gerbode Foundation, San Francisco Arts Commission, National Endowment for the Arts, National Endowment for the Humanities, Pioneer Fund, Lucius Eastman Fund, Hearts and Hands Media Arts. (partial list).
  • 2002 recipient of Gerbode Fellowship for professional development.
  • Asian Pacific American Women’s Leadership Institute Fellow, 1999.
  • Honored by Kearny Street Workshop for leadership in promoting Angel Island Immigration Station and the Chinese Historical Society of America as a Chinese American Broadcast Pioneer, 1999.
  • Recipient of “Women Making a Difference” Award by YWCA, San Francisco & Marin, 1998.

RELATED COMMUNITY SERVICE

  • Juror for documentaries in competition for the Mendocino Film Festival, San Francisco International Film Festival, Asian American International Film Festivals.
  • Served on screening and/or funding review panels for the San Francisco Arts Commission, Independent Television Service, the Center for Asian American Media, National Endowment for the Humanities, Corporation for Public Broadcasting, San Francisco International Film Festival, Jewish Film Festival, and Northern California EMMY’s .
  • Keynote speaker for two U.S. Citizenship Swearing in Ceremonies, Asian Educators Alliance, San Francisco’s Commonwealth Club, Chinese American Citizen’s Alliance Annual Meeting, and a longtime spokesperson and past president of the Angel Island Immigration Station Foundation board of directors.

TEACHING EXPERIENCE

  • Guest lecturer, University of California, Berkeley & Santa Cruz, 2001-2010.
  • Master’s thesis advisor, San Francisco State, Graduate Film Department, 2007.
  • Lecturer in Scriptwriting, California State University, Hayward – Fall, 1998.
  • Documentary Film/Video Directing instructor for graduate students in the Department of Communication. Stanford University – Fall, 1990, 1991.
  • Visiting Filmmaker and lecturer for graduate courses in Production, Scriptwriting, and Creative Process in the Cinema Department, San Francisco State University,89-91.

EDUCATION

  • Columbia University, Michelle Clark Fellowship Program in Broadcast Journalism, 1972.
  • WNET-Television & Film Training Program, New York, 1971.
  • San Jose State University, Bachelor of Arts in Journalism, 1967.