Julia S. Gouw Short Film Challenge gives four filmmakers $25,000 grants
CAPE and Janet Yang Productions named four grant winners, with Auli‘i Cravalho and Samantha Quan among the jurors.
By Bianca Rossi · Entertainment Editor
3 min read
The Julia S. Gouw Short Film Challenge has picked four filmmakers to receive $25,000 each, with CAPE and Janet Yang Productions backing a new round of short films from API women and non-binary creators.
The 2026 grant recipients are Keshni Kashyap Nilsson for “The Shoe Burglars,” Nayon Cho for “Stigma,” Patricia Lee for “Wasted Resources” and Tiffany Lin for “Hunger,” according to the announcement from the Coalition of Asian Pacifics in Entertainment and Janet Yang Productions.
The jury for this year’s challenge brings a busy mix of screen talent and producers. “Moana” star Auli‘i Cravalho is on the panel alongside “Anora” producer Samantha Quan, “Take Me Home” director Liz Sargent, “Bridgerton” actor Yerin Ha and “Stop! That! Train!” executive producer Chris Quintos Cathcart.
What is the Julia S. Gouw Short Film Challenge?
The Julia S. Gouw Short Film Challenge is a short film grant program from CAPE and Janet Yang Productions. The initiative gives selected filmmakers funding to make short films, with this year’s program ending in a showcase screening in November.
This marks the fifth year of the challenge. Janet Yang, the program’s founder and an Emmy-winning producer, said in a statement that the initiative has shown results after five years of growth.
“New filmmakers are being discovered and supported in the most beautiful way, at top festivals, with key players in the industry,” Yang said. She added that the program has given filmmakers a chance to realize their “full creative voice” and bring dream projects to the screen.
Why this year’s grants carry extra industry weight
The challenge already has a proof point on its jury. CAPE and Janet Yang Productions said Liz Sargent’s short was supported by the program in 2022 and later became her 2026 feature “Take Me Home.”
That feature won Sundance’s top screenwriting honor earlier this year, according to the announcement. Sargent now returns to the program as one of the people helping judge the next group of short film projects.
Rhian Moore, CAPE’s head of programs, said in a statement that the challenge’s past successes show why the work remains needed for API women and non-binary filmmakers.
Moore said those successes demonstrate “the importance of continuing to uplift these stories” despite what she described as decreased gender and racial diversity in Hollywood.
CAPE, short for the Coalition of Asian Pacifics in Entertainment, has long focused on representation in film and television. Janet Yang Productions is partnering on the challenge, with the latest grants aimed at moving four specific short films from pitch to production.
The next stop for the 2026 cohort is production, followed by the November screening showcase. For the four selected filmmakers, the award brings both money and a jury stacked with people who know the short-to-feature pipeline from the inside.
This story draws on original reporting from Variety.