Hello Donors!

Thank you all so much for your support during this pandemic. In light of persisting pandemic conditions and campus closures, the Chinese American Culture Night Board and Cast is releasing our 31st annual show in video form!

This is a recording of our last full run-through performance, and while it is not at the level of a full Royce Hall production, we hope that this video can convey our passions for creativity, culture, and the performance arts. 

The video for CACN 2020: "Atonement" can be found here [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KzN7GflCc_Q], on the ACA Bruins Youtube page. We are also releasing the script for this year's production to help supplement the viewing experience. The script can be accessed here [https://bit.ly/AtonementScript].

Again, all excess donations from this year will be used to fund future productions. If you had claimed a perk, logisitcs in accounting procedures and our inability to currently handle the distribution process has delayed fulfillment until further notice. We'll be continuing to work behind the scenes and will update as soon as fulfillment is possible. Thank you for your patience and understanding. Questions can be directed to our CACN social media pages.

CACN looks forward to bringing you an even better show next spring! Thank you again for your support!

Love,

CACN Board and Cast

Hello All,

First and foremost, thank you, everyone, for your support during these trying times. As the COVID-19 situation continues to escalate, CACN continues to encourage everyone to follow guidance from safety officials and practice proper social distancing. At this time, UCLA has prohibited all large, in-person events until the start of July and many students have returned home to their families.

After much deliberation, CACN has decided to release a rehearsal taping of our 2020 production in lieu of our spring show. While it is not a perfect recording, we hope to acknowledge the work that everyone on CACN Board, Cast, and ACA staff have put towards preparing the production. The video is currently in the process of being edited and a further update will be sent when the video is posted.

All funds raised for CACN 2020 will be applied towards future culture night production. If you claimed Spark Perks during our crowdfunding campaign, please note that we will be trying our best to get the perks out in a timely manner. However, due to UCLA accounting office closures and work policies, physical perks (stickers, hats, shirts) are currently delayed and are expected to be sent out, if conditions allow, around mid-June. If you had claimed shoutouts, ad space, or other perks, CACN will be reaching out individually to see how we can best address your perk fulfillment.

Thank you once again for all of your continued support! Please keep an eye out for the CACN 2020 video release and we hope you enjoy the story. CACN looks forward to bringing you an even better show next spring. Stay safe, stay healthy.

Love,

CACN

First and foremost, thank you again to all of our donors for supporting and believing in our show. It is with your constant support that CACN remains an ongoing tradition in the UCLA Community. 

In light of UCLA’s announcement of policy changes with WHO’s recent declaration of a COVID-19 pandemic, CACN would like to take a moment to address concerns and the future of our production this year.

As it currently stands, UCLA has canceled all events and gatherings with over 100 attendees until April 10th with the high possibility of extending the cancellation pending further developments of the virus in the LA community and California. Since CACN is scheduled for May 9th, we are currently not directly impacted by the new policy changes. For now, CACN still expects to hold the production as planned in Royce Hall. However, we are cognizant that changes will happen and that UCLA may choose to extend their policy changes and close campus past the April 10th date. Should that happen, CACN is working to set alternative contingency plans that would still allow our cast, board, and staff to showcase their hard work while respecting UCLA’s safety protocols. All funds raised thus far will still be used for CACN production costs and Perks will still be distributed around May no matter what route our show ends up taking. Our community’s health and safety come first. CACN will be respecting and cooperating with UCLA to the best of our ability.

We understand that this is a stressful time for everyone and that it leaves a lot of uncertainty. CACN will continue to provide updates about our show given the circumstances. Once again, we thank you for your support and understanding.

Best,

Carolin Jia

CACN 2020 Producer

A huge thank you to all of our donors for helping us reach $10,000 (75%) of our goal! We couldn't put on our production without your support! Please help CACN by sharing our campaign through word of mouth, email and social media so that we can reach our crowdfunding goal. We only have a few days left so please help us out!

For reaching 75%, CACN would like to reveal our 2020 SPARK perk designs!

If you have claimed a hat or t-shirt as your perk, you have an exclusive CACN item waiting for you! Our shirt design features our CACN logo on the front and our SF Chinatown - Lantern motif on the back on a black t-shirt. Our hat design features a white hat with our current zodiac animal and lantern motif embroidered on the front and CACN on the back. Love the perks? Both are still available with a $30 (hat) and $35 (shirt) donation.

*Design Disclaimer: some minor edits may be made during the production process as we color correct and adjust the design sizing to better fit the real 3D dimensions of the perk item*

To all of our donors, thank you so much for supporting the 31st Annual Chinese American Culture Night! You are one of 80 donors that contributed towards our fundraising goal. With your help, in just over a week, we have raised more than $7,500 towards our show in May. We still have 18 days in our campaign to reach the rest of our goal and we would love it if you could help share our cause with your friends and family!

At this halfway mark, CACN would like to share with you a bit more about the historical settings that inspired our 2020 story. CACN 2020 was first inspired by the Golden Dragon Massacre, a highly reported gang-related shooting that took place in San Francisco Chinatown in 1977. Chinese-American gangs, from the start, were the Chinese-immigrant and Chinese-American responses to a society of restrictions and racism. Gangs could be found not only in SF, but also in LA and New York, where large populations of Chinese settled after immigration. While gang-related shootings were common and largely ignored by media, the Golden Dragon Massacre marked a turning point. All victims of the 1977 shooting were innocent bystanders and the public outrage that followed sparked changes in how American authorities treated gang-related incidents.

Although the characters and events in our story are not real, CACN drew inspiration from happenings like the Golden Dragon Massacre in the creation of our script, drawing upon elements of intergang conflict in the region and community reactions/opinions towards the related activities. We wanted to explore how gang activities affected both those actually involved with gangs and the innocent bystanders in their day to day lives. While Chinese-American gangs are no longer as prominent as they once were, they do still exist today. With gang-related events still within living history, CACN finds this topic not only an interesting one but one that potentially still holds close personal ties with our friends and family.

For even more insight, we'd also recommend reading "Chinese Playground: A Memoir" which provides a first-hand recollection of 1970s era gang-activity in San Francisco.

Thank you again for your support!

Love,

CACN Board, Cast, and ACA Staff 2020