Hiroyuki Sanada, ‘Avatar: The Last Airbender’ and More Honored at 2024 Unforgettable Gala
The Unforgettable Gala, an end-of-year award celebration that honors the API community’s brightest talents in entertainment, arts and culture, held its 2024 ceremony at the Beverly Hilton over the weekend.
Co-hosted by Stephanie Hsu, Maitreyi Ramakrishnan and JR De Guzman, the awards ceremony’s 2024 theme was “unforgettable together” and featured one-of-a-kind segments and performances. The event was produced by GoldenTV and Character Media.
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Shogun star Hiroyuki Sanada was honored with the global icon award, while his co-star Anna Sawai was presented with the actor in TV honor. Sawai was unable to attend in person, but the Emmy-winning actress sent in a video thanking the crowd for the honor. Unforgettable also honored the cast of Netflix’s Avatar: The Last Airbender with the vanguard award, with much of the young cast in attendance.
GoldenTV CEO Takashi Cheng previously told The Hollywood Reporter that the gala continuously brings visibility to talent who have been underrepresented in mainstream media. “The greatest mission for us is to really bring its visibility to mainstream,” he said, adding that the production aimed “to inspire younger generations by showcasing these role models.”
The evening featured several performances including K-Pop star Wonho, singer Thuy, MC Jin and Hawaii-based boy band Party Foul, who debuted new music during their performance. Party Foul also performed with 90s boy band 98 Degrees, who had the entire crowd on their feet with renditions of some of their classic songs like “Because of You.” There was also a special timeline performance that brought attendees through the years, featuring acts The Jets, Pinay, Jocelyn Enriquez and Weston Estate.
Founded by Character Media in 2002 and produced this year by GoldenTV and Character Media, the Unforgettable Gala was co-chaired by writer and director Adele Lim and actor and producer Eugene Lee Yang. Members of the event’s selection committee included Apl.de.Ap, Awkwafina, Bing Chen, Destin Daniel Cretton, Manny Jacinto, Daniel Dae Kim, Lisa Ling, Simu Liu, Ramakrishnan and more. New partners for the 2024 event include Cadillac, Cartier, Fenty and Vizio.
The Unforgettable Gala will air nationwide on Dec. 18 on ChimeTV, powered by GoldenTV and will stream online at GetGolden.TV. Below is a full list of the night’s honorees.
Actor in TV
Anna Sawai, Shogun
Vanguard Award
Cast of Avatar: The Last Airbender
Breakout in TV
Hoa Xuande, The Sympathizer
Global Icon
Hiroyuki Sanada, Shogun
Breakout in Film
Izaac Wang, Didi
Actor in Film
Joan Chen, Didi
Community Impact Award
“Lakers Legends,” Accepted by Byron Scott
Global Groundbreaker
Naomi Watanabe
Cultural Icon
Prabal Gurung
Writer
Rachel Kondo, Shogun
Director
Sean Wang, Didi
Digital Influencer
Vivian Tu
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