About us

• Organizer: Silicon Valley Community Media
• Co-organizers:

Ding Ding TV, Philippine News Today, Indian Currents, Phu Nu Vietnamese Women Magazine, National Asian Americans United and more

• Committee Members: 
  

Diana Ding, Joel Wong, Liyan Zhao, Christine Ling, Crystal Thompson, Francisco Espiritu, Vandana Kurma, Christine Von Raesfeld, Sheila Mohan, Chris Norwood, Queenie Ngo, Chris Norwood, Hong Nguyen-Phuong, Rosa Kim, Sophia Kao, Jimmy Mi, Amy Zhao.

• Judges:
  

Joel Wong, Mayor Lisa Gilmor, Don Orozco, Mattie Scariot, Sandy Close, Beverly Molina, Mayor Carmen Montano, Richard Flanders, Elplpidio Estioko, David Mosby, Chris Norwood, Piyush Malik, Kansen Chu, Tony Shyu, Maggie Liu.

• Youth Ambassadors

Ethan Guan

Sophia Cheng

Each year a theme will be nominated by committee members and vote by the audiences January to March.
Competition will be promoted through social medias and other channels March to May.

Submissions are accepted each year from June until March.
The judges will select winners before the end of each April.

The stories videos will be promoted through media channels and social medias continuously.

An award ceremony will be held annually during May, Asian Heritage Month.

The Theme of 2023-2024 Asian American Stories is:
“All of Us Belong Here”

During the recent COVID-19 epidemic, the hate crimes against AAPI have skyrocketed to unprecedented levels. Because of this, Silicon Valley Community Media (Ding Ding TV) and other organizations have created and published a video “All of Us Belong Right Here” to emphasize the strength of America is our diversity. Thus, the theme of the 2023 Video and Essay Contest will be "All of Us Belong Here."

There will be two categories of contestants:

1.  Youth Contestants for ages 12 – 18yrs of age
2. Adult Contestants for 19 years old and above

How We Do

Contest Information and Rules: 

1. Asian American Stories Video Essay Contest is open to all independent journalists, ethnic media, video creators, event organizers and civic organization contestants in the United States.
2. The video must be less than one minute horizontal in MP4 or MOV, the essay needs to be less than 150 words. All contents should be in English, and must be original.
3. If background music and other visual, verbal and sound (reference) material are used from the internet, the contestant must possess copyrights or have explicit permission to use such material(s).
4. By entering this contest, the contestants will have given Silicon Valley Community Media and other organizers explicit permission to distribute the video widely on media channels, the internet and social media sites such as YouTube, Facebook, LinkedIn, WeChat, twitter….etc. 
5. The theme should focus on the uplifting and inspirational Asian American stories relating to the annual theme.
6. A diverse Panel of Judges will select:

• First Prize Winners x2 (Adult & Youth):  $5,000 Funding, or a $500 check.
• Second Prize Winners x2 (Adult & Youth):  $2,500 Funding or a $250 check.
• Third Prize Winners x2 (Adult & Youth):  $1,000 Funding or a $100 check.
• Viewer’s Choice Winner x2 (Adult & Youth):  $1000 Funding or a $100 check.
• Excellence Awards x10 : $100
  
  Total $20,000 award