Center for Asian American Media

Name

Center for Asian American Media

Legal name

Center for Asian American Media

Website

https://caamedia.org

Company type

Private

Founded year

1980

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

51–100 employees

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Independent Media and Documentary Funding

NAICS

Convention and Trade Show Organizers (561920), Professional Organizations (81392)

SIC

Services-Motion Picture & Video Tape Production (7812), Services-Motion Picture & Video Tape Distribution (7822)

akta.pro primary industry

Arts & Culture Documentaries (MPADADAI)

akta.pro secondary industries

Public Broadcasting Grants & Government Funding Administration (MPABADAM), Community & Cultural Screenings (Museums, Cultural Centers) (MPADAKAH), Public Media Partnerships & Content Co-productions (NGO/Cultural) (MPABADAN)

Keywords

• Independent film funding
• Documentary grants
• Asian American media
• Public television distribution
• Filmmaker fellowship programs

Headquarters

HQ city

San Francisco

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2B and B2C

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Operations, Marketing or Sales, Others, Technology or R&D

Revenue model

1. Individual Donations: Sustaining Patron donations at any amount, Founders Circle gifts of $1,000+, and Monthly Giving Program ($10-$200/month). Donations support CAAM's work to produce and present Asian American stories.
2. Corporate Sponsorships: Year-round strategic partnerships and CAAMFest sponsorships. Sponsors receive recognition at events, filmmaker programs, and community gatherings. Past sponsors include Bloomberg, Comcast NBCUniversal, AARP, Rakuten Viki, St. Jude, Kaiser Permanente, and others.
3. Institutional Grants: Funding from foundations including Doris Duke Foundation ($4.5M Building Bridges initiative), Ford Foundation, John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation, Henry Luce Foundation, and government agencies including Corporation for Public Broadcasting and National Endowment for the Arts.
4. Campaign for the Future of Storytelling: $15 million fundraising campaign launched to strengthen and sustain Asian American storytelling. Raised $8 million to date from institutional funders and donors.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion4 records

Distribution channels5 records

Marketing channels6 records

Core offering

CAAM is a nonprofit organization that supports Asian American independent film and television through its annual CAAMFest film festival, competitive documentary funding grants, a six-month filmmaker fellowship with mentorship, public-television distribution on PBS, and an archival program that digitizes Asian American home movies. Activities are sustained by foundation grants, corporate sponsorships, and individual donations rather than product sales.

Product overview

The Center for Asian American Media (CAAM) operates as a nonprofit organization with a multi-faceted portfolio of programs supporting Asian American storytelling. The core product is CAAMFest, an annual film festival now in its 44th year, which showcases films from Asian America and beyond in San Francisco. Supporting the festival are talent development initiatives including the CAAM Fellowship (a mentorship program pairing emerging filmmakers with professionals), the CAAM Documentary Fund (grants for documentary production), and the Building Bridges Documentary Fund (a $4.5M initiative for Muslim experience documentaries funded by Doris Duke Foundation). The organization also operates Memories to Light, an archival program digitizing Asian American home movies in partnership with Predinger Archives and California Revealed. Public Media Programs deliver CAAM-funded documentaries to PBS audiences, including the landmark 'Asian Americans' docuseries. CAAM's activities are supported by the Campaign for the Future of Storytelling, a $15 million fundraising initiative. Distribution of CAAM's catalog of 250+ documentary titles occurs through Kanopy and Alexander Street Press for schools and libraries.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Brands

• Building Bridges Documentary Fund: A funding initiative providing support for independent documentary projects about the Muslim experience in the United States, made possible by the Doris Duke Foundation.
• CAAM Fellowship
• CAAMFest
• Memories to Light
• CAAM Documentary Fund

Products and services

• CAAMFest Annual Asian American film festival in San Francisco Japantown featuring 60+ screenings, filmmaker panels, the Filmmaker Summit, Industry Hub, and Opening Night Gala; attracts thousands of attendees and industry professionals.
• CAAM Fellowship Talent development program that pairs emerging documentary filmmakers with accomplished professionals as mentors for six months, supporting both projects and careers in documentary filmmaking across regional editions such as the Midwest Edition.
• CAAM Documentary Fund Production and post-production funding program for independent documentary projects about Asian American experiences, with grants intended for public television broadcast.
• Building Bridges Documentary Fund A $4.5 million initiative supporting independent documentary projects about the Muslim experience in the United States, with grants of $10K-$25K for research/development and $50K-$100K for production and post-production phases.
• Memories to Light Archival program collecting, digitizing, and sharing Asian American home movies spanning 1920s-1980s in partnership with Prelinger Archives and California Revealed to make them accessible to community members and future generations.
• Public Media Programs Award-winning documentary programs presented on public television through PBS, including the landmark five-part docuseries Asian Americans, reaching millions of viewers annually as part of CAAM's National Multicultural Alliance designation.
• Lucky Chow (Season 8) Culinary television series hosted by Danielle Chang exploring Asian influences on food and culture; Season 8 includes episodes set in Copenhagen, Milan, Berlin, and London's Chinatown on PBS.

Quantifiable outcome

• 500 films supported through public funding since 1982
• +5 more outcomes

Named customers7 records

Segments4 records

Ideal customer profiles4 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Feature3 records

Partnerships

16 partnerships are on record, tiered core, major and minor.

• PBScoreChannel Partner/ Reseller/ DistributorPrimary broadcast distribution partner for CAAM's documentary programming. CAAM's award-winning programs reach millions of viewers annually through public television. Partnership includes landmark series like Asian Americans (five-part docuseries).
• KanopymajorChannel Partner/ Reseller/ DistributorDigital streaming platform distributing CAAM's film catalog to libraries and educational institutions, reaching 2K+ universities, schools, and museums.
• Alexander Street PressmajorChannel Partner/ Reseller/ DistributorDigital distribution partner for CAAM's documentary catalog, providing educational institutions access to Asian American film content.
• Prelinger ArchivescoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerPartner for Memories to Light archival program. Prelinger Archives provides digital preservation and hosting of Asian American home movies from the 1920s-1980s, making them accessible through Internet Archive.
• California RevealedcoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerPartner for Memories to Light archival program preserving Asian American community memories and home movies for future generations.
• National Multicultural AlliancecoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerCAAM is a member of the National Multicultural Alliance (formerly National Minority Consortia), designated by Corporation for Public Broadcasting to provide diverse programming to PBS.
• Flash CutsmajorStrategic or Co-development PartnerPartner for Silk Stream digital short film series showcasing fiction and nonfiction stories about Asian America. An homage to CAAM's Silk Screen anthology series (1982-1987).
• Islamic Scholarship FundminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerFellow program partner in Building Bridges Documentary Fund alongside CAAM, MPAC Hollywood Bureau, and Sundance Institute.
• Muslim Public Affairs Council (MPAC) Hollywood BureauminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerFellow program partner in Building Bridges Documentary Fund alongside CAAM, Islamic Scholarship Fund, and Sundance Institute.
• Sundance InstituteminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerFellow program partner in Building Bridges Documentary Fund alongside CAAM, Islamic Scholarship Fund, and MPAC Hollywood Bureau.
• Asian Art MuseummajorGTM or Marketing PartnerCAAMFest Opening Night Gala venue partner. Hosts festival celebration events featuring Asian American food and culture experiences.
• BloombergmajorGTM or Marketing PartnerCorporate sponsor of CAAMFest and CAAM programs, supporting Asian American storytelling initiatives.
• Comcast NBCUniversalmajorGTM or Marketing PartnerCorporate sponsor supporting CAAMFest Industry Hub and filmmaker programs.
• AARPminorGTM or Marketing PartnerCorporate sponsor of CAAMFest filmmaker awards reception and programming.
• Rakuten VikiminorGTM or Marketing PartnerCorporate sponsor supporting CAAMFest and dedicated to Asian and Asian American storytelling.
• Hong Kong Economic and Trade Office (HKETO) San FranciscominorGTM or Marketing PartnerSponsor of Hong Kong Cinema Showcase at CAAMFest featuring restored and contemporary Hong Kong films.

Scale indicators12 records

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights5 records

Direct peers

• Vision Maker Media: Vision Maker Media is a National Multicultural Alliance member dedicated to Native American public media. Comparable to CAAM in its mission to fund and distribute ethnic-community documentaries through PBS, and similarly exposed to CPB funding loss.
• Sundance Institute Documentary Fund: Sundance's Documentary Fund provides grants and creative support to independent documentary filmmakers worldwide. Listed as a Building Bridges program partner alongside CAAM, and competes for the same filmmaker talent pool and foundation funding sources.
• Pacific Islanders in Communications (PIC): PIC is another National Multicultural Alliance member with the same CPB-designated mission to support Pacific Islander media for public television. Closely mirrors CAAM's structure as a small nonprofit serving an underserved ethnic community through documentary funding and PBS distribution.
• Black Public Media (BPM): BPM is a fellow National Multicultural Alliance member that funds, produces, and distributes Black content for public media. Directly comparable to CAAM in mission structure, funding sources, and PBS distribution approach.
• Latino Public Broadcasting (LPB): LPB is a fellow member of the National Multicultural Alliance designated by Corporation for Public Broadcasting to provide diverse programming to PBS. LPB supports Latino filmmakers through funding, mentorship, and distribution—operating a near-identical model to CAAM but focused on the Latino community.
• Independent Television Service (ITVS): ITVS is the leading nonprofit funder and co-producer of independent documentaries for public television, with a similar mission and funding model to CAAM. ITVS is explicitly listed as a CAAM funding and co-production partner for Asian American independent documentaries.
• American Documentary (AmDoc/POV): AmDoc produces the long-running POV PBS documentary series and funds independent nonfiction filmmakers. Direct peer in public television documentary funding and distribution alongside CAAM's National Multicultural Alliance work.

Emerging players

• Tribeca Film Institute: Tribeca Film Institute runs filmmaker funding and development programs and is affiliated with the Tribeca Film Festival. Comparable in mission supporting underrepresented filmmakers, though broader in scope than CAAM's Asian American focus.

Broad incumbents

• Corporation for Public Broadcasting (CPB): CPB is the federal funding body that has historically channeled public media funding to CAAM and other National Multicultural Alliance members. While not a direct peer (it is a funder closing in 2025), its elimination directly reshapes CAAM's operating environment.

Regional players

• Kartemquin Films: Kartemquin is a Chicago-based nonprofit documentary production house with 50+ years of experience producing social-issue documentaries for public television. Comparable as a mission-driven documentary production nonprofit, though with different thematic focus and Chicago regional roots versus CAAM's San Francisco base.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat5 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights6 records

Customer concentration

• Xx.com/caam
• YouTubeyoutube.com/@CAAMCHANNEL
• Facebookfacebook.com/caamedia
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/center-for-asian-american-media
• Instagraminstagram.com/caamedia

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles19 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

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Frequently asked questions about Center for Asian American Media