Industry Insider: Advancing Asian American & Pacific Islander Heritage with AU Holdings
Bing Chen - Gonzalo Marroquin / Stringer
AU Holdings is a non profit organization founded in 2014 by Bing Chen. Bing Chen is known for his major strides in forming the foundation for influencer financial and social validity. Prior to his executive position at AU Holdings, Bing was the Global Head of Creative Development & Management at Youtube from 2012 until 2014. There, he uplifted the content creator’s ecosystem by expanding Youtube's partner program. This program was instrumental to identifying Youtube and social media as a career path for many users. Bing was also one of the original investors for many live events that amplified the success of influencer culture; VidCon, DigiTour, & YouTube FanFest to name a few.
AU Holdings is structured by the two main subsidiaries within the organization; Gold House and Aum Group. The overall mission statement that drives the company in all aspects is written on their website as, “a family of companies that incubate and invest in multicultural creators, companies, and communities to rebalance socioeconomic equity.” So, with its two primary forms Gold House acts as the networking system that yields physical results. One example is presented in the form of the Annual Gold Gala.
In partnership with Meta, Golf House hosted a gala in Los Angeles to invite and celebrate the A100 list of influential Asian American and Pacific Islander celebrities (API). In 2023, many notable API voices were present for the ceremony including: Ke Huy Quan, Sandra Oh, Daniel Dae Kim, Ming Ana Wen and many more. There were many categories for awards highlighting talents and culturally significant projects throughout the history of entertainment. Reportedly, last year’s ceremony began with an activity he called, ‘Give and get’ in which attendees are meant to share industry resources. Staying true to the organization’s primary agenda of creating relationships among the Asian community and providing easier access to resources for career growth. With two consecutive years of this triumphant event, AU Holdings would easily be able to use this ceremony as a marker of success in terms of outreach advancement.
Aum Group has a stronger focus on the investment in filmmaking and distribution.
It has invested in the marketing for several of the most successful Asian films in America. A few among these accomplishments were tied to some of the greatest feats for asian filmmaking in the last decade such as, Crazy Rich Asians (2018) and Parasite (2019).
Aum was also one of the main producers and investors of Netflix’s Passing (2021).
In this interview Bing Chen states that generation of money would be quantified as very little. At least during the airing and recording of when that information was delivered in 2020. The forefront of their leaders that keep the system intact are volunteers. This is achievable due to the unique position of culture growth that is being developed through the work of this organization. The excitement and eager spirit of change promotes people to answer the call without a monetary incentive. At least this is the case with Gold House with their non-profit organization status. However, at least a portion of the company’s monetary gain stems from the investments. Gold House decides to invest in Asian business across all industries. Of course with Gold Houses’ non profit status the financial incentive to support asian media through donations would also have a net positive impact.
Bing Chen furthers the identity of AU’s business model by attributing the credit to institutions of African and Latino diasporas. The idea of preserving and forming a modern culture that can catapult one another to higher advancements. Bing sees these strengths and chooses to create bonds with other communities that share this agenda. The idea is never build simply for ourselves as Bing has phrased it in numerous interviews.
Bing’s passion for actualizing AU Holding’s purpose stems from his experience growing up as a “third culture kid”. After his father’s death in Shanghai when he was a teen, Bing’s family uprooted their lives and moved to Tennessee. This life impacting event became the catalyst that transformed the way Bing embraced the experience of life and achieving one’s dreams. He says his father’s one regret was to not be able to see his children grow older. The backbone to Bing’s focus is creating space to help people realize their purpose and their dreams, and to assist them in achieving those goals as quickly and efficiently as possible. In order for people to die with as few regrets as possible.
