For this award presentation we will be screening a special film of Alec’s live performance which he will introduce and provide suitably silly banter and then he’ll answer your questions.

Alec Mapa is a wonderful rarity in today’s entertainment industry. This remarkably versatile entertainer is both openly gay and Asian American. As a little kid growing up gay and Asian-identified myself, I always hungered to see someone in popular media with whom I could identify, especially when it came to race and sexuality. Imagine my surprise and delight when I began seeing Mapa pop up in theater, television and film, making him the perfect recipient of the 2008 Entertainer of the Year Award.

Born in 1965 in San Francisco to Filipino parents, Mapa was an active performer from the very start, always trying to entertain his siblings and parents. It wasn’t until 1980 when, as a high school drama student he performed in a production of “Bye, Bye, Birdie,” he was bitten by the showbiz bug. An appearance in R.E.M’s “Losing My Religion” music video, where Mapa played the boy tied to the tree with an arrow in his heart, only confirmed his desires to work in a creative profession.

Mapa made his first professional break as the understudy and eventual successor to B.D. Wong in the Broadway production of “M. Butterfly.” From there, he began writing his own material and debuted his one-man play “I Remember Mapa,” which shared his experiences growing up in San Francisco. More live performances followed, leading the Logo cable network to recruit Mapa as their featured performer in an original stand-up comedy series entitled “Wisecrack.” Mapa later returned to the network to host “Transamerican Love Story,” a reality dating show featuring Calpernia Addams.

Television appearances quickly followed, allowing Mapa’s signature charm to light up such shows as “Roseanne,” “Seinfeld,” “NYPD Blue,” “Friends” and “Dharma & Greg,” just to name a few. In 2001, he scored a co-starring role in the CBS network’s “Some of My Best Friends,” a raucous sitcom based on the popular film Kiss Me Guido, which also starred Jason Bateman. Mapa played his gay best friend, Vern, and slayed viewers with his expert comic timing and sweetness to spare. He was also a reoccurring gay character on the UPN comedy “Half & Half.”

Currently Mapa can be seen in two of pop culture’s favorite shows: ABC’s “Desperate Housewives” and “Ugly Betty.” As Gabrielle’s best friend on “Housewives” and fashion gossip maven Suzuki St. Pierre on “Betty,” the versatile actor continues to delight and make audiences laugh with colorful gay characters in the mainstream. He has also been tapped to host VH-1’s new quiz show, “The Smartest Celebrity.”

But you can’t limit his sparkling personality to the small screen. Mapa has left an indelible impression on such films as Bright Lights, Big City; Connie and Carla; and, most recently, in the Adam Sandler-Judd Apatow, Robert Smigel-scripted comedy You Don’t Mess With the Zohan.

Mapa is well on his way to being known as “America’s Gay Asian Sweetheart,” and what’s not to love? Not only does he wear many hats from actor to playwright to comedian and journalist, he is also an avid fundraiser and activist for organizations that benefit the LGBT and Asian communities. The Philadelphia International Gay & Lesbian Film Festival is proud to honor Alec Mapa with the 2008 Entertainer of the Year Award because of his passionate desire to bring joy to many mediums while never forgetting who he is and giving back to the community.