Lailanie Gadia

Based in Los Angeles, CA,⠀Lailanie Gadia⠀is a Filipina-American from Guam. She serves as the Operations Director of the Asian American Documentary Network (A-Doc), a network of over 1,800 Asian American documentary filmmakers and those working in the non-fiction space. She has helped produce A-Doc’s Storytelling Initiative - 2020’s #AsianAmCovidStories and 2021/2022’s #AsianAmResilience microdocs and shorts and is proud of the work A-Doc is doing supporting its members through member learning, building community, and its Impact Initiative. She was named a 2023 Documentary New Leader.

Lailanie is associate producer on award-winning filmmaker Tadashi Nakamura’s documentary feature, Third Act (Sundance 2025), and producing 2024 CAAM Fellow Rafael Bitanga's short doc, Bridging Our Stories, CAAM Pitch winner. She has several projects in development and consults with filmmakers to develop strategies for fundraising and impact. She has produced several narrative shorts, including As Bitter as Sweet and Dive Bar, which aired onboard Alaska Airlines flights. She assists with fiscal sponsorships and artist services at Visual Communications, home to the Los Angeles Asian Pacific Film Festival, where she has also managed talent coordination, social media, sponsorships, and marketing for the festival over the years.

Lailanie is concurrently an independent financial professional who values financial wellbeing and empowering others through financial literacy. She was part of the 2021-2022 LEAP Impact program, an American Express Leadership Academy of 20 API change makers in the nonprofit community. Prior to A-Doc and Visual Communications, Lailanie was in the banking industry full-time as a mortgage loan closer for six years. She is a proud alumna of Loyola Marymount University, where she graduated in 2011 with an Economics degree double minoring in Business Administration and Asian Studies. She enjoys returning to participate in panels and events as an API Alumni Association board member.