The story
Founded by Chris Donahue, Chris Tashima and Tim Toyama in 1996.1
The company was founded in 1996 by playwright Tim Toyama, actor/director Chris Tashima, producer Chris Donahue and actor/director Tom Donaldson, to bring the story of Holocaust rescuer Chiune “Sempo” Sugihara to the screen by adapting Toyama’s original one-act, Visas and Virtue, as a narrative short film. Visas and Virtue (1997) film won the Academy Award for Live Action Short Film at the 70th Academy Awards. In tribute to that film's subject, the company takes its name from the literal translation of "Sugihara": sugi (Japanese: 杉) meaning cedar, and hara (Japanese: 原) meaning field or grove. Company describes itself as, "... dedicated to developing and producing projects which boldly defy mainstream Hollywood by giving Asian Americans the close-up on screen, or the spotlight on stage."
From Wikipedia’s article on Cedar Grove Productions, shared under CC BY-SA 4.0.3