We are moving stories

“I never saw an Asian-American female adoptee as a lead in anything, and I wanted to produce something where that is the case.”

“I knew that I wanted to make a film about a mother-daughter relationship. Growing up, I always had a special connection with my mother who had, and still continues, to sacrifice a lot for me. She has overcome extreme hardships in her life, and I am deeply grateful for it. Oftentimes, I feel that children don’t realize how much their parents have provided for them, and in turn, take many things for granted. This is what inspired me to tell a story that can help our audience understand the challenges that parents face when raising a child and the importance of appreciation – especially for single parents.”

“I was approached by Korean-American director Shelly Yo to production design her film. I was moved by the strong script and Hayoung’s character arc. I had many long conversations with Shelly and despite being Singaporean, there were a lot of tangible and intangible elements of Asian family and culture, the memories of youth during that specific time period, that I strongly relate to and identify. Shelly has a strong vision and she liked the preliminary production design look book that I made. We connected very well and I joined her on this journey to tell her story.”

“I want people to see the world of gaming in a way they haven’t seen it before. These pro-players are as hardworking and dedicated as any other professional. When gaming is a from of entertainment as large as music, film, theater, sports, why does it has such a negative stigma towards it? Maybe that is because you only hear the negative stories within gaming but never the positive ones, and there are a ton of positive ones. On top of that, I see Godlike as also an Asian-American story. I would like the film to have a positive impact on the Asian-American community in its representation.”

“I think saying it’s just another story about the immigrant and first generation experience is too easy. It is a familiar story, but ya know what? -I’ve found that having something recognizable puts an audience at ease so they can then take in other elements and flavors of a story.”

“I’m a fan of Ang Lee and he once said that when audiences watch a movie, they don’t see the directing or cinematography or editing style. They are seeing themselves reflected on to the characters onscreen. If you can relate to the characters, then you can relate to the story. Despite featuring mostly Asian actors, I think their struggles and desires are universal.”

“If you want an honest story about love and the immigrant experience without a tragic ending, this film is for you. It was created by an all-female producing team and has a cast and crew made up of a majority of POC who either lived this experience or came from a family that did in a previous generation. This film was in collaboration with the community it represents and was shot in locations that are Chinese and Taiwanese-owned businesses.”

“This is a film about an Asian American actress in New York submerging herself into the process of plastic surgery due to the societal and familial pressure. It is a character study of a struggling artist who yearns for success through means without end, as well as a reflection on the minority actors’ difficulty in finding a place in the mainstream media.”

“I made Cat’s Eye because I wanted to share how I felt growing up, being adopted and growing up in a white space. I used to wish I was white and all I wanted was to fit in. I used to get teased for being different and it took me a long time to realize that was racism. My mom never quite knew what to say or do when issues like this used to arise, this isn’t a criticism of her parenting but how could she understand?”

“My social justice films have always been strongly influenced by my intersectionality of being born first-generation Filipino-American, female, and being a survivor of adolescence within an aggressive, predominantly White Anglo-Saxon Protestant Midwest community. In all my films, my protagonist will showcase a struggle of equity and diversity in her story.”

“Throughout my career I have been the token Asian actress in a cast of mostly white men - I wanted to put my colleagues who I saw only in waiting rooms or on red carpets in front of the same camera, and showcase how diverse we actually are. I wanted to create opportunities so that we are no longer just competing for a single role written by someone who will never understand our lives. I Will Make You Mine has been an opportunity to prove just that - “Rachel,” “Yea-Ming,” “Erika,” “Sachiko,” “Amy,” and “Julia” couldn’t be more different from one another, and not one of them is reduced to an exotified stereotype. No one does karate. No one has an accent. They are the women I relate to, the women I know, the women I have wanted to play for 30 years.”

“I really hope that my film shows that Asian American actors can headline and carry a film. I recently read Shonda Rhimes’ “Year of Yes” and she has an excellent chapter in which she talks about the power of images. I think it’s important to see that Asian Americans are just like everyone else, we don’t have to be relegated to stereotypical roles of the tech guy, the hard-working student/nerd, ninja or martial artist. As an independent filmmaker, I also hope that I can reach as wide an audience as possible with the film.”

“The script evolved out of necessity. Take Out Girl’s budget was equal parts blood, sweat and tears lol. So, when things seemingly fell apart during principal photography, we stayed calm and saw the “damage” done to the film as the universe imposing a rewrite lol. Locations changed, there were additional scenes shot, and there were lots of flourishes brought to the table from our actors with their dialogue! It was a collaborative effort in every sense!”

“Moth is not just a story about a female, an Asian, or an actress. It tells the story of people who are living to search for the meaning of life and stay true to themselves. It amplifies the journey of dreamers, who fights to chase our dreams as filmmakers and navigates in the world of fame and superficiality to get to who we really are. Like moths, we might touch the light and burst in flames; yet we ultimately reach an inner calm after the search, and make peace with ourselves.”

“I made my webseries because I was at a point in my acting career where I wasn’t doing what I wanted to do, which was act, because I wasn’t getting auditions, I wasn’t getting in rooms. So I decided to make something for myself first and foremost to showcase myself as an actor, but to also show what being an Asian American actor looks like, fighting for so few opportunities when it’s already hard enough as it is as an actor, it’s nearly impossible as one who you never see on screen.”

“So I came up with Ciao Downtown. A subversive cooking show that teaches you complete healthy recipes along with some nerdy information about nutrition, sex jokes, fashion, and some sexy people from NYC culture. You might not want to watch with your parents or kids, but you definitely will want to watch it regardless if your goals are to eat or cook healthfully.”

“Recently, I’ve had to wrestle with what role society and the media have played in allowing me to finally accept who I am. Changes in representation in movies and television, conversations about diversity and inclusion, and the growing community engagement that came out of the highly publicized hate crimes during the covid-19 pandemic are all external factors that have played a role in my healing.”

“We made the short for HBO’s inaugural APA Visionaries contest. Surprisingly, we won. So if anyone has an HBO subscription, search for “MONDAY” and check it out.”

“The danger of being targeted as an Asian in America is only a smaller symptom of a much greater ill. Any of our differences can all be used against us, whether we are black, Arab, Jewish, Queer, a woman, poor or any other dividing construct. The reminder that we are all ultimately one and in this life experience together is a reoccurring personal theme in all of my work.”

“It’s a very divisive film because Arthur’s divisive. He’s either a hero or a villain, both on Jeopardy! and in this online space where he fought against misogyny in nerd culture (amongst a number of other social justice issues). This fight often mirrored what was happening in American politics, where tribalism reigns supreme and you have to choose a side, regardless of contradictions.”

“I like to semi-flippantly tell my friends who are going to view it to play it before/in bed. Apichatpong Weerasethakul is one of Shanhuan and mine’s favorite auteurs and their encouragement that “it’s okay to fall asleep” to their movies is a mantra we internalized when making Confluence.”

“More than a baseball movie, the film is a human focused story that connects to all of us for we all experience the rise and fall in life. It is an extraordinary journey of an ordinary man who fell, and fought his way back up again and again.”

“We’ve all seen countless portrayals of the Vietnam War, and we often think that there’s little to be learned by reconsidering it. But we haven’t heard enough from the Asian American community’s experience and perspective of that conflict.”

“When I was working in a casting office, I noticed that when we cast westerns, nearly all the roles were white. I asked the casting director why that was and she didn’t seem to understand why this had to be inaccurate. So I started doing research about Asians in the old west and that is when I found dozens of amazing stories about Asians during the 1800’s. And when I found the true story about Charlie, a Chinese Woman immigrant who dressed up like a man and went on a desert foot chase after her identity was discovered.”

“There haven’t been many mainstream film narratives about the 1960’s Chinese/Asian experience in America. While the Summer of Love, the Vietnam protests, the Black Pride movement and national race riots were about to explode throughout American society, Asian-Americans were experiencing their own personal revolutions—and revelations. I hope Our Way Home transports the viewer into this experience—not only the brutalizing, racist micro-aggressions of everyday life but also the pressure, external and internal, to assimilate and deny your cultural past. My Chinese-American identity adds so many layers to who I am and the stories I choose to tell.”