Tuesday, February 12, 2008

The Top Chinese/Taiwanese United States of American Narrative Feature Filmmakers of All Time

EDIT 08.02.12 I have made the title of the list a bit more kosher for the whole Taiwanese and Chinese thing.

Hands down, the Chinese and Taiwanese are kicking ass. Even though the official list has about the same amount as both the

JUSofANFF and KUSofANFF lists, the consistent quality of work from the C/T.U.S.o.A.N.F.F. is much higher and in terms of the Honorable Mention category, the Chinese and Taiwanese take it for sure. I am sure I still missed some obvious ones, so help me out.

Remember the rules: 1.5 or 2nd+ generation Chinese American or Taiwanese American who has directed a narrative feature film. And their film must be verifiable through a reliable source.

EDIT 08.02.10: In the mall the other day, I passed by a poster for "Step Up 2 the Streets" a hip-hop dance movie and noticed that the director had a Chinese last name. Jon Chu brings the C/T.U.S.o.A.N.F.F. list back up to a healthy 18.

Help me update the list from here. ( Also, I know that I included Taiwainese which is very uncool of me, but it's hard for me to figure out if someone is Chinese or Taiwanese from their IMDB etc.)

1. Eric Byler "Charlotte Sometimes"The model from which so many digital filmmakers aspire to. Proved that digital film is both affordable and critically viable. I don't know if this is actually a good thing, because that means a lot of folks are making bad movies for cheap.

2. Kris Chin (with co-director Ron Oda) "Asian Stories (Book 3)"

UPDATED FROM CT (from the J.U.S.o. A.N.F.F. list): "In my nostalgic daytripping recollecting the old school JA filmmakers, I neglected these guys, of the newest generation of DIY filmmakers who were amongst the 18 or so who had AA indie features on the festival circuit in '06. Modestly understated, I found the film engaging, and in particular, give them props for presenting characters who, though simple and flawed, remained sympathetic and intriguing."

1. Jon Chu "Step Up 2 The Streets" I'm not sure if I will understand what is going on in this film if I haven't seen Step Up 1, but apparently Mr. Chu is out to prove that Asian boys can dance... or at least shoot people dancing. His bio from IMDB is quite impressive though:

"Jon is an alumni of the USC School of Cinema-Television. There, he won the Princess Grace Award, the Dore Schary Award presented by the Anti-Defamation league, the Jack Nicholson directing award, and recognized as an honoree for the IFP/West program Project: Involve.

After making his student short, 'When the Kids Are Away,' Jon was scooped up by the William Morris Agency and attached to several high profile projects."

1. Dayyan Eng "Waiting Alone"  I hadn't heard of this film, but according to its site http://www.colordance.com/waiting.html, it seems like it made a pretty big splash in China.

From SSAAF Member Cate Park: "banged my head against the wall for neglecting my friend, dayyan eng, who was born in taiwan and grew up in the u.s. his short, bus 44, is quite possibly one of the best shorts i have ever seen in my life! his feature debut, waiting alone, was impressive, too"

5.

James Wong Howe "Go, Man, Go!"I am so glad he made the list because I have always considered him the patron saint of Asian American filmmakers. I was also delighted to find out the movie he directed was about the origin of The Harlem Globetrotters.

1. George Huang "Swimming With Sharks" Easily one of my favorite indie films. I am so surprised that this guy never went on to do more amazing work. I think the industry he mocked turned around and bit him back.

2. James Huang "The Perfect Party" Never heard of this one, but my buddy James Bai said the film shares one of his actresses.

8.

Tom Huang "Freshmen" I never saw this one either, but I remember when it was making the festival rounds. And it also reminds me of another film which I can't remember the title to. It was about students studying abroad in China. Came out about the same time, maybe a little earlier. Anyone? Bueller? Bueller?

1. Fay Ann Lee "East Broadway"Another good friend of mine. I first met Fay when we were both cast in a staged reading for a really terrible play. Flowers do bloom from manure. Years later she wrote, produced and directed (though not originally the director, but she had creative differences with the original director BD Wong and ended up taking the helm). The film premiered at 2006 Tribeca Film Festival. I think it is getting a theatrical later this year.

2. Georgia Lee "Red Doors" My good friend and sister-in-arms. Her film is doing the festival ciircuit now and getting awards and soon she will be too big to remember me.

11.

Justin Lin "Better Luck Tomorrow" I never heard of this guy or this film. It must be something that played a festival and then dissappeared.

12.

Bertha Bay Sa Pan "Face" I am losing face for having forgot about her. She is a good friend and her film was out in theaters this year. I suck.

13.

David Ren "Shanghai Kiss"This premiered at the 2007 San Fran Asian Am Int'l Film Fest. It has a pretty big cast including Ken Leung, Kelli Hu and Hayden Panettiere (from Heroes). Save the cheerleader, save Asian American film.

1. Sandy Tung "Across The Track" You could argue that Sandy had discovered Brad Pitt; this was the film Brad did right before Thelma and Louise. You could also say Sandy helped keep Rick(y) Shroeder relevant by casting him as Brad's brother. Or you could just say Sandy is an inspiration for having a career that spans three decades now and the dude is still kicking it -- he's currently in post on a new film called "Alice" which is based on a popular young adult book series.

From Erin Quill: "I worked with Sandy Tung - he was my director for the Fox Diversity Showcase a while back. He was a great guy to work with, very insightful director with a lot to say - and he helped me get my NYPD Blue credit - which makes me eligible to be on this list. And he did mention that he was the first guy to put Brad Pitt in a film. Said there was just 'something about him' - I believe Brad was the brother of Rick Schroeder in that film.

"So I say - any list of Chinese American filmmakers would not be complete without Sandy Tung. I owe him a lot." 15.

Wayne Wang "Chan Is Missing" My mentor, my sensei, my friend. He is our Oscar Micheaux. He is our Spike Lee. He is our Martin Scorcese. You must give him props.

1. James Wong "The One" Known best for his role as writer, director, consulting producer, and co-executive producer for "The X Files," I had a sneaking suspicion that he had a feature or two under his belt. And I was right. He also did "Final Destination." I haven't seen either of his films. But he is quite the sci-fi icon.

2. Richard Wong "Colma: The Musical"Newest addition to the list. You must check out this film. It is a genius approach to DIY filmmaking. A movie musical shot on digital video. RIchard is also co-directing a new project with fellow CUSoANFF Wayne Wang which should come out later this year.

3. Alice Wu "Saving Face"Another good friend and great filmmaker. I couldn't ask for a better contemporary. I hope I can keep up with her. She rocks. UNDER REVIEW BY THE A.U.S. of A.N.F.F. Council:

* Adam Chin "Maladaptive" I found this one as I was perusing another fun blog -- The Unofficial Weblog for the 28th AAIFF. I had not heard of this film (hence it being classifed "under review.") The bio for Mr. Chin does not state anything about growing up here or somewhere else, so until I meet him in July at the Festival, I will have to keep this film in this sub-category.

• Timothy A. Chey "Fakin' Da Funk" I remember hating this movie back when I was programming for ACV. But it did have Dante Bosco and Margaret Cho in it. Both used terribly. I am not sure if Chey is Filipino or Chinese. But in researching this, I came across a more recent work of his called "Gone" which was voted Best Christian Movie of the Year (2003) by ChristianBeats Magazine. A quote from the director, "The beauty of the filmis you have these rather smart corporate lawyers who try to rationalize their way out of the Rapture, but in the end it’s useless – the only true road leads to Jesus Christ. It’s a hard-core evangelical film.” Er... I don't know what to say. And this may be totally racist of me, but because the film is set in the Philipines and because of its overall Christian zealous tone, I am banking on this guy being a flip.

• Bruce Lee "Meng Long Guojiang (aka Return of the Dragon)" and "Game of Death" (uncredited) I don't think I can put him in the big list. Yes, he was born in San Francisco, but he was raised in Hong Kong from the age of one. Also, Return was a Hong Kong film so that puts him in the honorable mentions next to Michael Wong and Stan Lai. And on Game, he was uncredited and shared with Sammo Hung and Robert Clouse at best. Also, the film was never finished. It hurts to put Bruce below anyone, but sometimes even the best can not be the best of everything. Honorable Mentions:

Directors:

* Tony Chan "Combination Platter" I remember seeing this in the theaters when it came out. And I remember being told that Tony owns Go Sushi on 6th Avenue. I've never met him, so I can't figure out if he is 1st or 2nd generation Chinese American. Anyone know? (Thanks to Peterdarock, we have verified that he is indeed first generation from HK. It's a film worth putting on the Honorable Mention list though since it had won the Best Screenplay Award at the Sundance Film Festival and had a modest theatrical run.)

• Joan Chen "Autumn in New York" She grew up in Shanghai. (thanks routed for reminding me of her and bringing Stan Lai to my atttention)

• Ann Hu "Shadow Magic" Came to America in her 20's.

* Stan Lai "Feixia Ahda" and "Anlian Taohuayuan" Though he is born and bred in the US, both of his films listed in IMDB are Taiwanese, so I have to treat him like Michael Wong (who has now been moved to the honorable mention list).

• Quentin Lee "Shopping For Fangs" If there were no Quentin Lee, there may never have been a Justin Lin. Sadly, I have never seen any of his films. I remember when "Shopping For Fangs" came out, I kept putting off seeing it and then it was gone. Can you rent this film? Why is he an honorable mention? He is a double foul. Canadian and came to North America as an adult. From the Ethan Mao official website: Ethan Mao is Quentin Lee's third feature as a writer/director. Born and raised in Hong Kong, Quentin is a Canadian citizen and U.S. resident.

• Julia Kwan "Eve and the Firehorse" Amazing film, but unfortunately she is very much a canook.

• Ang Lee "Pushing Hands" Came here for NYU film school.

• Anthony Ng "212" Though he is pretty damn American-seeming to me, his bio states that he was born and raised in Hong Kong.

* Mina Shum "Double Happiness" Okay, there is a double whammy with this one. First, she's Canadian. Second, I was never a big fan of this film. One of my big pet peeves is when filmmakers cast a family that doesn't look like a family. Sandra Oh looks Korean because she is Korean. And the Mom in the movie looks like they spray painted her hair grey.

• James Wan "Saw" He's Australian which means he talks funny. But his movie made a multi-million dollar franchise.

* Michael Wong "Li Cheng (aka Miles Apart)" I was hesitant to put this one on the list since it's really a Chinese film, but Michael Wong is Chinese American (brother to Russell "Vanishing Son" Wong). For now, I will keep him up here while the council reviews both him and Mina Shum.

* Stephen Ning "Freckled Rice" (once again, thanks to the research of routed) Hadn't known about this film, but unfortunately, it is 22 minutes short of being considered a feature film. Producers:

* Karin Chien "The Motel" - Producer extraordinaire. She is cornering the market on all the hot young Korean American talent out there. I think she is secretly a Koreaphile -- that or a total masochist. She's gotten producer credit on "Robot Stories" by Greg Pak, "The Motel" by yours truly and the upcoming "Undoing" by Chris Chan Lee.

• Joan Huang and Jeff Gou, Cherry Sky Films - they helped produce "Better Luck Tomorrow" and Jessica Yu's documentary on Henry Dodger "In the Realms of the Unreal." According to routed, "One of the best (if not the best) AA production team!" I can not comment since I havent worked with them directly, though I have talked with Joan a few times and she seems nice.

• A Kitman Ho "Hotel Rwanda" (Thanks for the reminder routed... once again)

* Stephen Tao, Beuna Vista Pictures - Development executive at Disney who was instrumental in starting the ABC / Disney Fellowship, aimed at helping out artist's of color. The program has since grown to include a directing fellowship and other programs. Factoid: his aunt played the deli-owner wife who O-Dog blasts in the face in the opening sequence of "Menace to Society."

• Janet Yang "Joy Luck Club" She's been at the game for a while and she has a pretty impressive string of films including the breakthrough Asian American film "The Joy Luck Club" (love it or hate it, it's a milestone for the community).

* Teddy Zee "Saving Face" Have to give it up to Teddy for pushing this through at Will Smith's company. (FYI This list was compiled a while ago, Teddy can now be accredited with helping get "West 32nd" made too -- without the help of any jiggy). Writers:

• Doug Jung "Confidence" - high profile cast, but I don't remember it being in theaters very long.

* Alex Tse "Sucker Free City" A Spike Lee Joint. Originally was supposed to be a series on Showtime then became a one-off movie. But it is hard to classify this as a feature film since it wasn't meant to be and it never saw theaters. But still it was directed by Spike. Additions to the Honorable Mentions via Chris Tashima:

* Freida Lee Mock "Maya Lin: A Strong Clear Vision" I only mention that film because she won an Academy Award for it. Freida, in fact, is likely our most honored filmmaker by the Academy, with a whopping five nominations. She is also currently (and was the first) Academy Governor, of the Documentary Branch.

• Arthur Dong - too many films to pick from, and all on such important and under-represented communities and topics, largely Gay oppression and AA history and identity. Also served as an Academy Governor.

• Jessica Yu "Breathing Lessons: The Life and Work of Mark O'Brien" (1996) Besides winning an Oscar for this doc short, Jessica has directed many additional feature docs, premiered at Sundance, directed episodic TV, and is currently working on her narrative feature debut, "Ping Pong Playa."

• I was reminded by Cate Park, of Jessica Sanders "After Innocence" Jessica is another doc filmmaker, and was Oscar nominated (with her mom, FLM), for the doc short, "Sing!" in 2002.

• From David Ren: "Dan Lin? Development Executive at Warner Bros and Executive Producer of the upcoming Masters of the Universe and Mel Gibson flick Under and Alone."