ABOUT THE FILMMAKERS

JESSICA YU (Writer/Director)

Jessica Yu is a filmmaker based in Los Angeles. She won the 1997 Academy Award for Best Documentary Short for BREATHING LESSONS: THE LIFE AND WORK OF MARK O’BRIEN, an intimate portrait of the writer who lived for four decades paralyzed by polio and confined to an iron lung. She also won an Emmy and a Cable Ace Award for Best Documentary Director.

Yu’s current documentary, PROTAGONIST, looks at extremism through the lives of a spectrum of individuals. Funded by the Carr Foundation, it premiered at the 2007 Sundance Film Festival to critical acclaim and will be released theatrically later in the year by IFC Films and Netflix. It also won the Grand Jury Prize at the Atlanta Film Festival.

IN THE REALMS OF THE UNREAL, Yu’s celebrated feature documentary about the enigmatic “outsider” artist Henry Darger, premiered at Sundance and went on to win Best Documentary at the Vancouver International Film Festival and the Newport Beach Film Festival, Best Editing at the Atlanta Film Festival and a Gotham Award nomination for Best Documentary. She was also nominated for the WGA for Documentary Screenplay. Released nationally by Wellspring Films and broadcast on PBS’ series, P.O.V., REALMS was shortlisted for Academy Award nomination, and nominated for P.O.V.’s first Primetime Emmy Award.

Yu’s film THE LIVING MUSEUM, the award-winning HBO documentary about an art community in a New York mental institution, premiered at the 1999 Sundance Film Festival and was shortlisted for Academy Award nomination. She has also created a diverse group of shorts, which includes the popular SOUR DEATH BALLS, which has been featured at over 60 film festivals.

As the first director selected for the John Wells Diversity Program, she has directed episodes of the NBC dramas “The West Wing,” and “ER,” as well as other shows including ABC’s “Grey’s Anatomy.” She also directs commercials with nonfiction spots of Santa Monica. PING PONG PLAYA is her narrative feature debut.

JIMMY TSAI (WRITER)

Though technically a production accountant, Jimmy Tsai has been creating projects since his early teens, when the order of the day included everything from crime movie spoofs to commercials for the high school swim team. Jimmy’s latest filmmaking efforts include writing/directing another chapter in the THE VENOM SPORTSWEAR AD CAMPAIGN, a multi-media commentary on the state of children’s sports endorsement deals, as well as producing THE KILLING OF A CHINESE COOKIE, a documentary about the history of the fortune cookie. With writer John Choi, Jimmy has been selected as a member of the Fox Television Writer’s Program as well as a quarter-finalist for the prestigious Nicholl Fellowship. In addition to his many creative endeavors, Jimmy has also served as Director of Finance and Development for Cherry Sky Films, Business Development Liaison for SOFA Studio and Production Accountant on several features including Justin Lin’s FINISHING THE GAME and Quentin Lee’s ETHAN MAO.

ANNE CLEMENTS (PRODUCER)

In 2006 she produced the feature film QUINCEAÑERA which went on to win numerous awards including the Grand Jury Prize and Audience Award at the Sundance Film Festival, Humanitas Prize and the John Cassavetes Award for Best Feature at the Independent Spirit Awards. The film was released by Sony Pictures Classics. Along with QUINCEAÑERA co-director Wash Westmoreland she produced the documentaries “Totally Gay!” for Vh1 and “Gay Republicans” for Trio. “Gay Republicans” went on to win the Audience Award for Best Documentary at the AFI Film Festival and is out on home video. Aside from PING PONG PLAYA she recently executive produced the feature film SHELTER written and directed by Jonah Markowitz which is being distributed by Regent Releasing and here! Films.

JOAN HUANG (producer)

Since establishing Cherry Sky Films in 2001, Joan has been involved with a number of feature films, documentaries, and shorts, including Justin Lin's BETTER LUCK TOMORROW (co-producer) as well as his comedy set in the 70s FINISHING THE GAME (executive producer) which premiered at the 2007 Sundance Film Festival and hits theaters this fall;  the heartwarming TO YOU SWEETHEART, ALOHA (executive producer) which won the Los Angeles Asian American Film Festival Audience Award, ETHAN MAO (associate producer/casting director), an independent feature by writer/director Quentin Lee;  the skyPod shorts (executive producer), short films by six different filmmakers about iPods; and the Taiwanese action comedy feature film CATCH (executive producer) starring Golden Horse award winner Tony Yang.

Joan is excited to collaborate with Jessica Yu after co-producing IN THE REALMS OF THE UNREAL. Currently, Joan splits her time between Los Angeles and Taipei, and is developing and seeking projects for Cherry Sky Films to produce in the US and Asia.

MICHAEL GALLANT (LINE producer)

His producing credits include over 25 movies for television, features, mini-series, and cable productions such as THE JUNCTION BOYS, DISAPPEARANCE, FIRST DAUGHTER, THE LAST DANCE, THE BALLAD OF LUCY WHIPPLE, PANDORA’S CLOCK, THE PEOPLE NEXT DOOR, THE SUBSTITUTE WIFE, MISSION OF THE SHARK, and STOMPIN’ AT THE SAVOY. He recently produced THE PERFECT GAME, with Clifton Collins, Cheech Marin, and Lou Gossett, Jr. It is the inspirational true story of the 1957 Monterrey, Mexico Little League team who becomes the first non-American team to win the Little League World Series. In 2005, he line produced David Mamet’s EDMOND, with William H. Macy and Julia Stiles which went on to win raves at the Venice Film Festival. He executive produced the feature film ADAM & STEVE, starring Craig Chester, Chris Kattan, and Parker Posey.

frank g. demarco (Cinematographer)

Frankie DeMarco has worked as a director of photography on over a dozen feature and documentary films. His most recent project is Academy Award Winner Jessica Yu’s PING PONG PLAYA Frankie’s other recent projects include Warner Brothers’ SPRING BREAKDOWN directed by Ryan Shiraki , John Cameron Mitchell’s controversial SHORTBUS and Tom DiCillo’s DELIRIOUS

Frankie’s cinematography on HABIT and HEDWIG AND THE ANGRY INCH was nominated for Independent Spirit Awards. The documentary THEREMIN: AN ELECTRONIC ODYSSEY won the Sundance Filmmaker’s Trophy Award and many international awards. HEDWIG AND THE ANGRY INCH won Best Director and the Audience Award at Sundance and numerous other awards internationally. Most recently Frankie just completed filming episodes of the AMC/Lion’s Gate TV show “Mad Men.”

ZENE BAKER (EDITOR) 

Based in Los Angeles, Zene Baker graduated from North Carolina School of the Arts School of Filmmaking where he formed a long-standing friendship and collaboration with David Gordon Green, going on to edit the critically acclaimed films GEORGE WASHINGTON, ALL THE REAL GIRLS, and UNDERTOW.  Zene also edited Jody Hill’s outrageous feature debut comedy, THE FOOT FIST WAY, to be released later this year. In addition to Jessica Yu’s PING PONG PLAYA, Zene edited THE BABYSITTERS by director David Ross, which is also in the lineup at this year’s Toronto International Film Festival.  Most recently, Zene collaborated with actor/director John Krasinski on his feature directing debut, BRIEF INTERVIEWS WITH HIDEOUS MEN.

DENISE HUDSON (PRODUCTION DESIGNER)

Denise Hudson attended UC Berkeley and spent the next few years traveling the world studying fashion and theater design. Hudson completed a Masters Degree in design at the Yale School of Drama and then began a film career on the west coast. As an art director, she worked on such films as AUSTIN POWERS, BLUE CRUSH and HBO’s 61*. She began her work as a production designer with QUINCEAÑERA, the much acclaimed indie film and winner of the Sundance Audience and Jury Award 2006. Since then she has production designed the independent features SHELTER, RAIN, and THE PERFECT GAME. She was thrilled to get a chance to work again with producer Anne Clements, and for the first time with director Jessica Yu on the joyful PING PONG PLAYA.

Jessica Flaherty (Costume Designer)

Originally from the east coast, Jessica moved to LA to pursue a career in film production. At 18, she began her first production job on Sony’s SPIDER-MAN under the guidance of Sam Raimi and Laura Ziskin. Her passion for styling and fashion design led her to her work on Showtime’s “The L Word”, season 2 as co- fashion consultant. Jessica has costume designed several independent features including the 2006 Sundance Jury and Audience Award winnerQUINCEAÑERA, REPO and HIGH HOPES which is being released by Lions Gate.

JEFF BEAL (COMPOSER)

Emmy award winning composer Jeff Beal has has scored over 60 projects for film and television, including  Ed Harris’ critically acclaimed directorial debut, POLLOCK  Jessica Yu's lauded documentaries PROTAGONIST and IN THE REALMS OF THE UNREAL, HBO's moody western series “Carnivale” and their epic series “Rome,” as well as the theme and underscore for television series “Ugly Betty” and “Monk.” Recent film projects include the scores for the independent features WHERE GOD LEFT HIS SHOES (starring John Leguziamo), HE WAS A QUIET MAN (starring Christian Slater & William H. Macy) and director Phillip Haas' Iraq war drama THE SITUATION.  Beal composed the scores for eight short films of the Stephen King anthology series “Nightmares & Dreamscapes” for TNT, and also recently scored TNT's new miniseries, “The Company” (produced by Ridley Scott). His concert music has been performed by many leading orchestras and conductors, including the St. Louis, Rochester, Pacific, Frankfurt, Munich, and Detroit Symphonies. Beal is presently composing the score for director Al Pacino's new feature film SALOMAYBE?

Shaun Young (Music Supervisor)

Shaun Young started his career writing entertainment and music pieces for several nationally published magazines. He then moved on to do Acquisitions, Marketing and Publicity for the new media company QuickBand Networks.  In 2000, he began his feature film work on CAST AWAY and went on to work on such projects as SPIDER-MAN, HULK, CAT IN THE HAT, SPANGLISH, BEWITCHED, WORLD TRADE CENTER and LIONS FOR LAMBS.  In 2005 Shaun music supervised the Sundance award winning featureQUINCEAÑERA.Since then, he has music supervised and consulted several pilots and independent features including PING PONG PLAYA.

JASON L. WOOD (CASTING)

Jason Wood has cast many noteworthy and award winning projects and is

known for his great instincts and a truly creative approach. In

television, he cast the pilot of “Monk” which led to multiple Emmy wins

for Tony Shalhoub as well as a Golden Globe nomination for his co-star,

Bitty Schramm. He has cast projects for all major network. He most

recently completed two pilots, “To Love And Die In L.A” for USA and for

ABC, “Samantha Who?” starring Christina Applegate and Jean Smart; both

of which have been ordered to series.

In features, Mr. Wood cast the Sundance winning feature,

QUINCEAÑERA which was executive produced by Todd Haynes (Far From Heaven), SHELTER

which won the 2007 Outfest HBO Audience Award. He is currently working on NEWS OF THE WORLD executive produced by Alexander Payne and HONEYSUCKLE BLUES on which he is a co-producer.CHERRY SKY FILMS (PRODUCTION COMPANY)

Established in 2001 by Joan Huang and Jeffrey Gou, Cherry Sky Films was founded to develop, produce, and co-finance independent films for international audiences. Cherry Sky Films also aims to work with both emerging and established Asian and Asian American filmmakers and talent to bring more varied and in-depth Asian American characters and projects to the screen.

Since its inception, Cherry Sky Films has produced several critically-acclaimed independent films and documentaries as well as numerous shorts that have played the gamut of film festivals across the nation. Cherry Sky Films' first co-production, BETTER LUCK TOMORROW, was acquired by MTV Films at its 2002 Sundance debut, and its opening weekend in April 2003 garnered the distinction of highest grossing film per screen. IN THE REALMS OF THE UNREAL, a documentary feature directed by Academy Award winning documentary filmmaker Jessica Yu, was short-listed for an Academy Award after its 2004 Sundance debut.

Currently, Cherry Sky Films has a slate of several projects in development and production, as well as films on the festival circuit, among them:  FINISHING THE GAME, Justin Lin's comedy set in the 70s about the search for the next Bruce Lee; THE KILLING OF A CHINESE COOKIE, a documentary that unravels the mystery of the fortune cookie; and COYOTE SLEEPS, a crime drama centering on border crossing and human trafficking.

Cherry Sky Films also has a strategic alliance with Taiwan-based sister companies Three Dots Entertainment and Serenity Entertainment International to produce commercial, independent films in Taiwan for worldwide audiences as well as to acquire and distribute films theatrically for Taiwan audiences.