Home: Brooklyn, NY. Age: 35. Birthplace: Brooklyn, NY. Profession: Filmmaker. Pronouns: He/Him/His. Languages spoken: English and Chinese (Mandarin).
Current project: Script for a sci-fi heist film centered around abortion access in the future. Recent recognition: The 2021 Tribeca Film Festival accepted my film Asking for It. Recent professional development: My new script has been green lit for production. Latest accomplishment: My feature film Asking for It was distributed by Universal and Paramount through Saban Films. Latest contribution to others: Currently volunteering at a child literacy program. My last completed volunteer work was with an organization called Legal Hand. What’s been your big (or biggest leap)? Committing to and achieving completion of my first feature film over the past 10 years. Last book read: Committing to and achieving completion of my first feature film over the past 10 years. Recently viewed and recommended: The movie Everything Everywhere All at Once.
Personality profile: Collaborator (Myers-Briggs). Good listener, generous, thoughtful, inclusive. What one word would your closest friend use to describe you? Loyal. Moral compass: Everyone is having a hard time, so kindness is key. How do you define a perfect friendship? Someone who helps you strive to be a better version of yourself while accepting you for exactly who you are. Reciprocal, mutually respectful and supportive; open communication; full of laughter and jokes. How do you define an ideal business relationship? People or entities with aligned principles and goals who fill in the gaps in each other’s knowledge and experience. What is your greatest joy? Working with people on the things they love. Making people laugh. What is your greatest fear? Disappointing my parents, who have both passed away. Also, sharks. What is your guilty pleasure? Having mindless, lazy days doing nothing but watching movies and playing video games. What word or phrase do you use far too often? Worse things have happened to better people. What occupation, other than your own, do you most admire? Teachers and scientists. How do you relieve stress? Watching movies I’ve seen a hundred times and know very well. What is your go-to workout? Basketball.
What was your first paying job? Lower school teacher. What was your favorite college course? Theater Directing. What was your favorite childhood toy or game? Legos. What book have you repeatedly read? Calvin and Hobbes, by Bill Watterson. What movie have you repeatedly watched? Star Wars (original trilogy). What’s prominently featured on your home or office wall? A neon sign from my film and a picture of me and my mother. What’s the best advice you received growing up? Always forgive, never forget. What’s the best advice you received in your career? Treat everything you do as if it’s your first project, and as if it’s experimentation to learn for the next one. What personal circumstance has had the greatest influence on your life? The death of my mother.
What change are you working on to effect in your profession or field?
Prioritizing the emotional quality of the process of production and collaboration that yields an end as high as the quality of the end itself.
What change would you like to see in the world? People enjoying each other's similarities before fearing each other’s differences. What message do you want to send out into the world? We are most positively formed not by our moments of happiness but rather by the difficult periods between those moments. What widely held belief do you reject? Death is something to be feared.
What title would you choose for the movie about your life? If You’re Gonna Be Dumb, You Gotta Be Tough. What actor would you choose to play you in the movie about your life? Catherine O’Hara, because then I’d probably get to meet her. Who would you like to spend an evening with, in heaven? My mother and Chris Farley. As a kid, what did you first want to be when you grew up? An inventor. How would you choose to spend tomorrow, if you knew it was your last day on earth? Gather all of my friends and family and tell each of them why I love them so much over a buffet of all of my favorite foods. What advice would you give your younger self? Don’t worry so much about what other people think about you.
Personal motto: Don’t worry too much about the past or the future; enjoy the present. Favorite quote: “We’re all just walking each other home at night” (Rachel Esterline).
