A family man,
Living with a passion for creativity,
Breaking the stereotypical lifestyle,
As an Asian American in the film industry
"Coming from a traditional chinese family and being raised as an American was quite an interesting one. I always had a thing for the arts.
I lived in Queens, New York and when I was 3 years old I had a love for drawing and started drawing and find ways to tell my stories whether it was drawing on paper or on the walls on my house. :)
When I was in my early teens I started creating comic book stories and made a whole series out of it and was pretty known in school as the kid with the talent in art.
As I went to high school, I discovered the art of movie making by my brother's friends shooting a homemade movie in my backyard. I decided participate and help shoot their movie and this is where I discovered the film making world.
At that time I moved to Long Island, and the school has a TV studio with linear editing systems. I decided to take my friend's film and edit it there. It took me 4-6 months before finally completing the 8 minute short film and it made me popular and received my first award as a film maker. This is when I decided to major in film for college.
The first few years was a struggle. Being Chinese this is not something my parents would have wanted me to make a career out of. Through many struggles and hardships and at the moment I almost gave up, I decided its time for me to really do what I live and pursue my passion in film.
Throughout college I was known to be the “go to” person for any projects that is in need of help with a creative eye and proper execution. I even had my first job as a Director of Photography and created his first music video to be broadcast at BET music channel during my 2nd year at college. By 2006 I shot and edited over 10 narrative films, 15 Music Videos and over 50 cooking television shows.
Today I am currently working on numerous productions, produce and direct a food/travel show going into a third season, have a loving wife, a family of 2 children, a home, and living the dream most Asian Americans struggle. If you put your heart and love to what you want, you can achieve anything."
- JT
