"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.

 

Born and raised in New York City, when I was 3 years old, I already had a love for drawing and the arts. This helped me find ways to tell my stories whether it was drawing on paper or on the walls on my house.

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In my early teens, I got into creating comic books and started a whole series of it which made me a popular student in school with the artist talent and even won a few award achievements.

 

During high school, my brother's friends were filming a homemade movie in my backyard. They asked me to help film their movie that day and that is when I discovered the film making world and fell in love with it.

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I moved to Long Island during my senior year of high school and the new school I attended 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 which the teachers noticed my dedication to this and enrolled me to a film festival which I received my first award as a film maker. This is when I decided to major in film for college.

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The first few years was a struggle. Coming from the Chinese background, this is not something my parents would have wanted me to make a career out of. I went through many struggles and hardships during college and at one moment I almost gave up. However my drive and love for the field kept me moving forward and help me start my journey as a Director of Photography.

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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 paid 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.

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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."

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- JT

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