Justin Lin
For the longest time, the Asian-American community would talk about representation, but I think it's also about the freedom to really shape, create, and explore issues that are important to us, regardless of whether it's positive or negative, as long as it's three dimensional.Collection: Positive
When I was in film school I had this great professor, Jerzy Antczak, a Polish filmmaker, and Joe Russo of the Russo Brothers were in my class. It was this kind of Easter European philosophy of motivating camera only through character and motions, and just exploring with lenses. That was the best year of my education in my life.Collection: Easter
Working with actors is actually something I treasure a lot.
As a filmmaker, if you want to write a script, all you need is some paper and a pen or a computer, that's it.
Film is similar to a basketball game. When that buzzer sounds, win or lose, the only thing you can control is how much effort you put into it.
Ang Lee and 'Hulk,' for instance - a movie about a guy with different-colored skin and a lot of repressed rage? Sounds like the perfect film for an Asian, to me!
Fast and the Furious' is really a postmodern Western.
I left 'Fast and Furious' because I just felt like, at a certain point, after number six, there wasn't another story that I wanted to tell.
Definitely the hardest thing is to find time to be grounded with real life, but without it, I don't think I'd be able to continue to grow as a filmmaker.
I loved 'Fast,' but I'm not a car guy.
All of my definitions of family were heavily influenced by my 'Star Trek' experience.
Growing up, I felt there was nothing my dad couldn't do, but didn't get the chance to do when we moved. I think he latched on to 'Trek' because of the sense of exploration and discovery, and hope. I think that's what he connected to.
We had a pretty good life, growing up in Taiwan, and I think my dad really made a concerted effort to say hey, we're going to take a chance and go halfway around the world so that my kids can have more opportunities.
Working with Zhao Wei and Huang Xiaoming, they're not just Chinese stars, they're movie stars.
Hollywood should be global.
I've always admired Bruce Lee for his trailblazing efforts opening doors for Asians in entertainment and beyond.
As soon as I saw 'Chinglish' on Broadway, I began to envision this smart and insightful cross-cultural comedy as a film.
I'm extremely proud to be part of the 'Fast' franchise, it is an experience I will always treasure.
As 'Warrior' comes together, I can't help but feel the pride of correcting a wrong and helping bring Bruce Lee's dream project to life.
The martial arts genre a lot of times has been relegated to B-level action.
My parents were unconventional for Asian parents.
I've sat in so many meetings where they talk about converting movies to 3D just for the China market and just to make more money. I saw that people in China work long, long hours and that it's expensive to go to the movies, and you want to rip them off for even more money? I don't think that's right.
All my friends were 'Star Wars' kids but I didn't go to the movies, so I was the 'Star Trek' kid.
Growing up, my parents had this little fish and chips restaurant in Anaheim in the shadows of Disneyland, and they didn't close until 9 P.M. As a family, we didn't eat dinner until 10 P.M., and we would watch the original Star Trek every night at 11.
You want to have pressure and tell stories that you find a real reason to tell, aside from any business reason. If business is your only reason, that always goes badly.
For me, when I was growing up, everybody I knew was a 'Star Wars' kid.
I grew up, from ages 8 to 18, watching reruns of 'Star Trek' with my dad and my mom when they got home from work.
When you have an opportunity to do something again, the money goes up and people get more conservative.
When I was making the 'Fast and Furious' movies, I wasn't trying to make a 'Fast and Furious' movie.
I consider everybody on 'Fast' my family, you know we grew up together.
Obviously, 'Fast' has been a big part of my life.
We make movies and we all try our best and sometimes we connect with the audience, sometimes we don't.
Without 'Annapolis,' I wouldn't have gotten 'Tokyo Drift' - I wouldn't be here today. And, so, it's part of who I am.
There's a respect factor in filmmaking, like in sports, where certain things are kept in the locker room.
Terminator' was one of my favorite films growing up.
I think one of the great things is that when I got started, no one would return my calls, and now I get a lot of phone calls, which is good. I have options.
Technology has grown so much that there's a whole idea of gluttony. Sometimes you get carried away because you can have a camera go through the window, but do I need a camera go through the window? Those choices are up to the director.
I kind of approach action/non-action very much similarly. It has to be character-based and it has to kind of come off the theme and the overall arc.
I made a lot of mistakes along the way, but feel incredibly lucky to be in the position I am now and to be able to play a small part in trying to support talented, aspiring young filmmakers out there through a program like 'Interpretations' who, like me, had the desire and passion, but no connections to the industry.
My Taiwanese parents came to America with no money and supported my brothers and me as small business owners in Orange County, which is close to L.A. but about as far away from Hollywood as you can be.
I'm the child of immigrants.
Do what you love. I've seen so many people through the years calculate and speculate on what films to do in order 'to make it.' And every time those projects crash and burn.
People I work with are part of my family now: I feel like that's the new sense of family around the world.
I always end up in these volatile situations.
I've been fortunate to be able to try everything. But I have to say 'Warrior' has been my pride and joy.
Cinema is actually very backward. When we see gay characters or people of color, they're always there for that reason. I'm personally kind of sick of that. I love to see characters who just live and breathe and are comfortable in that space.
When I was growing up, the honor role kids were picked on by the jocks. And those kids said, 'You know, 15 years from now, I'm going to be their boss and own them.'
It's dangerous to buy the American Dream without questioning. We need to ask, 'Why do I want this dream?'
When I think of high school, stills are so important: it's all about the wallet with the kids - they define themselves with pictures, who they know, whose pictures they have. Yearbook pictures.
You can't cheat comedy. You know, it either is going to be there on the day you capture or it's not.