Christine Yuan

Knucklehead

1) What was your first professionally directed work and when was it? 
In 2014 I directed GAWDS, which was a short film for Dazed Magazine about a Navajo teen who generously introduces us to his life on the Rez.

2) How did you get into directing? 
I was really into darkroom photography when I was younger and wanted to see my images move. I was also interested in culture and travel so the idea of documentary filmmaking appealed to me. I applied to film school at UCLA and had the most fun making short films with classmates and continue that play and experimentation today.

3) What is your most recent project? 
I am finishing a music video that features me slow dancing with my grandma. I’m obsessed with my grandma. She’s the most beautiful person to me. I also just got back from Rio where I was shooting a music documentary and am finishing post on an art documentary we shot early this year in New York, Paris, and London.

4) What is the best part of being a director? 
The best part about being a director is collaborating with different people and seeing ideas come to life! Another great aspect to directing is exercising your stamina and reaping the satisfaction from overseeing a project from conception to development to production to edit, all the way to finish (yay!).

5) What is the worst part of being a director? 
I live a lot in my head so the worst parts of being a director are also the best parts, learning and exercising your ability to communicate your thoughts and choices to a team of people and maintaining the stamina to see a production through from beginning to end.

6) What is your current career focus: commercials & branded content, TV, movies? Do you plan to specialize in a particular genre—comedy, drama, visual effects, etc.? 
My current career focus is in commercials and branded content, although I always have a foot in developing my own personal, narrative ideas.

7) Have you a mentor and if so, who is that person (or persons) and what has been the lesson learned from that mentoring which resonates with you? 
I honestly learn from everyone I work with and find some sort of mentorship in each person I come across in that respect. I learn kindness from PA’s, patience from talent, boldness from DP’s, and gratitude from producers. Thank God for producers.

8) Who is your favorite director and why? 
My favorite director is Xavier Dolan because he wears many hats when making his films. He not only writes and directs, but will sometimes star in his films and style them as well. His style is so on point and his characters are so well-rounded. His stories are engaging, poetic, tragic, and beautiful and he’s also the same age as me– I find him completely inspiring. 

9) What is your favorite movie? Your favorite television/online program? Your favorite commercial or branded content? 
Right now my favorite TV show is Curb Your Enthusiasm because I just binge watched it on a very long flight home.

10) Tell us about your background (i.e. where did you grow up? Past jobs?) 
I grew up in Pasadena and come from a fine arts background. I worked 4 hours in a yogurt shop once and used to edit videos for Moby.

Contact

Cathleen Kisich
Executive Producer
Knucklehead
contact via email

http://www.knuckleheadusa.com/