Jon M. Chu / "Crazy Rich Asians"

I'm pretty good. I like this recorded. Thank you. It's not mine, but I wish it was good. Might buy one. I've used it in the past. I've been traveling. Yes, where you get from? I just got back from Sam Francisco. We were in Seattle. I I don't I got married one week ago, so congratulations, thank you. In Napa oh so lovely. Yeah, I was really really nice. We saw it last night. Was the first time we were like together since the wedding. It's been spending my whole time here.

It's got to be high pressure at a film, a wedding like what you film in this movie and then go off and happen completely. My mom was like, why did you give all your ideas away. I'm like, no, I got more ideas, don't learn. We had at just on our wedding, we had a forty piece vocal choir, all ages girls, ages eight to sixteen. They were beautiful. They wrote like they had this amazing so they did. Uh. Yeah.

We had this amazing um African American singer from Hawaii that we met um when we were there, who was just performing, who was busting on the side of the street, and we loved his voice, so he did he wrote a song for us for our first song, um wed. Yeah, we did that. There's a lot of music. I thought it was a lot of fun. There must be. I mean, you're big dance fan. I've had all my friends and dancers and they did some great I could be a surprise performance for her. And then she did a surprise

performance for me. Uh and she did the robot which was really fun. And she's super shy in that way, so for her to do that meant a lot awesome. It's fun. You get back there alright, check a couple more. O. This is like the slickest like it. Yeah, I really like this. She come into the studio and we've got uh, we've got an actual podcast studio and again variety up

the street. Thank you, man, sweet, we're already going cool, all right, man in okay, everybody, I'm here with John M. Chew, the director of Crazy Rich Asian, which is about to make a whole lot of money. I'm gonna go ahead and put that out. Thank you, we hope, we hope.

Thanks for doing my show. I really appreciate. Uh. This is a highly significant film and I'll get to all of that in just a moment, but before I do, let's just sort of set the table this This is based on Kevin Kuwan's book about a you know, young Asian American woman who it's kind of like meet the parents in Singapore. I guess let's just put it that way. We should probably cringe if you've ever I mean people

put it that way, yeah, a little bit. It's a it's a very simple idea of an Asian American bringing being brought to a wedding in Singapore for a boyfriend. She doesn't realize he is from the wealthiest family of Singapore, so all his exes and socialites are after her. So it's a fun romp, but at the same time has like a strong message in the middle of it. So we'll tell me first, what was your first brush with this book. My I got an email from my sister saying, hey,

you got to read this book. Then I got one from like my cousin, then my mother, who I didn't even know would read books. Though it was like exactly the movie uh and uh. And so I was shooting another movie at the time, and so I was like, yeah, I'll get to it. And I read it on over a weekend and I couldn't put it down. I loved it, but again, I didn't think of it as a movie yet because I just wasn't in that I was in

the middle of a movie. It wasn't only a couple of years later that my sister emailed me again and was like, hey, why aren't you making this movie again? This seems like perfect for you. And I was like, oh, yeah, I forgot about that book. And so I reached out to my agent and he said, he's like, oh, Nina Jacobs was producing, and I'll send you the script. I read the script. I loved it, and I said I need to make this movie. And he said, how did you know they sent it to you on Friday? It's like,

what are you talking about? He's like you you asked me the same day that they sent it to you to consider, and that was that's when I knew, like the universe is saying, I've got to make this movie. So you said when you first read it, you weren't thinking about it in terms of the movie. That kind of makes me wonder. So when you read books or anything in general, do you not see cinema? Oh no, of course no. I I read it for the medium that's in so I can enjoy it. Um, it's just

when you're making a movie. Um, it's hard to think of their movies. Um I I and they're more of escapes to get my brain off of my own movie at the time, and so I was just literally in my head. But at the same time, I also probably was held back by the idea that a movie like this isn't an obvious thing for a studio at that time, especially uh so, uh so my own brain sort of trapped me. Whenever you looked at the script and was like, Okay, I'm gonna make this. What were some of those visual

ideas that started to bubble up? Um? I just love the idea of an Asian American going to Asia for the first time. I mean, they have a lot of characters in the book, but but Rachel Chew in particular, she's from Cupertino, which is where I'm from, where my family is from. Um, there's a lot of references for things that I recognized in my own life, and I

knew that it was a really fun way. It's almost Alice in Wonderland type story of her going to this crazy place, uh and finding herself by going through this adventure. So I think that was what got me. The rich stuff. Of course, all the brand stuff was like fun, but I don't that doesn't necessarily communicate story to me. Um. It was really um knowing that in that world we could tell a great story. UM, and we could root for this love this couple. Uh, it was really what

got me. Yeah, this is the first Hollywood film and twenty years to be centered on the Asian American experience, which you know, even at a time when like underrepresented communities are crushing these these kind of stats, that's still a staggering one. It's it's nuts, Um, it's been Um. It's crazy to think in eighteen that that that that that we're still here. Um. But here we are, so we've got to change things. And and you know who knows the reasons. I've been around for ten years. So

I'm proud of the problem. And that's what I realized of reading the Twitter feed and reading all the stuff. I realized that, Um. I realized that if anything was going to change, UM, we had to do it on the ground. And I was here, and so, uh, that's that's that was just a literally a decision I had to make in my own life. And I was getting older and I realized what else am I contributing to the cinema, a medium that I love so much? Like

what am I actually bringing new to this world? And I knew my specific story, um, and if it helped a couple of people was worth pursuing. I mean, that's great that you put it on your shoulders like that and say that that you're part of the problem. But nevertheless, like I mean, what's what was your experience like breaking

your own barriers in this industry? I mean it's it was, I mean, like anything in this world, like you sort of My parents always taught me, you know, they came over from China Taiwan with not knowing a word of English, and they said people are going to treat you certain ways. Don't spend your energy, um thinking about it. You focused on your own journey, proved to them that you're better than what they think. So that's the way my philosophy always was. Um. Coming to Hollywood, I didn't want to

be the Asian director. I wanted to be Steven Spielberg. I wanted to be Tim Burton. I wanted to be all these people I looked up to. And so you get self conscious about your own cultural identity um, and you feel like maybe it's something you're supposed to hide to mix in and UM. And I was in those rooms when they give you the stats of oh, there's not a lot of Asian actors. Oh, you can't cast someone like that because the rest of the world's not

going to care. Um, and you don't and you and because you think the adults know what they're talking about, you don't say anything. It wasn't until I'm getting old, uh and having a baby that I realized and that I'm actually not lucky to be here. I earned my right to be here, and I should if I'm going to contribute anything to this is is stuff that I

should that it is unique to my story. Um. So it's been a long journey, but it was more of again a sort of self worth, um journey for myself and knowing that as an artist you have to uh, you have to say something you have you got, you gotta go out there and it's fun to make fun movies, but at a certain point, um, for if you want to leave something for your kids to to stand on and to be proud of, you've got to put yourself

out there too. A fascinating element of this too is just getting the industry to understand because I saw this film, I was like the only white guy it was. It was a fully Asian Asian American audience and they were clearly having the time of their lives. And it's the kind of excitement that we were feeling around like Black

Panther earlier this year. And it comes a point where it's just like there's there's obviously a hungry demographic ready to buy the ship out of these movie tickets, to say the least, And so at what point is it just like, look, this is good business. Yeah, and that's what we're trying to prove, is like Black Panther proved there's a huge business for this, and I think also cinema depends on these kind of new ways, new perspectives. Um. You know, you can only tell the same story from

the same perspective so many times. And now we're at a point where like, if we're going to have just superhero stories, that's fine, But like movies were always meant to be a place, um to see stories you couldn't experience in any other way. It was an event in itself to go see it on the big screen, to sit down in a dark room and say, tell us

a story and um. And and with the access to people editing, to filmmakers, writers at our that are telling their stories in their own ways, to be able to bring that to cinema, to refresh cinema and not just be an old and antiquity UM, I think is vital for this business. Is actually a necessity. And I think studios are waking up to that idea and they just have to find the right stories and that people have.

And on our side, young filmmakers, writers, old filmmakers who haven't had their stories told need to be writing and going out there and know that this is a new day and that all the walls that we have built for ourselves, um, don't have to exist anymore. And that's also goes for below the line. I should think, yeah,

absolutely underrepresented voices across the spectrum, right uh. And it's important to have representation below the line, above the line, behind the camera, in front of the camera, because conversations of representation, um are where you get the result, the good results. I'm not I don't know everything. UM, I

can't represent everything. But when I have a discussion with constants WU about a certain line in the movie that she feels is offensive and I feel like it's just a joke, we get to have a healthy discussion and guess what, we get to make a decision together on how we approach it, um, instead of just letting it slide by and letting an audience discover it and then having and then changing away. People think because of that, so uh, that conversation is becoming more and more apparent

that is a necessity in movies. How do you think that translates to something on the ground action oriented? Speak for yourself, Like you know, just back in April, you said this is a movie, not a movie, It's a movement not a movie. By the way April Warner Brothers has not been shy about showing that anybody clue that

they think they've got something on their hands. But you know, just talk to me about that, like, is there anything any initiatives that you're very interested in or passionate about our ideas that you have as far as making this happen on the ground. Um, yeah, it's any way to help young filmmakers who are coming into the business. Um that I watched these YouTubers and they're so talented, Wong Food and Ryan he Got, and they're creating things, um,

from the ground up without anybody. This is where I started. I loved making videos as a kid and and creating this is and um, there hasn't been a structure a system for them to then take their ideas and take it to the next level and bring it to the cinema. So I hope that whenever way I can help bring that or open that door, give them the opportunity, or make studio people see that there is an opportunity. There's an audience that is sitting there waiting for these things.

That's what I hope that comes out of this UM. And again, not just Asian people of all of all walks of life, of anybody who has a story that we have not heard before, UM, that is unique to a world or a place, um, of all ethnicities. I think it is so exciting because cinema needs it. And then let me also just ask you, uh, you know that comments about having a conversation with constants about something she might find offensive. That's interesting the movie has or

maybe the book itself. I don't know if it's just the movie, but there's been criticism about a lack of like South or Southeast Asian representation in the film. I mean, how did you respond to that? Um, one, It's a great conversation to have. What a pleasure to have it that we can actually have a conversation of um when you have a character and a cast full of Asian actors. Um.

You know, this is a very specific book. Again, what's a shame is that one movie is expected to represent every single culture in the Asian and that, to me, that's an unreal realistic idea. And and we're basing it off a book that has very specific character with very

specific backgrounds and ideas. So to shove in a character that has nothing to do with what the book was actually uh talking about well one we don't even have the room for it to Uh, this is one story and and and that's why I call it it's bigger than this movie. That the movement is what we're trying to point to. I think Bruce lee'say is, you know, if I'm pointing to the moon, don't focus on my finger, because you'll miss the beauty and elegance of the of

the moon itself. Um. We are we are human beings making movies to tell stories, to pass on a message, a truthful message, we hope, And but we can't be the only ones. Truth comes in so many different perspectives and ways, and we need those other people to speak up. So hopefully this cracks that door a little bit, um because through that, through those cracks, comes the light. Yeah.

And really that just speaks to the underrepresentation for years, it has gone on in the hunger that exists as a result that when finally something cracks through, everyone's looking forward to represent them as well. So I just need more, exactly, we just need more and then and and and I don't blame anybody for that. I don't blame it for the pressure. Uh, that's just where we are? You mentioned Spielberg,

Tim Burton. I want to circle back, just your inspirations coming up and you went to film school right yeah, I went to USC right down the street. Thank you, thank you did for grad school? Okay? Get I Um, yeah, I loved it there. Um didn't have any connections in the business. Did a lot of short films. I got a film I got a little little attention of five minutes short there called Silent Beats, still online. And then

I did another store with a musical. Um that got UM Steven Spielberg's attention, and that got me into the business. Um really so so when you were coming up, when you were a kid and you were interested in movies, like what what drew your eye? Um? I loved the

event of going to the theater. I remember when Batman was coming out and you got the soundtrack, and you got the toys, and you got the happy Meal, and you went to the theater and it was like for three days straight you went to the movie there to watch it over and over again, and then you got to go home and create your own stories and you listen to the music and you dancer. And there's to me that that event that changed my life. It made me so excited about stories and made me feel powerful

in a weird way. Um. I remember going to see Joy Luck Club. My dad dragged us into a minivan on a Sunday morning, the earliest showing UH and then we laughed and we cried. I was young too, and to be able to then go to dim Sum for four hours and talk about, Oh, that's just like what Auntie says, that's what like just like what our uncle says. Like all those things, UH stays with you for a long time. So movies have always been a big part

of our family. And knowing that the power of movies. Also, when I edited stuff by myself at first VHS t VHS, it gave me a voice something that I felt like, Oh, this is this is what I can do. I wasn't the best musician, but I played a lot of music. I wasn't the best dancer, but I loved to be around dancers. I wasn't the best film or but I love to shoot stuff. And but when I edited all together I had I could I could see how they all connected, and that gave me a tool to actually speak. Yeah,

I'm glad you mentioned Batman. I felt the same way, honestly, Like I always call that my secle Be Demel moment when suddenly movies were like a huge marketing machine and like it was like it was everywhere, Like you couldn't have escaped the logo. You felt like it was just like and there's movies that were shut in Manhattan. I think one of the front of the third movies that

Big Batman posters in the middle of time School. It's so awesome and and and and to say that the marketing is part of the storytelling itself, that it's not just a cynical just to get to get your money, like that was part of the events. Is to us to dress up and and hang out with your friends and talk about and dream about it. I think that that's the power of movies. I think Warner Brothers like this podcast even more now. I didn't even think about

that was a Warner Brothers thing. Um. I wanted to ask you something sort of out of the blue here, giving your work on the Bieber films and the Step Up franchise, Like I'm always thinking about the concert film as a construct, as a thing and just room to innovate. What do you think about that like, where can we go with concert cinema? Absolutely? I mean I was not even a huge concert cinema fan when I started with Justin.

I told them from the beginning, like, I don't want to just do a concert movie because I don't really even know who just and Bieber is at the time. Um, I was like, But what I found interesting was when he posted his first video, I could go back and there was a digital fingerprint of his mom writing test test test that his neighbor or his grandma being like, oh, this is cute, and then his his grandma's neighbor being like, oh should I can I send this to my friends?

And then you just see it. You literally watch him grow and change, and I thought there was a really interesting piece of evidence that we had to experience his growth in real time as it happened, and not to make it just about a concert, but to tell his story of how he became who he was, which was the first time ever was the audience chose him to be their start, not some corporation, and that the music, even though maybe it was packaged sort of pop music,

re contextualized, can tell a beautiful story of of this growth from from a boy to a star um and his family around him, both blood and not. UM. So I loved that idea of going into that movie. UM and I think music is such a beautiful way to tell story and so um anyway to innovate. And and there's one thing where you just go to experience a concert, there's another thing of communicating to anyone who's watching that movie, whether they're a fan of that artist or not, that

this is how it makes you feel. This is what you think about when you hear this song. This is what the story that this artist is giving you when you hear this. I think that's that's has a lot of room to innovate in the concert movies, for sure. Are you you think you're gonna get back into that? I would love to do more, for sure. Sure. Listen up bands. Uh and I also wanted to talk about the Thai Cave rescue, the big herrowing event we've just

kind of witnessed. You're planning to to work on something based on that, So what do you talk to me about that? What? What story obviously beyond the obvious do you want to tell their? Yeah, well, we're very early stages. I'm in my listening phase. So I'm listening to a lot of to two different stories and different things, and and how to approach at the same time. Um, maybe it's not me directing. Maybe it's not me me anything

to do with I don't know. I wanted to send a message to anyone who is thinking about making this movie with an agenda that they better do it right, that there's an important history that we want to make sure it's fair. I don't every artist has the right to do whatever perspective they want on anything. I never

want to encroach on an artist's point of view. However, I just want them to know that we're here now and we want to make sure that if you're telling this story, you tell it fairly, uh fairly, and and and if I'm the person to help do that, then so be it. If I'm the justice steward to help connect the right dots between the Thai filmmaker, tie writers and the story, then so be it. Um. I was very defensive about in a way, about these families who may be signing up for a Hollywood thing that wasn't

really a Hollywood thing. And and after doing Crazy Chase, and I realized the power and responsibility that we as artists in Hollywood have that, um, that we can actually make a statement and have impact. Um and uh and so we're in that phase is very early, but we're I mean, I'm listening a lot beyond that. What do you do You have any idea what's next for you?

Or is that just the worst question I asked, No, No, I'm prepping on In the Heights, which is litt Manuel Miranda's musical that we shooting in New York next year. So I'm prepping that. I'm doing I'm shooting a couple episodes of a of an Apple series that we just sold to them, So that would be really fun. Um in the next several months. Um n's Amazon. Who knows, you never know. He's got to ask me and then

we'll see. I would love to of course, of course, So Kevin, you have my number indeed regarding In the Heights, So what are some ideas there to bring it off the stage and and and make it cinematic. I mean, it's a challenge. It's a challenge. It's a really hard one to convert into a movie, and we've worked years on finding the right way in We have found something

I can't tell you yet, but it's really great. And when the immigrants story is under attack, UM, and you want to tell all what it means to be an immigrant in this country and how much how great this country really is because of it. UM. This story from the stage show UM has has has always been a celebration of community, and so I'm excited to share that. It's not political, that's not all that stuff. It is a celebration of life and joy and family and an

all Latino cast, which is also very rare. So to be able to do that, UM on that level with the master himself, Linn Manuel Miranda, Uh, something I couldn't, could never pass up. So we have some we have some big plans for it. If you could bottle that guy's positivity, oh my gosh, husiasm and sell it. Yes, I want him on my left and I want the rock on my right in your life would just be awesome. Oh my god, your social media would be off the hook. Well.

The movie is called Crazy Rich Asians. It opens August fifteen. Uh, please go see it. I'm sure you will because it's going to be drawing you there. It's one of those movies that I think people will be hungry for at the end of the summer, so congratulations and congrats on your recent nuptials. Appreciate it. One week ago, so this is my honeymoon. His honeymoon is promoting the movie with me. Go check it out, and John too. Thank you for doing it show. I really appreciate it. Thank you.