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"If you're surrounded by social values, it's very difficult to take chances."

Q: Would you say that was where you learned most of what you knew about film-making up to that point?
A: Every film that I've done, I've learned something from, whether it's special effects or different camera crews, positions, whatever. Each film shows me things I could have done differently. I think that with every film you do, you mature, and you learn what not to do.

Q: How did your family react when you told them that you were going to go out and make a film?
A: There was no reaction. They thought I was crazy. They didn't know what to think, because it's not ordinary for an Asian family. They wanted me to be a doctor, a lawyer. All my cousins are doctors, and I said that's not what I want to do.

Q: How old were you when you first made it clear that you were going to start making films instead of going to professional school or graduate school?
A: My early 20s.

Q: Do you remember any details about that event? A: I was staying up until 3 or 4 in the morning every night writing, and they were always wondering what I was doing. And I said, this is what I'm going to do. Actually, they were very supportive. Whatever I do, I put my whole heart into. They respect that, and they knew the kind of field that I wanted to go into. But they had no idea what kind of field it is, because they were never exposed to it.

Q: This was around 1983?
A: Right.

Q: Were you going to college at that point?
A: I went to Cal State LA for a semester. I was on a very tough schedule, going to Cal State and teaching martial arts. It was just too far for me, because I would teach in the morning, go take classes, come back in the evening and teach some more. It was just too much. I left after about a year.

Q: What were you studying there?
A: Business law. For me, even at that time, I knew that education was fine but I wanted to be more focused. I thought, when am I going to use economics? I wanted to do things that directly apply to me. Learning is very time-consuming. When it comes to education, I feel that learning is endless. It would take an average man forever to try to learn all aspects of life.

Q: So you were very goal-oriented.
A: I was very much goal-oriented. I knew that, whatever I learned, I wanted to apply it to something. I'm not saying people shouldn't study, because I think that's very important. But I find that a lot of people who graduate from college still don't know what they want to do with their lives. It doesn't matter what you do, if you do it for a long time you master it. So I always recommend to people in the younger generation, find out what you want to do and stick with it, rather than switching from this to that.

Q: Would you recommend that they figure out what they want to do even before going to college?
A: I think it would help. It would keep them focused, keep them going after a goal. I always questioned everything I did, always asked why I was doing it. I didn't want to do it just for the sake of doing it, I always thought there was a reason. My whole life now is film, so everything I do, even my hobbies, relate to film. Every experience I have, I try to capture it and remember it so I can apply it to film.

Q: What made you realize that you wanted to become a filmmaker instead of a lawyer or whatever you were going to do?
A: It's hard to find what you really want to do, and it's easier said than done. Particularly in Asian culture, we're so influenced by what society perceives us to be, or wants us to be. I think most Asian families want their kids to be attorneys and doctors and so on. It's good for somebody to excel in those areas, but for a lot of people, half the reason they got into it was because of society's values and not necessarily their own. Asian families are very influenced by that sort of thing, by worrying what their neighbors would say.

Q: Do you think that's a weakness of the Asian community?
A: I think it's something that we should recognize, because if you're so surrounded by social values it's very difficult to take chances. PAGE 3

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