We’re excited to introduce you to the always interesting and insightful Ji Lee. We hope you’ll enjoy our conversation with Ji below.
Ji, so excited to have you with us today. So much we can chat about, but one of the questions we are most interested in is how you have managed to keep your creativity alive.
Keeping the doors to my heart open every day has kept my creative mind going. I learned that personally, what inspires me is emotion. An emotion that is genuine and vulnerable always gets to me. I find myself captivated and infatuated by the emotion, story, and person behind it. Whether it’s a good friend, lover, or a character in a book or a film, they inspire me to create something heartfelt, just like them. So I try my best to live, breathe, and take in every moment and every interaction genuinely with all my heart. I keep the doors to my mind open so that when I see or meet those genuine, vulnerable emotions, I can connect, empathize, and also get inspired. I believe inspirations are all around us. It’s us that are too busy to catch, too closed off to feel. Staying open-minded and curious will bring us so much inspiration.
Appreciate the insights and wisdom. Before we dig deeper and ask you about the skills that matter and more, maybe you can tell our readers about yourself?
I am an editor and a writer/director. Currently, I’m running toward the finish line of my master’s program in Film & TV Production at the University of Southern California. My passion lies in creating stories of women, queer, and social minorities.
My creative journey started naturally as a response to the world I perceived. Ever since I was young, I have been an observer; I liked to study people come and go, mingle, love, cry, laugh, and live their lives. Some people and some emotions struck me and inspired me; so I collected the moments and stories at my heart. And a desire to share these genuine aspects of life was always boiling in me. While this urge was cooking in me, I also fell in love with the art of cinema. The way it brings intriguing characters to us and captures vulnerable emotions mesmerized me. I devoured voraciously all kinds of films, from Korean Classical Films to Hollywood, French, and Japanese films, and one film stuck with me. It was a film titled “Kamome Diner” directed by Naoko Ogigami. The film was an entirely new universe where I felt loved and healed. Eureka! I decided then. I wanted to spend my life making movie magic. Magic that can be like a warm blanket to people. I applied to the same film school director Naoko went to, which was USC, and in one year, there I was, in LA, the very city where movie magic happens.
It has been an incredible ride since then; 3 years of film school have given me opportunities to meet and befriend talented filmmakers and to experience filmmaking from scratch. From pre-production to set days, and to post, all aspects of filmmaking fascinated me, and my passion for film only grew. Especially, editing gave me the most sense of fulfillment and joy; going back to the forest analogy, when I first receive the footage, it’s as if I enter a new forest I’ve never been to. And I get to explore the whole world with one condition: when I come out of the forest, I must have a compelling film to share. With the keyboard as my legs and the mouse as my hands, together with the director, we start to explore. Some steps bring us to a beautiful tree. Sometimes, we walk for hours only to arrive at a desolate place with no flowers to bloom. Then, we accept our faith, retrace our steps, and look for a new direction. By the time we reach our destination, we know the forest like the back of our hand. We not only come out with a compelling film on our hands, but all the surprises, mistakes, and processes expand you and your world. Every film I’ve edited has widened my universe.
I would like to introduce a couple of projects I’ve been working on recently. The first project is a feature film titled “They Know Not What They Do” directed by Oscar Ramos. It is a horror genre film delving into the themes of religion and morality, family relationships, and human instincts. The film follows an Uber driver named Abraham, who grew up in an extremely religious family, as he picks up and drives around strangers at night. This is the very first feature film I got to work on, so I was very excited and also slightly concerned. But the editing process has been so much fun. This film presented a unique set of challenges. Since the whole film happens inside a car, there are more limitations in coverage. However, I learned that limitations sometimes paradoxically give you freedom. You are left with no choice but to think outside the box. Instead of succumbing to the limitations, our team has been pumping out bold ideas and taking risks. I’m very proud of our team and the film and cannot wait for the world to meet our film.
Another film I’m excited to share is a short film titled “Model Citizen”, directed by Rachael Dahl. It is a USC Thesis Project which I had the honor to join as an editor. We finished post-production early this year. I have a lot of love for this film because it’s a genre film that has a refreshing structure but also touches on the topic of the male gaze. The film started its festival run, so I hope it can meet a lot of audiences.
I am also in post-production for the films I directed. I just finished a short film I directed in my 2nd year at USC. Titled “In Your Eyes, In My Eyes”, it is an LGBTQ+ drama that explores queer love, body dysmorphia, and gender identity issues. I’m editing two other films I directed. One is called “All of Our Time”, and it is a coming-of-age drama following a lesbian couple in their late 20s. In the film, the couple is given a mission to hide their relationship and sexual identity from a 5-year-old nephew and her mom. As they navigate this challenge, internal conflicts come to the surface, and the protagonist has to decide whether to hide or accept herself. I wrote this film intending to open up more discussions about internalized homophobia and queer parenting. As the number of queer couples becoming parents is increasing rapidly, issues including systemic inequalities and social prejudice arise. I believe we need to have productive conversations around this so we as a society are better equipped to include and coexist.
Lastly, a project closest to my heart is a short film called “Grape Body”. I wrote, directed, and am also co-editing it. The film portrays a young girl who suffers from an eating disorder. In the film, she tortures her body in every way to be thin, but one day, she bumps into an old lady whose body is worn down and sickly. I wrote this script because I’ve seen hundreds of young girls and women battling with eating disorders in the dark, with no one to rely on. I hope this film can reach those people and warm their hearts up like a soft blanket.
If you had to pick three qualities that are most important to develop, which three would you say matter most?
My journey would not have even started if I did not believe in myself. Therefore, believing in yourself to me is the most important quality as a filmmaker, especially in the early stages of my career. Art often times have no definitive answer. During the long process of filmmaking from pre-production to post, there are millions of decisions to make. If you don’t believe in yourself, it’s so easy to get lost; since film takes a village to make, there will be as much amount of voices and different opinions. You might even end up giving up on your idea even before fully executing it. Therefore, you must believe in yourself, your team, and the vision you created as a team. As I come from a cultural background where modesty is the highest virtue, I had to unlearn some qualities I’ve kept for my whole life. It has not been easy. I am still in the process of unlearning them and learning to stand by my ideas and stay confident. But when I started to believe in myself and support my ideas, I realized it allowed me to push myself further creatively.
Also, communication skills are crucial. Filmmaking is collaborating. Every aspect of the process happens through communication. I put a lot of effort into articulating myself and communicating in a way that is respectful yet clear. The flip side of communicating – listening and interpreting – is just as impactful. Everyone comes from a different background and therefore communicates in a different way. Paying full attention to the person talking and understanding what they mean helped me work a lot more efficiently and build meaningful relationships.
Last but not least is consistency. The film industry changes rapidly and it’s easy to get anxious or distracted. It seems like there are ten new tools we should be picking up. But I believe consistency is the key. As long as you commit to spending a certain amount of time every day doing one thing you want to learn, you will become good at it. And then, great at it. This was the advice my mentor gave me a long time ago, and I think it’s one of the most important life lessons I learned.
What do you do when you feel overwhelmed? Any advice or strategies?
When I feel overwhelmed, I close my eyes and imagine I’m sitting on a cloud. I look down, and there are numerous dots – people, animals, and any living things – living their lives, trying to get by every day. Even though our dreams are big, we are tiny; our times are limited, and our universe is so limitless. When I try to look at life this way, I suddenly feel free. The insignificance of my existence gives me freedom and courage. At the end of the day, we are a tiny cosmic dust. So be brave, be you, and enjoy!
Contact Info:
- Instagram: instagram.com/chicchic.ll
- Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jileeblue/
Image Credits
Adeline Wang Anya Jiménez
