Alright – so today we’ve got the honor of introducing you to Yue Yu. We think you’ll enjoy our conversation, we’ve shared it below.
Yue, looking forward to learning from your journey. You’ve got an amazing story and before we dive into that, let’s start with an important building block. Where do you get your work ethic from?
My work ethic developed through an intense academic journey, as well as learning from magnificent industry mentors.
I was raised in mainland China during the era of one child generation. Since we had the highest population in the world, there was fierce competition, in every academic episode. It was a constant reminder that only few people get a chance to step into the next level of the game. This pressure helped me develop self discipline and strict time management which benefited in my senior summer during an extremely challenging national college entrance examination. I was 1/200 accepted by one of the most prestigious diplomatic colleges next to the Summer Palace.
I am a visual creature. Condé Nast trained me with all the industry standard work ethics as an international contributor. One editor-in-chief was just like Miranda in ‘The Devil Wears Prada’. The first day there, I was asked to browse through thousands of design and fashion magazines in the archive with very limited time to fit in my role. The first anniversary project for Architectural Digest was in the National Museum of China. I was working as both the creative director and producer, while overseeing the fashion styling and production design. Concurrently, trying to nail the agenda with supermodels such as Liu Wen, Du Juan, and Ling Tan. I was literally doing the job of five people. This unprecedented pressure was a big challenge at that time but made me a resilient work professional.
The director from ‘Sex and the City’ and ‘90210’, DGA award-winner Victoria Hochberg once told me “when you walk out of the door here, thousands of people want to see you fail. I’m the one to make sure that won’t happen.” Intentionally she kept pushing my limits, digging for my potential, giving me a hard time in order to come up with the best idea. I’d been frustrated yet accomplished writing four scripts, including the most whimsical and compelling story I had ever done so far. The friendship between us continues. She invited me to DGA for a screening where I conversed with Angelina Jolie and became friends with Michael Woods. Ms Hochberg taught me how to prepare for an interview for a job at Academy of Motion Pictures Arts and Sciences.
In order to cast the right actors for a ‘La La Land’ remake project, I went through more than 10,000 profiles on Backstage. To have a passionate Erewhon brain child made, in weeks, I looked up more than 10,000 photography and art gallery books for research to get inspired. Henrik Vibskov came to Hollywood for a Pop-up shop whose story was just featured in the Los Angeles Times. I got the last minute video gig and went all in to work with his team and family. It was an absolutely incredible experience.
A valuable reputation is extremely pivotal in any industry. Hard work and reliability are key work ethics to success.
Great, so let’s take a few minutes and cover your story. What should folks know about you and what you do?
I am an auteur and multimedia artist specializing in crafting inspired visual narratives through the art of filmmaking, dedicated to thoughtful storytelling with impactful visual aesthetics.
An introduction by the art director from A24 ‘Minari’, my first Hollywood feature gig was ‘Jane’, a psychedelic thriller produced by Madelaine Petsch. During the hottest days in that summer, I commuted more than four hours, worked up to 18 hours alongside other industry professionals, many of them were union members, such as DGA directors collaborating with A-list talents on all kinds of recent hit movies. Seeing my name in the credits of the movie at Laemmle theater was an unforgettable moment.
Before the historical Hollywood strikes started, I was hired to work with Zack Snyder’s team for the second time in recent years on a weekend screening associated with AFSP (American Foundation for Suicide Prevention). One unusual experience was having Sushi with Zack’s family and long-time moviemaking collaborators in the Universal Studios. Another was helping to arrange at the Universal AMC cinema for a surprising pop up of Ben Affleck, and it was exhilarating.
Lately, I have been spending months developing a multimedia art project pitch for Erewhon. It is a letter to Los Angeles with my personal touch. Following the Hollywood event with Henrik Vibskov, I met the one and only A$AP Rocky at The Edition. He asked to view my films and was impressed by them. It was surreal when he showed interest in collaborating and immediately followed me on Instagram.
There is so much advice out there about all the different skills and qualities folks need to develop in order to succeed in today’s highly competitive environment and often it can feel overwhelming. So, if we had to break it down to just the three that matter most, which three skills or qualities would you focus on?
1. Stay creative with sharp eyes and thoughtful insight. Remember that I won over nine cinematographers in a dynamic range test game on cutting-edge digital cameras (Arri, Black Magic, Red, and so on) as the only director in Affonso Beato’s advanced cinematography class. It is more difficult to become a true artist than a simple technician. Watch as much “good stuff ” as we can and be friends with extraordinary human beings.
2. Adversity Quotient. No matter in what field, success is not about how talented we are…more about if we can be the last person standing. Be committed and tenacious. Excel at understanding the big picture and be willing to do what it takes to get the job done.
3. Embracing diversity. People joke around that ‘I am living proof of diversity’. Global travel and breaking the creative and art boundaries, not only expands our cross-cultural background, but brings unique points of view, and helps us stand out from outdated values and mindsets.
All the wisdom you’ve shared today is sincerely appreciated. Before we go, can you tell us about the main challenge you are currently facing?
I’m working on my second O-1 (Individual with extraordinary abilities or achievements). As an international artist and filmmaker in the United States, it is ten times harder for me to break through without permanent residency (along with new prejudices, combative politics and invisible nepotism in this system).
White I was trying to fit in at a studio job at Company 3, I had to compete with more than 500 applicants for the producer role. The VP and managing director eventually turned me down because they said I was too creative for them. They worried that I would not stay at that position without requiring more creativity rather than communication. What an absurd excuse!
As one of the top twenty of selected candidates for an interview with The Academy, none of us nailed the job at the end. They eventually promoted a current employee who had a PHD, and worked longer than the VP interviewer at the renowned institution. Strangely they posted the same job posting again on LinkedIn. It is not about our academic achievements, skill sets, work experiences, and oeuvre…it seems to be all about who we know.
I previously worked for several world class conglomerates and learned that in-house jobs can kill dreams. Now that I am in a different stage of life, although it won’t be a smooth path, being independent is just a brutal reality.
I met Jude Weng last Thanksgiving Eve, an American Taiwanese director who directed more than thirty TV episodes for NBC, Fox, and others. She once had to quit her ‘Survivor’ show runner job and to work at Starbucks. She then pursued a better career as an indie female director in Hollywood. It took her twenty-five years to land her success in our industry. I had a conversation with Sean Wang, an extremely talented Asian filmmaker and former Googler, whose Oscar nominated short film ‘Nai Nai and Wai Po’ screened at Vidiots. Before the blast from his feature debut at Sundance in February, he kept running ten years on the road since starting his filmmaker career at USC. Time wise, unpredictable; career side, not guaranteed. It’s going to be a long long shot for all of us.
I have faith in and like to collaborate with the younger generation, because they are the future. In the meantime, I just put myself out there, trying harder to catch all the possible opportunities. Make great connections. Make extra miles.
Contact Info:
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/fairyyy/
- Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/yue-yu-4b95a494/
Image Credits
Ariel Ajimura, Creator+, Isabelle Leonard, Tessa Champoux, Lina Duong, May He, Daniel Henney, Rena, Glen Powell, Cero Smith, Bamba Kimball
