Angel: How was the film received amongst the youth of today, whether they were Asian Americans or not?

Justin: From the first screening at Sundance, there was a group of these kids, I think they were mostly from South Central (Los Angeles). They came up right after the screening. We had a great talk. They appreciated the realistic portrayal and the struggles of these characters. And they could relate to it. To me, that’s more rewarding to hear from that generation.

Angel: Can you talk a little bit about what kinds of life changes or artistic ones that you’re going through or went through with the initial success of Better Luck Tomorrow?

Justin: It’s was night and day. It’s funny, I’m only about six months removed from Sundance, and my life has turned totally 180. A lot of times, when I reflect back – I think about it almost everyday– exactly this day last year, we were starving. Literally, I am not every exaggerating on that. I was just living on oatmeal because that was the cheapest thing that could keep you going. So on a financial level, it literally just blew up over night… I feel like I know why I want to make films and what types of films I want to make. And I have to say that it’s very hard to keep a balance, or keep a sense of what you want to do, because when it hits, it hits hard. When I got news that we got into Sundance, literally, the day before it was officially announced, my phone just rang off the hook. It was first from agents, studios, production companies, just everybody. And it has nonstopped to this day.

Angel: How did they know your phone number?

Justin: Oh my goodness, people were calling my parents in Orange County! I didn’t even know how they got their phone number because they had moved and they were calling my friends too. It was amazing how people can get a hold of you.

Angel: Did you feel like that was an invasion of privacy?

Justin: Well, in a way, it’s what you dream of. A lot of these people, obviously, not all of them are for real. But when you have David Geffen calling, you know… I can’t complain… For me to get to where I want to go as a filmmaker, you have to be smart about it, because you know it’s not going to last forever. I might be hot right now – but if I don’t take advantage of the situation, it will be gone tomorrow. Ultimately, I have a lot of projects that I believe in and that I love, and a lot of them are Asian American projects. For it to come true, I have to go through this and I have to learn this process in order for me to become a better – not only a better filmmaker, but also a better business person so that I can make the films that I want… It’s all about leveraging. And it’s all about what you have to offer. The safer you can make the investor feel, the better chance you can get investors on board.

Angel: Did you always have that confidence when you first started Better Luck Tomorrow?

Justin: Yeah, I had confidence in the project. I think that’s one thing you have to have. Because if you have even an ounce of insecurity about the project when you go into the meeting, they can smell it. And the one think I learned that five minutes in, if you don’t get them in five minutes, the meeting is over. I kind of stumbled upon that because I think it was almost out of desperation because we needed money so bad that…The people that I got on board totally believed in it. And from that point, the momentum started and it snowballed. It was amazing when I went into these meetings or even talking to vendors and asking for free equipment and stuff – we had nothing to lose. The only thing we had was that we were very passionate about this project. And, in a way, it was beyond words, it was underneath. A lot of these people were able to connect on that level. And that’s how we were able to get the right team on and the right equipment, the right deals, the right investors on board to help us out.

Angel: Your producers and team that you are referring to, are they a mixture of people in terms of Asian Americans and non?

Justin: It doesn’t matter to me who anyone is as long as they put in the work…The team that we have is very multiethnic and it’s not by design or anything. A lot of the Asian Americans on the team have an Asian American perspective. But you know, our cinematographer is French and one of the writers is Argentinean.

Angel: A couple years ago, Ang Lee opened the New York Film Festival with Ice Storm. It was a really packed house and Ang got up there and shared a story about all the interviews he’d been doing. A lot of people keep asking, “what are you?” And he was like, “what do you mean?” And people were like, “are you Taiwanese?” “Are you Asian American?” “Are you American?” “Are you Asian?” And he said, “I’m a filmmaker.” I let out a groan because I find this really depressing that a director of his caliber actually has to, whether he feels like it or not, has to somehow clarify what he is. And I don’t think they ask a lot of directors those questions.

Justin: I agree with you totally. I think that being a filmmaker is tough enough and I think on many levels, even as an Asian American filmmaker, I didn’t make Better Luck Tomorrow because I thought “this is has an Asian American angle.” I don’t feel like I need to explain to people but at the same time, I also understand that that is kind of the reality of it… And that happens all the time.

Angel: That’s my next question--what do you think an “Asian American film” is?

Justin: That’s a hard question to answer. Everything I do has an Asian American perspective. Like, I’m looking at this project right now that I am probably going to do and it has a Texas African American perspective on things. But whatever I put into it is related to my experiences as an Asian American, as a person of color, as an Asian American male…

Angel: So do you consider yourself an independent director?

Justin: I think I’m a filmmaker with sensibilities that are very different. I grew up in Orange County where all they showed was Commando and Rambo, stuff like that. And at a very early age, I just couldn’t handle those kinds of films because they were very boring to me. I think that has really affected me as a filmmaker because a lot of the films that I make are a reflection of what I was missing and what issues I wanted to explore. But at the same time, I still have a love for different genres. So right now the opportunity is open for me to do studio films and a lot of offers have come in…Obviously, I don’t think if I had another project like Better Luck Tomorrow, I am not going to try to push it through the studio. I know that doesn’t work because they don’t want to make a film like that at this point. And if they did, it wouldn’t even be the same film by the time it comes out…I have projects that I for sure I want to have control over, and I have to make it a certain way. And those are going to have their own life spans and theirown timelines. I’m developing them just as much as I am developing the studio films. Those studio films are going to be films that I am passionate about, but maybe more on a genre level. Like action or thriller films, and other genres fit into their agendas very well and as long as I feel like I can contribute and make that film the best that it can be, that’s great for me, because that would also help me on my independent side of raising money and getting people to work on it-- to make the films that I want to make down the road. So it’s opened up both sides and I think it can only help.

Angel: You seem to have a very clear path. If you could say anything you wanted to ayoung aspiring Asian American filmmaker, what would you say?

Justin: I would definitely tell him or her that you should just make whatever project you are passionate about. I do think we have that added weight of being Asian American and I think that you could easily fall into many traps as a filmmaker. Just to do things that you want and to do things that you believe in because it’s so hard to get these things off the ground. For me… I use the term “fail” only in terms of a financial level or whatever. If anything happens, you should just make the film like it’s the last film you’re going to make…if you really want to do it, do it and see what happens because it’s all a learning curve anyway. And you shouldn’t expect perfection…