Filmmaker Jon M. Chu joins David L. Eng, Penn Professor of English and Asian American Studies, to talk about artistic passion and the power of representation. Chu’s blockbuster Crazy Rich Asians, the first film by a major Hollywood studio to feature an all-Asian cast in more than 25 years, is a visual feast that helps to counter racial animus at a time when violence against AAPI communities is on the rise. He followed it with his adaptation of Lin-Manuel Miranda's musical In the Heights, and is in pre-production on Wicked.

Born in Palo Alto, California, in 1979 and a graduate of the University of Southern California in film and television production, Chu was a determined artist from a very young age. In fifth grade, he began to make home movies starring his siblings. Since then, his creative drive has blossomed into an illustrious career as one of Hollywood’s most sought-after filmmakers. From a broader cultural perspective, Chu’s coming of age also signals a national coming of age for Asian Americans in the arts.

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Crazy Determined Asians: Jon Chu and the Power of Representation