We’re excited to introduce you to the always interesting and insightful Shin Yu Liu. We hope you’ll enjoy our conversation with Shin Yu below.

Shin Yu, looking forward to hearing all of your stories today. We’d love to hear the backstory behind a risk you’ve taken – whether big or small, walk us through what it was like and how it ultimately turned out.

Anyone who’s ever travelled anywhere will tell you that learning about the cultures of neighbouring countries is an entire journey in and of itself; much less, having to adjust to one that’s all the way on the other side of our big, beautiful globe. Born and raised in Hanoi, Vietnam, Shin Yu “Shin” Liu is a Vietnamese and Taiwanese Writer and Producer who took the life-changing risk of pursuing a career in filmmaking in the home of Hollywood — Georgia. Obviously.

It would be an understatement to say that it was a tough transition. Especially considering that Shin began her life in the US roughly eight months before the pandemic struck. A strange time to be alone in a foreign country, especially as an Asian immigrant. At times, it felt like many parts of the world despised her for simply existing, but something always kept her going.

Maybe it was the sunshine that prevailed over Georgia’s sky that summer, the nice Savannians who didn’t cross the road out of fear when they saw her, or the friends she had made over the brief eight months, reaching out to make sure she was feeling… at home.

A feeling she would have long forgotten had it not been for the vibrant community that egged her on. And so, when Shin crawled out of the other side of the tunnel with only minor PTSD, she decided she wanted to give back to said community by helping push Savannah’s independent film scene forward with her work as a Producer and Screenwriter. It’s strange to think how a simple three months of continual kindness would change the course of Shin’s life for the better.

Now, outgrowing Savannah, Shin has decided to venture into the Heart of Georgia (Atlanta — duh) and continue her streak of collaboration.

As always, we appreciate you sharing your insights and we’ve got a few more questions for you, but before we get to all of that can you take a minute to introduce yourself and give our readers some of your back background and context?

I believe I’ve always had a love for storytelling. It’s the one constant in my life. As a daycare go-er, I would come home with incomprehensible doodles scattered about those origami books that I’m sure many people had also grown up with. These creations range from well-loved genres like ‘the horrors of going to the dentist’ to the ‘excitement of having leftovers for dinner’. All of which existed solely in my head, of course.

Still, as busy as they were, my parents were incredibly supportive of my endeavours. Occasionally stopping work to entertain my toddler imagination. In many ways, I must cite my parents as the first ones to spark my interest in storytelling and, eventually, filmmaking. You see, they were both cinephiles. Meaning they loved movies. With whatever time they had to spare, they would dig up old DVDs or, as we grew older, drive my sisters and me to the cinema to see the most recent releases. It was through these Saturday and Sunday afternoons that I would come across films that would end up influencing me the most.

Most notably, ‘Whiplash’ by Damien Chazelle, ‘Hot Fuzz’ by Edgar Wright and Simon Pegg, and ‘Kingsman’ by Matthew Vaughn. Films that, to this day, I still cite as major inspirations. And so, when I told them that I wanted to go to the home of Hollywood (Georgia, of course) to study filmmaking, it felt only… ‘inevitable’.

But, though I can cite my parents as my original inspiration, I cannot attribute them to everything. That would be too much for any two individuals to bear. As I began to participate in Savannah’s booming independent filmmaking ‘industry’, I found myself more and more attached to my community. How could you not, with mentors like mine? Slowly, I worked my way up to the role of a Producer as well as a versatile Screenwriter and a Playwright.

And though it’s been scary to start from scratch as a ‘newcomer’ in the great big city of Atlanta, I can’t say I’ve had a bad time at all. If you truly love your craft, the fear and anxiety of ‘will I make it’ becomes nothing but the vehicle to help you make your greatest leaps to date. I feel it most when I take a step back from my erratic mind to look at the big picture.

As a Producer, I’m gearing up two film projects, ‘The Longing for a Familiar Stranger’ and ‘Portrait of MeMe’ up to start festival runs within the first quarter of 2024. As a screenwriter, I’m collaborating with a long-term creative partner to create our biggest project yet: a feature, ‘Angel Dust’ that’s heavily inspired by Black Dynamite, Rush Hour, and Friday. While, on the side, I’m finishing up a coming-of-age stage play, ‘Hero’s Journey’ that’s a loving amalgamation of Back to the Future, Everything Everywhere All At Once, and A Christmas Carol.

I’m incredibly excited to see where the next stage of my life will bring me.

What’s a lesson you had to unlearn and what’s the backstory?

It’s crazy to think that there was once a time when I thought myself a Writer/Director. Mostly because I don’t do ANY directing nowadays. And the only way I could’ve found out is through experimenting and discovering that it’s not for me.

I bring this up because I feel that, in an industry as lucrative as film, the chances of truly ‘making it’ by a lot of people’s standards feel almost unachievable. Even the act of half-hearted participation is a gamble for so many. And so, when we do make the conscious decision to participate, we’re often expected to already know what we want to do. All before we get the chance to know where we fall in the vast process of filmmaking.

There’s no better time to experiment with filmmaking than right now, whenever you may be reading this.

Do you think there is something that non-creatives might struggle to understand about your journey as a creative? Maybe you can shed some light?

That we are not very different. I feel there is this huge mental wall that divides non-creative pursuits and creative pursuits in a lot of people’s minds.

I’ve met a lot of creatives who shut down when they have to confront the ‘business’ side of things and vice versa, but if you boil it down to the barest of bones, we’re all kind of playing the same games, working to meet the same quotas, and planning out the same sale tactics (whether to promote ourselves or a product that we’ve created).

Who knows, knowing a little bit of colour theory just might save your campaign one day. In the same way, knowing how to read data could very well help you elevate the way you approach your work.

Contact Info:

• Website: shinyuliu.com
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