Today we’d like to introduce you to Andrew Yuen

Andrew, we appreciate you taking the time to share your story with us today. Where does your story begin?

I was born and grew up in the Bay Area California, and it was there that I first grew my love for filmmaking by making small silly home videos with my brother. In high school, that turned into becoming a videographer for my school, which eventually sparked into the decision to apply for film school. Now, I’m currently a Junior studying Undergraduate Film and Television at NYU Tisch, where I’m hoping to start a career in writing and directing.

Just recently, I released a sci-fi film publicly on Youtube called “The Forevermore”, about a dying scientist who takes a final journey into a supermassive black hole, traveling to the universe’s grand finale as he confronts his own past. Right now, I am working on my newest film, “Pianissimo” about a hard-of-hearing Chinese-American adolescent who is forced to learn piano by his mother. So my styles are kinda all over the place at the moment hahaha… I guess I’m still trying to figure out what I want to do.

I’m sure it wasn’t obstacle-free, but would you say the journey has been fairly smooth so far?

It’s definitely not been a smooth road to get here, and not just from a filmmaking perspective either. For example, I remember my first year starting college at New York University, I felt pretty lost and alone a lot of the time. It was hard for me to find a group of people that I felt like I really belonged to. In such a big city, it was hard to find time for myself, and I often found myself feeling stressed and tired. For a while, I actually considered transferring! In the end though, I chose to give it time and to keep trying. Now, three years in, I feel a lot better about where I am, and I am very grateful about how I got to get here.

To be honest, most of my struggles that I’ve personally really kept at heart have always been of one’s of my own self-identity and conscience. I wonder what that says about me.

Thanks – so what else should our readers know about your work and what you’re currently focused on?

I’m an aspiring filmmaker currently studying at NYU. Currently, I want to become a writer/director, but I’m also diving into other specialities, like cinematography, editing, and visual effects. That being said, I think my end goal is to still be a writer/director. I just love telling stories, and there are so many stories to tell.

Something that I really value as a writer director is telling strong, empathetic stories that are not just for shock value, or just to be “cool”. Don’t get me wrong, I love me a cool movie, but especially when talking about topics that you don’t have experience with as a writer, I think it’s very important to treat your characters with care and grace. A very good friend of mine once told me that every person has a story, you just have to find it.

Currently, I’m working on short films, but I’m working my way up to eventually write and direct a feature out of college. It’s an exciting plan, but I also couldn’t be more scared at the same time. I think until then, I want to just keep writing and directing, growing my craft, and learning more about what style I want to lean into. Cause, I’m not gonna lie, I’m not sure what that is right now. I’ve done a little bit of everything, from sci-fi, to coming-of-age, to documentary. I remember when I finished “The Forevermore”, my friends would ask me what my newest film was, and then when I pitched them “Pianissimo”, they seemed really surprised. To be honest, I think I surprised myself. Still, even though all my films are so different from each other, I think I’m still proud of each and every one. In their own way, they are all my children.

Can you talk to us a bit about the role of luck?

That’s actually such an interesting question because within the filmmaking community, there’s always this idea of “the big break”. It’s the idea that one day you will get lucky and win some big festival or be noticed by a big producer and finally make it into the “inner circle” of the film industry and be set for life. Often times, we’ll hear a lot about overnight success stories of people who finally hit it big. A lot of people attribute that to being lucky, and I see the reasoning behind that. However, I think it’s important to not forget about the work that these people did to get to this point. People who are drawn to “overnight” success stories often like to overlook the years of hard work and dedication that these people have done to get to this point, mainly because it’s just less interesting that way.

Personally, I hold myself to a mantra of one of my closest friends once told me: luck is hard work plus opportunity. Yes, you need the random golden out of the blue opportunity to come by, but if you’re not prepared for it, if you’re not ready for it when it comes, all these opportunities will pass you by.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://aly3462.myportfolio.com/films
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/andrewyuenfilms/
• Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@andrew_yuen
• Other: https://www.tiktok.com/@andrewyuenfilms