We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Sche-Hao “Thomas” Wang a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.

Sche-Hao “Thomas”, thanks for joining us, excited to have you contributing your stories and insights. Did you always know you wanted to pursue a creative or artistic career? When did you first know?

I think I began to consider pursuing a creative path as early as I started writing short stories at 8. The stories were inspired by the Wuxia, Kung Fu novels I read, and I demonstrated the fight scenes with my exaggerated illustrations along with my words. From then on, I aspired to publish my works and become a novelist before I was accidentally admitted to a theater department for my undergraduate program regardless of my original intention of majoring in English literature. My time in the theatre did not make me want to work in theaters but did inspire me to appreciate performance art, write scripts, and take an interest in directing.

In the meanwhile, films and animations have been playing an important role as I grew up. Besides reading books, I spent lots of time staying in front of the TV at home, watching the videotapes and, later, DVDs I collected. I always found myself being inspired and moved by the films I watched, and those feelings were always stronger than my experiences of watching plays. I consider a good film as a guide to life, and it made me reflect on my own life and the decisions I will make or have already made. As if willing to give in return, I developed a strong desire to share my understanding of life and humanity with others.

At the time when I was struggling to decide the specific career I should choose after clearly seeing that theater was not what I wanted to do, it was actually my mom who reminded me to embrace the path of filmmaking. She said that no one watches those “behind the scenes” documentaries in the 2nd disc of a DVD package as I did. It showed how interesting the creative process of filmmaking was to me. I was convinced by her words, and I made up my mind to pursue filmmaking specifically at once.

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 am currently pursuing Film and Television Production MFA at University of Southern California with a concentration in directing and editing. Before embarking on filmmaking, I had double majors in Drama & Theatre and Philosophy at National Taiwan University. Every decision of my study in different fields, I believe, came from my interest in exploring different forms of storytelling and the nature of humanity. Through filmmaking, I like to show the feelings of human isolation and tell the stories of marginalized people in society. In addition to arousing public attention to specific groups in need, I believe that isolation and marginalization are relatable to everyone no matter who they are and what social status they have. The first narrative short I directed, “Stolen” (2018), depicts a moral dilemma a disabled flower vendor is facing. He is torn between whether to appropriate his customer’s missing wallet after his own money for his daughter’s graduation trip is stolen. In another short documentary, “Bai-Yen” (2020), I attempted to show how a Chinese immigrant lives in LA as an owner of a barber shop in old Chinatown and how she struggled while moving to the U.S.

In my recent works, I attempted to explore more of the different human relationships and life decisions which would lead us. “The Fighter” (2020), depicts an ambitious man struggling between pursuing his dream as a writer and dealing with his financial situation and his relationship with his girlfriend. The rom-com short, “Rendezvous” (2021), is about a depressed man who attempts to get his ex-girlfriend back after he believes he had a prophetic dream. “Down the Road” (2022), a documentary short I edited, depicts the relationship of a father and a daughter as they donate RVs to people who lost their homes due to the wildfires in California. A drama short, “When Wind Blows on a Balcony” (2023), tells a story about two women who pursued different lifestyles and cast a strong impact on each other after they meet. “The Sound of Walking” (2023), another drama short I directed, focuses on the father-and-son relationship when a blind father finds out that his son is gay.

I hope to continue telling stories as a director and an editor, venture into different genres, and attempt to trigger the audience’s compassion for people in need and the awareness of their own relationships with others.

For you, what’s the most rewarding aspect of being a creative?

I feel that the most rewarding aspect of being a creative is that you get to do what you enjoy and still consider it your creative process. No matter if you are working on your own projects or enjoying the artwork of others, they all contribute to your creative vision. Another extremely rewarding aspect is the other artists you get to know and collaborate with. Everyone knows that the career path of being an artist is not easy and does not provide you with a promising financial reward. Artists need to sacrifice a lot, not only the quality of their lives but also, sometimes, their relationships with their loved ones. They might also need to endure the despise from others while they are still struggling to make their works be seen. Therefore, to be willing to sacrifice so many things just for achieving their dreams, artists must have a great passion or a great trust in themselves. That is the reason why it is so cool to make friends and work with them. They endure. They do what they believe in. They dream big and they are courageous to fight for it.

How about pivoting – can you share the story of a time you’ve had to pivot?

Before I attended USC for my graduate program, I needed to work in Shenzhen, China for a year. During that time, earning a certain amount of income was the priority, so I did not work in the film industry. Instead, I worked in the education business to create English-learning content for children in China. Though I was a director and I got to write scripts and direct, the scripts and the shoots were heavily based on educational purposes, and I was not able to work creatively as a professional filmmaker. Even though the job was not ideal, I still tried to contribute the products with my skills and knowledge as much as I could absorb and learn from the experience. It was not until I started to eventually get to work for films, did I realize how helpful the ample experience I accumulated during that work experience was for my future projects and career.

Contact Info:

• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/thomas88044/?hl=en
• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/sche-hao-thomas-wang-5a925468/
• Email: [email protected]

Image Credits
BTS 1, BTS 2, BTS 3 – Evelyn Chen