Alright – so today we’ve got the honor of introducing you to Andrew Yuen. We think you’ll enjoy our conversation, we’ve shared it below.

Alright, Andrew thanks for taking the time to share your stories and insights with us today. It’s always helpful to hear about times when someone’s had to take a risk – how did they think through the decision, why did they take the risk, and what ended up happening. We’d love to hear about a risk you’ve taken.

The biggest risk I’ve ever taken as a creative was telling my parents that I wanted to go to film school. My family is Asian-American and my parents come from a very STEM-orientated background, so up until my Junior year of high school, I had always assumed that I was going to go into college for a major like Computer Science or Engineering. I wasn’t too bad at it either, but I was never really in love with that idea. It was never really one specific moment for me, but rather a gradual process that led me on the path of becoming a filmmaker: I had come to realize that making videos, telling stories, and watching my friends and family watch the things that I created- that is what I truly loved.

To tell my parents that I wanted to be a filmmaker was not a risk in how they’d react: I think they suspected from the start that they knew what path I would be on. Rather, it felt like a risk for everything they had given to build a life in America. When my parents moved to the Bay Area, they had to work so hard every day to get college degrees, stable well-paying jobs, and a house big enough to support our entire family of six. I knew the reason they would want me to go into a STEM job was that it was stable, it was well-paying, and it would allow me to support my life as I got older. So to take a risk to go into filmmaking- because let’s be honest film is not one of the most stable or safe industries out there- would be to risk the stability they had built for us. So, I knew I had to make it worth it.

Andrew, love having you share your insights with us. Before we ask you more questions, maybe you can take a moment to introduce yourself to our readers who might have missed our earlier conversations?

Hi, my name is Andrew Yuen and I am a NYC/Bay Area-based film student currently studying at NYU Tisch School of the Arts. My interests are in writing/directing, but I also have experience in cinematography, editing, and VFX. All in all, I want to try out all the little things I can before I settle in on one specific concentration. That being said, my main goal has been and will always be to make stories come to life.

As an Asian-American film student from the Bay Area, I feel like there’s a lot of space to define myself in the industry. With the recent arrival of Everything Everywhere All At Once, Asian-American filmmakers are on the rise and well, I want to be one of them! Beyond that though, at NYU Tisch I am surrounded by so many people who all share the same dreams and aspirations of me. It can be intimidating, but more than that it’s so so inspiring: All of us wanna make movies, and I want to make mine.

Recently over the summer, I co-directed a film called “PROJECT: KLB2” with my classmate and friend who’s also from the Bay Area, Andy Taylor. The film is about a teenage AI who escapes from his facility with hopes of finding his home. It’s premiering at the Cinequest Film & VR Festival. This will be one of the first major film festivals that I’ve gotten into and I’m so excited to have everyone watch something that Andy and I put so much time and effort into.

I also recently finished a project called “The Forevermore” which is about a dying scientist who travels to the end of the universe to confront his own past. It originally started out as a school project, but I liked how it turned out so much that I wanted to create an official release for it on YouTube!

What’s the most rewarding aspect of being a creative in your experience?

It’s definitely having people watch your films. As much as it is artistic expression, I think film is a form of art that was made to be watched, shared, and enjoyed. Even when it was just me and my brother making silly home movies with a tiny point-and-shoot camera, the best part was always showing it to our friends and family. And now being in film school, that hasn’t changed at all. Seeing the audience laugh, gasp, or even be entirely silent at a serious part: it’s all part of the experience of being a filmmaker.

I would say it’s even more rewarding now because my projects aren’t just mine anymore. In film school, every single person’s projects are a collaboration of all the people who put in their time, effort, and dedication into making the vision come to life. So to then see the audience be captured by the film and carried through its journey is a reward for everyone who worked on the film, whether their role was big or small. It’s honestly a magical experience.

Any insights you can share with us about how you built up your social media presence?

See that’s the thing: I’m still figuring it out too. I’ve only recently tried to build an audience on social media and I’ve realized one thing: It’s really hard! I don’t know what people want to see and it seems like every time I think I know, I’m wrong. But regardless, I want to try because, well, I want people to see my films! Right now, the conventional pathway for filmmakers, when they finish their films, is to send them to film festivals. And that’s fine and lovely- I think film festivals are a brilliant way to share your film with other filmmakers. However, I want my films to be watched by more than just filmmakers. In the same way that I enjoy watching movies and films, I want to find the people out there beyond the filmmaking world who would like to watch the stuff I make. And who knows, maybe they might just like it.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://aly3462.myportfolio.com/
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/andrewyuenfilms/
• Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@andrew_yuen
• Other: TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@andrewyuenfilms?lang=en

Image Credits
Mateo Bossut-Ugarte, Alex Sevak, Zev Marinoff, Link Wei