We were lucky to catch up with Frances Chang recently and have shared our conversation below.

Frances, thanks for joining us, excited to have you contributing your stories and insights. What’s been the most meaningful project you’ve worked on?

I have worked on several meaningful projects. Actually, I try to insert a bit of social commentary or activism into most of my work, but for the sake of brevity, I’ll focus on three major ones.

I have been affiliated with the Center for Puppetry Arts since 2008 and have participated in Xperimental Puppetry Theatre (XPT) since 2009 as an individual contributor. I directed my own project for the first time in 2018 with a live stage piece called, “Mean Spirited.” At first, I was looking to create a comical “Statler and Waldorf” type piece with puppeteered portraits on a wall commentating on the lives of their living relatives. But in conversations with friends about their life experiences, I realized that made for compelling content, which then transformed my original concept into a trans/LGBTQ+ support piece that was both comical and meaningful. I still get comments from people about how that piece, which was a story told with shadow puppets and a puppeteered wall, moved them.

Another meaningful project I worked on was a collaborative experimental film short called, “Torn Together.” I was a co-writer/co-producer /co-star with my friends Melissa Kunnap and Ava Davis. This horror short explored each of our personal traumas as we were literally torn apart by our demons only to be reborn into our authentic selves. Melissa Kunnap was the creator and director who brought us together to tell our stories as a form of both art and therapy. Melissa is a biracial woman being torn between identifying as White or Black. Ava is transgendered and torn between identifying as a man or a woman. I am an American-born Chinese and torn between identifying as an American or an Asian. In the end we each had our own lifelines and found comfort in our own skins.

My most recent meaningful project is on the directing team of Synchronicity Theatre’s family series play, “Where the Mountain Meets the Moon,” as assistant director to Justin Anderson. The play is based on a novel by Grace Lin, which was inspired by Chinese fairytales (the stage play was adapted by Jeannine Coulombe). Justin directed the theatre’s original production in 2014 with a predominantly White cast, crew and designers. Our current production is made up of nearly entire AAPI cast and designers. The show opened on January 26 to an amazingly receptive audience, runs through the Lunar New Year (February 10) and closes on February 18, with the book’s author attending from New York. With the entire cast being made up of immigrants or children of immigrants, we all bonded by the story’s theme of leaving home to seek fortune and how some parents express their love by projecting their fears and worries onto their children. Being in a room full of talented AAPI artists and performers has been a fantastic experience. It has been incredibly meaningful to be a part of a piece that exemplifies diversity and inclusivity. Being a family production, we are showing children that people who look like them are also telling stories about and for them.

Great, appreciate you sharing that with us. Before we ask you to share more of your insights, can you take a moment to introduce yourself and how you got to where you are today to our readers.

My path to filmmaking is a bit Jeremy Bearimy (that’s a Good Place reference), which began with puppetry that led to indie wrestling, then from the circus to improv, and from sketch writing to filmmaking. It’s a perfectly logical progression!

My interest in theater and the arts stemmed from high school, volunteering at all the shows to watch my best friend on stage. However, during my younger years and through my first couple of decades in Atlanta my focus was on sports. It wasn’t until a layoff during a recession and constant injuries that I turned to more creative – and sedentary – activities like writing. I love the art of storytelling and I love comedy, so it’s only natural that I’m drawn to writing sketches. Inspiration usually comes from what’s happening, so a lot of times, that’s where I can infuse a bit of social commentary into my sketches like racism, human trafficking and mental health.

And I’m not limited to just writing comedy, the last two film projects making the film festival circuit are on the horror and experimental spectrum. “B Positive” is a paper puppet animation I wrote and produced for my second XPT piece at the Center for Puppetry Arts about a young girl suffering nightmares after receiving a lifesaving transplant and the aforementioned, “Torn Together.”

I would say that my brand would be writing relatable characters and relationships. My hope is that I weave them into unique situations or twists. I’m proud of all of the work that I put out, in either their earnestness or even as a learning experience to build upon. I mean, not everything I do can ALL be perfect, right? Every misstep or failure is a chance to grow and become better.

Is there something you think non-creatives will struggle to understand about your journey as a creative?

I think what some creatives might not be able to understand is that every failure, every rejection, every setback is an opportunity. It’s an opportunity to start again, it’s an opportunity to learn. It’s an opportunity to be inspired and create. I mean, would Taylor Swift have as many hit songs if she didn’t have so much heartbreak? She became a billionaire from so many rejections! (Swifties, please don’t come at me!)

For me, everything good along with the bad like job loss, break ups or death opened a door for the next adventure. If I didn’t lose a terrible job after nine years, I wouldn’t have gotten into puppetry (my gateway artform). If I didn’t go through certain break ups, I wouldn’t have taken up improv or sketch writing. I might – gasp – be married with kids – living a whole different life right now. And if I hadn’t experienced death in my family, I wouldn’t have written my play.

Many of these things may have broken a person’s psyche, but they made me who I am and influenced the content I create.

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

The most rewarding aspect of being creative is seeing my art come to life. With every table read or film screening, I feel a sense of joy and pride knowing, “I made that.” Sure, call it ego, if you will, but there’s nothing as satisfying as seeing others view and enjoy your work.

There wasn’t a lot of support in my household growing up, so I seek words of affirmation from others.

Contact Info:

• Website: mediatigre.com
• Linkedin: linkedin.com/in/franceschang
• Youtube: youtube.com/@mediatigre

Image Credits
Frances Chang, Melissa Kunnap, Deidra Tyree