The School of Greatness 237 Jon Chu on Directing in Hollywood, Creative Storytelling and Chasing Your Dreams
16 snips
Oct 7, 2015 Jon Chu, Hollywood director, discusses his journey into filmmaking, his career as a director, upcoming films, meeting Steven Spielberg, making a documentary about Justin Bieber's life, finding passion in film, and the importance of storytelling.
AI Snips
Chapters
Transcript
Episode notes
How Spielberg Found A Student Film
- Steven Spielberg unexpectedly saw Jon Chu's student short and invited him to DreamWorks for a long conversation.
- Chu and his co-writer then wrote a feature pitch in days and performed a theatrical pitch that Spielberg bought into.
A Partner Chose Purpose Over Opportunity
- Jason Russell left just after the Spielberg pitch to film in Sudan, which led to Invisible Children.
- Chu watched that divergence and respected Russell's commitment to a different purpose.
Beta Tech In A Restaurant Accelerated Chu
- Growing up in Palo Alto Chu had early access to beta tech and creative communities via his parents' restaurant.
- That environment accelerated his editing skills and fed his early filmmaking experiments.