Best 50 Asian American Filmmakers in the United States

Born in 1954 in Pingtung, Taiwan, Ang Lee has become one of today's greatest contemporary filmmakers. Ang graduated from the National Taiwan College of Arts in 1975 and then came to the U.S. to receive a B.F.A. Degree in Theatre/Theater Direction at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, and a Masters Degree in Film Production at New York University. At NYU, he served as Assistant Director on Spike Lee's student film, Joe's Bed-Stuy Barbershop: We Cut Heads (1983). After Lee wrote a couple of screenplays, he eventually appeared on the film scene with Pushing Hands (1991), a dramatic-comedy reflecting on generational conflicts and cultural adaptation, centering on the metaphor of the grandfather's Tai-Chi technique of "Pushing Hands". The Wedding Banquet (1993) (aka The Wedding Banquet) was Lee's next film, an exploration of cultural and generational conflicts through a homosexual Taiwanese man who feigns a marriage in order to satisfy the traditional demands of his Taiwanese parents. It garnered Golden Globe and Oscar nominations, and won a Golden Bear at the Berlin Film Festival. The third movie in his trilogy of Taiwanese-Culture/Generation films, all of them featuring his patriarch figure Sihung Lung, was Eat Drink Man Woman (1994) (aka Eat Drink Man Woman), which received a Best Foreign Film Oscar nomination. Lee followed this with Sense and Sensibility (1995), his first Hollywood-mainstream movie. It acquired a Best Picture Oscar nomination, and won Best Adapted Screenplay, for the film's screenwriter and lead actress, Emma Thompson. Lee was also voted the year's Best Director by the National Board of Review and the New York Film Critics Circle. Lee and frequent collaborator James Schamus next filmed The Ice Storm (1997), an adaptation of Rick Moody's novel involving 1970s New England suburbia. The movie acquired the 1997 Best Screenplay at Cannes for screenwriter James Schamus, among other accolades. The Civil War drama Ride with the Devil (1999) soon followed and received critical praise, but it was Lee's Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon (2000) (aka Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon) that is considered one of his greatest works, a sprawling period film and martial-arts epic that dealt with love, loyalty and loss. It swept the Oscar nominations, eventually winning Best Foreign Language Film, as well as Best Director at the Golden Globes, and became the highest grossing foreign-language film ever released in America. Lee then filmed the comic-book adaptation, Hulk (2003) - an elegantly and skillfully made film with nice action scenes. Lee has also shot a short film - Chosen (2001) (aka Hire, The Chosen) - and most recently won the 2005 Best Director Academy Award for Brokeback Mountain (2005), a film based on a short story by Annie Proulx. In 2012 Lee directed Life of Pi which earned 11 Academy Award nominations and went on to win the Academy Award for Best Director. In 2013 Ang Lee was selected as a member of the main competition jury at the 2013 Cannes Film Festival.

James Wan (born 26 February 1977) is an Australian film producer, screenwriter and film director of Malaysian Chinese descent. He is widely known for directing the horror film Saw (2004) and creating Billy the puppet. Wan has also directed Dead Silence (2007), Death Sentence (2007), Insidious (2010), The Conjuring (2013) and Furious 7 (2015).

Before his success in the mainstream film industry, he made his first feature-length film, Stygian, with Shannon Young, which won "Best Guerrilla Film" at the Melbourne Underground Film Festival (MUFF) in 2000.

Prior to 2003, Wan and Leigh Whannell had begun writing a script based for a horror film, citing inspiration from their dreams and fears. Upon completing the script, Leigh and James had wanted to select an excerpt from their script, later to be known as Saw (2004), and film it to pitch their film to studios. With the help of Charlie Clouser, who had composed the score for the film, and a few stand-in actors, Leigh and James shot the film with relatively no budget. Leigh had decided to star in the film as well.

After the release of the full-length Saw (2004), the film was met with overwhelming success in the box office both domestically and internationally. The film ended up grossing 55 million dollars in America, and 48 million dollars in other countries, totaling over $103 million worldwide. This was over 100 million dollars profit, over 80 times the production budget. This green-lit the sequel Saw II (2005), and later the rest of the Saw franchise based on the yearly success of the previous installment. Since its inception, Saw (2004) has become the highest grossing horror franchise of all time worldwide in unadjusted dollars. In the United States only, Saw (2004) is the second highest grossing horror franchise, behind only the Friday the 13th (1980) films by a margin of $10 million.

Jon is an alumni of the USC School of Cinema-Television. There, he won the Princess Grace Award, the Dore Schary Award presented by the Anti-Defamation league, the Jack Nicholson directing award, and recognized as an honoree for the IFP/West program Project: Involve.

After making his student short, "When the Kids Are Away", Jon was scooped up by the William Morris Agency and attached to several high profile projects.

Taika Waititi, also known as Taika Cohen, hails from the Raukokore region of the East Coast of the North Island of New Zealand, and is the son of Robin (Cohen), a teacher, and Taika Waititi, an artist and farmer. His father is Maori (Te-Whanau-a-Apanui), and his mother is of Ashkenazi Jewish, Irish, Scottish, and English descent. Taika has been involved in the film industry for several years, initially as an actor, and now focusing on writing and directing.

Two Cars, One Night is Taika's first professional film-making effort and since its completion in 2003 he has finished another short "Tama Tu" about a group of Maori Soldiers in Italy during World War 2. As a performer and comedian, Taika has been involved in some of the most innovative and successful original productions seen in New Zealand. He regularly does stand-up gigs in and around the country and in 2004 launched his solo production, "Taika's Incredible Show". In 2005 he staged the sequel, "Taika's Incrediblerer Show". As an actor, Taika has been critically acclaimed for both his Comedic and Dramatic abilities. In 2000 he was nominated for Best Actor at the Nokia Film Awards for his role in the Sarkies Brother's film "Scarfies".

Taika is also an experienced painter and photographer, having exhibited both mediums in Wellington and Berlin, and a fashion designer. He attended the Sundance Writers Lab with "Choice", a feature loosely based on "Two Cars, One Night".

Taika became a blockbuster director with his film Thor: Ragnarok (2017), and received critical acclaim, and a Best Adapted Screenplay Oscar, for his film Jojo Rabbit (2019).

Karyn Kusama was born on 21 March 1968 in Brooklyn, New York, USA. She is a director and producer, known for The Invitation (2015), Girlfight (2000) and Destroyer (2018). She has been married to Phil Hay since October 2006. They have one child.

Destin Daniel Cretton is an American filmmaker, writer and producer from Haiku, Hawaii. He is known for directing The Glass Castle, I Am Not a Hipster, Short Term 12, Just Mercy and Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings. He is the second Asian-American filmmaker to direct a Marvel film following Ang Lee's Hulk.

Cary Joji Fukunaga is a Japanese-American film director, screenwriter, cinematographer and producer from Oakland, California who is known for directing the James Bond film No Time to Die, Kofi, Beasts of No Nation, Jane Eyre and Sin Nombre. He co-wrote the 2017 film adaptation of the Stephen King book It. He directed several episodes of the television show True Detective.

Ramin Bahrani was born on 20 March 1975 in North Carolina, USA. He is a producer and director, known for 99 Homes (2014), The White Tiger (2021) and Fahrenheit 451 (2018).

Justin Lin is a Taiwanese-American film director whose films have grossed $2 billion worldwide. He is best known for his work on Better Luck Tomorrow, The Fast and the Furious 3-6 and Star Trek Beyond. He is also known for his work on television shows like Community and the second season of True Detective. Lin was born in Taipei, Taiwan, and grew up in a working-class neighborhood in Cypress, California, in Orange County. He attended Cypress High School and University of California, San Diego for two years before transferring to UCLA, where he earned a B.A. in Film & Television and a MFA in Film Directing & Production from the UCLA film school.

Gregg Araki was born on 17 December 1959 in Los Angeles, California, USA. He is a writer and director, known for Mysterious Skin (2004), White Bird in a Blizzard (2014) and Kaboom (2010).

Joseph Kahn was born on 12 October 1972. He is a director and cinematographer, known for Bodied (2017), Detention (2011) and Torque (2004).

Michael Goi, ASC, ISC

Michael Goi, ASC, ISC was born and raised in Chicago, where he established himself in the fields of documentaries and commercials. He has directed numerous television shows such as "Avatar: The Last Airbender", "Big Sky,", "The Rookie", "Kung Fu", "The Chilling Adventures Of Sabrina", and many others. He wrote and directed the viral feature film sensation "Megan Is Missing" about the subject of internet predators, as well as directing Gary Oldman in the film "MARY". As a cinematographer, he has compiled over 70 narrative credits, including films for cinema and television screens such as "American Horror Story," "Glee," "Salem" and "The Town That Dreaded Sundown." He has received four Emmy nominations for "Glee", "My Name Is Earl" and two seasons of "American Horror Story." He was nominated for the American Society of Cinematographers (ASC) Outstanding Achievement Award for the telefilms "The Fixer" and "Judas" and for the pilot "The New Normal" and the mini-series "American Horror Story: Asylum".

Michael Goi is a past president of the American Society of Cinematographers, served on the Board Of Governors of the ASC, and is the editor of the 10th Edition of the ASC Manual. He is co-chair of numerous committees at the Directors Guild Of America including the Television Diversity Task Force. He was made an Honorary Member of the Indian Society Of Cinematographers (ISC) in 2010 for his efforts to increase international collaboration and communication amongst the world's cinematography organizations. Michael has appeared as a guest speaker at the Academy Of Motion Picture Arts And Sciences, American Film Institute, the University of Southern California, Walt Disney Animation Studios (for whom he demonstrated ice and snow lighting concepts for animators working on the film "Frozen,"), CineGear, IBC and many other international industry events. He is a member of the National Executive Board of the International Cinematographers Guild, the Directors Guild Of America, the Academy Of Television Arts And Sciences and the Academy Of Motion Picture Arts And Sciences. He regularly mentors students for various industry programs. And he built a railroad track around his house with trains that you can ride.

Michael Aki is known for Strangers (2012), Sunsets (1997) and Obits (1998).

Tze Chun was born in 1980 in Chicago, Illinois, USA. He is a writer and producer, known for Children of Invention (2009), Cold Comes the Night (2013) and Gotham (2014). He has been married to Cara McKenney since 11 June 2011.

Kevin Tancharoen is a director, writer, producer, and choreographer.

His feature directing credits include "Glee: The 3D Concert Movie" for Fox and "FAME" for MGM. Tancharoen has directed multiple episodes of Marvel's "Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.," HBO Max's "Warrior," "The Flash," "12 Monkeys," "Titans," Amazon's "Prison Break" event series, and "Mortal Kombat: Legacy." Most recently, he directed for the "Star Wars" spin-off "The Book of Boba Fett" for Lucasfilm, as well as directing and executive producing "Thai Cave Rescue," a limited series for Netflix from Jon M. Chu and SKG.

Prior to his film and TV directing career, Tancharoen was a backup dancer for The A*Teens, N'Sync, and Britney Spears. He then transitioned to tour director and choreographer, directing Britney Spears' "Onyx Hotel" tour and choreographing her "Me Against the Music" video. He also worked on remixed projects for Christina Aguilera, Jessica Simpson, and Tyrese, and contributed creatively to Britney Spears' "Dream Within a Dream Tour" and *NSYNC's "Pop Odyssey Tour."

"The Brothers Sun," starring Michelle Yeoh and produced by Brad Falchuk for Netflix, was released on January 4th, 2024, to rave reviews from both critics and fans. Tancharoen directed the pilot and served as the executive producer of the series. "The Brothers Sun" is currently nominated for a 2024 Emmy.

Currently, he is finishing post-production on a new series called "Teacup" for Atomic Monster, James Wan, and Peacock. He is an executive producer and directed the finale block.

Jay Chandrasekhar was born on 9 April 1968 in Chicago, Illinois, USA. He is a director and actor, known for Super Troopers (2001), Club Dread (2004) and Beerfest (2006). He has been married to Susan Clarke since 18 September 2005. They have three children.

Born in Puducherry, India, and raised in the suburban Penn Valley area of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, M. Night Shyamalan is a film director, screenwriter, producer, and occasional actor, known for making movies with contemporary supernatural plots.

He is the son of Jayalakshmi, a Tamil obstetrician and gynecologist, and Nelliate C. Shyamalan, a Malayali doctor. His passion for filmmaking began when he was given a Super-8 camera at age eight, and even at that young age began to model his career on that of his idol, Steven Spielberg. His first film, Praying with Anger (1992), was based somewhat on his own trip back to visit the India of his birth. He raised all the funds for this project, in addition to directing, producing and starring in it. Wide Awake (1998), his second film, he wrote and directed, and shot it in the Philadelphia-area Catholic school he once attended--even though his family was of a different religion, they sent him to that school because of its strict discipline.

Shyamalan gained international recognition when he wrote and directed 1999's The Sixth Sense (1999), which was a commercial success and later nominated for six Academy Awards, including Best Picture, Best Director and Best Original Screenplay. Shyamalan team up again with Bruce Willis in the film Unbreakable (2000), released in 2000, which he also wrote and directed.

His major films include the science fiction thriller Signs (2002), the psychological thriller The Village (2004), the fantasy thriller Lady in the Water (2006), The Happening (2008), The Last Airbender (2010), After Earth (2013), and the horror films The Visit (2015) and Split (2016).

"I had a wonderful time working with the innovative, talented director Brian Metcalf. The young man has incredible integrity and vision. He has gained my respect." - Mickey Rourke

Born in Seoul, South Korea, Brian A. Metcalf (ATAS, WGA, PGA, DGA, VES, HRTS, ASCAP) is an Asian-American, award-winning writer, director, producer, musician and actor. He has worked with such talent as Academy Award® Nominee Mickey Rourke, Academy Award® Nominee Sean Astin, Golden Globe® Nominee Lou Diamond Phillips, Golden Globe® Nominee Penelope Ann Miller, Primetime Emmy® Nominee John Heard, Kiefer Sutherland, Tom Arnold, David Henrie, William Sadler, Mark Pellegrino, Michael Madsen, James Russo, Thomas Ian Nicholas and more. He previously worked as a creative director, writer, photographer, visual effects artist and supervisor on games, DVDs, web, EPKs, music videos, film and documentaries for all the major studios.

Metcalf recently show ran, wrote, directed and acted in the comedy TV series "UNDERDEVELOPED" which was distributed by Amazon Freevee, Tubi, Amazon Prime, Universal's Local Now, Comcast Xfinity and soon Plex. The show was promoted at San Diego Comic Con.

As announced in Deadline, Metcalf will serve as showrunner, writer, director, executive producer and actor to his upcoming dramedy series "A MOTEL" starring Mark Pellegrino (Supernatural, 13 Reasons Why).

Before that, Brian produced, directed, wrote and acted in the crime thriller/drama "ADVERSE," distributed by Lionsgate. The film opened the prestigious Fantasporto Film Festival and went on to win a number of awards, including a Platinum Remi Award from Worldfest. Variety's Joe Leydon said that "Writer-director Brian A. Metcalf's indie offering boasts some impressive rough stuff and a surprisingly affecting turn by Mickey Rourke." The New York Times listed the film as one of their top 5 action films to watch for stating "The veteran ensemble in Brian A. Metcalf's visceral Los Angeles-set crime thriller supplies plenty of firepower in a bloody revenge narrative that sees Ethan deliciously hammering his enemies with a crowbar."

Before "ADVERSE," Brian made the mockumentary comedy/horror "LIVING AMONG US," distributed by Sony Pictures and Fox International.

Metcalf received a scholarship and was accepted into Sundance Co//ab TV writing classes under the instructions of Angela LaManna and Peter Biegen. He has had 4 of his scripts placed into the permanent core collection at the Margaret Herrick Library by The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences. He lives in Los Angeles.

A Berkeley-born daughter of Chinese-Malaysian and Vietnamese heritage, Jennifer Phang is a graduate of the MFA Directing program at the American Film Institute.

Her sophomore feature Advantageous won a Jury Prize at Sundance 2015 and was based on her award winning Futurestates short Advantageous (2012) Her award-winning feature film "Half-Life" premiered in 2008 at Sundance and Tokyo International, screened at SXSW, and was distributed by the Sundance Channel.

The film was then nominated for a 2016 Film Independent Spirit Award. Advantageous (2015) was the feature adaptation of Phang's short film by the same name, originally commissioned by ITVS's FutureStates anthology series. Phang is one of six women selected for the 2016 Women at Sundance Fellowship. She was selected for the 2016 Warner Bros. TV Directors' workshop and is being personally mentored by Emmy-winning producer/director Michelle MacLaren (Breaking Bad, Game of Thrones.) Additionally Phang is also a recipient of the inaugural San Francisco Film Society Women's Filmmaker Fellowship and Grant.

Jennifer also wrote and directed "Glass Butterfly," a visual effects-intensive narrative music video.

Cellin Hiramoto Gluck is a Japanese American director known for Persona Non Grata, Oba The Last Samurai, Sideways - aka Saidoweizu and Lorelei. As an assistant director/production manager he is known for Godzilla, Memoirs of a Geisha, Transformers, Remember the Titans, Contact and Black Rain among others. Born and spending his 'formative years' in Japan and Iran, Cellin graduated from the Canadian Academy in Kobe before attending the Claremont Colleges, graduating from Pitzer College with honors from the Pomona College Theatre Department. Convinced early by his father that archaeology was a hobby best followed by those with time and money, Cellin decided to follow a much more responsible and certain path to success, the Film Business. Using his multi-cultural heritage to its fullest, he has spent the past 28+ years in film production with a particular emphasis on Japan. First advertising agency producer, to commercial director, then moving to films as an assistant director to Ridley Scott, Roger Spottiswoode, Mike Figgis, Sean Cunnigham and Robert Zemeckis among others. Cellin believes his multi-cultural upbringing and his own diverse 'composition' gives Cellin an innate sensibility for things both Eastern and Western. Allowing him to bridge cultures visually, viscerally and artistically as well as emotionally.

Mark Decena is known for Dopamine (2003), Not Without Us (2016) and e2: The Economies of Being Environmentally Conscious (2006).

Patrick Epino is known for Bitter Melon (2018), Awesome Asian Bad Guys (2014) and Mr. Sadman (2009).

Louis Diamond Phillips is an American actor and film director. His breakthrough came when he starred as Ritchie Valens in the biographical drama film La Bamba (1987). For Stand and Deliver (1988), Phillips was nominated for a Golden Globe Award and won an Independent Spirit Award. Phillips made his Broadway debut with the 1996 revival of The King and I, earning a Tony Award nomination for his portrayal of King Mongkut of Siam. Phillips' other notable films include Young Guns (1988), Young Guns II (1990), Courage Under Fire (1996), The Big Hit (1998), Brokedown Palace (1999), Che (2008), and The 33 (2015). In the television series Longmire, he played a main character named Henry Standing Bear. He played New York City Police Lieutenant Gil Arroyo on Prodigal Son on FOX from 2019 to 2021.

Jon Moritsugu was born in Honolulu, Hawaii and graduated from Brown University in 1987. As a writer and director, he has created 7 features and numerous shorts, music videos, and commercials which have screened at MOMA, the Guggenheim, Whitney, Cannes, Sundance, Berlin, Rotterdam, and more. He is a Grammy Nominee, was selected for Oscar consideration, and the New York Times describes his work as ""funny, anarchic, provocative and exhilarating." Moritsugu is married to his wife, leading lady, and creative partner-in-crime Amy Davis.

Nisha Ganatra is a Golden Globe winner and an Emmy nominee for her work as the Director/Producer of "Transparent." Recently she directed THE HIGH NOTE for Working Title and Focus Features, starring Tracee Ellis Ross, Ice Cube, June Diane Raphael, Dakota Johnson, and Kelvin Harrison Jr.

Ganatra's previous film LATE NIGHT, starring Emma Thompson and Mindy Kaling, premiered at Sundance. It sold to Amazon in a record-breaking deal and garnered the highest streaming numbers of the year.

Her acclaimed debut feature CHUTNEY POPCORN, with Jill Hennessy and Sakina Jaffrey, won audience awards at the Berlin International Film Festival, Newport Film Festival, Outfest Los Angeles, and many more. Her sophomore feature COSMOPOLITAN, starring Carol Kane and Roshan Seth, premiered at the South by Southwest Film Festival.

In television, Ganatra directed Liz Sarnoff's pilot, "Highland," and sold a drama project to ABC and a comedy pilot to NBC, with Amy Poehler producing. She was the Co-Executive Producer/Director for "Better Things" with Pamela Adlon and the Co-Executive Producer/Director on "You Me Her." She also created CODE ACADEMY for the ITVS/PBS series "FutureStates." Ganatra has directed episodes of "Girls," "Dear White People," "Future Man," "Mr. Robot," "Shameless," "Married," "Brooklyn Nine-Nine," "Last Man on Earth," "Love," and "Black Monday."