Byron Q

Last updated
Byron Q
Born
Byron Q
Years active2010 — present
Website http://beyondcinemaproductions.com

Byron Q (born Byron Chan and also known as Byron Qiao) is an American filmmaker, director and writer. His film production company is known as "Beyond Cinema Productions." [1] His debut feature film, Bang Bang (2011), which won a Special Jury Award for Best First Feature, Narrative, at the 2011 Los Angeles Asian Pacific Film Festival. [2] The film also starred Thai Ngo, David Huynh, Jessika Van, Walter Wong, Yen Ly, Vanna Fut and Peter Chanhthavongsak. He has also Directed and Written a Web Series entitled "Hollywood Aliens," starring David Huynh, who also appeared in Bang Bang. He has directed and written a documentary about Bang Bang cast member Vanna Fut entitled Raskal Love. He has recently finished shooting a feature film set in Las Vegas entitled Las Vegas Story. [3]

Contents

Background

Byron Q studied under renowned French New Wave Director Jean-Pierre Gorin at the University of California, San Diego. [4] [5] As a result, his style has been observed as a mix of urban themes with French New Wave style. [6] [7]

Films

Feature films

Bang Bang, his first feature film, was shot on-location in San Diego. The film won a Special Jury Prize for Best First Feature, Narrative, at the 2011 Los Angeles Asian Pacific Film Festival. [8] The film has also screened at the Boston Asian American Independent Film Festival, the Philadelphia Asian American Film Festival, the San Diego Asian Film Festival, the San Francisco International Asian American Film Festival, the Regent Park Film Festival in Toronto, the Las Vegas Film Festival, and more. [9] The film is available on Blu-ray, DVD and on iTunes, and was entirely self-distributed. [10]

In 2013, he completed his second feature film titled "Las Vegas Story." [11] [12] Eric Roberts appears in the film, as does David Huynh from Bang Bang. [13]

Web Series, Short Films & Music Videos

Byron Q directed a web series titled Hollywood Aliens along with co-director Kevin Boston, starring David Huynh. [14]

He has also directed a number of short films, including The Dream (2007) and My Darling Jane (2007). Q has also directed several music videos for Mondega ("Stand My Ground"), Bambu ("Music for the People" featuring Mondega), Raashan Ahmad (music videos for the tracks "In Love with Wax" and "Give Thanks"), Kero One ("When the Sunshine Comes"), D.U.S.T. ("Forgive and Forget"), D.U.S.T. feat. Chali 2na ("Make Your Move"), Deuce Eclipse feat. D.U.S.T. ("Blackout") and has directed a behind-the-scenes video for the music video "Back Again" by Talib Kweli and Hi-Tek.

Documentaries

In 2013, Byron Q has also directed and produced a documentary titled Raskal Love about Vanna Fut, a Seattle-based break dancer who also appeared in Bang Bang . [15] [16] In addition to Fut, the film also stars David Huynh, Thai Ngo, Allen Theosky Rowe and Feodor Chin (as Vanna's father). The film premiered at the 2013 Los Angeles Asian Pacific Film Festival in the documentary competition and was nominated for a Grand Jury Award for Best Documentary. [17]

Related Research Articles

Cathleen "Cathy" Scott is a Los Angeles Times and New York Times bestselling American true crime author and investigative journalist who penned the biographies and true crime books The Killing of Tupac Shakur and The Murder of Biggie Smalls, both bestsellers in the United States and United Kingdom, and was the first to report Shakur's death. She grew up in La Mesa, California and later moved to Mission Beach, California, where she was a single parent to a son, Raymond Somers Jr. Her hip-hop books are based on the drive-by shootings that killed the rappers six months apart in the midst of what has been called the West Coast-East Coast war. Each book is dedicated to the rappers' mothers.

The Shangri-la Cafe is a 2000 film written and directed by Lily Mariye. The film is about a Japanese American family who conceal their identity and reluctantly adopt discriminatory practices in order to operate a Chinese restaurant within the hostile cold war climate of Las Vegas in the late 1950s.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Michael Hemmingson</span> Novelist, anthologist, critic, cultural anthropologist, playwright (1966–2014)

Michael Hemmingson was a novelist, short story writer, literary critic, cultural anthropologist, qualitative researcher, playwright, music critic and screenwriter. He died in Tijuana, Mexico on 9 January 2014. The reported cause was cardiac arrest.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Stephane Gauger</span> American film director

Stephane Gauger was a Vietnamese-born American film director, screenwriter and cinematographer.

Boston Asian American Film Festival (BAAFF), a production of the Asian American Resource Workshop (AARW), includes a program of independent cinema highlighting recent, significant works by and/or about Asian Americans and the Asian diaspora. BAAFF is New England's largest Asian American film festival. The festival takes place in the month of October in Boston at Emerson College's Bright Family Screening Room in the Paramount Center and opening night in Cambridge at the Brattle Theatre. The 4-day film festival features special premieres, exclusive Q&As with filmmakers and various co-sponsored events around Boston.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">David Huynh</span> Canadian actor (born 1983)

David Huynh is a Canadian actor.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Feodor Chin</span> American actor, producer, director and writer (born 1974)

Feodor Chin is an American actor, producer, writer and director. Chin starred as the antagonist "Benny" in Juwan Chung's Baby opposite David Huynh, the protagonist. Baby won a Special Jury Award for Best Feature Length Film, Narrative at the 2007 Los Angeles Asian Pacific Film Festival, among other awards.

Jessika Van is an American actress, singer-songwriter, pianist and dancer. Van is most known for playing "Becca," the ringleader of the Asians or the Asian mafia in Season 2 and Season 3 of MTV's Awkward. She also played Kim, a Hong Kong Police Officer and sister of Detective Lee in the Rush Hour television series. She has also starred as the antagonist "Li Xue" in the 2019 12-episode Chinese series,Yolk Man (蛋黄人).

Patrick Epino is an American filmmaker. His feature film Mr. Sadman made for the Independent Feature Project (IFP) Independent Filmmaker Labs is a satirical dark comedy about a Sadam Hussein body-double loses his job and moves to Los Angeles in search of a new start. It stars Al No'mani, Scoot McNairy, Rudy Ramos, Tim Kang, Amanda Fuller, and Cameron Bender and has received positive reviews from LA Weekly, Giant Robot Magazine and more, and Epino was also selected by the film magazine The Independent as one of its "10 Filmmakers to Watch" for that film. Along with Stephen Dypiangco he makes up the "National Film Society" which is part of PBS and makes original web content related to films, filmmaking and film festivals that is viewable online.

Stephen Dypiangco is an American filmmaker. He was a Producer of Marketing and Distribution for Luke Matheny's Oscar-Winning short film, God of Love. He was also a Producer of Marketing and Distribution for Mark Wexler's documentary How to Live Forever. He has also directed a short documentary entitled Made In The Bronx which was a Regional Finalist for the Student Academy Awards and won the Best Documentary prize at the Starz First Look Student Film Festival. Along with Patrick Epino he makes up the "National Film Society" which is part of PBS and makes original web content about films, film festivals and filmmaking, viewable online.

The Seattle Asian American Film Festival was founded in 1985 and has been revived over the years by different producers. The current iteration was founded in 2012 and made its debut in 2013 by co-founders Kevin Bang and Vanessa Au. It is a revival of of the previously running Northwest Asian American Film Festival, which was directed by Wes Kim from 2003 to 2007 and which had experienced a five-year hiatus. The inaugural film festival was also held at the Wing Luke Asian Museum from January 25 to 27, 2013. The festival is currently run and directed by Executive Director, Vanessa Au, and Festival Director, Victoria Ju.

Evan Jackson Leong is a director and documentary filmmaker. Leong is likely most known for his documentary Linsanity about Jeremy Lin, which made its world premiere at the 2013 Sundance Film Festival. He has also directed the documentary 1040: Christianity in the New Asia (2010), and the documentary short BLT Genesis (2002), which tracks the behind-the-scenes making of and trajectory of Justin Lin's film, Better Luck Tomorrow.

<i>The World Before Her</i> 2012 Canadian film

The World Before Her is a 2012 Canadian documentary film written and directed by Nisha Pahuja and produced by Toronto's Emmy Award winning Storyline Entertainment. The film explores the complex and conflicting environment for young girls in India by profiling two young women participating in two very different types of training camp — Ruhi Singh, who aspires to become Miss India, and Prachi Trivedi, a Hindu nationalist with the Durga Vahini.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Andrew Ahn</span> American film director

Andrew Ahn is an American film director and screenwriter who has directed the feature films Spa Night (2016), Driveways (2019), and Fire Island (2022).

<i>Keye Luke</i> (film) 2012 American film

Keye Luke is a 2012 American short film directed by Timothy Tau, written by Timothy Tau, Ed Moy and Feodor Chin, and produced by Timothy Tau.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Nisha Pahuja</span> Canadian independent filmmaker

Nisha Pahuja is an independent Canadian filmmaker, born in New Delhi and raised in Toronto, Ontario. This writer/artist/director was introduced to film through studying English literature, working in social services and through working as a documentary researcher. She is currently a Rockefeller Foundation Bellagio Fellow. Nisha's first full-length film debut was in 2003 in Bollywood Bound, and more recently she produced a film The World Before Her (2012) which explored the diverse lifestyles of women competing to become Miss India and juxtaposing it with Hindu Nationalists fighting for their beliefs.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Jennifer Phang</span> American filmmaker

Jennifer Phang is an American filmmaker, most known for her feature films Advantageous (2015) and Half-Life (2008). Advantageous premiered at the 2015 Sundance Film Festival, winning a Special Jury Award for Collaborative Vision, and was based on her award-winning short film of the same name. Half-Life premiered at the 2008 Sundance Film Festival and won "Best Film" awards at a number of film festivals including the Gen Art Film Festival, the San Francisco International Asian American Film Festival as well an "Emerging Director Award" at the Asian American International Film Festival.

<i>Bang Bang</i> (2011 film) 2011 American film

Bang Bang is a 2011 drama, gangster film directed and written by Byron Q. It stars Thai Ngo, David Huynh, Jessika Van, Wally Randolph, Vanna Fut, Kitty Chu and others. It premiered at the 2011 Los Angeles Asian Pacific Film Festival from Visual Communications, where it won the Best First Feature Award. It has also been commented to be influenced by the French New Wave films, as Director Jean-Pierre Gorin was a teacher of the film's director Byron Q while at UCSD.

Kenneth Eng is an American documentary film director and editor. He is best known for his work on the documentary films My Life in China, Kokoyakyu: High School Baseball and Take Me to the River.

References

  1. Beyond Cinema Productions, Home, http://beyondcinemaproductions.com/
  2. Los Angeles Asian Pacific Film Festival, AWARD WINNERS, "AWARD WINNERS | Los Angeles Asian Pacific Film Festival". Archived from the original on 2012-01-10. Retrieved 2011-10-20.
  3. Las Vegas Story, Kickstarter, http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/byronchan/las-vegas-story
  4. Asia Pacific Arts, Gangster Dreams: Interview with Bang Bang Director Byron Q., http://asiapacificarts.usc.edu/w_apa/showarticle.aspx?articleID=16858&AspxAutoDetectCookieSupport=1 Archived 2012-12-15 at archive.today
  5. Subversities, Byron Q's Bang Bang, http://subversities.blogspot.com/2011/05/byron-qs-bang-bang-billie-rains-heart.html
  6. Brian Hu, From TORA! TORA! TORA! to BANG BANG: Asian American Filmmaking in San Diego, http://sdaff.gala-engine.com/2011/2011/10/12/from-tora-tora-tora-to-bang-bang-asian-american-filmmaking-in-san-diego/
  7. Directions in Dialogue: Byron Q. (Part 1), http://caamedia.org/blog/caam-presents/2011/07/21/directions-in-dialogue-byron-q-part-1/
  8. Carlos Cajilig, Hyphen Film Review: Byron Q's Bang Bang, http://www.hyphenmagazine.com/blog/archive/2011/06/hyphen-film-review-byron-qs-bang-bang
  9. Beyond Cinema, Screenings, http://www.bangbangthemovie.com/#home
  10. After Bruce, Steez360 - Exclusive Interview: Filmmaker Byron Q, http://www.steez360.com/blog/2012/03/23/exclusive-interview-filmmaker-byron-q/ Archived 2012-04-26 at the Wayback Machine
  11. Byron Q's Tumblr, http://byronbcp.tumblr.com/
  12. Las Vegas Story, Kickstarter, http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/byronchan/las-vegas-story
  13. Las Vegas Story, Kickstarter, http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/byronchan/las-vegas-story
  14. Angry Asian Man, New Webseries: Hollywood Aliens, http://blog.angryasianman.com/2012/06/new-webseries-hollywood-aliens.html
  15. "Raskal Love | Official Website". Archived from the original on 2013-04-23. Retrieved 2012-06-17.
  16. Kickstarter, Raskal Love Documentary by Byron Q, http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/byronchan/raskal-love-documentary/?ref=kicktraq
  17. Visual Communications, FESTIVAL WEEK 2013 LINE-UP ANNOUNCED, http://asianfilmfestla.org/2013/2013/03/29/festival-week-2013-line-up-announced/