Timothy Tau

Timothy Tau

Timothy Tau is an award-winning writer and filmmaker and was recently named by PolicyMic magazine as "6 Young Asian-American Filmmakers Who Are Shattering America's Asian Film Bias." His short story "The Understudy" won Grand Prize in the 2011 Hyphen Asian American Writer's Workshop Short Story Contest and is published in the 2011 Issue of Hyphen Magazine as well as online. His short story, "Land of Origin" also won 2nd Prize in the 2010 Playboy College Fiction Contest (See October 2010 Issue of Playboy Magazine). Both stories are being developed into feature film projects. Tau has directed, wrote and produced a number of short films and music videos for some of the leading artists in Asian American entertainment such as dumbfounded (Parker), Paul Kim (P.Keys), Megan Lee, Michelle Krusiec, The Fung Bros., CHOPS, and more. He directed, wrote (along with Ed Moy) and produced a short film entitled KEYE LUKE, about pioneering Asian American actor Keye Luke (played by Feodor Chin) who was the very first Kato in the 1940s Green Hornet decades before Bruce Lee, and the Number One Son in the popular Charlie Chan films of the 1930s. KEYE LUKE has won a number of awards, including an Audience Award at the February Screening of the 2014 HollyShorts Film Festival and Best Original Score for the film's composer, George Shaw, at the 2013 Asians on Film Festival. Tau is currently enrolled in the UCLA School of Theater, Film and Television Professional Programs in Screenwriting and TV Writing and plans to complete a MFA in Screenwriting at UCLA afterwards. He is also a graduate of the University of California Berkeley, UCLA, and the University of California Hastings College of the Law. He is currently working on a film project involving veteran actor Nathan Jung, Bruce Lee. James Shigeta and other Asian American cinematic pioneers of the 1960s, 70s, 80s and 1990s. You can reach him at: timothy.tau [at] gmail.com

Interior Chinatown Wins National Book Award

Timothy Tau - November 30, 2020
A Q&A with Charles Yu

On November 18, 2020, Charles Yu won the National Book Award in Fiction for his novel Interior Chinatown. The book follows protagonist Willis Wu’s efforts to ascend from “Background Oriental Male” and “Generic Asian Man” to “Kung Fu Guy.”  Yu says that influences for the book were Paul Beatty's The Sellout and the movie Groundhog Day. The book was also long-listed for the Andrew Carnegie medal and short-listed for the Prix Médicis étranger award in France (a French literary award for translated works).

Immigrant Linguistics: A Conversation with May-lee Chai

Timothy Tau - April 8, 2020
Q&A with May-lee Chai on her short story collection, Useful Phrases for Immigrants

Author May-lee Chai’s latest book, a collection of short stories entitled Useful Phrases for Immigrants, won the American Book Award in 2019 and the Bakwin Award for Writing by a Woman in 2018. Tayari Jones, author of An American Marriage and judge of the Bakwin Award commented, “The eight stories in this collection contain multitudes. May-lee Chai interrogates heavy subjects with a light touch.

Docu-Series Explores Various Aspects of Social Divide Over Race in the United States

Timothy Tau - August 19, 2019

Timothy Tau recently had the chance to talk with filmmaker Bao Nguyen (who directed the documentary about SNL, Live From New York!) and author Jeff Chang (Can't Stop Won't Stop) about their new docu-series We Gon' Be Alright, which is based on Jeff's collection of essays and is viewable in its entirety for free at PBS's Indie Lens Storycast Youtube channel. The series is also a co-production of ITVS, with the Center for Asian American Media (CAAM) being a supporting partner.

Interview with Viet Thanh Nguyen on The Refugees:

Timothy Tau - March 6, 2019
Timothy Tau discusses writing and story-making with the Pulitzer Prize writer

I recently got the chance to sit down and talk with Professor Viet Thanh Nguyen about his most recent book, the short story collection The Refugees, which has recently garnered the Asian/Pacific American Award for Literature.

Interview with Min Jin Lee: Ordinary History and Pachinko

Timothy Tau - October 10, 2017

Min Jin Lee's Pachinko is an epic, sweeping saga of four generations in a Korean family that spans nearly seven decades and three continents and has just been longlisted for the National Book Award. After the publication of Lee's first novel, Free Food for Millionaires, Lee moved to Japan to research a new novel. That novel, Pachinko, is a marvel of masterful storytelling.

SOMEONE ELSE – A Q&A With Nelson Kim

Timothy Tau - December 21, 2016

Where are all the places we can see/buy the film?

The movie can be streamed or downloaded via Amazon and iTunes, and can also be purchased on DVD at Amazon. Go to our website, www.SomeoneElseMovie.com, for details. We’re pretty much at the end of our U.S. festival run, but we haven’t played at any fests outside the U.S. yet, so I’m still sending out submissions with fingers crossed.

The Talks: Daniel Wu Goes "Into The Badlands"

Timothy Tau - November 6, 2015

Daniel Wu is a Chinese American actor/director/writer/producer that has already had quite an impressive career overseas in Hong Kong, appearing in over 60 films there – many of them box-office hits – and also winning awards for his directing, producing and performance work (such as the “Best New Director Award” at the Hong Kong Film Awards for his directorial debut The Heavenly Kings (2006), which he also wrote, produced and starred in, and a Golden Horse Award for “Best Supporting Actor” in Jackie Chan’s New Police Story (2004)).

The Talks: Legendary Filmmaker Hou Hsiao Hsien on his Latest Film, "The Assassin"

Timothy Tau - October 15, 2015

Hou Hsiao Hsien is undeniably an iconic figure amongst contemporary filmmakers: a legendary auteur who, for over three decades, has created timeless cinematic classics such as the Golden Lion-winning A City of Sadness (1989), The Cannes Jury-prize winning film The Puppetmaster (1993), Good Men, Good Women (1995) (which won "Best Feature Film" at the 1995 Hawaii International Film Festival), and the Cannes Technical Grand Prize winning Millenium Mambo (2001), among others.

The Talks: "Crush The Skull" Writer & Director Viet Nguyen

Timothy Tau - June 11, 2015

There were two previous short films, "Crush The Skull" and "Crush The Skull 2", both released on Wong Fu's Youtube channel, both released during the Halloweens of 2011 and 2013, respectively. I found both of them to be excellent shorts: well done, hilarious and filled with suspense. How did those two shorts come about?

Q&A: "Man Up" with Justin Chon

Timothy Tau - April 25, 2015

Justin Chon is no doubt one of the most talented, rising Asian American actors of his generation, having been in films such as Twilight (and other entries in the series), Revenge of the Green Dragons and 21 & Over, as well as hit independent films like Seoul Searching, Innocent Blood, and Hang Loose. Belonging to a generation that also includes Miles Teller (who he starred alongside in 21 & Over), he showcases strengths that extend to other endeavors, such as filmmaking.

Q&A with Peter Shinkoda: Nobu on Marvel's Daredevil

Timothy Tau - April 22, 2015

                                                                                                                                                                                                                                              Nobu (Peter Shinkoda) and his henchmen in a montage at the end of the Daredevil's Pilot ("Into The Ring")

The Understudy

Timothy Tau - November 10, 2011

You tell people that you are a serious actor. That even though you have the range to tackle comic roles, that you excel at the dramatic. You feel justified in telling people this because as you sit on the empty stage with the other cast members, you realize that everyone is rehearsing lines in a stage drama in which you, Jack Chang, play the lead. For a moment, your ego swells beyond what is normal and what is healthy.