Meet Elaine Wong

Today we’d like to introduce you to Elaine Wong.

Every artist has a unique story. Can you briefly walk us through yours?
I was born in Hong Kong. If I were still in Hong Kong, the above statement would not mean as much as it means now that I reside in Los Angeles, California. Being from Hong Kong has become my identity more than I would want it to be in America because it means I’m from the outside, but it is my origin and my root that I am proud of.

I grew up in an urban city but most of the times, I wasn’t too attuned to the world outside of my home, my school, the restaurants, and my father’s old high school that we frequently visited. My childhood actually consisted of climbing trees, making mud cakes, running around trying to find my secret garden in my dad’s old all-boy school campus on Sunday where there was no one around. I felt free, wild and happy, running around this empty campus knowing that I’m a girl in this all-boys space. I hid myself in that oasis throughout my childhood that I didn’t even take the subway to explore the urban space on my own until 8th grade when my teacher called me out on it and told me in front of the whole class that her homework assignment for me was to take the MTR and get off of every single station to explore Hong Kong alone.

In 9th grade, I got myself ready for the first big transition in my life, moving to America. I’ve always dreamt big and wanted to go to a school overseas. I guess it was what was cool back in the day in Hong Kong. I’ve wanted to attend an Ivy League school even when I was only six years old. So I was eager to leave Hong Kong when my parents told my two sisters and I that we were migrating to the Bay Area in Northern California. Of course, being in America and in relatively closer proximity of the Ivy League didn’t mean I could necessarily get in.

Fortunately, I did end up going to a school studying a major that I loved. I studied Literary Journalism at University of Southern California, Irvine. When I had to picked a major, I wanted to pick English or Creative Writing, but since it wasn’t practical, I picked the next practical option, journalism. Luckily the program was one of its kind. It doesn’t merely teach applied journalism, it teaches literary journalism which focuses on characters, the human elements of a story, and skillful storytelling. I didn’t yet know I loved storytelling throughout college, I just thought I really appreciated the writers and all the books I’ve read. It was an Asian cinema course which introduced me to all the great cinema masters that I suddenly found myself in love with cinema. Completely, thoroughly and utterly helplessly. Films such as In the Mood for Love, Lust, Caution, Raise the Red Lanterns and Farewell My Concubine opened my eyes to what films can do. Those movies moved me, healed me from heartbreaks, and sustained me through some of the more emotionally tumultuous times in my life.

Even though I became a reporter after college, I didn’t forget my newfound love for cinema. Outside of my work, I took an UCI extension course in Screenwriting and started writing my first screenplay. Then I took another UC Berkeley extension course in digital filmmaking and made my first short film while being a news reporter in San Francisco. The experience of directing a short was so exhilarating that it compelled me to quit my job. The film later became my visual sample that I submitted to School of Cinematic Arts at USC.

Then the rest is history. Getting into USC was something that just changed the course of my life. I don’t know how else I would be pursuing this passion without it. Would I have been brave enough to keep on pursuing filmmaking without the acceptance? I wouldn’t know. But because of the opportunity to be in film school, I got to make a lot of short films, met a lot of talented classmates and colleagues, worked with many amazing actors and actresses, created Three Chen Sisters the web series and wrote and directed Where Dreams Rest, my graduation thesis that I’m extremely proud of. In the midst of all this, I’ve also managed to get married to a supportive husband and gave birth to a wonderful spunky boy who is now 2 and a half years old. Currently, I am just in the middle of figuring out what’s next and honestly feeling lost most of the time, wondering how I can make a living off being a filmmaker, and how I can make my first feature film. The comfort is knowing that no matter what happens, I’m in good hands because the God who has created us always has His best plan for those who love him.

Please tell us about your art.
I am a writer-director-producer. As a writer-director, I make films and create stories or visual content that can be either scripted or non-scripted. I’m interested in figuring for myself what it means to be living. Making films is a way for me to raise questions and process through different stages of life. All my stories tend to have three layers, the first layer being identity, my identity as immigrant, woman, Asian, and Asian American, the second layer being love and relationships between human beings, and the last and deeper layer being my faith and figuring out what my Christian faith means. For instance, in my latest work Where Dreams Rest, on the surface, it’s a story about a Chinese immigrant who just crossed the US-Mexico border, but underneath it is about marital relationships. But the deeper layer is my contemplation of what it means when the Bible says we’re sojourners and aliens in this world. Through the film, I wanted to materialize this strong yearning in our hearts to be somewhere else, somewhere better. But as a filmmaker, I’m just happy to put the work out there and let people decide for themselves what they want to take away from it.

As a producer, I love to help propel a project forward and bring a team of likeminded people together. I recently started producing an indie crime/thriller/drama feature about a strong willed woman, a former sex trafficking victim, who struggles to maintain her role as a good loyal wife, mother and businesswoman, as she rules her own trafficking business in secret with an iron fist. The story aligns with my interest to raise awareness about the marginalized communities. We’re currently in the process of development and casting, and I’m very excited to bring it to life with a passionate team of cast and crew.

What do you think about conditions for artists today? Has life become easier or harder for artists in recent years? What can cities like ours do to encourage and help art and artists thrive?
“To me, it seems that the world we live in continues to become more and more sophisticated, convenient and cool on the outside, but there are so many problems underneath that we can’t really discern — and that’s the nature of this post-modern world and its problems.” Lee Chang-Dong has recently said in regard to his latest film Burning. I think that’s the struggle for artists in recent years, especially for me. I think there are so many points of views out there, so many information being disseminated from so many different platforms, that it seems like we know so much but so little at the same time. I’m constantly pulled from so many different directions, and I often feel distracted, torn, and bombarded by screens, social media, and online contents. On one hand, the web has become such an essential medium for artists, but on the other hand, I think it has a tendency to dilute what we want to say and reduce our complex ideas and thoughts into a few words, a single image or a few seconds of videos.

I think being in Los Angeles means you can meet with many creative people all the time, and that is just so important. I can always call or text someone I’ve just met at an event or a panel and he/she would usually be generous enough to share a meal or coffee with me. I’ve been so thankful for those filmmaking peers or industry professionals or mentors who were kind enough to meet with me, especially those who not only shared their experiences and stories with me, but even shared with me their work progress and working documents. Even though it doesn’t mean you can immediately break out of your writer’s block from those meetings, it can at least just keep you sane and grounded, and let you know that you’re not alone. Writing requires great discipline, and we need that community to keep each other accountable.

How or where can people see your work? How can people support your work?
My film Where Dreams Rest is currently touring the film festival circuit. It just screened at the TCL Chinese Theater with the Spotlight China! program of Dances with Films Festival and won best narrative short in that program. Next few screenings include Woods Hole Film Festival in Cape Cod, Massachusetts, Madrid International Film Festival in Madrid, Spain, HK Puff Underground Film Festival in Hong Kong, China, Mulan International Film Festival in Toronto, Canada, and NÒT FILM FEST in Rimini, Italy. Hopefully, we will find an online home soon after the festival run so you can all watch it!

Contact Info:

• Website: chinclusive.com
• Email: [email protected]
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/jemapellelaine/
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/greenapplelaine
• Other: https://vimeo.com/elaineyeewong

Image Credit:
Personal Photo: Elaine Wong, Where Dreams Rest BTS photo credit: Xizi Cecilia Hua, Where Dreams Rest Film Stills: Cinematographer Ante Cheng, Posters Credit: PlaceboStudio.tw

Getting in touch: VoyageLA is built on recommendations from the community; it’s how we uncover hidden gems, so if you know someone who deserves recognition please let us know here.