Today we’d like to introduce you to Katherine Chou.
Hi Katherine, so excited to have you on the platform. So before we get into questions about your work-life, maybe you can bring our readers up to speed on your story and how you got to where you are today?
I grew up in Cerritos, which is a predominantly Asian community just south of LA. In 6th grade history class, we were given a video assignment to make a fake travel show set in Mesopotamia. And in the course of trying to make a suburban backyard pass for ancient Sumer, I fell in love with filmmaking and ran full speed for it.
I moved to France to study law and sociology at Sciences Po Paris, trying to build up different perspectives and life experiences that I could draw from as a storyteller. I figured the technical stuff’s always changing and can be picked up on the job. I needed something to say and I didn’t just want to make films about film, and for that I needed to go out and live a little.
After college, I came back to LA and worked in post-production on a string of studio films, where I was able to learn and be a part of the process from start to finish. Eventually, I decided to focus on my own projects. I moved to Taiwan for a year and got involved with different film scenes all over Asia. At the time, I needed to shake things up and remind myself how big the world actually is. And having come of age in so many different parts of the world, I wanted to explore what I could do as an international filmmaker.
Since I’ve been back, it’s been full speed ahead but now on my own terms. I made a film through Visual Communications’ Armed With a Camera fellowship, A Cure for All Things, which just tries to tell an honest story at the messy cross-section of three cultures without holding the hand of a mainstream audience. I’ve also been writing a lot, exploring my voice and interests as an artist, and I’m excited to see where the next story takes me.
We all face challenges, but looking back would you describe it as a relatively smooth road?
Even as someone who really enjoys the creative challenges of film, I’ve had my struggles along the way. For me, the biggest thing has been pacing myself and knowing and trusting what I want. This industry will keep asking you, how badly do you want this? It’s an industry that’s built on people with starry-eyed dreams who will do anything to make it. And it will ask you to push yourself to your limits just for a chance at success, often at the expense of your mental health and wellbeing. How do you keep going the extra mile when you have no miles left in you? And then the kicker is that you’re made to feel weak or ungrateful if you can’t or won’t take it.
It’s so important to know what you want your life to look like and be willing to stand for it, even if it feels like you’re moving away from the security of conventional success. And you have to be kind to yourself and pace yourself as you go because swimming against the current is not easy.
Thanks for sharing that. So, maybe next you can tell us a bit more about your work?
I’m a writer and filmmaker. I like telling strange, surreal stories that are rooted in themes of identity and personhood, stories that use what some might call magical realism to explore deeper, intangible questions. My latest film, A Cure for All Things, is about a Taiwanese-American woman who finds a vial in her late mother’s fridge that turns her into their ancestors and descendants. It’s an exploration of legacy and the rippling effects of the choices we make when we’re young. It’s currently screening at festivals and was recently named a finalist of the Telling Our Stories contest presented by Starz, WrapWomen, and Women in Film.
I also produce theater with the Asian-American theater company, Artists at Play, which does a lot of work developing new works and emerging talent. What I love about working with them is that I get to help facilitate exciting new voices and expand our space in the cultural canon.
What matters most to you?
I’ve spent so much of my life driven by ambition. For a long time, what mattered most to me was reaching my dreams and constantly surprising myself with how my story was unfolding, whether that was through my career or my travels. But over the past couple of years, I’ve realized that what really matters to me now is the present moment and my relationships with the people around me. What good is working so hard for your dreams if you don’t enjoy yourself along the way? Even when it comes to film, it’s become less about prestige or acclaim and more about making my friends smile or laugh, or striking an emotional chord with people and connecting on a deeper level about things we might not talk about out loud. It’s kind of like, “oh, you feel that too?” It’s cool when something inside of you resonates with something in the people you love.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://katherinechou.com
- Instagram: https://instagram.com/kacawcaw
- Twitter: https://twitter.com/kacawcaw
Image Credits:
Sanaa Khan, Katherine Chou. A Cure for All Things Poster by Xan Black. BTS photos by Rosanna Peng.
