May 27, 2024
In this endearing autobiography, cowritten with journalist McCarter (Hamilton: The Revolution), Crazy Rich Asians filmmaker Chu digs into his childhood, influences, and struggles to define himself. Growing up in Silicon Valley in the 1980s and ’90s, Chu—the youngest of five children—worked at his Chinese immigrant parents’ restaurant and learned early to “fade into the background and simply observe, then get what I want without the drama.” As he became enamored with theater and cinema, Chu took advantage of the rapid development of digital technology, running a “mini movie studio” out of his bedroom by the time he was 18, complete with high-tech cameras and top-shelf editing software. He followed his passion through film school at USC and the production of a short film that caught the attention of Steven Spielberg and led Sony to tap Chu for a remake of Bye Bye Birdie. Dizzied by the sudden success, Chu felt both devastated and relieved when the project collapsed, allowing him to regroup before breaking through with Step Up 2 the Streets in 2008. Chu and McCarter enliven the standard-issue celeb memoir beats with bits of wisdom aimed at aspiring filmmakers (“Stock Your Pantry”; “Check the Projector”) and welcome humor. Film fans—especially those with hopes of working in the business—will enjoy this. Photos. Agent: Lacy Lalene Lynch, Dupree/Miller & Assoc.
June 1, 2024
A filmmaker looks back at his life, from his time growing up in Silicon Valley through his direction of Crazy Rich Asians and the forthcoming film version of Wicked. Chu, a hardworking and clearly cheerful ("I [don't] have dark and brooding in me") director and screenwriter, is the youngest of five children in a family of Taiwanese immigrants, and his parents built and still run a well-known restaurant in Los Altos. With occasional inspirational and practical asides to readers, whether they're aspiring filmmakers or not, the author, writing with McCarter, details a childhood spent scrabbling together digital film equipment--often discarded by the patrons of his parents' restaurant--and working on elaborate projects with his friends. During his years at the University of Southern California, Chu cultivated a passion for freewheeling musical extravaganzas, and though he didn't always fit in, he won multiple awards. The following years included a stint as a wunderkind, during which he was temporarily taken up as a project by Steven Spielberg, the lows of unemployment and "development hell" after he was fired from his first project, many years of working on sequels, from Step Up 2 to G.I. Joe: Retaliation, and filming two Justin Bieber live concert films. As he recounts, Chu really came into his own with Crazy Rich Asians, the first full-length movie to allow him to explore his heritage, and In the Heights, which gave him a chance to do the kind of musical he had always longed to produce. Occasionally introspective, as he examines why his life and work sometimes seemed to work and sometimes didn't, and always down to earth, the author is a reliable guide through many of the less-glamorous aspects of being a director. Entertaining insights from a unique film industry insider.
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Starred review from June 1, 2024
Chu, the director of Crazy Rich Asians and In the Heights, presents (with cowriter McCarter) an introspective memoir. The youngest of five, Chu grew up in the 1980s and 1990s embracing the future-forward innovation of Silicon Valley even while struggling with his Asian identity in a largely white area. He fell in love with moviemaking early, charting a course to the University of Southern California, where his creative risks garnered the attention of none other than Steven Spielberg. At age 23, Chu was launched into the stratosphere, tapped to helm two high profile projects which both fell apart within the year. After he recovered from this massive disappointment, Chu signed on to direct Step Up 2, a commercial success that led to several subsequent hits. But it's after a project he loves bombs that Chu looks back to his parents' journey as Chinese immigrants in the U.S. and examines his complicated relationship with his cultural and racial identity. This self-reflection led him to pursue development of the hit movie Crazy Rich Asians. A thoughtful, candid, and affecting read for anyone with an interest in the impact of the tech industry on Hollywood and the Asian American experience.
COPYRIGHT(2024) Booklist, ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.
July 19, 2024
In this memoir, award-winning film director Chu (known for Crazy Rich Asians, In the Heights, and the upcoming film adaptation of Wicked) tells of growing up in Silicon Valley in the 1990s, where the technology of today was being invented. The director writes that living in the heart of the tech industry was like living in the future; he (and his future career) benefited from growing up in the land of cutting-edge technology, where homework could be videos. As a child, Chu was passionate about computers and followed the gospel of Steve Jobs. He soon combined his knack for creativity with his love of technology to find his way to the University of Southern California's film school. At USC, however, he felt like an outsider as a first-generation Chinese American whose parents ran a restaurant, and he began questioning his identity and talent. Chu's movie career did ultimately take off, particularly after Steven Spielberg saw his work and helped him secure an agent and land meetings with studio execs. But even as he became an established director, Chu still experienced obstacles due to racism. His memoir is a valuable firsthand account of working in Hollywood as a person of color and forging one's own path. VERDICT Looking through a camera's viewfinder, a director focuses in on the best shots to tell a movie's story; with his filmmaker's eye, it's no surpise that Chu's memoir (written with Jeremy McCarter) tells an effective story. Film students will relish his insight into filmmaking.--Rosellen "Rosy" Brewer
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