Asian Task Force: A Martial Arts Action Film
Interview With An Award-Winning Director
© Joe Lam
Oct 30, 2008
Suite101 sat down with independent filmmaker Will Lu to discuss his latest action short film Asian Task Force and also his plans for future projects involving Asian Americans.
Suite101: Can you tell me about the story of your latest action film, Asian Task Force?
Lu: Asian Task Force is what I like to call a mock pilot. It was an homage to television series that I liked growing up. It’s the story of an elite police force that’s designed to take down criminals involved in Asian American crimes. We did it in the vein of the A-Team, Miami Vice back in the 80’s. So the story involves this nefarious drug lord played by my friend Brett Jacobsen so they have to take him down and do a raid on his house.
Suite101: What was the best and worst part of production?
Lu: The best part is I made a lot of great friends. I attribute all of this success of the short to the team. I couldn’t have asked for a better bunch of actors and crew members who really worked hard and were just phenomenal. I’m proud to call them my friends. In terms of worst, it was just a long production process. We had 17 shooting days but it was over a period of several weekends. From start to finish it was 6 months because I have a day job so we shot only on the weekends. So it did feel like I was working 7 days a week. Especially in the beginning as we filmed all the action scenes first which cost the most money.
Suite101: What does it mean to you to be an Asian America Filmmaker?
Lu: That’s a very good question. I think it’s tough because I’ve been guilty of being didactic with the material. Right now, I think I want to tell good stories with Asian Americans because we don’t see many Asian leading men in roles. I guess for me, I like to tell stories about people who look like me. And at the same time I don’t think we should make films with just Asian Americans that are crappy. I definitely believe in having quality in films.
Suite101: Which filmmaker do you draw most of your inspiration from?
Lu: Michael Mann. I think if you watch Asian Task Force, you’ll definitely see his influence. I’ve always respect him as a filmmaker because he always matches the visuals of his stories with substance, filling his stories with great characters. He does an incredible amount of research with his films and oftentimes he’s the writer as well so he writes or co-writes. I’m always blown away by the visuals in his films as well as the storytelling.
Suite101: How have audiences responded to it at film festivals?
Lu: It’s had a great festival run with both Asian American and Americans. I feel I’ve crossed into mainstream films more with this than my first short Spy Moms because of the bigger response to the action. I was also fortunate to get some interest from a cable network to develop a property as well as having a life on an Internet channel. We’re in talks for that.
About Will Lu:
Will Lu is the director of two Award-Winning short films Spy Moms and Asian Task Force. He was formerly a Producer at Herzog Cowen Entertainment where he produced behind-the-scenes segments for Transformers. Will's next project is Golden Boy a spec pilot he directed for Iron Oxide Productions.
 |
 |
