Best 50 Asian American Filmmakers in the United States

1. Ang Lee

Born in 1954 in Pingtung, Taiwan, Ang Lee has become one of today's greatest contemporary filmmakers. Ang graduated from the National Taiwan College of Arts in 1975 and then came to the U.S. to receive a B.F.A. Degree in Theatre/Theater Direction at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, ...

2. James Wan

Writer | Saw

James Wan (born 26 February 1977) is an Australian film producer, screenwriter and film director of Malaysian Chinese descent. He is widely known for directing the horror film Saw (2004) and creating Billy the puppet. Wan has also directed Dead Silence (2007), Death Sentence (2007), Insidious (2010)...

3. Jon M. Chu

Director | G.I. Joe: Retaliation

Jon is an alumni of the USC School of Cinema-Television. There, he won the Princess Grace Award, the Dore Schary Award presented by the Anti-Defamation league, the Jack Nicholson directing award, and recognized as an honoree for the IFP/West program Project: Involve.

After making his student short, ...

4. Taika Waititi

Producer | What We Do in the Shadows

Taika Waititi, also known as Taika Cohen, hails from the Raukokore region of the East Coast of the North Island of New Zealand, and is the son of Robin (Cohen), a teacher, and Taika Waititi, an artist and farmer. His father is Maori (Te-Whanau-a-Apanui), and his mother is of Ashkenazi Jewish, Irish...

5. Karyn Kusama

Director | The Invitation

Karyn Kusama was born on March 21, 1968 in Brooklyn, New York, USA. She is a director and producer, known for The Invitation (2015), Destroyer (2018) and Girlfight (2000). She has been married to Phil Hay since October 2006. They have one child.

6. Destin Daniel Cretton

Director | Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings

Destin Daniel Cretton is an American filmmaker, writer and producer from Haiku, Hawaii. He is known for directing The Glass Castle, I Am Not a Hipster, Short Term 12, Just Mercy and Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings. He is the second Asian-American filmmaker to direct a Marvel film ...

7. Cary Joji Fukunaga

Producer | Beasts of No Nation

Cary Joji Fukunaga is a Japanese-American film director, screenwriter, cinematographer and producer from Oakland, California who is known for directing the James Bond film No Time to Die, Kofi, Beasts of No Nation, Jane Eyre and Sin Nombre. He co-wrote the 2017 film adaptation of the Stephen King ...

8. Ramin Bahrani

Producer | 99 Homes

Ramin Bahrani was born on March 20, 1975 in North Carolina, USA. He is a producer and director, known for 99 Homes (2014), The White Tiger (2021) and Fahrenheit 451 (2018).

9. Justin Lin

Producer | Better Luck Tomorrow

Justin Lin is a Taiwanese-American film director whose films have grossed $2 billion worldwide. He is best known for his work on Better Luck Tomorrow, The Fast and the Furious 3-6 and Star Trek Beyond. He is also known for his work on television shows like Community and the second season of True ...

10. Gregg Araki

Writer | Mysterious Skin

Gregg Araki was born on December 17, 1959 in Los Angeles, California, USA. He is a writer and director, known for Mysterious Skin (2004), White Bird in a Blizzard (2014) and Kaboom (2010).

11. Joseph Kahn

Director | Bodied

Joseph Kahn was born on October 12, 1972. He is a director and cinematographer, known for Bodied (2017), Detention (2011) and Torque (2004).

12. Michael Goi

Director | Big Sky

Michael Goi, ASC, ISC

Michael Goi, ASC, ISC was born and raised in Chicago, where he established himself in the fields of documentaries and commercials. He has directed numerous television shows such as "Avatar: The Last Airbender", "Big Sky,", "The Rookie", "Kung Fu", "The Chilling Adventures Of ...

13. Michael Aki

Actor | Strangers

Michael Aki is known for Strangers (2012), Sunsets (1997) and Obits (1998).

14. Tze Chun

Writer | Children of Invention

Tze Chun was born in 1980 in Chicago, Illinois, USA. He is a writer and producer, known for Children of Invention (2009), Cold Comes the Night (2013) and Gotham (2014). He has been married to Cara McKenney since June 11, 2011.

15. Kevin Tancharoen

Director | Fame

Kevin Tancharoen is a filmmaker, writer, producer and choreographer whose Mortal Kombat series revived the live action format for the franchise.

Kevin came to the attention of Warner Bros. with the stealth release of his viral video Mortal Kombat : Rebirth that re-imagined the video game franchise ...

16. Jay Chandrasekhar

Director | Super Troopers

Jay Chandrasekhar was born on April 9, 1968 in Chicago, Illinois, USA. He is a director and actor, known for Super Troopers (2001), Club Dread (2004) and Beerfest (2006). He has been married to Susan Clarke since September 18, 2005. They have three children.

17. M. Night Shyamalan

Producer | Lady in the Water

Born in Puducherry, India, and raised in the posh suburban Penn Valley area of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, M. Night Shyamalan is a film director, screenwriter, producer, and occasional actor, known for making movies with contemporary supernatural plots.

He is the son of Jayalakshmi, a Tamil ...

18. Brian A. Metcalf

Producer | Underdeveloped

"I had a wonderful time working with the innovative, talented director Brian Metcalf. The young man has incredible integrity and vision. He has gained my respect." - Mickey Rourke

Born in Seoul, South Korea, Brian A. Metcalf (WGA, PGA, DGA, VES, ASCAP) is an Asian-American, award-winning writer, ...

19. Jennifer Phang

Director | Advantageous

A Berkeley-born daughter of Chinese-Malaysian and Vietnamese heritage, Jennifer Phang is a graduate of the MFA Directing program at the American Film Institute.

Her sophomore feature Advantageous won a Jury Prize at Sundance 2015 and was based on her award winning Futurestates short Advantageous (...

20. Cellin Gluck

Director | Sugihara Chiune

Cellin Hiramoto Gluck is a Japanese American director known for Persona Non Grata, Oba The Last Samurai, Sideways - aka Saidoweizu and Lorelei. As an assistant director/production manager he is known for Godzilla, Memoirs of a Geisha, Transformers, Remember the Titans, Contact and Black Rain among ...

21. Mark Decena

Writer | Dopamine

Mark Decena is known for Dopamine (2003), Not Without Us (2016) and e2: The Economies of Being Environmentally Conscious (2006).

22. Patrick Epino

Actor | Bitter Melon

Patrick Epino is known for Bitter Melon (2018), Awesome Asian Bad Guys (2014) and Mr. Sadman (2009).

23. Lou Diamond Phillips

Actor | Courage Under Fire

Louis Diamond Phillips is an American actor and film director. His breakthrough came when he starred as Ritchie Valens in the biographical drama film La Bamba (1987). For Stand and Deliver (1988), Phillips was nominated for a Golden Globe Award and won an Independent Spirit Award. Phillips made his...

24. Jon Moritsugu

Director | Scumrock

Jon Moritsugu was born in Honolulu, Hawaii and graduated from Brown University in 1987. As a writer and director, he has created 7 features and numerous shorts, music videos, and commercials which have screened at MOMA, the Guggenheim, Whitney, Cannes, Sundance, Berlin, Rotterdam, and more. He is a...

25. Nisha Ganatra

Director | Chutney Popcorn

Nisha Ganatra is a Golden Globe winner and an Emmy nominee for her work as the Director/Producer of "Transparent." Recently she directed THE HIGH NOTE for Working Title and Focus Features, starring Tracee Ellis Ross, Ice Cube, June Diane Raphael, Dakota Johnson, and Kelvin Harrison Jr.

Ganatra's ...

26. Benson Lee

Producer | Seoul Searching

Benson Lee is known for Seoul Searching (2015), Planet B-Boy (2007) and Miss Monday (1998).

27. Chris Chan Lee

Director | Yellow

Chris Chan Lee is a Korean American filmmaker based in Los Angeles, CA. He graduated from the USC School of Cinematic Arts. His debut feature film as writer/director was "Yellow" (1997), a coming of age drama/comedy about a group of Asian American teens in Los Angeles. The film features the first ...

28. Sandy Tung

Director | Alice Upside Down

Sandy Tung is an American independent film director, writer and producer. He was born on Staten Island, New York. He received an MFA in film making from New York University.

Tung was also the first director of Asian American descent to receive the prestigious Directors Guild of America Award for his...

29. Mira Nair

Director | Salaam Bombay!

Accomplished Film Director/Writer/Producer Mira Nair was born in India and educated at Delhi University and at Harvard. She began her film career as an actor and then turned to directing award-winning documentaries, including So Far From India and India Cabaret. Her debut feature film, Salaam ...

30. Desmond Nakano

Writer | American Pastime

Born and raised in Los Angeles, California, Desmond Nakano yearned to be a rock musician, he jammed with neighborhood bands while attending North Hollywood High School, and by the time he was an underclassman studying Philosophy and English at UCLA, he had written several rock operas, after a year ...

31. Albert Pyun

Director | Cyborg

Albert Pyun was an award-winning US filmmaker best known for his contributions to the science-fiction and action genres. He is credited with pioneering the cyborg sub-genre and is considered to be a maverick and renegade in independent genre cinema. With over 50 titles to his name, he has enjoyed a...

32. Phillip Rhee

Actor | Best of the Best

Phillip Rhee is a master martial artist, actor and filmmaker best known for creating the "BEST of the BEST" film franchise with his producing partner and mentor Peter E. Strauss (Former Chairman of Lions Gate) and Frank Giustra, a Canadian Billionaire and founder of Lions Gate. The first "Best of ...

33. Ryan Shiraki

Actor | Get Him to the Greek

Ryan Shiraki is known for Get Him to the Greek (2010), Poster Boy (2004) and Spring Breakdown (2009).

34. Shawn Ku

Director | Beautiful Boy

Shawn Ku is known for Beautiful Boy (2010), Feel the Beat (2020) and Pretty Dead Girl (2004).

35. Wayne Wang

Director | Smoke

Wayne Wang is a key figure in the development of independent filmmaking, alternating major Hollywood studio films such as »The Joy Luck Club« with smaller, independent work like »Smoke«. Continuing to work in the two different worlds, Wang directed an independent digital film, »The Center of the ...

36. Jessica Yu

Director | Fosse/Verdon

Jessica Yu was born in 1966. She is a director and producer, known for Fosse/Verdon (2019), Billions (2016) and Maria Bamford: Old Baby (2017). She is married to Mark Salzman.

37. James Boss

Actor | Eternity

James Boss, eldest of two children, was born in Hollywood, California and raised in Hacienda Heights, California by Korean American parents Sun Kim, and Young W. Kim.

He began martial arts training at the age of 6. Upon graduating high school, he attended The Art Institute of Los Angeles studying ...

38. Timothy Linh Bui

Writer | Green Dragon

Timothy Linh Bui was born on April 13, 1970 in Saigon, Vietnam. He is a producer and writer, known for Green Dragon (2001), Powder Blue (2009) and Live Fast, Die Laughing.

39. Eric Byler

Director | Charlotte Sometimes

Chinese American writer/director Eric Byler grew up in California, Virginia, and Hawaii before graduating from Wesleyan University in Connecticut. Eric was nominated for a 2003 Independent Spirit Award for his debut feature film Charlotte Sometimes (2002), which also earned nominations for producer ...

40. Arvin Chen

Director | Yi ye Taibei

Arvin Chen was born on November 26, 1978 in Boston, USA. He is a director and writer, known for Au revoir Taipei (2010), Will You Still Love Me Tomorrow? (2013) and Mei (2006).

41. Tanuj Chopra

Director | Grin

Tanuj Chopra is known for Grin (2017), Staycation (2018) and Punching at the Sun (2006).

42. Gregory Hatanaka

Producer | A Wiseguy Christmas

Gregory Hatanaka is a film distributor and producer.

Hatanaka has overseen and/or been affiliated with the distribution of over 200 films including: John Woo's iconic film The Killer starring Chow Yun-Fat; The Coen Brothers' Blood Simple; Until the Night starring Norman Reedus; The Stranger, directed...

43. James Wong Howe

Cinematographer | The Thin Man

Master cinematographer James Wong Howe, whose career stretched from silent pictures through the mid-'70s, was born Wong Tung Jim in Canton (now Guangzhou), China, on August 28, 1899, the son of Wong How. His father emigrated to America the year James was born, settling in Pasco, Washington, where ...

44. James Huang

Actor | Young Rock

James started his career in New York City and regional theatre before moving to Los Angeles in 2000 where he worked for over twenty years as an actor and filmmaker. In 2020 he relocated during Covid-19 to Melbourne, Australia to continue acting, filmmaking, and teaching actors with his acting ...

45. Insung Hwang

Director | Justify

Insung Hwang is known for Justify (2010), The Box (2002) and Cache Memory (2019).

46. So Yong Kim

Director | Na-moo-eobs-neun san

So Yong Kim was born in 1968 in Pusan, South Korea. So Yong is a director and producer, known for Treeless Mountain (2008), In Between Days (2006) and For Ellen (2012).

47. Ernie Reyes Jr.

Actor | Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles II: The Secret of the Ooze

Ernie Reyes Jr. was born on January 15, 1972 in San Jose, California, USA. He is an actor and producer, known for Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles II: The Secret of the Ooze (1991), The Rundown (2003) and Red Sonja (1985). He has been married to Lisa Reyes since November 11, 2009. They have two ...

48. Chil Kong

Producer | The Mikado Project

Chil Kong is known for The Mikado Project (2010), The Gambler (2014) and Freedom Writers (2007). He has been married to Erin Quill since October 8, 2005.

49. Shawn Ku