Directing with Heart: How Jon M. Chu Elevates Stories That Matter  

26 Sep Directing with Heart: How Jon M. Chu Elevates Stories That Matter  

• ASI hosts the first Beyond the Conversation installment of the fall semester, with director, producer and screenwriter, Jon M. Chu.  
• Chu shares about his journey to director, encouraging students to lead with heart in meaningful ways after college.  

 

American director, producer and screenwriter Jon M. Chu defied gravity for students as a guest for Associated Student Inc.’s (ASI) Beyond the Conversation on Sept. 18 to share his journey. Chu – best known for directing films “Wicked” and “Crazy Rich Asians” – spoke at Cal State Fullerton about directing with authenticity to bring the most creative stories to life. 

The program, supported by the Division of Student Affairs and Strategic Enrollment Management, was moderated by ASI programming student Mercedes Avila, who led the discussion, bringing the magical world of Jon M. Chu to life for attendees.   

Growing Up with Film: Passion, Palo Alto, and Producing Family Stories 

Long before Oz, Chu began his filmmaking journey at an early age making videos for his family in Palo Alto, Calif. The youngest of five siblings to Taiwanese immigrants, Chu’s passion for filmmaking began after being gifted a video camera. 

Chu’s space to shine in a family of seven came through filming home videos at his family’s restaurant, Chef Chu’s, and at home. He discovered his passion for filmmaking through these videos, realizing their impact when one brought his parents to tears. It was clear: filmmaking was his calling. 

“To see something on the same screen that they watched all these movie stars on, but with our family and we looked normal and cool, it moved them,” said Chu. “They had fulfilled the [American] dream, and I saw the power of that.”  

Chu’s childhood in filmmaking led him to the University of Southern California (USC) for film school. Moving to Los Angeles inspired Chu to embrace his cultural identity in his debut short film, “When the Kids Go Away” in 2002, which caught Steven Spielberg’s attention and launched his Hollywood directing career. 

Finding Power in Pain: Resilience, Strength and Taking a Chance

While Chu found his passion early in life, he has experienced some bumps along his yellow brick road. After graduating, he fell into a five-year directing limbo in Hollywood, even though he had been discovered by Spielberg. Despite being signed by William Morris Endeavor and attached to major projects, Chu wasn’t actively directing, and after four years, he began to worry his moment had already passed. 

It was during this lowest point in his career – after learning his first movie deal had fallen through – that he was invited back to speak at USC.  

“I was looking at all the film students who were excited to see me, and I just wept in my car,” said Chu. “I probably hadn’t cried for 15 years, and I just went there being like, ‘They have no idea.’” 

Chu made his directing debut with a straight-to-DVD “Step Up” sequel in 2008. Initially feeling it was beneath him, his mom’s honest advice —“Are you a storyteller or just waiting for a story to be told?”— pushed him to take the opportunity and jumpstart his career. 

“Step Up 2: The Streets” would launch his career, landing him projects including “Now You See Me 2,” (2016) “Jem and the Holograms”(2015) and “In the Heights” (2021). 

Creating Community Through Culture: Using Identity for Crazy Rich Storytelling  

After his early career success, Chu wanted to focus on stories that mattered to his own personal development journey.  

“What movie would I have made If I had just had all the confidence in the world?” said Chu. “It would be about the scariest thing to me, which is my cultural identity crisis.”  

This realization led him to finding and directing the 2018 blockbuster, “Crazy Rich Asians,” a book-to-movie adaptation of Kevin Kwan’s novel of the same name.  

Though it was the first Hollywood film in 25 years with an all-Asian cast, Chu emphasized that he never intended to represent the entire Asian community.  

“Sometimes I have to remind myself that I don’t speak for a community,” said Chu. “What I can do is, rather than debate ideas, I can make the thing, and I can let the thing speak for itself.”  

Instead of trying to accurately represent Asian culture and identity, Chu developed the film around finding community across cultures through the lens of Asian-centered storytelling. 

Channeling this perspective, Chu directed “Crazy Rich Asians” to worldwide success, amassing over $239 million in box office sales.  

Land Beyond Oz: How Jon M. Chu Uses Wicked Directing to Elevate Voices 

On the heels of directing “Crazy Rich Asians” and “In the Heights,” Chu was approached to direct the movie adaptation of the beloved musical, “Wicked,” during the height of the COVID-19 pandemic.  

Chu said the pandemic gave him immediate clarity on how to approach bringing the musical’s core themes of prejudice, propaganda and personal identity to life. 

“This is not just a musical about the Wicked Witch of the West, this is about us and it’s a reexamination of the American dream that I grew up in,” said Chu. “I knew the power of movies, what it can do to people, and how effective it could be for people to just live through someone else’s eyes.”  

To Chu, making the movie focused on character-driven moments rather than the show itself was key to bringing his deeper emotional vision to life.  

“Everyone was doing a version of the show, and no one was doing the thing that I felt like they had to understand intrinsically that it wasn’t on the show,” said Chu. “This [movie] was as if the show was based off of a real-life story of these people.” 

To Chu, Ariana Grande and previous Beyond the Conversation speaker, Cynthia Erivo, were the perfect leads. Their contrasting personalities reflected the complexity of identity struggles: Erivo embodied bold self-acceptance, while Grande captured the courage of conforming to societal roles. 

Through their layered performances and his storytelling, the film earned a nomination for Best Picture at the 2025 Academy Awards as well as box office success, earning $756 million worldwide.  

Curiosity Into Courage: Staying Optimistic Through Your Greatest Challenges  

To end the spell bounding night, Chu discussed the biggest lessons from his directing career so far.  

“Follow your curiosity,” said Chu. “Don’t give up your optimism just because everyone’s going to tell you you can’t do it.”  

The “Wicked: For Good” (2026) director continued to encourage Titans to use their voice and curiosity, inspiring bigger change within the world around them.  

“I think it’s really relieving for him to be so encouraging about our passions, even the sacrifices that we have to make in order to reach our goals,” said CSUF student Ariana Zabala. 

 Chu kicked off the first installment of ASI’s Beyond the Conversation series for the 2025-2026 academic year, encouraging students to lead with their hearts and direct their lives in meaningful ways. 

CSUF theatre student Naomi Velandia emphasized how much she loved Chu’s message through his curious artistic direction. 

“He’s really aware of visuals and different angles and how that can change your emotions,” said Velandia.  “I’m interested in directing as a theater student and I definitely want to learn more behind the scenes, so he’s one of those inspirations that I’ve leaned towards.” 

Stories like Chu’s inspired students to find new ways to creatively express themselves in a world of infinite possibilities.