When Y-C Tom Lee told his friends and collaborators that he wanted to shoot a hard-hitting spot about AIDS, they did everything they could to persuade him to tackle a less complex subject matter. Fortunately, the determined director had faith in vision and stuck with it – and the resulting film won him 2nd Prize in the Non European Film School category at this year’s Young Director Award. We caught up with him to find out more.
How did you develop the idea for the spot and why did you decide to tackle such a tricky, emotive issue with your spec spot?
I’ve always wanted to tackle on more of a narrative driven PSA/commercial even before I went to Art Center College of Design for film. For me, film is a moving language that can translate any message and story onto the screen. Then I realized that discrimination against HIV, and AIDS patient is a topic that is barely addressed. And thus this reason became the drive behind my “Public Execution” project; it is the kind of message that I want to translate onto the screen.
Y-C Tom Lee on set
What was the biggest challenge behind this job?
It was challenging for me at first because most of my peers and colleagues strongly disagreed with the spot I wanted to direct. Thus at times, I almost felt that I was directing a spot that was destined to fail. For me, coming from more of a narrative background, I always like to bring the aspect of story telling and character into anything I direct. However, a lot of people told me that it isn’t the traditional way of making a commercial, that it is usually more visual with driven by a concept behind. At that time it was more of an experiment for me, where I treated my PSA commercial almost like a short film. And I am really glad that it worked out.
When did you first decide to become a director and why?
I remember the first time my mother took me to the movie theatre, and I instantly fell in love with the moving picture, or just movies in general. I remember that it was the coolest thing that I’ve ever experienced, and I fell in love with movies ever since. I remember I’d try to drag my parents to the theatre every week. I knew that one day, when I was grown up, that is what I would be doing.
What inspires you?
Ang Lee has always been one the biggest inspirations in my life. Both of us grew up in the same city with similar backgrounds, and were raised by very traditional families. He is a true visionary who never gave up his dream of becoming a filmmaker. Furthermore, every film he does is almost from a different genre, yet he still find ways to maintain his visual style and his way of storytelling. He is truly a master filmmaker.
What were your first thoughts when you found out your film had won?
Personally, I didn’t think that I’d win at all. I was just really happy to be nominated, and extremely excited to be in Cannes for the YDA. So when they first announced my name for the award, I thought they probably got someone else’s name mixed up with mine!
What’s the best piece of advice anyone’s ever given you?
One of the most memorable advices that I really treasure is the fact that “it is okay to fail”. Sometimes I am way too determined to make everything “perfect”; however by trying too hard, or trying to achieve perfection not only takes the fun out of filmmaking it limits the creativity.
Having scooped a prize at the YDA, What are your plans for the coming year?
For me, as a young filmmaker the most important thing is to find ways to keep shooting, and to initiate projects that I feel passionate about. I am currently working on a few projects that I am looking forward to shoot by the end of this year. Even though it still counts as personal/ self founded projects; but as a young director, I cannot just sit around and wait for projects to land at my doorstep. If opportunity doesn’t come, then I have to generate my own projects, if not, then it defeats the purpose of thriving to be an upcoming director/filmmaker in the first place.
To find out more about Y-C Tom Lee and his work, check out his website.
