Jessica Yu

Jessica Lingmin Yu (born February 14, 1966) is an American film director, writer, producer, and editor. She has directed documentary films, dramatic films, and television shows.

Jessica Yu
Born
Jessica Lingmin Yu

(1966-02-14) February 14, 1966
New York City
Alma materYale University
OccupationDirector, writer, producer
Years active1993–present
Spouse(s)Mark Salzman
Children2
Websitehttps://www.jessicayu.net/author

Yu won the Academy Award for Best Documentary Short Subject in 1996 for Breathing Lessons: The Life and Work of Mark O'Brien (1996).[1] Yu's film Last Call at the Oasis (2012) is based upon Alex Prud'homme's Ripple Effect. Her more recent films have been: Misconception (2014), ForEveryone.Net (2016), a documentary film about the inventor of the World Wide Web, Sir Tim Berners-Lee, and a Netflix comedy Maria Bamford: Old Baby (2017). In 2019, Yu was nominated for an Emmy Award for "Outstanding Direction for a Limited Series, Movie, or Dramatic Special" for Fosse/Verdon "Glory".

Early life and education

Yu grew up in Los Altos Hills, California. Her father, Dr. Kou-ping Yu, an oncologist, was born in Shanghai. Her mother, Connie Young Yu, writer and historian, is a third-generation Californian.

Yu graduated from Gunn High School in Palo Alto. She was a reporter for the school newspaper, The Oracle.[2]

She went on to attend Yale University, where she was a two-time NCAA All-American and three-time All-Ivy in fencing.[3] As a world-class foilist, she was a member of the Junior World Team and the United States national team at the World Championships and World University Games. Yu graduated from Yale University in 1987[4] summa cum laude, Phi Beta Kappa, with a bachelor's degree in English.[5]

Career

After graduation, Yu thought of pursuing law school like her peers. However, her father discouraged her from doing so.[6] She discovered film production while searching for a job that allowed flexible hours to allow her to compete in fencing. She started as a production assistant in 1989[3] on a few commercials, where she got to arrange frozen noodles on forks and re-park cars. When she started working in documentary, she became more and more intrigued by the process.[7] Yu refused to attend film school and gained her film education on the job. She focuses on making documentaries but says that one day she'd love to make a fully animated comedy feature.[7] The opportunity to make film is a random occurrence for Yu.[8] Her documentary films present worldwide issues that people face every day and allow the subjects to speak for themselves as much as possible. She is adamant that story should come before politics.[1] Her films intend to inform the general public to incite people to become active in every day issues such as water conservation and regulation.[9] When not making documentaries and feature films, Yu spends time directing television shows.

1990s

Yu began her career in 1993 with her short Sour Death Balls, a silent black-and-white montage of assorted subjects’ reactions to blindingly bitter candy, which was shot on an old school Bell & Howell wind-up camera.[1] She got her inspirations from daily interactions in her life, i.e. when a child offered local people sour candy. Yu sent the short film to film festivals and became her first feature at Telluride Film Festival in 1993.[10] Yu made her first documentary, Men of Reenaction (1994), which explores the extremes of people searching for authenticity through Civil War reenacting.[11]

Perhaps her most famous work was her Academy Award-winning Breathing Lessons: The Life and Work of Mark O’Brien. The documentary short features Berkeley writer Mark O'Brien, a disabled poet with an iron lung. His editor at the Pacific News Service, Sandy Close, introduced the pair and suggested that a film be made.[6][12] The short debuted at the 1996 Sundance Film Festival and won several honors, including the International Documentary Association Achievement Award for Best Documentary, before the Academy Awards.[3]

2000s

In the 2000s, Yu's chance to work in episodic TV came when she received an invitation to apprentice at John Wells Productions as the first participant of their director diversity program. Shadowing directors, Yu sensed she was a guinea pig. “If you screw this up,” she told herself, “they’ll never let another woman of color from documentaries do this again.”[1] While working for John Wells’ production company, she began directing in television for shows like Grey's Anatomy and The West Wing.[3] On her first directorial assignment, an episode of The West Wing, Yu was heartened that Wells encouraged her stylistic input. “He made a point of saying, ‘You should bring your own ideas to the table,’ rather than just follow prescribed formula.” So she decided to open with a series of mood-establishing low, wide-angle shots to signal the calm before the gathering storm.[1]

She directs a sport comedy film, Ping Pong Playa (2007), that explores Asian family culture through a Chinese ping pong son that is trying to prove himself to his family. Her producer friends, Joan Huang and Jeff Guo, approached her with the idea of working on a comedy together. They felt the time was right to have an obnoxious Asian American character on the screen. Her and her comrades felt that Asian American cinema had plenty of good dramas, and wanted to fill the void of superficial comedy.[7] She tried to bring the same loose hand and adaptability she used for documentaries to scripted material. Her approach to Ping Pong Playa was to “have a lighter touch, especially with actors” to give them a sense of freedom.[1]

2010s

In her later documentaries such as Last Call at The Oasis (2011) and Misconception (2014) , Yu focused on capturing the big picture and understanding how these issues intertwined with other aspects of life such as climate, population, and the environment.[13] Last Call at The Oasis addresses the water crisis in the United States, and working on the film made her consider the impact of the crisis on her children and their children. This project became more personal to Yu and compelled her to complete it. It took six months of research prior to filming, as Yu wanted to create the big picture of the facts and threats of the water crisis in the domestic United States.

Last Call at the Oasis inspired Yu to direct her 2014 documentary Misconception, which paints the population issues from a person-to-person point of view. While filming Last Call at the Oasis people questioned the purpose of acting on water conservation because they cannot control the population growth affecting it. Her main goal is to take this topic and tie with emotionally, entertaining, and interesting stories.[14]

Majority of her work after 2015 is focused toward television production and directing. For Netflix, she has directed episodes of the Netflix dramas 13 Reasons Why and Hollywood and has done Maria Bamford's comedy special, Old Baby.

Personal life

Yu is married to author Mark Salzman. They and their daughters, Ava and Esme, live in Los Angeles.

Jessica has an older sister, Jennifer Yu, a technical publications manager, and a younger brother, Martin Yu, an actor.

Filmography

Film
Year Title Notes
1994 Maya Lin: A Strong Clear Vision Associate producer
The Conductor Director and producer
1995 Picture Bride Script advisor
1996 Men of Reenaction Director, writer, and editor
1998 The Living Museum Director, writer, and editor
2004 In the Realms of the Unreal Director, writer, producer, and editor
2007 Protagonist Director, writer, producer, and editor
Ping Pong Playa Director and writer
2008 Capturing Reality: The Art of Documentary Guest appearance as self
2012 Last Call at the Oasis Director, writer, and producer
2013 The Guide Director and editor
2014 Misconception Director
2017 Maria Bamford: Old Baby Director

TV Series
Year Title Notes
2001-2004 The West Wing Director, 3 episodes
2002 ER Director, episode "Bygones"
2003 The Guardian Director, episode "You Belong to Me"
Mister Sterling Director, episode "The Sins of the Father"
The Lyon's Den Director, episode "Ex"
2004 American Dreams Director, episode "Real-to-Reel"
2006-2011 Grey's Anatomy Director, 6 episodes
2012 Scandal Director, episode "Blown Away"
2012-2014 Parenthood Director, 4 episodes
2013 TakePart Live Guest appearance, episode 16
2015-2017 American Crime Director, 3 episodes
2016 Castle Director, 2 episodes
Lady Dynamite Director, episode "Mein Ramp"
Pure Genius Director, episode "You Must Remember This"
2017 Ten Days in the Valley Director, episode "Day 4: Below the Line"
2017-2019 13 Reasons Why Director, 6 episodes; Consulting producer, 4 episodes
2018 I'm Dying Up Here Director, episode "Deathbed Confessions"
The Affair (TV series) Director, episode "405"
Sorry for Your Loss Director, episode "Jackie O. and Courtney Love"
2018-2019 Billions Director, 2 episodes
2019 The Rookie Director, episode "Flesh and Blood"
Fosse/Verdon Director, episode "Glory"
Bluff City Law Director and executive producer, episode "Pilot"
This Is Us Director, episode "The Club"
Stumptown Director, episode "The Other Woman"
2020 Hollywood Director, episode "A Hollywood Ending"
Ratched Director, episode "Mildred and Edmund"

Short
Year Title Notes
1990 Rose Kennedy: A Life to Remember Associate producer
1993 Sour Deaths Balls Director
1996 Breathing Lessons: The Life and Work of Mark O'Brien Director, writer, producer, and editor
1998 Better Late Director, writer, and editor
2009 The Kinda Sutra Director
2012 Meet Mr. Toilet Director and producer
Focus Forward: Short Films, Big Ideas Director
2014 We the Economy: 20 Short Films, Big Ideas Director
2016 James Turrell: You Who Look Director
ForEveryone.Net Director, writer, and producer

Awards and nominations
Year Award Category Work Result
1995 International Documentary Association IDA Award 89 mm od Europy Won
1996 Breathing Lessons: The Life and Work of Mark O’Brien Won
1997 Academy Awards Director of Best Documentary Short Subject Breathing Lessons: The Life and Work of Mark O’Brien Won
Shorts International Film Festival Best Short Film Won
Asian American International Film Festival Asian Media Award Won
1999 Sundance Film Festival Grand Jury Prize: Documentary The Living Museum Nominated
2002 Online Film & Television Association OFTA Television Award: Best Direction in a Drama Series The West Wing Nominated
2004 Gotham Awards Best Documentary In the Realms of the Unreal Nominated
Ojai Film Festival Best Documentary Feature Won
Sundance Film Festival Grand Jury Prize: Documentary Nominated
Vancouver International Film Festival Best Documentary Feature Won
2005 Writers Guild of America, USA Documentary Screenplay Award Nominated
2006 Primetime Emmy Awards Exceptional Merit in Nonfiction Filmmaking Nominated
2007 Sundance Film Festival Grand Jury Prize: Documentary Protagonist Nominated
Yamagata International Documentary Film Festival Robert and Frances Flaherty Prize Nominated
2012 Tokyo International Film Festival Earth Grand Prix Last Call at the Oasis Nominated
SXSW Film Festival Audience Award Nominated
2013 Aspen Shortsfest Audience Recognition The Guide Won
Hamburg International Short Film Festival Friese Award Sour Death Balls Nominated
2014 Tribeca Film Festival Best Documentary Feature Misconception Nominated
2019 Primetime Emmy Awards Outstanding Directing for a Limited Series, Movie or Dramatic Special Fosse/Verdon Nominated

Further reading
gollark: Ah, that makes sense then.
gollark: Oh, it's one of those federated whatevers.
gollark: They can't enforce that decentralizedly.
gollark: It's bad on flash because you destroy it rapidly. Phones use flash storage. Thus, fear.
gollark: Oh, that. Bee it, as they say.

References
  1. Lowenstein, Lael (Fall 2012). "Finding Her Way". DGA Quarterly. Retrieved May 4, 2020.
  2. "Welcome to the 50th Volume of the Oracle". The Oracle. Gunn High School. September 17, 2012. p. 13. Retrieved May 4, 2020.
  3. Fry, Nathan (2002). "2002 Alumni Spotlight: Jessica Yu". The Ivy League. Archived from the original on 2013-12-13. Retrieved May 4, 2020.
  4. Belli, Brita (2019-09-18). "Showcasing Yale women in film, who fought for legitimacy on two fronts". YaleNews. Retrieved 2020-05-05.
  5. Dawson, Nick. "The Weight of Water: An Interview with Jessica Yu". Filmmaker Magazine. Retrieved 2020-05-05.
  6. Inoue, Todd S. "Learning to Breathe". Metro Silicon Valley (May 22–28, 1997). Retrieved May 4, 2020.
  7. Indiewire (2008-09-05). "indieWIRE INTERVIEW | "Ping Pong Playa" Director Jessica Yu". IndieWire. Retrieved 2018-11-12.
  8. "Interview with Jessica Yu". Joel Mora. Retrieved 2018-11-12.
  9. "INTERVIEW with Jessica Yu". Filmwax Radio. Retrieved 2018-11-12.
  10. w455 (2011-04-25), The Jon Stewart Show - Jessica Yu, retrieved 2018-11-12
  11. Yu, Jessica; Inscrutable Films (Firm); Independent Television Service (1995), Men of reenaction, Inscrutable Films, OCLC 53876608
  12. Times, The New York. "MARK O'BRIEN, 49, JOURNALIST WHO WROTE WHILE IN IRON LUNG". Sun-Sentinel.com. Retrieved 2020-05-05.
  13. "INTERVIEW with Jessica Yu". Filmwax Radio. Retrieved 2018-11-13.
  14. The Daily Quirk (2015-01-07), An Exclusive Interview with Jessica Yu, retrieved 2018-11-13
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