Alice Wu

{{Infobox person

| name = Alice Wu

| image = Alice wu (6882625) (cropped).jpg

| image_upright = 0.8

| caption = Wu in 2005

| birth_date = {{birth date and age|April 21, 1970}}

| birth_place = San Jose, California, U.S.

| death_date =

| alma_mater = Stanford University (BS, MS)

| occupation = Filmmaker, screenwriter

| years_active =

| known_for = Saving Face
The Half of It
Winner, Founders Award for Best Narrative Feature, 2020 Tribeca Film Festival
Nominated, Best Screenplay, 2020 Independent Spirit Award

| notable_works =

| spouse =

| partner =

| website =

}}

Alice Wu ({{zh|s={{linktext|伍|思|薇}}|c=|t=|p=}}; born April 21, 1970) is an American film director and screenwriter, known for her films Saving Face (2004) and The Half of It (2020).

Both of her films feature Chinese-American main characters and explore the lives of intellectual, lesbian characters. A number of production companies offered to buy the script for Saving Face, but Wu opted not to sell it in order to uphold an authentic portrayal of the Taiwanese-American community.{{cite web|title=Debut Director: Alice Wu|url=http://nymag.com/nymetro/movies/features/11892/|last1=Hill|first1=Logan|website=nymag.com|date=May 26, 2005 |publisher=New York Magazine|access-date=October 29, 2019|ref=11}} Saving Face and Wu's impact on the industry have paved the way for greater Asian representation in the film industry today. Her work has inspired Asian-American actresses such as Awkwafina and Lana Condor.{{Cite news|last=Ito|first=Robert|date=2020-04-29|title=Alice Wu's Lesbian Rom-Com Was Influential, but Her Follow-Up Wasn't Easy|language=en-US|work=The New York Times|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2020/04/29/movies/the-half-of-it-alice-wu.html|access-date=2021-03-15|issn=0362-4331|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200429092102/https://www.nytimes.com/2020/04/29/movies/the-half-of-it-alice-wu.html|archive-date=April 29, 2020|url-status=live|url-access=limited}}{{Subscription required|date=September 2023}}

Early life and education

Alice Wu was born in San Jose, California{{cite web|last1=Pettis|first1=Ruth M.|title=Wu, Alice|url=http://www.glbtqarchive.com/arts/wu_a_A.pdf|website=glbtq.com|date=2006|access-date=23 March 2019}} to Taiwanese American immigrant parents.{{cite web|last=Leibowitz|first=Ed|title=Kissing Vivian Shing|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2005/05/29/movies/29leib.html|work=The New York Times|date=May 29, 2005|access-date=July 6, 2008|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20111126024015/http://www.nytimes.com/2005/05/29/movies/29leib.html|archive-date=November 26, 2011}} Her family eventually moved to Los Altos, California, where she graduated from Los Altos High School in 1986.{{Cite web|title=Los Altos Alum Alice Wu's Film to Hit Netflix — but that's not even "The Half of It"|url=https://lahstalon.org/los-altos-alum-alice-wus-film-to-hit-netflix-but-thats-not-even-the-half-of-it/|last=Wang|first=Cathy|website=The Talon|access-date=2020-05-17}} She enrolled at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology at the age of 16.{{Cite podcast|url=https://www.kcrw.com/culture/shows/the-business/alice-wu-the-half-of-it|title=Alice Wu's 'The Half of It'|website=The Business|publisher=KCRW|last=Masters|first=Kim|date=May 18, 2020}} She later transferred to Stanford University, where she earned her B.S. in computer science in 1990 and her master's degree in computer science in 1992. Before becoming a filmmaker, Wu worked as a software engineer for Microsoft in Seattle.

Career

While working at Microsoft, Wu began writing a novel. Deciding the story would work better as a film, she signed up for a 12-week screenwriting class at the University of Washington in which she penned the script for her first feature film. She then left the corporate world and eventually moved to New York City to pursue a filmmaking career full-time.

=''Saving Face'' (2004)=

Encouraged by her screenwriting teacher, she left Microsoft in the late 1990s to try to turn the script for her first feature film Saving Face into a film, giving herself a five-year window. Production had begun when she reached the fifth year. In 2001, the script for Saving Face won the Coalition of Asian Pacifics in Entertainment screenwriting award.

Saving Face was released in 2004. The film was inspired by her own experiences coming out as a lesbian in the Taiwanese American community. She has said that she would like the audience to come away from it "with this feeling that, no matter who they are, whether they are gay or straight, or whatever their cultural make-up is, that if there is something that they secretly wanted, whether it's this feeling that they could actually have that great love or whatever it is, that it's never too late to have that. I want them to leave the theater feeling a sense of hope and possibility."{{Cite web|last1=Warn|first1=Sarah|title=Interview with Alice Wu and Joan Chen of "Saving Face"|url=http://www.afterellen.com/movies/17829-interview-with-alice-wu-and-joan-chen-of-saving-face/2|website=AfterEllen|date=May 26, 2005|access-date=August 31, 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151121151550/http://www.afterellen.com/movies/17829-interview-with-alice-wu-and-joan-chen-of-saving-face/2|archive-date=November 21, 2015|url-status=dead}} Alice struggled with her sexual identity and when she came out as a lesbian she had a difference of opinions with her mother which led to a fall out between the [https://www.sfgate.com/entertainment/article/Alice-Wu-saved-up-her-own-doubts-and-struggles-2629266.php two]. In an interview with Jan Lisa Huttner, Wu noted that not all of her audience was female, Asian, or lesbian. She found it "highly unusual" that "you can take a group that seems so specific, and make them universally human".{{cite web |last1=Huttner |first1=Jan Lisa |title=Jan Chats with Alice Wu & Joan Chen about their new film SAVING FACE|url=http://www.films42.com/chats/alice_wu.asp|website=ff2media.com|date=May 28, 2005|access-date=April 18, 2020}}

The film has been influential within both lesbian and Chinese communities. It heavily focuses on the challenges faced within the Chinese-American community, dealing with issues of the role of women and lesbian identity.{{cite journal |last1=Wong |first1=Alvin Ka Hin |title=From the Transnational to the Sinophone: Lesbian Representations in Chinese-Language Films |journal=Journal of Lesbian Studies |date=June 15, 2012 |volume=16 |issue=3 |pages=307–32 |doi=10.1080/10894160.2012.673930 |pmid=22702380 |s2cid=216115218 |ref=12}} Wu also explores relationships between mothers and daughters in the Chinese-American community through her portrayal of the relationship between the film's main character and her mother.{{cite journal |last1=Hengshan |first1=Jin |title=The Meaning of Liberation: From The Joy Luck Club to Face and Saving Face. |journal=Partial Answers: Journal of Literature and the History of Ideas |date=2019 |volume=17 |issue=1 |pages=65–80 |doi=10.1353/pan.2019.0003 |ref=13|doi-access=free }} Although she claims that the film's main character is not an autobiographical portrayal of her real life, it was partially a way to provide positive representation for her own mother.{{cite web |last1=Hill |first1=Logan |title=Debut Director: Alice Wu |url=http://nymag.com/nymetro/movies/features/11892/ |website=nymag.com |date=May 26, 2005 |publisher=New York Magazine |access-date=October 29, 2019 |ref=14}}

Saving Face has secured Wu as a role model for other Chinese-Americans in the film industry. Awkwafina had a Saving Face poster hanging up in her bedroom in Flushing, Queens. She describes the film as "the first film that spoke to her as an Asian-American."

The film had its world premiere at the 2004 Toronto International Film Festival, and its U.S. premiere at the 2005 Sundance Film Festival. Sony Pictures Classics released the film in May 2005.

=Interim=

After Saving Face, Wu subsequently worked on a film based on Rachel DeWoskin's memoir, Foreign Babes in Beijing: Behind the Scenes of a New China.{{Cite web|author=Brian B.|title=Paramount Taps Alice Wu for Foreign Babes in Beijing|url=https://movieweb.com/paramount-taps-alice-wu-for-foreign-babes-in-beijing/|website=MovieWeb|date=December 16, 2005|access-date=12 October 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181013014309/https://movieweb.com/paramount-taps-alice-wu-for-foreign-babes-in-beijing|archive-date=October 13, 2018|url-status=live}} The movie, however, did not make it past pre-production.

In 2008, she sold a pitch to ABC called "Foobar" based on her experiences working as a woman in the tech world.{{Cite web|last=Adalian|first=Josef|title=Alice Wu, Neil Moritz team on 'Foobar'|url=https://variety.com/2007/tv/features/alice-wu-neil-moritz-team-on-foobar-1117972387/|work=Variety|date=September 20, 2007|access-date=12 October 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181013014420/https://variety.com/2007/tv/features/alice-wu-neil-moritz-team-on-foobar-1117972387/|archive-date=October 13, 2018|url-status=live}}

After the pitch, Wu left the industry for a period to take care of her mother who was ill. She lived off of her savings and income from Microsoft and Saving Face and kept a low profile. However, most of her friends hadn't had a clue what she was doing, career-wise. When asked if they knew what she had been doing all these years between "Foobar" and The Half of It, her “Saving Face” friends had hardly any idea.

=''The Half of It'' (2020)=

After her mother's condition improved, Wu started writing again, but continually encountered writer's block. To get over this hurdle, Wu wrote a $1,000 check out to the National Rifle Association of America, an organization she despises, and gave it to her friend. She told her, "if this first draft is not written, you are sending that check in." This draft evolved into The Half of It, a coming-of-age comedy-drama film written, directed, and produced by Wu.

The feature script appeared on the Black List in 2018.{{cite web|url=https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/news/leah-lewis-alexxis-lemire-star-netflix-teen-romance-it-1203642|title=Leah Lewis, Alexxis Lemire to Star in Alice Wu's 'The Half of It' Teen Romance for Netflix|website=The Hollywood Reporter|first=Etan|last=Vlessing|date=April 22, 2019|access-date=April 22, 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190422172018/https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/news/leah-lewis-alexxis-lemire-star-netflix-teen-romance-it-1203642|archive-date=April 22, 2019|url-status=live}} The film is a romantic comedy which follows a Chinese-American teenager as she helps a boy win over his crush, who she also has a romantic interest in. It is loosely based on her own teenage bond with an unexpected friend.{{Cite web|last=Erbland|first=Kate|date=2020-04-29|title=Alice Wu Made a Fresh, Queer Love Story in 'Saving Face,' So Why Did a Follow-Up Take 16 Years?|url=https://www.indiewire.com/2020/04/alice-wu-saving-face-follow-up-the-half-of-it-netflix-1202227619/|access-date=2021-03-15|website=IndieWire|language=en}} The film stars Charmed actress Leah Lewis, Daniel Diemer, and Alexxis Lemire in the leading roles.{{cite web |last1=Evans |first1=Greg |title=Netflix Launches Production On 'The Half Of It', Alice Wu's Movie Follow-Up To 'Saving Face' |url=https://deadline.com/2019/04/netflix-alice-wu-half-of-it-production-sequel-saving-face-1202599586/ |website=Deadline Hollywood |date=April 22, 2019 |publisher=Deadline |access-date=October 29, 2019 |ref=16}} The film was announced in April 2020 as the winner of the Founders Award for Best Narrative Feature at the 2020 Tribeca Film Festival.{{Cite web |last=Moreau |first=Jordan |date=2020-04-29 |title='The Half of It,' Steve Zahn, Assol Abdullina Win Awards at 2020 Tribeca Film Festival |url=https://variety.com/2020/film/news/tribeca-film-festival-winners-steve-zahn-the-half-of-it-1234593660/ |access-date=2023-11-23 |website=Variety |language=en-US}} It was released on Netflix on May 1, 2020 and received highly positive reviews.{{cite web|title=The Half of It (2020)|url=https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/the_half_of_it|access-date=February 1, 2021|website=Rotten Tomatoes}}{{cite web|title=The Half of It (2020)|url=https://www.metacritic.com/movie/the-half-of-it|access-date=April 29, 2020|website=Metacritic}}

In 2022, Wu wrote and directed the commercial "The Note," for Oreo, in collaboration with PFLAG. "The Note" showcases one step in a young Chinese American man’s coming out journey and emphasizes the role family members can play as lifelong allies for their LGBTQ+ loved ones.

Awards and honors

In March 2005, Wu's film Saving Face was the opening film at the San Francisco International Asian American Film Festival.{{cite web |last1=Brooks |first1=Brian |title=Alice Wu's "Saving Face" Opens San Francisco International Asian American Film Festival Tonight |url=https://www.indiewire.com/2005/03/alice-wus-saving-face-opens-san-francisco-international-asian-american-film-festival-tonight-78365/ |website=indiewire.com |publisher=Indiewire |access-date=October 29, 2019 |ref=7|date=March 10, 2005 }} Later that year, she received the Visionary award at the San Diego Asian Film Festival to celebrate her directorial debut for Saving Face,{{cite news |last1=Wagner |first1=Holly J. |title='Saving Face' Explores Personal Identity |agency=Home Media Retailing |date=November 20–26, 2005 |ref=8}} and was nominated in the breakthrough director category at the Gotham Independent Film Awards, although she did not win.{{cite web |title=Gotham Independent Film Awards |url=http://gotham.ifp.org/flash/Timeline/2005.html |website=gotham.ifp.org |publisher=Gotham Independent Film Awards |access-date=October 29, 2019 |ref=9 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170219125955/http://gotham.ifp.org/flash/Timeline/2005.html |archive-date=February 19, 2017 |url-status=dead }} In 2006, Saving Face received a nomination at the GLAAD Media Awards,{{cite web |last1=Marcus |first1=Lawrence |title=GLAAD Hands Out Noms |url=https://variety.com/2006/film/awards/glaad-hands-out-noms-1117936791/ |website=variety.com |publisher=Variety |access-date=October 30, 2019 |ref=16|date=January 25, 2006 }} and it won the Viewer's Choice Award at the Golden Horse Awards, Taiwan's equivalent of The Academy Awards. In 2019, the film was named one of the 20 Best Asian American Films of the Last 20 Years by The Los Angeles Times.{{Cite web|last=Hu|first=Brian|title=The 20 best Asian American films of the last 20 years|url=https://www.latimes.com/entertainment-arts/movies/story/2019-10-04/asian-american-films-canon|url-status=live|access-date=2021-03-15|website=Los Angeles Times|date=October 4, 2019 |language=en-US|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191004133210/https://www.latimes.com/entertainment-arts/movies/story/2019-10-04/asian-american-films-canon |archive-date=October 4, 2019 }}

In April 2020, Wu's film The Half of It won the Founders Award for Best Narrative Feature (in the U.S. Narrative Competition category) at the 2020 Tribeca Film Festival.{{Cite web |last=Welk |first=Brian |date=2020-04-29 |title=Tribeca Film Festival Gives Jury Awards to 'The Half of It,' Steve Zahn Despite Cancellation |url=https://www.thewrap.com/tribeca-film-festival-gives-jury-awards-to-the-half-of-it-steve-zahn-despite-cancellation/ |access-date=2023-11-23 |website=TheWrap |language=en-US}}

In June 2020, in honor of the 50th anniversary of the first LGBTQ Pride parade, Queerty named her among the fifty heroes “leading the nation toward equality, acceptance, and dignity for all people”.{{Cite web|title=Queerty Pride50 2020 Honorees|url=https://www.queerty.com/pride50/|access-date=2020-06-30|website=Queerty|language=en-US}}{{Cite web|last=Reddish|first=David|date=2020-06-15|title=Meet the entertainment creators fighting the good fight this year|url=https://www.queerty.com/top-entertainment-creators-20200615|access-date=2020-06-30|website=Queerty}}

In 2021, Wu was nominated for an Independent Spirit Award for Best Screenplay for The Half of It.

Personal life

Wu is a lesbian, and finally came out to herself while taking a feminist studies class at Stanford. Wu came out to her mother during a conversation with her (in Mandarin Chinese) about the class.{{cite web|url=https://www.sfgate.com/entertainment/article/Alice-Wu-saved-up-her-own-doubts-and-struggles-2629266.php|title=Alice Wu saved up her own doubts and struggles and turned them into the new comedy 'Saving Face'|access-date=5 March 2020|last1=Johnson|first1=G. Allen|date=June 6, 2005 }}

Wu lives a private life.{{Cite web |last=Johnson |first=G. Allen |date=2005-06-06 |title=Alice Wu saved up her own doubts and struggles and turned them into the new comedy 'Saving Face' |url=https://www.sfgate.com/entertainment/article/alice-wu-saved-up-her-own-doubts-and-struggles-2629266.php |access-date=2023-04-14 |website=SFGATE |language=en-US}}