Alice Wu

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.

• Name — Alice Wu • Born — 21 April 1970 • Birthplace — San Jose, California, U.S. • Education — Massachusetts Institute of Technology (attended) Stanford University (BS, MS) • Occupation — Filmmaker, screenwriter, producer • Years Active — 2005 - present • Notable Works — Saving Face (2005); The Half of It (2020) • Awards — San Diego Asian Film Festival: Visionary Award (2005, Saving Face), San Francisco International Asian Film Festival: Best Narrative (2005, Saving Face), Tribeca Film Festival: Best Narrative Feature (2020, The Half of It), Gold List: Best Director and Best Original Screenplay (2021, The Half of It)

Alice Wu was born in San Jose, California to Taiwanese American immigrant parents. Her family eventually moved to Los Altos, California, where she graduated from Los Altos High School in 1986. She enrolled at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology at the age of 16. 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. In an interview with Victoria Chen, Wu explained that before ever thinking about filmmaking, she majored in something practical to solidify the accomplishments of her immigrant parents and honor their sacrifices. Before becoming a filmmaker, Wu worked as a software engineer for Microsoft in Seattle, Washington.

While working at Microsoft, Wu attempted writing a novel about her relationship with her mother, which then inspired the script for her first feature film. She signed up for a 12-week screenwriting class at the University of Washington in which she penned the first draft for Saving Face, which she wrote in only three days. She then left the corporate world and eventually moved to New York City to pursue a filmmaking career full-time.

Encouraged by her screenwriting teacher, she left Microsoft in the late 1990s to focus on turning 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. Wu’s screenwriting instructor encouraged her, but told her it would likely be produced with white or heterosexual characters. In an interview with the New York Magazine, Wu addresses how her instructor was correct, as several studios attempted to buy the script without Wu as the director. She explains how studios wanted to strip away the cultural castings of the film, removing both the Queer and Asian representation, but argues that “the specific details keep things emotionally authentic”. Saving Face, released in 2004, is a romantic comedy that follows a Chinese-American family and explores themes of multigenerational conflict, upholding traditional values and gender roles, and the complexity of modern love. The plot is described as "a Chinese-American daughter comes out as a lesbian at the same time as her mother is shunned by the Chinese community for having an affair". 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." 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". In her own life, Wu 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 two. Wu’s mother reacted harshly, cutting Wu off, but reached out to reconcile two years later. The experience of coming out caused significant familial tension on the basis of traditional cultural values, which Wu deeply examines as a key theme in the film. The film has been influential within both lesbian and Chinese communities. It focuses heavily on challenges associated with societal gender roles and lesbian identity, specifically in relation to traditional Asian values. The film is especially impactful because it highlights the intersection of race and sexuality against the backdrop of the “pervasive whiteness of ‘queer cinema’”. 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, highlighting the complexity of familial love paired with disagreement of values. 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. Additionally, Wu describes the film as a “love letter to New York” that shows parts of the city that are often left out in mainstream cinema. She credits this to not being a native New Yorker, viewing the city through a heavily romantic lens. 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. Saving Face was the first theatrical film released in the U.S. to feature an Asian American lesbian couple.

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. The movie, however, did not make it past pre-production. In 2006, Wu appeared in the documentary, Fabulous! The Story of Queer Cinema, directed by Lisa Ades and Lesli Klainberg. The film is described as “[a] chronological look at films by, for, [and] about [...] gays and lesbians in the United States, from 1947 to 2005” and includes clips of two dozen Queer films intertwined with a chronological timeline. Wu is credited as herself as she discusses elements of her film, Saving Face, where it is highlighted as a significant film within Asian-American and Queer cinema. In 2008, she sold a pitch to ABC called "Foobar" based on her experiences working as a woman in the tech world, set at a fictional software company and described as “Grey’s Anatomy for geeks”. It was originally intended as a one-hour television ensemble, and received a script commitment from Sony Pictures Television, but did not make it past the development stage. 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 were completely unaware to 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.

After a 16 year break from the film industry and dabbling in few projects that never left the developmental stage, Wu’s mother's condition improved, and she began 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, which was loosely based on her teenage friendships. The feature script appeared on the Black List in 2018. The film is a romantic comedy which follows a Chinese-American teenager, Ellie Chu, as she helps a boy, Paul Munsky, win over his crush, Aster Flores, who she also has a romantic interest in. It is loosely based on her own teenage bond with an unexpected friend. The film stars Charmed actress Leah Lewis, Daniel Diemer, and Alexxis Lemire in the leading roles. The film was announced in April 2020 as the winner of the Founders Award for Best Narrative Feature at the 2020 Tribeca Film Festival. It was released on Netflix on May 1, 2020 and received highly positive reviews.

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. Adweek recognized the commercial as “one of the top 10 commercials of 2022”. Wu has also taken part in episodic television. She directed the second episode of the 2022 comedy-drama Hulu original miniseries, Fleishman is in Trouble, titled “Welcome to Paniquil”. Also for Hulu, Wu directed an episode titled “Chinatown Expert” for the TV series Interior Chinatown, an action comedy-drama based on Charles Yu’s 2020 novel of the same name. The episode was released on November 19, 2024.

Wu's common themes are very clearly influenced by her own life experiences as an Asian-American queer woman. A constant theme throughout Wu's filmography is the idea of tradition as a dictator for truth and the balance between forging a unique identity versus upholding tradition and adhering to concepts of avoiding shame and disappointment within the family. Additionally, it is clear that queer representation is another largely important aspect of Wu's storytelling. Both of her feature films are centered around both queer characters and people of color, not just including them, but placing them at the forefront of the films. Additionally, a consistent stylistic choice is that both of Wu's films are part of the narrative genre.

Wu is a lesbian, and at age 19, identified herself as part of the Queer community while taking a feminist studies class at Stanford. Wu later came out to her mother during a conversation with her (in Mandarin Chinese) about the class. During the 15 year break between her two feature films, Wu focused on “living her life: spending time with her family, perfecting her scone recipe, teaching and studying long-form improv”. Wu lives a private life.

• Year — Title — Position • 2004 — Saving Face — Writer and director • 2020 — The Half of It — Writer, director, producer • 2020 — Over the Moon — Writer

• Year — Series Title — Episode — Position • 2024 — Interior Chinatown — Episode 5: " Chinatown Expert" — Director • 2022 — Fleishman is in Trouble — Episode 2: "Welcome to Paniquil" — Director

• List of female film and television directors • List of lesbian filmmakers • List of LGBT-related films directed by women • Saving Face (2004 film) • The Half of It (2020) • List of LGBTQ-related films

Alice Wu is recorded as film director, screenwriter and film producer.