Seeds of Yesterday
2015
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Shawn Ku is a U.S. choreographer and motion picture director. He has also danced on Broadway, and acted in an independent feature-length film. Inspired by his family's personal connection to the Virginia Tech shooting and unexpected death of a visiting friend, Shawn Ku developed his 2010 film Beautiful Boy from those experiences.
Shawn Ku is known for Beautiful Boy (2010), Feel the Beat (2020) and Pretty Dead Girl (2004).
- Producer, Director, Writer
- 2 min
shawn’s bio. For writer-director Shawn Ku, it all started when he realized that his parents had brainwashed him into thinking he wanted to be a doctor. What an Asian-American cliche. So what would he do with that undergraduate Chemistry degree from Harvard University? Absolutely nothing.
Jun 1, 2011 · A former Broadway dancer, he both acted and did choreography on several films before making his directorial debut Pretty Dead Girl in 2004. He debuted Beautiful Boy in San Sebastien and Toronto last September, where it won a FIPRESCI prize. It opens in Manhattan on Friday. Beautiful Boy director Shawn Ku.
- From Harvard to Hollywood…?
- The Enthusiasm of Nicholas Cage
- The Enduring Appeal of Revenge Stories
- Of Guilt and Insomnia
Jim Dixon for Film Inquiry: I have to ask: How does a guy who graduated from Harvard University with a degree in chemistry, and who was accepted into medical school end up making movies? Shawn Ku: [laughs] I have no idea. I can only blame my mom, she raised me on MGM musicals like Gene Kelly musicals, Fred Astaire, they were on all the time. She ju...
I think you’re right and I canimagine being in this character’s predicament — feeling like he’s missed out on his son’s entire life and trying to rebuild a relationship after years apart. How did you enjoy working with Nicolas Cage? Shawn Ku: Oh, Nick is awesome! First of all, he’s so committed you know, when he signs on for a project — and he plug...
He can make quite an impression with his performance in this. Revenge stories never seem to go out of fashion, and obviously there’s more going on in your movie than just a quest for revenge, but that’s definitely part of the story. What do you think is behind the ongoing popularity of revenge stories? Shawn Ku: That’s an interesting question. I th...
Your main character in this movie is a particularly complex guy – and I think Nicolas Cage gives a very sensitive performance – a guy who on the one hand is capable of committing cold-blooded murder yet on the other is searching for love. And he can’t sleep. He strikes me as a very, very tragic character. Why does he have insomnia? Shawn Ku: I thin...
Shawn Ku is a U.S. choreographer and motion picture director. He has also danced on Broadway, and acted in an independent feature-length film. Inspired by his family's personal connection to the Virginia Tech shooting and unexpected death of a visiting friend, Shawn Ku developed his 2010 film "Beautiful Boy" from those experiences. Description ...
Jun 2, 2011 · A kind of apocalyptic 21st-century “Ordinary People,” “Beautiful Boy,” directed by Shawn Ku from a screenplay he wrote with Michael Armbruster, is so high-mindedly determined to avoid ...
