In May 2011, the Department of Dramatic Writing graduated its second group of students to go through this new program. I was in that class, and recently had the pleasure of checking in with one of my classmates, David Chang ’11 (MFA, Kanbar, Dramatic Writing).
David, it’s been nearly six months since we both graduated from NYU Tisch School of the Arts Asia, and our classmates have since scattered to all corners of the earth. What have you been up to since leaving Singapore?
After Tisch Asia, I went on a mission trip for a month with my church. Then I settled back home in LA. I got in contact with Susan Cartsonis, the producer of the films No Reservations and What Women Want – she spoke to us in Professional Colloquium – and tried to network in general. And I’ve been spending a lot of time writing and re-writing. The idea was to get some scripts ready to show once I got in contact with people willing to read them.
David Chang, flying high since he left Tisch Asia.
I’ve read one of those scripts, which is an adventure film, and I was amazed that you’d written such a strong first draft in a couple of months.
Well, it wasn’t a completely new draft. It was a re-write of an older piece, but I applied my newfangled NYU Tisch education to make it better.
Well, regardless, the amount of writing you’ve done in the last six months is pretty amazing.
I’ve been trying to write steadily to sharpen my skills and train my brain to think faster. I wrote a script for Wee Li Lin ’11 (MFA, Kanbar, Dramatic Writing), did re-writes on my thesis screenplay, my first year script, and that older script you read. I also re-did my Dexter spec script. And I just brainstormed a few treatments and outlines to try and get new ideas and scripts going, and also to show some companies in Singapore and China that I got in contact with.
And now you’re interning with two film companies in Beverly Hills. How did that come about?
In October, I looked at the UTA jobs list through the NYU alumni website, saw some internship postings that looked interesting, and sent in my resume. Two of the companies emailed me back and I started both internships at the end of October.
David at work, Primal/Vertigo in LA.
One is with Primal, a new micro-budget division of Vertigo Entertainment. It’s headed by Lawrence Grey and Roy Lee. Roy Lee was an executive producer on The Departed.
The other is at Phoenix Pictures, headed by Mike Medavoy; Phoenix has produced over 30 feature films, including Black Swan and Shutter Island.
A fair amount of my work is just general office work. But I’m also tasked with doing research on developing projects, reading and doing coverage on scripts, and talking to the producers about projects. There’s a weekly production meeting at Phoenix where the interns can join, listen in, and give feedback on assigned reading.
I know that some people are concerned about being away from the industry in the US for a few years while they study at Tisch School of the Arts Asia. You’ve done a great job of getting a foothold in the American film industry pretty quickly. How has your time in Singapore helped you?
First it helped me become a better writer, plus all the assignments filled out my previously weak portfolio. On top of that, we got to meet and interact with professionals actually working in the industry. The coolest part was having Oliver Stone look at my thesis script and give feedback. That’s a guy who has been through the last 30 years in the industry looking at my script and telling it like he sees it. Have to respect that.
David gets feedback from Artistic Director Oliver Stone.
In terms of these internships, the skills I learned at Tisch Asia that have been invaluable are story skills. Knowing how to analyze, take apart, and give suggestions on scripts has been great. People recognize good story sense.
Another thing I picked up at Tisch was figuring out how to be social and talk to people, network and stuff; I don’t really like putting attention on myself, but in this business, you have to – we talked about this a lot in class, that you’re selling yourself as much as your work. In LA, you’re bound to come across someone working in the industry, and I’ve had the ability to approach them and set up meetings. Not all the meetings and contacts have been beneficial, but it was good to talk to people, have them read my stuff, and get a better grasp of the business and industry.
And, of course, a huge benefit is being able to tell people that I got my MFA from NYU.
Everyone at Tisch Asia is wishing David continued success in LA, as well as pressuring him to get his thesis script made. It’s a good script.
