ANNE HU
Director / Editor / Writer
Anne Hu is a Taiwanese American, award-winning director, writer, editor, and actress. Her directing focus is in narrative film and tv. She creates provocative, dark comedies and heartfelt, poetic dramas. Hu shadowed director Marc Webb (500 Days of Summer, The Amazing Spider-Man) in September 2018 on the upcoming Netflix drama series, The Society.
She has directed promos and award-winning short films. Balloon, her hand-drawn animated short placed Top 16 in the Campus MovieFest Northeast Regional Competition. Her latest short Cake has been accepted into 37 festivals, has earned 9 awards (including Best Writer/Director), and was featured in The Washington Post.
Additionally, Hu has worked as an editor for the last 10 years, specializing in trailer editing for the last 6 years. She is currently a Senior Editor and Producer at HBO. Her trailer work includes Game of Thrones, Breaking Bad, The Walking Dead, and more.
Her upcoming work includes Lunchbox (a dramatic short), Dating Patterns (a dark comedy digital series), and Mother (a supernatural, horror feature film).
Hu creates deeply personal stories from her heart. Making films is one of the only ways she feels safe being and expressing herself. She hopes by creating honest and visual stories that reflect her personal struggles and intersectional identities, she can provide catharsis for audiences as well as inspire them to regard marginalized voices with their whole humanity.
WEBSITE: ANNEHU.COM
SOCIAL MEDIA: TWITTER/INSTAGRAM
A Q&A WITH FILMSHOP BREAKTHROUGH SERIES 2017 FEATURED ARTIST anne hu...
"CAKE" (NARRATIVE SHORT)
Eliza tries to explore her sexuality within her marriage with her husband Thomas by surprise ordering a female sex robot for them to share. But the sexbot is not the cure-all she had hoped for.
What was the inspiration for your project?
When I was 20, I was in a similar situation as the protagonist and I wished I had a sex robot! And hence this story. Beyond that, I wanted to explore the complexities of sexuality, fetishization of Asian women, technology in modern relationships, and gender roles.
If you could do one thing differently, what would that be?
I’m curious to see how far I could have push the absurdity, but ultimately I don’t want to touch this film again. There are moments I would like to have improved upon, but those are now lessons learned. Upwards and onwards.
How did the Filmshop community contribute to its development?
Filmshop was apart of “Cake” from beginning to end. I workshopped the script, several Filmshop members were apart of the crew, and I workshopped a rough cut of “Cake” in Filmshop. Filmshoppers were involved in every stage. This film would not have been possible without the Filmshop community.
What's next?
I have two upcoming pieces that focus on Asian American themes. First, I am writing a horror vengeance feature film about a family struggling to move forward with life after a family member dies. Second, I am writing a short film about my experiences growing up Asian American in Cleveland, Ohio. It explores not appreciating your origins while you’re young but appreciating them when you’re older. Lastly, I’m writing an anthology series about dog runs in NYC.
What keeps you up at night?
What am I doing with my life?!?!?!?!?! But that’s a dull answer. Would it be more exciting if I said corgis jumping over clouds or corgi butt twerks? Because that sounds like heaven.