When Eileen Yoon and Grace Zhang, both BFA Film ’20, attended a screening of Japanese filmmaker Yasujirō Ozu’s feature Late Spring as part of a course at Pratt, they had no idea it would alter the path of their careers. The screening was part of Ways of Seeing Cinema, taught by Deborah Meehan, professor of film/video, who shared that the director of this slow, measured film was often considered “too rebellious for Japan and too Japanese for the West.” It was a sentiment that deeply resonated with them as Asian American filmmakers.
After graduating from Pratt and entering the fast-paced film industry, it was Ozu’s endurance in both his art and his creative process that stuck with them—the duo has said that they found particular inspiration in how he “strictly scouted locations on foot” and would “walk for miles until eventually passing out from exhaustion.” Yoon and Zhang wanted to take on this considered approach to filmmaking. “We kept saying to each other that we should make a production company because we could do things better ourselves,” they said in a joint interview with Prattfolio over email. And so they did.
In 2021, Yoon and Zhang launched Ozu Was Right. Applying their namesake Ozu’s deliberate approach to filmmaking, the two set out with their new production company to “contribute to an independent film ecosystem that responds to [the] present time we live in.” Putting their shared principles into practice, both have actively centered care for each other and their collaborators as well as their respective voices as artists. “We make an effort to hire crew members who are queer, trans, creatives of color,” the duo said. “Not to check off diversity boxes but because that’s what our community looks like, and our work is about growing horizontally and uplifting the people around us, not only ourselves.”
When it came to company roles, Yoon and Zhang agreed to remain flexible: they would both direct, produce, shoot, and be in other production roles along the way. That approach has yielded a body of work that spans from branded content to music videos to narrative short films, with clients that have included athletic brands Yonex and Arc’teryx and musicians like OHYUNG and Bubble Tea and Cigarettes. For each film, their creative process—developed during their time at Pratt—combines grounded, empathetic storytelling with a flexible approach on set. “People will often tell us we have to choose one thing and stick to it,” said Zhang. “But I think our generation understands that you have to be flexible and do a bit of everything.”
Now, their hands-on, DIY ethos has set the groundwork for their company. Zhang, who had felt frustrated as an early-career filmmaker by the lack of grant-funded options for producing their narrative short, turned to community support to make the movie a reality. Their successful fundraiser for the forthcoming film, the sun’s coming up, good night, was a lesson in working independently, without reliance on typical funding streams to support a project. “Doing it all ourselves without any institution was the best learning experience ever,” Zhang says.
In the patient spirit of Yasujirō Ozu, the duo continues to engage their craft at their own pace. “Something we remind ourselves is that there is no right or wrong path in filmmaking,” they shared. “It’s a marathon, not a sprint. Every decision can be the right decision, and as long as you’re motivated, you will get it done.”
3 Films by Ozu Was Right
Chimera
This narrative short, directed by Yoon, weaves between present-day New York and the past in Korea, reflecting on the upbringing of a “third culture kid.” Through her journey from Korea to the US, the film explores her experiences with both given and chosen families, “redefining her idea of home.”
the sun’s coming up, good night
This atmospheric short film, directed by Zhang, tells the coming-of-age story of a queer, Chinese American painter exploring the “power dynamics of race and class in the suburbs.”
ON x 48 FOR CHANGE
Codirected by Yoon and Zhang, this promotional video for social justice nonprofit 48 For Change panoramically tracks the organization’s founder as he runs through Southern California, sharing his mission to raise awareness on social issues through running.
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