1985 Filmmaker Yen Tan: Another Sign of Incoming Gayness

Show Notes

Dennis heads to Koreatown in L.A. to interview Yen Tan, the writer director of such films as Pit Stop, Ciao and his latest 1985, which is about a young man who has been diagnosed with HIV visiting his parents in Texas over the Christmas holidays. Yen talks about the insurance job he had in his early 20's that inspired the film, why he chose to shoot in black and white, working with the actors Virginia Madsen, Michael Chiklis, Cory Michael Smith (Gotham) and Jamie Chung, the challenge of shooting long takes and the moving comments he's gotten from audiences after screenings. He also talks about his sideline gig of doing graphic design for films, his current favorite font Brandon Grotesque, getting representation and lots of Hollywood meetings as a result of 1985 and how being gay and Asian-American has affected his career trajectory. Other topics include: the Goldie Hawn soundtrack that was his first cassette he ever bought, growing up in Malaysia and learning English from movies, his Elephant Man epiphany, coming to the U.S. for college, coming out, why he makes films and that time he sang in front of the whole school and it didn't go well. www.1985thefilm.com