DIRECTOR JON CHU SHINES IN NEW MOVIE “IN THE HEIGHTS”

IN THE HEIGHTS BRINGS OUT JON CHU’S BEST

BY Gerrye Wong    June 2021

When I met with Jon Chu recently at his woodsy home deep in Malibu Canyon, he was seemingly very relaxed, however barely containing the good news that his long awaited film, In the Heights, was on the cusp of being released the first week of June.  Two long years in the making and waiting, Jon eagerly showed me the trailer of the film, where I could see the lavish dance scenes Jon is so good at producing.  In the Heights is destined, I predict, to be the musical blockbuster of this long solemn year, where conditions, due to the Covid pandemic, prevented the movie’s opening last year.  As Jon shared, this film version was always in everyone’s mind ever since 2008 when the show opened on Broadway. What held it up was Creator Lin-Manuel Miranda was busy with his 2015 smash hit Hamilton, and director Jon Chu was busy filming his cultural sensation Crazy Rich Asians which blew box office records with its story of cultural belonging.

Jon Chu with In the Heights cast

Set once to open in 2020, but delayed when all theaters shut down due to the covid isolation, audiences will, I am sure, relish in the wild musical crafted between the Lin-Manuel and Jon Chu partnership. It will be premiered right in Washington Heights, the locale of the film and play, as Jon and Lin-Manuel both wanted, to bring attention and life back in recognition of this neighborhood community.  Jon said he loved the concept of the story right from the beginning because it was an immigrant’s story. He said, “The characters are raised by aunties, just like me, and the story tells of the struggles faced by the second generation as they try to figure out where and if they will ever belong.”  Jon added, ”This movie was difficult to make logistically because 93% was filmed in the streets on location. Just getting city permits and making location arrangements took us over a year. We had to convince the city that shooting right in the neighborhood was a benefit to the city as we could hire local staff and crew and bring business to the Washington Heights District while shooting actively there.”

Los Altos Hills neighbor Lina Broydo heralds show’s recent Northern California premiere.

Jon Chu’s supposedly meteoric rise to Hollywood success started in his hometown of suburban Los Altos Hills where his Taiwan immigrant father Lawrence raised his family while running the popular restaurant, Chu Chu’s.  Did Jon and his siblings feel accepted in this white community growing up there in the 1980s?  When I posed that question to Jon, he answered, “Yes, I did grow up in a suburban neighborhood with very few Asians around me, and yes, I did experience a few incidences of Asian hate and remembered asking my parents why.  When my dad opened his restaurant in a solely white community, I remember seeing him being discriminated against by many and yet his attitude was always positive. He once told me. “My role is to be an ambassador to teach people here who have never come in contact with Asians who we really are.  We’re just like them, with the same values as Americans working hard for their families and being a contributor to the history of America.”  Obviously Lawrence Chu did well in his role, for his restaurant, Chef Chu’s Restaurant has always been one of the premier Chinese restaurant destinations in Silicon Valley,  long revered and attended by predominantly Caucasian clientele, including many of the top CEOs of the neighboring high tech industries.

Jon Chu welcomed his hometown “Chinese Aunties” to his Malibu Canyon home recently..

Jon continued on, “I come from a mother, Ruth, an immigrant herself from Taiwan,  who has always taught me to be optimistic and how to cope with survival skills when times or situations were hurtful.  My sister recently reminded me of a day when she was holding my 6 year old hand crossing the street , and a motorist yelled at us, ‘Get out of our country, you chinks’.  I remember being scared at being yelled at and puzzled by it even then.”

 Proud mother Ruth Chu with sons Larry Jr. and Jon

Seemingly Jon says,   many people still harbor the opinions that Asians are not to be valued, and even not worthy.  He recalled, “When I first worked in the film industry and came on to a new set, I remember when supposedly well meaning people directed me to the delivery gate where they thought I belonged.  This is why I am drawn to bringing in movies like Crazy Rich Asians and In The Heights , which are basically movies about immigrants and their life struggles to “belong” to this land they immigrated to.”

Showing Jon an article I wrote about him in Gentry Magazine to predict his success in the movie industry early in his career.

For a Chinese American to be welcomed and accepted into the film industry at such a young age is a success story in itself.  He admitted it has been a long full journey the past twenty years and feels fortunate by the whole series of  events to give him such an early start in the industry.   He laughingly said with a broad grin, “It’s like winning the lottery.  I’m thrown in my first job – and you always wonder to yourself, will I ever win again and how do I earn the right to do better  – and can I and will I?”  Always intrigued with photography, Jon was relegated, as the youngest member of the five sibling Chu family, to be the family photographer to take the vacation videos. He enrolled in USC Film School, specializing in the Production Department track. Before graduation, he was asked to submit a film in application for the Princess Grace Kelly Award.

 Princess Grace Kelly Award 

On a very tight budget, he recalls where he had to ask family and friends to volunteer or donate to his kitty. He made a musical titled The Secret Life of Mothers and won the prestigious award. Sending copies to everyone he could think of in the film industry to introduce himself and his work, he was immediately contacted and offered work by Steven Spielberg and others. As he recalls, “Here I was a young kid just out of college being offered movie contracts. Obviously my family was elated and I was gratified by this wonderful opportunity to work in an industry of film making I love. “

Jon on stage at Facebook Headquarters  showing of Crazy Rich Asians

After making his name in the industry with many films, Jon said he wanted to make a movie that meant something to him and would give him something to believe in, even if it never made money.  As he tells it, “None of us involved ever thought Crazy Rich Asians would be a money maker, but we were happy to be telling a story and using all Asian actors in it – the first time since 25 yeas before when the Joy Luck Club was made.  Of course, we were delighted that the movie caught the attention of the world and surpassed all attendance records in Asia as well as America. Internally, I think it really changed my attitude towards myself.” Chu just grinned at me and said – “Instead of feeling like just being a lucky person, it made me feel I deserved to be where I was, I could feel good at what I did, and it earned me the right to any success I achieved in my work”.  To the question often asked by everyone, – will there be a Crazy Rich Asians sequel someday?    That boyish grin came back and he said, “Yes, we hope so and will work on it someday.”  In the meantime he is busy at home anticipating a third baby soon to be born, and enjoying his two little ones in his rustic country setting he is at peace to call home. That is, after the exciting premiere happening in Washington Heights, New York where his parents  sand some  family members, brothers Larry Jr. and Howard,  will join him in celebrating  the opening of his new movie IN THE HEIGHTS. 

Jon Chu and Lin-Manuel Miranda make cover of Variety Magazine

IN THE HEIGHTS opens in theaters June 11. Check newspaper schedule for location and streaming online HBO Max as well.  You will see Jon’s thoughts in it as the question of belonging permeates in the movie’s story. Don’t miss it as it is already heralded as the loveliest and most moving films you’re likely to see this year.