I grew up in the working class suburbs in the 80s so I do love Hollywood movies but what I don't like is when they take something that's successful and they recycle it.
— Justin Lin
You can't expect Hollywood to take a risk.
I loved basketball and grew up with the Lakers and Magic Johnson. That was a big part of me.
I grew up peeling shrimp and making tartar sauce.
You hear nightmare stories from young filmmakers working in Hollywood, being told what to do.
I'm living my dream.
That's in the mission statement when you're part of 'Trek.' It's our job to try to be bold and push forward. You have to be conscious of that.
I get that a lot of people love 'Star Wars' - and I could see that you can love both and they can coexist in our lives. But the DNA of 'Star Trek' is different in as far as it's human beings, it's us in the future.
If I make a film like 'Better Luck Tomorrow' or 'Finishing the Game,' I'll protect it with everything I have.
You sometimes get the sense that when people make sequels, they get conservative. If something worked, they do it over and over and over again.
For the longest time, the Asian-American community would talk about representation, but I think it's also about the freedom to really shape, create, and explore issues that are important to us, regardless of whether it's positive or negative, as long as it's three dimensional.
If you watch 'Fast and Furious 6,' you do see that it's a culmination of something and I think it's the end of a chapter.
They never complained, that's what I love about my parents and it's something that inspired me.
Like, action to me is no fun if it's not built around character.
As an Asian immigrant coming in, for the longest time I still had problems getting in the lot because they're just not used to seeing someone like me who's directing these films. I do think ultimately there's a point where we can kind of just shed that label and become filmmakers.
Boxing is one of the very few things left in life that you know who you are as soon as you step into the ring.
The great thing about a big studio movie is that you get to work with the best, the most talented craft people in the world. But you have to be able to communicate, trust, and empower everybody.
There's no guidebook on how to be a filmmaker. I just try to do my best.
I get to make movies; I get to do what I love.
It's a privilege to go and have fun and do what you're passionate about for a living.
After 'Furious 6,' that was a natural break for me. It was a good time to step away.
Sports is one of those few things left in our society where, as soon as you step on the court, or get in the ring, you are who you are.
As a society, we're not perfect by any means.
Growing up as an Asian American, we're lucky to have two sentences in a history book about the Chinese-American experience.
Space is a big place.
Studio films are driven by marketing. The currency is literally money. But in the indie world, the currency is passion.
For filmmakers that want to have certain control, there are certain things you can't do in VR.
There was something so pure about 'Better Luck Tomorrow' because money wasn't the currency. It was passion. The fact we were trying to do something even though no one was asking us to. It meant a lot.
As a filmmaker, if you want to write a script, all you need is some paper and a pen or a computer, that's it.
When I did my first student film, it was a ten minute film and it cost $U.S.4,000. I worked three jobs to pay for that and I haven't really slept since.
I left 'Fast and Furious' because I just felt like, at a certain point, after number six, there wasn't another story that I wanted to tell.
Boxing is a big part of American cinema.
For me, I always loved summer movies. I love indie movies, foreign films, but there's definitely a part of me that loves summer movies, ever since I was a kid.
Working with actors is actually something I treasure a lot.
That's the thing I truly enjoy, when you can work with good people who are very talented.
I wanted to have fun after 'Annapolis,' and make a Western.
We came over when I was 8 from Taiwan. That was my life: going to school, working at the restaurant, playing basketball.
I think within the ideology of what 'Trek' is, that it actually makes the daunting task of making something new more manageable, because it's part of 'Trek's' very design to tackle new worlds and characters.
At the end of the day, if you're living by fear, you're gonna get screwed in Hollywood.
Star Trek' is not just about literal exploration, but also the exploration of ourselves.
The harder we push forward into the unknown the more it intensifies the reflection of humanity. That's what I really love about 'Star Trek.'
I'm so sick of independent films being co-opted by Hollywood. You're making a project that's small, really personal, and the first thing anyone asks in any meeting is, 'Who's in it?' I'm like, 'Are you kidding?'
I remember when I was a kid, I'd watch 'Kung Fu Theater' on TV, and all the movies would star guys named things like 'Bruce Lai' - you'd never get the real Bruce Lee films. So when I finally saw 'Enter the Dragon,' I was like, 'Holy cow, who is this guy?'
Every time you try to do something different, you have to expect obstacles.
I always found it interesting when you went off to college, people would talk about how you go and search for your own identity. A lot of suburban middle-class kids would be shopping for identities and they would co-opt identities from other cultures.
My brothers and I would try to talk our dad into letting us stay up and watch 'Star Trek.' I remember watching it and feeling that a family is not just by blood, a family is a shared experience and that really stuck with me.
When I go on set, it's very important, the lenses I choose, what I choose to frame or not frame and that's how I make my movies.
Sometimes, I think it's important to be a filmmaker first and be able to talk about whatever you want to after that.
Annapolis' is a very personal journey about this working-class kid trying to find out who he is, and every time he steps into the ring we get a sense of who he is as a person.
Fast and the Furious' is really a postmodern Western.
