“It’s just not as simple as maybe our stories make it.”
Jon M. Chuis getting ready to drop a major new creative endeavor.
Elyse Jankowski/Variety via Getty
Chu describes it as a memoir meets guidebook for aspiring storytellers.
Jon M. Chu.Elyse Jankowski/Variety via Getty
“It’s a book I wish I had as a young creative,” he says.
And hopefully they can find their voice through all of that."
Check out the cover below and read more from Chu.
‘Viewfinder’ by Jon M. Chu.Random House
ENTERTAINMENT WEEKLY: I love that your epigram is fromThe Wizard of Oz.
Why did you choose that?
Was it just because ofWicked?
JON M. CHU:The Wizard of Ozalways been a big part of my life.
It’s the biggest American fairytale.
you’ve got the option to work hard and one day America will give you your dreams.
Where we are now, the yellow brick road doesn’t necessarily exist.
We have to figure it out together.
That’s part of the big journey that I had.
It’s just not as simple as maybe our stories make it."
I felt compelled to make it when I met Jeremy McCarter.
We were working onIn the Heightsand he was doing anIn the Heights book.
He did theHamiltonbook and he was front row to a change in culture with that show.
We got to know each other, and I started talking to him about my life.
But at a certain point, I had to turn it back on myself.
It was trying to process everything up to this point.
How did this happen?
How did what I dreamt about on my bedroom floor with my toys actually come true?
Because I think there’s a lot of lost hope out there right now.
A lot of people are confused.
And because I got through it, I just want people to know you might dream.
It may not be the sparkly thing that we always present it to be, but it can happen.
Even in this chaos of change, the only way out is through.
Random House
From the beginning, you establish this juxtaposition between technology and creativity and filmmaking.
The biggest benefit of growing up in the Silicon Valley was change was constant.
The idea of changing the world was so prevalent.
And because I grew up in the Silicon Valley, these were just tools to help human beings connect.
And I truly believe that.
Yes, they’re scary things like AI and Vision Pro and social media that may feel separate.
People are getting a media literacy that we’ve never had before.
People are editors now that are 10 years old.
It helps me see these things as not the enemy, but as ways to express our humanity more.
Was that scary for you to be so vulnerable about?
That’s great for growth; that’s necessary for things to change.
We all need to have a little bit of grace for each other.
It is always difficult to talk about things when you’re on the front line of storytelling.
I’m not someone that knows the answers.
I’m someone that’s in it with everyone else, and we are all finding the answers together.
The most important thing is to keep making stuff because that’s what we’re here to do.
In the book, you discuss grappling with your identity in ways that you maybe hadn’t before.
It’s never been intentional for sure.
I learned a lot about myself in this process.
It’s why I needed Jeremy too.
I needed to not talk to myself about it.
I need to tell someone else about it and have him there and experience it.
I didn’t realize that with all my work I was always scratching at this thing.
I don’t even know what I want to say yet.'
What am I most scared to say?
That’s what Hollywood is going through.
It’s what the world is going through right now.
It’s all a mirror to ourselves.
What do you hope people take away from the book?
It’s a series of ups and downs that can be brutal and shocking and really fulfilling too.
It’s a work in process, not progress.
Even today, even after this book, the process will continue.
Process is going to be everything.
I hope this gives a little insight that you’re free to.
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