Photo by Joe Nguyen

Wong Fu: the legend continues
Web-famous filmmakers graduate from college, now pursue next stage in careers
Joe Nguyen, editor
June 23, 2007

Photo by Joe Nguyen Philip Wang, left, answers a question about Wong Fu Productions' film, "A Moment With You" on April 5 at the University of Colorado at Boulder campus. Wang and Wesley Chan, right, are two of the three members of the production company.

Wong Fu Productions is growing up.

Recent University of California, San Diego graduates Philip Wang, Wesley Chan and Ted Fu comprise the filmmaking trio who has developed an online cult following with their comedic shorts. As of press time, there were more than 1,000,000 views of their 15-minute film, “Yellow Fever,” on YouTube.

Not bad for a company named after a nickname Wang received in middle school.

“It was really immature,” he said about the group's name. “Oh, it sounds like Kung Fu, but with my last name so I thought it was cool. There's no cool story behind it, (but) I wish there was though.”

In the past year, they laid to rest their days of making videos where they lip-synched to popular music and moved onto larger projects such as a three-part, short-film series titled, “Just a Nice Guy,” and creating a music video for the hip-hop duo, Magnetic North. But their greatest accomplishment was directing their first feature-length film, “A Moment with You,” which was released on DVD earlier this month.

“(In) summer 2005, we thought that we wanted to challenge ourselves,” Wang said. “We thought that was the next thing we should do.”

The 105-minute movie is a departure from the group's trademark hijinks and carries a more serious tone as it delves into the world of love and relationships.

“We decided to make something that was within our reach and a story that other people can relate to,” Chan said.

The filmmakers screened the movie across the United States and Canada for several months. Although they have become more recognizable – something Wang said he’s still not used to – the group agreed that they still have a long way to go before considering themselves successful.

“When (student groups) e-mail us, they say, ‘We would love for you to come to our school and give us a talk about your successes in the film industry,’” Wang said. “We say, ‘Successes in the film industry?’ We’re barely even touching the film industry.”

After graduation, the three moved into a house together in Los Angeles to further pursue their careers. It was a difficult transition on their personal lives because many of their friends are still in school or have moved away, Wang said. At times, living and working in the same environment isolates them from the outside.

“For many people, their friends are different from their roommates and their roommates are different from their workmates,” Wang said. “But the fact that we’re all in the same house, a lot of times we don’t even leave the house.”

Working at home presents other problems, according to Chan.

“I think if I had a choice, I wouldn’t want to work at home,” he said. “I’m always thinking about it. If I’m not working, then I feel bad that I should be.”

But he added that they hope their hard work now will pay off one day.

“In 10 years, if I’m still working with Phil and Ted, I’d like to think that we’ve grown pretty huge,” Chan said. “I don’t know what that means, but probably not what we’re doing right now.”

For Wang, it means taking a step away from acting.

“32-year-old Phil won’t be in anymore videos then,” Wang said.

But for now, Wong Fu Productions continues to entertain thousands of viewers around the world with new short features while searching to find their niche in the world.

“The reason why I’m doing this is it seems like a route that showed a lot of opportunity,” Wang said. “Even if it’s uncertain where it’s going to end up, it’s worth a try. We’re just riding along.”

For more information on Wong Fu Productions, visit http://www.wongfuproductions.com.

And for more information on their film, "A Moment with You," visit http://www.amomentwithyou.com.

Joe Nguyen is the editor in chief of AsiaXpress.com. Joe can be contacted via e-mail at joe@asiaxpress.com.