Andrew Tsao (born August 3, 1959) is an American

theater Theatre or theater is a collaborative form of performing art that uses live performers, usually actors or actresses, to present the experience of a real or imagined event before a live audience in a specific place, often a stage. The perform ...

, film and

television producer A television producer is a person who oversees one or more aspects of video production on a television program. Some producers take more of an executive role, in that they conceive new programs and pitch them to the television networks, but upon ...

and

director Director may refer to: Literature * ''Director'' (magazine), a British magazine * ''The Director'' (novel), a 1971 novel by Henry Denker * ''The Director'' (play), a 2000 play by Nancy Hasty Music * Director (band), an Irish rock band * ''D ...

Early life

He earned his Master of Fine Arts from

California Institute of the Arts The California Institute of the Arts (CalArts) is a private art university in Santa Clarita, California. It was incorporated in 1961 as the first degree-granting institution of higher learning in the US created specifically for students of both ...

Career

Tsao worked in regional theater and off-Broadway. He became resident director of the

Indiana Repertory Theatre Indiana Repertory Theatre, frequently abbreviated IRT, is a professional regional theatre in Indianapolis, Indiana that began as a genuine repertory theatre with its casts performing in multiple shows at once. It has subsequently become a regio ...

where he directed, served as the theater's literary manager and taught acting. He was invited to become artistic director of the New Harmony Project, a writer's lab in New Harmony, Indiana. There he oversaw development of plays, musicals, screenplays and TV pilots. Tsao then moved to Los Angeles to work in television. He became a series director on ABC's ''

Home Improvement The concept of home improvement, home renovation, or remodeling is the process of renovating or making additions to one's home. Home improvement can consist of projects that upgrade an existing home interior (such as electrical and plumbing), ...

'', produced and directed NBC'S '' Working'', '' Soul Man'', among others, and dozens of other prime time programs, including episodes of '' Friends'', '' Caroline in the City'', ''

Suddenly Susan ''Suddenly Susan'' is an American television sitcom that aired on NBC from September 19, 1996, to December 26, 2000. The series was created by Clyde Phillips and starred Brooke Shields in her first regular series. Shields played Susan Keane, ...

'', ''

Jesse Jesse may refer to: People and fictional characters * Jesse (biblical figure), father of David in the Bible. * Jesse (given name), including a list of people and fictional characters * Jesse (surname), a list of people Music * ''Jesse'' ( ...

'', ''

The Single Guy ''The Single Guy'' is an American sitcom television series that ran for two seasons on NBC, from September 21, 1995, to April 14, 1997. It starred Jonathan Silverman as struggling New York City writer Jonathan Eliot and followed several of his ...

'', '' In The House'', ''

The Jeff Foxworthy Show ''The Jeff Foxworthy Show'' is an American sitcom television series created by Tom Anderson, starring comedian Jeff Foxworthy and based on Foxworthy's stand-up comedy routine. It originally aired from September 12, 1995 to May 5, 1997 on ABC (s ...

'', '' DAG'', ''

Madigan Men ''Madigan Men'' is an American sitcom that premiered on ABC on October 6, 2000. The show was put on hiatus in December 2000 in the midst of cast and crew changes, and was later cancelled after one season. Cast *Gabriel Byrne as Ben Madigan *Ro ...

'', '' Sabrina'', '' The Tick'', '' The George Lopze Show'', '' Phil Of The Future'' and ''

Wizards Of Waverly Place ''Wizards of Waverly Place'' is an American fantasy teen sitcom created by Todd J. Greenwald that aired on Disney Channel for four seasons between October 2007 and January 2012. The series centers on Alex Russo (Selena Gomez), a teenage wiza ...

''. In Los Angeles, Tsao was invited to direct two productions for Shakespeare Festival L.A. ('' The Tempest'', and ''

Julius Caesar Gaius Julius Caesar (; ; 12 July 100 BC – 15 March 44 BC), was a Roman general and statesman. A member of the First Triumvirate, Caesar led the Roman armies in the Gallic Wars before defeating his political rival Pompey in a civil war, ...

'') a world premiere opera for Los Angeles Opera (''On Gold Mountain''), He directed two short films: ''Brightness'' which was awarded the Gold Special Jury Prize for 2001 at the WorldFest in Houston and ''Solstice''. Theater credits include the world premiere of Theodore Drieser's '' Sister Carrie'' for Indiana Rep, and ''The Tempest'' at East West Players in Los Angeles, '' The Merry Wives Of Windsor'' for Oregon Shakespeare Festival, and

Nilo Cruz Nilo Cruz is a Cuban-American playwright and pedagogue. With his award of the 2003 Pulitzer Prize for Drama for his play '' Anna in the Tropics'', he became the second Latino so honored, after Nicholas Dante. Biography Early years Cruz was bor ...

's adaptation of

Gabriel García Márquez Gabriel José de la Concordia García Márquez (; 6 March 1927 – 17 April 2014) was a Colombian novelist, short-story writer, screenwriter, and journalist, known affectionately as Gabo () or Gabito () throughout Latin America. Considered one ...

''A Very Old Man'' With Enormous Wings for Center Theater Group in Los Angeles. Internationally, he has produced and directed noted original devised theater works at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival. Tsao was an associate professor of dramatic arts at the University of Washington School of Drama where he was a member of the faculty of the Graduate Professional Acting and Directing Programs, headed the undergraduate drama program from 2011 to 2017, led summer drama programs at the Edinburgh Festivals and worked with the University of Washington College of Arts and Sciences C21: Liberal Learning in the 21st Century innovation in higher education program. In 2003 and 2004, Tsao was an executive consultant and creative director for The Walsin Company in Shanghai, where he oversaw the development of themed entertainment concepts for a multimillion-dollar commercial real estate project.

Screenwriting

As screenwriter, Tsao contributed story and dialogue for Taiwanese director Edward Yang's feature film '' Mahjong'', which won the Special Mention Prize at the Berlin Film Festival in 1996.

Educator

In addition to his directing career, Tsao was associate professor of dramatic arts at the University of Washington School of Drama for twelve years where he headed the undergraduate drama program for seven years, taught acting and directing and cinema, led summer drama study programs at the Edinburgh Festival and was the artistic director of The Drama Collective, a European theater studies creative lab in Europe. Tsao is the principal of Insight, Inc. He consults and produces and directs creative projects in theater, film and digital media.

Actor

As an actor, he appeared stage productions and portrayed Trofimov in ''

The Cherry Orchard ''The Cherry Orchard'' (russian: Вишнёвый сад, translit=Vishnyovyi sad) is the last play by Russian playwright Anton Chekhov. Written in 1903, it was first published by '' Znaniye'' (Book Two, 1904), and came out as a separate editio ...

'' directed by Libby Appel and played the role of David in the feature film ''Mahjong'' directed by Edward Yang. He appeared as himself in the 2009 documentary '' My Big Break''. He was awarded the Center for Leadership Development's Arts Award by the City of Indianapolis, served as a grants panelist and on-site reviewer for the

National Endowment for the Arts The National Endowment for the Arts (NEA) is an independent agency of the United States federal government that offers support and funding for projects exhibiting artistic excellence. It was created in 1965 as an independent agency of the federal ...

and volunteers as a media advisor for public advocacy groups, Asian voter registration initiatives and local political campaigns.

Awards

In 2012 he was awarded a Donald E. Peterson Endowed Fellowship for creative work at the University of Washington. Additionally, he was awarded the City of Indianapolis' Arts award and the Gold Special Jury prize for his short film ''Brightness'' at the 2001 Houston Worldfest film festival.

References

External links

Insight Inc
{{DEFAULTSORT:Tsao, Andrew American documentary filmmakers American television directors American television producers California Institute of the Arts alumni Living people American educators University of Washington faculty Place of birth missing (living people) 1959 births