Michael Kang (born May 3, 1970) is an American

film director A film director or filmmaker is a person who controls a film's artistic and dramatic aspects and visualizes the screenplay (or script) while guiding the film crew and actors in the fulfillment of that Goal, vision. The director has a key role ...

and screenwriter. He is

Korean American Korean Americans () are Americans of full or partial Korean ethnic descent. While the broader term Overseas Korean in America () may refer to all ethnic Koreans residing in the United States, the specific designation of Korean American impli ...

and based in

Los Angeles Los Angeles, often referred to by its initials L.A., is the List of municipalities in California, most populous city in the U.S. state of California, and the commercial, Financial District, Los Angeles, financial, and Culture of Los Angeles, ...

Feature films

''The Motel''

His feature directorial debut was the independent movie '' The Motel'', which premiered at the 2003

Sundance Film Festival The Sundance Film Festival is an annual film festival organized by the Sundance Institute. It is the largest independent film festival in the United States, with 423,234 combined in-person and online viewership in 2023. The festival has acted ...

. ''The Motel'' won the

Humanitas Prize The Humanitas Prize is an American award for film and television writing, presented to writers whose work explores the human condition in a nuanced and meaningful manner. It began in 1974 with Father Ellwood "Bud" Kieser—also the founder of ...

and the NHK International Filmmakers Award, as well as the top jury prizes from the San Francisco International Asian American Film Festival, the

San Diego Asian Film Festival The San Diego Asian Film Festival (SDAFF) is an annual film festival in San Diego San Diego ( , ) is a city on the Pacific coast of Southern California, adjacent to the Mexico–United States border. With a population of over 1.4 million, ...

, and the VC Film Festival (the

Los Angeles Asian Pacific Film Festival The Los Angeles Asian Pacific Film Festival (LAAPFF) – formerly known as VC FilmFest – is an annual film festival presented by Visual Communications (VC). It was established in 1983 by Linda Mabalot as a vehicle to promote Asian Pacific Amer ...

). Most recently, ''The Motel'' was nominated for Best First Feature Film by the

Independent Spirit Awards The Independent Spirit Awards, originally known as the FINDIE or Friends of Independents Awards, and later as the Film Independent Spirit Awards, are awards presented annually in Santa Monica, California, to independent filmmakers. Founded in ...

. It is currently on DVD through

Palm Pictures Palm Pictures is an American entertainment company owned and run by Chris Blackwell. Palm Pictures produces, acquires, and distributes music and film projects with a particular focus on the DVD-Video format. Palm places an emphasis on such proj ...

and stars

Sung Kang Sung-Ho Kang (; born April 8, 1972) is an Americans, American actor. His first major role was as Han Lue in the ''Fast & Furious'' franchise, a character he first portrayed in ''Better Luck Tomorrow'' (2002). Kang also played John Mak in the tel ...

''West 32nd''

Kang also directed the Korean American feature '' West 32nd''. ''West 32nd'' premiered at the

Tribeca Film Festival The Tribeca Festival is an annual film festival organized by Tribeca Enterprises. It takes place each spring in New York City, showcasing a diverse selection of film, episodic, talks, music, games, art, and immersive programming. The festival ...

in 2007. The film was produced by Teddy Zee and features

John Cho John Cho (born Cho Yo-Han; June 16, 1972) is an American actor known for his roles as Harold Lee in the '' Harold & Kumar'' films, and Hikaru Sulu in the ''Star Trek'' rebooted film series as well as '' Better Luck Tomorrow'', '' Columbus'', a ...

, Grace Park and Jeong Jun Ho.

''Knots'' aka ''Four Wedding Planners''

Kang's third film was the Hawaii-set romantic comedy ''Knots'' which was written by Kimberly-Rose Wolter, and stars Kimberly-Rose Walter in addition to

, who also starred in his first film, ''The Motel.'' The film also stars

Illeana Douglas Illeana Hesselberg ( ; born July 25, 1961), known professionally as Illeana Douglas, is an American actress and filmmaker. She appeared in three episodes of '' Six Feet Under'', for which she received a Primetime Emmy Award nomination as Outsta ...

Janel Parrish Janel Meilani Parrish (born October 30, 1988) is an American actress and singer. She starred as Mona Vanderwaal in the mystery-drama television series ''Pretty Little Liars'' (2010–2017) and its spin-off ''Pretty Little Liars: The Perfectionist ...

and Samantha Quon. It was re-released under the title "Four Wedding Planners."

Short films, web series and music videos

Kang has also directed the short films ''A Waiter Tomorrow'' (1998), a spoof on

John Woo John Woo Yu-sen ( zh, t= ; born 22 September 1946) is a Hongkongers, Hong Kong film director known as a highly influential figure in the action film genre. The recipient of various accolades, including a Hong Kong Film Awards, Hong Kong Film Award ...

's ''

A Better Tomorrow ''A Better Tomorrow'' () is a 1986 Hong Kong action film directed, co-written and co-produced by John Woo, co-produced by Tsui Hark, and starring Ti Lung, Leslie Cheung and Chow Yun-fat. The film had a profound influence on Hong Kong action c ...

'' but set within a restaurant (which he also stars in), as well as ''Japanese Cowboy'' (2000), starring John Fukuda. Kang has also directed multiple episodes of the web series '' Easy to Assemble'' starring

(who he would later collaborate with again in ''4 Wedding Planners'') as well as the web series ''Suite 7''. Kang has also co-written a short film directed by Charles Mehling entitled ''For The First Time'' (2010). Michael was also a participant in the 1998 “Say Something” Virgin Cola campaign in which mostly unscripted citizens stood on soap boxes and expressed personal views. Mike politicked for more Asian men to be featured dancing in music videos. (1998) Kang has also starred as "the Delivery Man" in

Greg Pak Greg Pak is an American comic book writer and film director. He is best known for his work on books published by Marvel Comics, including ''X-Men'' (most notably '' X-Treme X-Men''), several titles featuring the Hulk, and Hercules.Truitt, Brian ...

's short film, ''Asian Pride Porn'' (2000). Kang has also directed Emi Meyer's music video for her track, "Happy Song" in 2011.Happy Song, Emi Meyer, http://www.nme.com/nme-video/youtube/id/Omj8eYFgvBY/search/emi

Accolades

Kang was honored with a

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 feder ...

Artist’s Residency Grant at the

MacDowell Colony MacDowell is an artist's residency program in Peterborough, New Hampshire. The program was founded in 1907 by composer Edward MacDowell and his wife, pianist and philanthropist Marian MacDowell. Prior to July 2020, it was known as the MacDo ...

. He is recipient of the Geri Ashur Award in screenwriting through the New York Foundation for the Arts. He also received a fellowship through the ABC / DGA New Talent Television Directing Program. Kang is also a member of the

Directors Guild of America The Directors Guild of America (DGA) is an entertainment guild that represents the interests of Film director, film and Television director, television directors in the United States motion picture industry and abroad. Founded as the Screen Dir ...

References

External links

Official Site4 Wedding Planners official siteThe Motel official siteWest 32nd official site
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Kang, Michael 1970 births Living people American film directors of Korean descent American writers of Korean descent Film directors from Rhode Island