Director, William Lu, a native of Northern California, received his BA in anthropology from the University of California, Los Angeles. During his studies, he also served as an intern and development assistant for David Madden and Robert Cort at the Cort/Madden Company on the Paramount Pictures lot.
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Rex Sikes’ Movie Beat chats with Director William Lu
Subsequently, William attended the graduate film conservatory at Florida State University where he received his MFA in film and television production. While there, he produced the 35mm thesis film “Two-Bit,” which was a 2003 Student Academy Award finalist.
Upon graduation, he returned to Southern California where he was hired as an assistant at the SyFy Channel. Joining several FSU alumni, William then spent three years at Herzog & Company where he worked in various capacities in their television, web and entertainment marketing departments producing content for clients such as Disney, Paramount, Dreamworks and Sony Pictures.
Check Out Comfort The Movie directed by William Lu
In 2005, he was the recipient of the Los Angeles Asian Pacific Armed with a Camera Fellowship; the grant recognized emerging media artists and funded his short film Spy Moms, which was shot over the course of one weekend. Spy Moms later screened at all the major Asian American festivals and made its cable broadcast debut later that year.
In 2006, he wrote and directed Asian Task Force, a half-hour mock pilot that paid homage to many of his favorite 80’s television series. The film was awarded “Best Action Short” at the 2007 Los Angeles Digital Video Film Festival and screened at the 2008 San Diego Comic-Con.
In 2009, William made the transition into new media and worked as post production supervisor at Machinima on their Terminator: Salvation original web series. He was subsequently hired at Maker Studios where he produced content for their gaming vertical. He also created and hosted the show “Retro Hardware” for the company.
In 2012, he switched to freelance producing, serving as a co-producer for Rosanna Pansino’s “Nerdy Nummies” blockbuster YouTube series, while simultaneously developing feature content that he could later direct.
In 2015, he directed the feature drama Comfort from his own original screenplay. The storyline and characters were inspired by the John Hughes movies of the 80’s, while Michael Mann’s LA nightscapes served as a stylistic inspiration.
Shortly after completing Comfort, he returned to Maker Studios, producing for clients such as SlingTV and Verizon Go90.
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