Get to Know the Filmmaker: Shun Lee Fong
Not everyone in the entertainment industry starts out with a related career in the field, but when we virtually sat down with Shun Lee Fong, we learned that his path to Hollywood involved a full 180-turn from practicing law to crafting movies. The filmmaker is a true multi-hyphenate with credits that range from writing to directing to producing, as well as some work in front of the camera.
He recently executive produced the Affirm Original Sun Moon for Sony and is currently in post-production on a Tony Hale-led feature for Lionsgate that he co-produced called Sketch. Fong described the latter as “Pixar’s Inside Out meets Jurassic Park.” Besides getting to hear that fantastic logline, as well as more about his upcoming work, we also got a peek into the person behind all the credits.
Fong told us the moment he knew that filmmaking was what he wanted to do, which was inspired by the heavily Oscar-nominated Shawshank Redemption. When we asked what other projects inspired Fong, he had an impressive list of titles to share, including a mini-series that the multi-hyphenate deems “a study in heroism.” And by the end of Fong’s response to our query, we had deduced a major throughline of the filmmaker’s top titles in the form of Tom Hanks.
When referencing his own career, however, other well-known names came up. “You know, there are Walt Disney’s, and there are Roy [O.] Disney’s,” Fong told us. “There are the people [like Walt] that are the creative geniuses, and then there are the people [like Roy O.] that execute and make things happen. This business needs both.”
You’ll have to watch the interview to find out which of the Disney co-founding brothers Fong most identifies with when it comes to creativity, as well as the two casting choices he named when asked which actor would play him in a hypothetical film about his life.
Photo by Sheri Newill, courtesy of Shun Lee Fong.
Aside from answering our true get-to-know-you questions, the filmmaker also expanded on his journey to the entertainment industry. Fong recalled how his fateful screening of Shawshank Redemption happened partway through law school — he went on to finish his degree and practice as an attorney while exploring his creative side. “It’s a really short leap from being a lawyer to being an actor or a storyteller,” Fong told us. “You stand up in front of a group of people, an audience, and you tell a story and hope that they buy it.”
The multi-hyphenate also reminisced about sneaking out of his then-law firm at lunch to go on auditions. “[I was] just praying that none of the partners in my firm would ever see anything that I was in because I knew I’d get in big trouble,” he recalled with a laugh. Fong went on to detail how he decided to make the career switch and how his experience as a lawyer plays into his work now.
You can catch all those insights and more in this on-camera installment of Get to Know the Filmmaker.
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This video interview has been edited and condensed.
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