...a short story

Growing up, Gene voraciously devoured stories across genre and culture, from Taiwanese period dramas to Tolkien to Desperate Housewives to Shakespeare. After graduating UC Berkeley cum laude with degrees in English and Media Studies, Gene spent nine years in tech designing interactive toys, games and mobile apps for K-12 in Silicon Valley and New York City. He also became a fierce advocate for LGBTQ+ mentorship, serving on the Board of Directors for 501c nonprofit Out in Tech.

But something was missing, and he couldn't quite place his finger on it. And so, in true millennial fashion, Gene embraced his inner cliché, quit his full-time job and enrolled in a 10-day silent meditation course in Yangon, Myanmar. This sparked a four-month "eat gay love" sabbatical across Asia, during which Gene unexpectedly found himself reconnecting with his roots and rediscovering his creative voice.

Upon his return, Gene devoted himself to studying the craft of writing for film and television. He returned to school for an MFA in Screenwriting at UCLA, where his first feature script placed as a Quarterfinalist in the 2019 Academy Nicholl. His first short, Fishbowl, directed by the talented Jacqueline Chan, recently had its Los Angeles and NYC premieres at the prestigious 2021 Outfest and Asian American International Film Festivals. Currently, Gene is hard at work workshopping his original projects while also Script Coordinating for the brand-new Hulu series Interior Chinatown「內景唐人街」, adapted from the award-winning novel by Charles Yu. 

vision

tl;dr:  writing the shit my friends and I want to see...even if the rest of America isn't ready yet! ;)

______

I write about not belonging. About feeling like you're too gay to be a good Asian but too Asian to be gay, at least in the "right" way. About being too "Westernized" for your parents (I believe mei jiu, or "lost cause," was the phrase used), but too unrelatable (a.k.a. "foreign") for your fellow Americans. About how meaningless even these labels are, and about the stereotypes they're built upon...

...and that are our responsibility to break. About the pain that comes from being a triple outsider, but also the perspective and irreverent humor it grants. About people's insecurities and tendency towards self-sabotage, but also about overcoming our worst natures. About humans doing humans (yes, in every sense of the word) while learning above all how to find meaning. 

past affiliations

UCLA  School of Theater, Film, and Television
M.F.A. - Screenwriting 

Out@TFT
Founder

Out in Tech
Expansion Chair/Board of Directors

Asian Pride Project
Narrative Consultant

PlayMada Games | BrainPOP
Game Designer/Producer

Creativity, Inc.
Game Designer/Producer

Theatre Rice: Asian American Theater | UC Berkeley
Cast & Crew

misc.

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