Charles Yu is a reformed attorney whose passion for creative writing landed him a job in the writers’ room at HBO’s Westworld. That snowballed into more and more television writing jobs. But after the 2016 Presidential Election, Yu was compelled to begin a more personal writing project, the novel Interior Chinatown, a book written in screenplay format that follows an Asian-American actor with bigger aspirations than the stereotyped bit roles he often landed.
Join Amy Dotson, the Director of the Northwest Film Center, in a conversation with Yu that took place not even 24 hours after he won the National Book Award in Fiction for Interior Chinatown, which will soon be adapted by Yu for a new Hulu series. This interview was conducted virtually during one of the Film Center’s regular Zoom Happy Hours on November 20, 2020.
This program was a partnership with Literary Arts, as part of their 2020 Portland Book Festival.
Featured in this episode:
Amy Dotson – Director, Northwest Film Center
Charles Yu – Author & Screenwriter
Mentioned in this episode:
nwfilm.org
Drive-in at Zidell Yards
Venice VR Expanded 2020
Westworld
Legion
Interior Chinatown
National Book Awards
Roxane Gay
How to Live Safely in a Science Fictional Universe
The Heathman Hotel
Margaret Atwood
Ursula K. Le Guin
Courier
Jay Kirk
Houghton Mifflin Harcourt
Alan Ball
Six Feet Under
Here and Now
True Blood
Jim Gavin
Middle Men Stories
The Best of Me by David Sedaris
Atlanta
Fleabag
ARG
Oregon Film
Produced by Jon Richardson
Music by Mark Orton
Want to submit an idea for a future episode of the podcast? Fill out the form at pam.to/podcastidea – if your idea fits within the scope of the Museum’s mission, we can work together to bring it to life.
A transcript of this episode can be found at portlandartmuseum.org/podcast
Interested in learning more about Portland Art Museum and Northwest Film Center’s exhibitions and programs? Visit portlandartmuseum.org or nwfilm.org and follow us on social media:
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