Director Jessica Yu buzzes in to chat about BTS (the K-Pop grou) easter eggs, sibling fights, pragmatic parents, chicken facts, and her new film Quiz Lady.
She is an Oscar and Emmy Award-winning filmmaker working in various genres. She was nominated for an Emmy and a DGA Award for “Fosse/Verdon.” The first Asian American woman to direct a network drama pilot, Yu’s series work includes “The Morning Show,” “This is Us,” “Billions,” “Hollywood,” “13 Reasons Why,” “The Affair,” “American Crime,” “Lady Dynamite,” “Grey’s Anatomy,” and “The West Wing.” She also directed Maria Bamford’s Netflix special, “Old Baby.” She recently directed on the Amazon series, “Citadel” and the premiere episode of the current season of “American Horror Story.”
In the original film, a brilliant but tightly wound, gameshow-obsessed young woman, Anne (Awkwafina), and her estranged, train-wreck of a sister Jenny (Sandra Oh), must work together to help cover their mother’s gambling debts. When Anne’s beloved dog is kidnapped, they set out on a wild, cross-country trek to get the cash the only way they know how: by turning Anne into a bona fide gameshow champion. The movie, which also stars Jason Schwartzman, Holland Taylor, Tony Hale, and Will Ferrell, is directed by Jessica Yu, written by Jen D’Angelo, and produced by Will Ferrell, Jessica Elbaum, Maggie Haskins, Itay Reiss, Jen D’Angelo, Awkwafina, and Sandra Oh, with Alex Brown and Erika Hampson serving as executive producers.