Sometimes, following your unique dreams can lead you to win unexpected rewards in coveted places.
At least, this was the case for the Chinese-born writer-directorWendi Tang.
However, things take an unexpected turn when she meets a fish enthusiast.
Tiffany Chu in FishtankWendi Tang
What do you think has changed for yourself as a filmmaker since then and now?
I just wrote the story.
I dreamt of the idea and the image in my mind and wrote it down the second day.
Wendi Tang
I have two sides of myself.
One is very idealistic, the other is very practical.
The practical side kept telling me this is too absurd, too weird, too odd.
Do you think people are going to like it?
And the other side was like, I dont give a fuck.
Im going to submit it and then see if it gets any attention.
So, when the time came and I won, I just cried and cried.
It was super unexpected.
It was an unforgettable experience.
I got to talk to a lot of great female filmmakers about this program and their own experiences.
This made me more confident in the story that I was telling.
DEADLINE: How did you end up in filmmaking?
Were your parents creative?
Where do you think you got your creative filmmaking ambitions from?
Im the first in the family who wanted to do that.
We would drift away from the storyline, and wed explore some other possibilities.
It was really fun.
So, I think that was my first initial directorial experience.
They were always telling me, Youve got to be able to support yourself.
We cant be with you forever, and so I was just like, OK.
So, I think that was the moment I decided that I wanted the chance to go into filmmaking.
Also, I didnt know if I could be a director during this time.
Because that was the time I started learning what directors actually do.
I have a lot of directors that I admire.
The more I learned about the process, the more I became hesitant.
So, I got the idea that perhaps I should go to the States.
How are you going to do that?
And I was like, I dont know, but I Googled it.
It was a completely personal feeling.
Thats why I decided to apply to NYU, Tisch School of the Arts.
It was not an easy process, but Im glad I got in.
During college, I did end up getting two degrees, one in filmmaking and the other in business.
DEADLINE:Fishtankhas a very unique premise.
Where did this idea come from?
TANG:The idea came from two different aspects.
The most direct inspiration was the image from my dreams.
I dream very wildly.
I dont know how or why my mind is capable of doing that.
I probably should see a therapist.
I have those really wild, imaginative dreams.
This woke me up, and I was like, What was that?
But days after that, at least a week or two, I just kept thinking about that image.
This drew me back to the memory where I had my first goldfish when I was a kid.
I wasnt allowed to have furry animals as pets because my parents didnt like them.
So, they were like, Oh, you’re able to get a goldfish.
I was like, Great, and I got a goldfish.
In many Asian cultures, they represent luck and prosperity.
I was trapped below the glass ceiling.
Sometimes, it just gave me that feeling.
Why explore the complex female narrative this way?
TANG:We as women have different desires.
And sometimes those desires are in conflict.
For example, Jules wants connection with people and to put her life back on track.
Those two wants, sometimes theyre in conflict.
Humans dont just take one objective and keep at it from the start to the end.
Sometimes, you have other thoughts that add to your desire and might complicate the whole situation.
I remember growing up, I watched a lot of TV and movies.
The one question I had was, why are the characters that I liked, mostly male?
They are allowed to have those very complicated intentions.
Sometimes, they break their own words and explore different things.
But I dont see it enough in female characters yet.
And I think all female characters deserve the same, if not more.
DEADLINE: How did the act of getting the fish and working with the fish come together?
So, we had some silicon fish made that were mouth-safe.
We worked with a fish wrangler named Mark [Weitz] in Hollywood.
We learned a lot from him about how much each key in of fish can endure.
TANG:Yeah, theyre very strong and feisty fish.
Each take went about 10 seconds, so it was fine, we only did two or three takes.
No fish were harmed in the making of this film.
I just want to put that out here [laughs].
DEADLINE: What would you like audiences to take away fromFishtank?
TANG:There are two sides to this answer.
One is that I dont want them to feel too comfortable walking away from the movie.
I want it to have some influence on them.
Whatever group youre in, you are part of the power dynamic.
Either on the higher side or the lower side, youre in that dynamic.
I want them to know that were a part of it.
We just cant opt-out.
If youre a woman you would know that Im talking about through the film.
The things that we need to break.
Youre part of it, youre part of it, and you have to acknowledge that.
DEADLINE: Whats next for you?
Anything coming up that you want to talk about?
TANG:I am working on two things right now.
One is the feature film ofFishtank; Im already working on the second draft.
I just feel like theres a lot of stories left untold, because of the length of the short.
So, I really want to have the time and the feature film to really fully explore this character.
Aside from that, Im also working on another short that were shooting in January in New York City.
Its a love letter that I wrote to the city because I spent seven years over there.
It encapsulated a lot of my personal experiences and fleeting thoughts about the city.
