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Biography

Tony Lam is a freelance producer, independent filmmaker and screenwriter, who lives in Los Angeles, California.

Tony produces OUR ROLE MODELS for LA18, the largest Asian language TV station in the United States. OUR ROLE MODELS, sponsored by McDonalds and Toyota, honors outstanding and talented Asians and Asian Americans who have made an important difference in the community and beyond. Through the program, Tony has interviewed over 100 outstanding leaders and talents in the Asian American community.

In 2006 and 2007, Tony served on the Mayor's Steering Committee for Asian Pacific Islander American Heritage Month (APAHM), and produced two APAHM public service announcements with Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa.

Tony has directed a documentary, VINCENT WHO, on the story and legacy of Vincent Chin.  He has written, directed, and produced two short films, BIRTHDAY PARTY and DING DONG. He has also worked on numerous short film and digital video projects, including producing the action short, SAFE, and the comedy, 10,000 APOLOGIES TO MY ANCESTORS. The first screenplay Tony ever wrote, PABLO NERUDA LEMONS, won the Finalist Award at the Moondance International Film Festival, one of the premiere festivals for screenwriting.**

After graduating valedictorian of his high school, Tony went on to study literature and history at Georgetown University, where he graduated magna cum laude and Phi Beta Kappa with honors in both majors. Tony also has two Masters degrees from Yale and the University of Michigan, in East Asian Studies and Asian History, respectively. He has received over a dozen merit scholarships and awards, including a full-tuition scholarship at Yale, the Andrew W. Mellon Fellowship, and the Foreign Language and Area Studies Fellowship (a rare three-time recipient in three separate languages).

Tony loves to travel and discover new adventures, whether it’s swimming with 400 wild dolphins off the coast of New Zealand, hitchhiking in the hill towns of Tuscany, or touring Japan during the lovely cherry blossom season. He has visited many countries—nearly 200 cities, towns, and villages in the world. Most notably, he spent three years in Hong Kong on the internationally prestigious Fulbright Scholarship, and one year in Taiwan on scholarship from the Republic of China Ministry of Education. Less notable but no less memorable, Tony fondly recalls his last day backpacking through Europe. He had completely run out of money and had no place to stay in Paris, so he spent the night under the glorious Eiffel Tower.

In 1997, Tony's life became the subject of a documentary called MOVING POPULATION: NEW GOLD MOUNTAIN, produced by Radio Television Hong Kong (RTHK), filmed in three countries, and broadcast primetime in Hong Kong, Southern China, and Macau. This experience gave Tony his first exposure to the fascinating craft of filmmaking.

Professionally, Tony has a self-taught background in technology.  Learning as he went along, Tony served as Systems Administrator at Deloitte & Touche, where he led the tactical overhaul of all computer hardware, software, and network systems. He also served as Manager of the Multimedia Technology Lab at the University of Michigan. In 1999, he packed up his car on a whim, a wing and a prayer, and drove across the country from Florida to California to partake in the "Wild West" days of the Internet Boom. Starting out initially with no prospects, Tony eventually landed a job as a research analyst at Quisic, an e-learning company, where he was soon promoted to Project Manager. In 2001, Tony decided to try his own hand as an internet entrepreneur, starting and operating his own online marketing business.

A few years later, Tony reached a point in his life where he did some deep soul-searching, asking himself what profession would make him truly happy and fulfilled. As part of that soul-searching process, Tony came across an interview with the great Hollywood film editor, Walter Murch. Murch said that one’s chances for happiness are increased if they end up doing something that reflected what they loved most when they were somewhere between 9 and 11 years old. And when Tony looked back to when he was between 9 and 11 years old, he had an epiphany, for that was precisely the most creative and imaginative period of his life, when he was blissfully immersed in a world of storytelling. Tony then made his next big leap of faith, dropping everything in his life to pursue a full-time career in film and media, and in essence, returning to his childhood passion for telling stories.

As a child, Tony’s parents could not afford him the luxury of many toys, so Tony amused himself by constantly writing short stories and plays, making comic books, and creating character-driven fantasy worlds with his brother that existed only in their shared imaginations. So while Tony grew up in a family of modest means, he rarely felt deprived, because his restless imagination kept him richly entertained. Moreover, his parents gave him gifts worth far more than toys. From his parents, Tony inherited a narrative universe.

Often at the evening dinner table, amidst steaming bowls of rice, Tony would listen to his father recite countless classical poems from memory or tell riveting stories that lasted well past dessert. His father depicted episodes from the Chinese classic, THE ROMANCE OF THE THREE KINGDOMS, so vividly Tony could see the heroic battles raging. At other times, his father recounted his own “Indiana Jones” adventures through the turbulent, war-torn decades of twentieth century China, such as the time when sea pirates attacked the steamer he was on, and he stuffed his valuables into a banana to prevent them from being taken.

Tony’s mother had her own stories to tell. She would recollect her coming of age during the first Communist decade in China—the initial excitement, the endless campaigns, and the pain of watching her proud father forced to sweep the streets. And she would recall her determined and harrowing escape to Hong Kong, hidden under the planks of a fishing boat. This environment of constant storytelling formed the webwork of Tony’s young life and fueled his imagination.

Tony hopes to bring all these diverse life experiences to bear on his work as a filmmaker and screenwriter.

** Moondance is considered one of the "best festivals for screenwriting" according to film festival guru, Chris Gore, and rated third "most important film festival in the world" behind Cannes and Sundance in a poll of 150,000 international film industry professionals.