Last Updated on March 25, 2023

Jon M. Chu

His birth name is Jonathan Murray Chu. Jon M. Chu is an American filmmaker who is best known for his film directing skills in ‘Step Up 2: The Streets’, ‘Justin Bieber: Never Say Never’, and ‘Step Up 3D’. Jon holds American citizenship and his ethnicity is Chinese.

Jon M. Chu Age

He was born on November 2, 1979, in Palo Alto, California, U.S.A. His Zodiac sign is Scorpio.

Body Measurements Height/Weight

Jon M. Chu has a height of 5 ft. 10 inches and weighs 74 kg. Jon has dark brown eyes and black hair. But, other information regarding his shoe size, dress size, etc. are not available.

Jon M. Chu Parents/Siblings

He was born to mother Ruth Chu(born in Taiwan) and father Lawrence Chu, a famous chef (born in Sichuan). Jon is not a single child in his family as he has four siblings. He grew up playing piano, drums, saxophone, violin, and guitar. His parents helped him to set his career in his choice.

Jon M. Chu Education

He attended Pinewood School and then attended the University of Southern California of Cinema-Television.

Jon M. Chu Professional Life and Career

He made his student short, ‘When the Kids Are Away’ and was signed to William Morris Agency. Later, he was hired by Sony Pictures as a director for ‘Bye Bye Birdie’ but the movie never made it into production due to budget issues.

Photo of Jon

Later, he was called to direct ‘The Great Gatsby’, which was bought by Warner Bros and made into a film starring Leonardo DiCaprio, Carey Mulligan, Joel Edgerton, Jason Clarke, Adelaide Clemens, Tobey Maguire, Callan McAuliffe, Richard Carter, Isla Fisher, Elizabeth Debicki, and many more.

Furthermore, Jon M. Chu has worked as a director, producer, or a writer in ‘Silent Beats’ (2001), and ‘The Legion of Extraordinary Dancers’ (2010-2011), produced ‘Step Up: Revolution’ (2012) and ‘Step Up: All In’ (2012).

Similarly, he is directing the movie ‘In the Heights’ which is to be released on June 26, 2020.  In addition, he is a dancer and is a member of dance crew AC/DC a.k.a.  Adam/Chu Dance Crew.

Jon M. Chu Wife/Children

Jon M. Chu is a married person. He has been married to Kristin Hodge, a graphic designer since July 27, 2018, in Napa Valley. The couple is a blessed with a daughter named Willow Amelia Chu on July 16, 2017. The couple welcomed their daughter before their marriage. The family is currently living together with a pet dog.

Jon M. Chu movies

Below are some of his movies

1. Crazy Rich Asians- 2018
2. Now You See Me 2- 2016
3. Step Up 2: The Streets- 2008
4. Step Up 3D- 2010
5. Jem and the Holograms- 2015
6. Justin Bieber: Never Say Never- 2011
7. Step-Up Revolution- 2012

Jon M. Chu Awards/ Nominations

He was awarded the Princess Grace Award and the Dore Schary Award for his wonderful works.

Jon M. Chu Net Worth/ Salary

He has an estimated net worth of around $16 million and he has earned that sum of money from his professional career. His career has given him not only fame but a huge fortune. He is living a lavish life.

Jon M.Chu Rumors and Controversy

There is a rumor that Jon M. Chu is in the running to helm ‘Star Trek 3’ but the rumor is still to be proved.

Jon M.Chu Rumors Interview

Melissa Hung: The last time we talked, you were location scouting and casting. You were about to go over to Malaysia. I wonder how that process went because I’m thinking about it in terms of other industries, like a business, tech, even journalism. When you tell those industries, “Hey, we need more diversity,” they come back and say, “Oh, it’s really hard. No one applied.”

Jon M. Chu: (laughs)

Or, “We can’t find anyone.” Which is bullshit, right?

Yeah, exactly.

So I’m wondering if you had to push up against anything during casting if it was hard.

It was interesting because we approached it in a different way. We knew that if we did it in a studio from day one, we would be up against the wall. We would not have the power to fight their insecurities—cause it’s all insecurities. They haven’t done it so they don’t know how, so they make up facts about it. So, we developed outside the studio system on our own, brought in Adele [Lim] to write the last draft of the script and get all the things that we wanted in there. And it was the best thing we could have done because we got to push it the way we wanted to. We never had to compromise on anything. We get to just do the vision.

Once we were done, then we budgeted, scouted, put it all together, and then we went to studios and said, “You’re either in or you’re out and you can’t tell us what to do.” So we had cut the option of them using their insecurities to mold how we wanted to cast this movie. And we also said upfront, “The way casting is set up does not give us the number of people that we know is out there. So you’re going to have to spend more money, have more casting directors on more parts of the continent, and it’s going to take more time. So, that’s just what you’re doing when you start with this movie.” The infrastructure hasn’t been there, but that doesn’t mean [the actors] are not there. It means the infrastructure is not built for that because you get the same 10 people on that list every time.

So, we had casting directors in Vancouver, in Hong Kong, in the UK, and Australia and Malaysia and Singapore and Beijing. And we did a thorough search, finding people who weren’t even in the business. We did a YouTube open call, so people who were businessmen and lawyers and doctors and other artists submitted stuff. When you’re starting from the ground up, sometimes you have to think a little outside the box to find the people who should be in the business but may just not have had the opportunity because there were no parts for that.

So you built your own system.

We built our own system and then said, “Are you in or are you out?” And what’s great is that the pressure from the outside world—Twitter, Instagram, whatever it may be—on the studios to find stories told in new points of view than just the regular ones, especially in a romantic comedy [was so great that] by the time we walked into that room they were like, “What do we do?” And we’re like, “We have the solution. Let us show you how to do it.” That’s the importance of representation—not just in front of the camera, but behind the camera and also on the studio side, some executive on the inside to support you on that side. And that’s what we’ve really felt throughout this whole process. It’s clearly our time to do this.

I was wondering about the crew too, did you push for representation there as well?

We shot in Malaysia, and they love locals cause you don’t have to pay for them to live there. So in that way, it’s the most global crew I’ve ever worked with. We have the local Malaysians and the local Singaporeans. So We had people from Croatia, people from the UK. We had people from Australia and some people from the US—and this is just behind the camera. So it was very global. And what’s interesting is the local crews are really not used to big Hollywood movies. So there had to be a little bit of education. But they’re such fast learners; [they] clearly had the eye but again, [are] not necessarily trained in the Hollywood way of how to light things. A lot of them are used to TV dramas. So you have to help guide. But it was great. They picked up pretty quickly and we found some other gems in there that was really amazing. My script supervisor was like, “Yeah I, um, figured out how to be a script super by looking it up on the internet. I train all the script supervisors here because they don’t have enough movies here done in the American system to even know what to do. So I looked it up, figured it out online.” And it was great! She was fantastic! (laughs)

What was it like being on set with all these Asians from the diaspora?

Honestly, going there I was a stupid American. In my mind, I was like, “Oh yeah, they’re from the UK. OK, they’re from Australia. Like, whatever. We’re all like Asian Americans, right?” But when you get there you realize, “Oh there [are] cultural differences.” They’ve gone through their own struggle in the UK and Australia and in Malaysia and Singapore. It’s a very different type of thing. I think it was a great sharing experience between everybody. Even Michelle Yeoh was like, “Oh I didn’t understand the plight of the Asian American.” And [then] she really understood that. And we really understood her point of view—of her strength and where her confidence comes from.

Also, we hired people who do what they do really, really well, which means they’re super confident in what they do. And when you watch the movie, you feel the confidence coming off of the screen. Awkwafina doesn’t care. She is who she is. Ronnie Chieng is who he is. Jimmy Yang is who he is. Gemma [Chan] is such a force. Constance [Wu] is a force, even though in the movie she plays someone who’s finding her way.

I think what I love most about the movie is that no one’s apologizing to be who they are. I didn’t understand that that’s what I was missing when I watched Asians on the big screen who are in contemporary settings—that kind of confidence that doesn’t have to try to be anything else other than who they are in wherever they may be. And yeah, maybe one has an English accent and people may not be used to that. And some have other accents. Some other people are crisscrossing Cantonese and Mandarin. And there’s no explanation. It just is because that’s what actually happens. So I think that was the lesson for me, just being OK with all that and being, “Yeah, that’s the way it should feel.”

We actually got—when we did a test screening—we had some guy of friends and family who said, “I’m really surprised that English is the first language. You guys need to explain why.”

Explain why it’s the first language spoken in the film?

Well, just that they speak English so well. English seems to be their first language. And we’re like, “Cause it’s Singapore. And that’s what Singapore is.” And so there was a big discussion. Are people are going to have that question? You know, Americans that may not know this stuff—do we need to explain that? And I was really resistant to explaining, “Oh, well they went to British schools and this person went to this school. That’s why they speak English here.” Why do we have to explain that? When an audience goes to see the movie, I want the stupid guy to say that to his friends, and his friends rip him for saying that. Then they will never forget that for the rest of their life. If we give fake excuses for why they speak English, then [they] will think that’s the only reason why they speak English. And then nobody will have that discussion. And I think that would be a missed opportunity for us. So, we don’t explain. We don’t ever give some sort of reason. It just is because that’s what it is. I don’t know how else to explain it to people.

We have such a strong box that we put Asians in here, even myself before. And so to kick the tires on all the things that have infiltrated our brains from a culture growing up here is very enlightening and surprising.

One thing I was thinking about was how Crazy Rich Asians is such a global cast. But Asian America is also very small like I can think of how many degrees I am separated from you. So, how does it feel to you personally to make this film when you know so many people in the community here?

The network has been insane. I guess I didn’t understand how close everyone really is, especially apparently to my father and my mother (laughs) who have a restaurant here for 50 years. And people are like, “Oh, my mom plays golf with your mom,” or “Oh, we’ve eaten at your restaurant.” Those things are bizarre.

When I was growing up in the ’80s and ’90s [as an] Asian American, you think you’re completely alone in this experience. Why are we the only family that feels like we’re going through this? I feel fully 100 percent American and yet I’m not looked at like that. And yet, I also know—because I basically live in a Chinese restaurant—that there’s this other side. But that’s my family. I’m torn between these two words. Why am I the only one that is torn between? And what I realized years later is so many people were going through this exact same experience in their own towns.

I think the younger generation—and who knows, I think with the internet and the world getting smaller in that way—maybe they don’t feel as much like that. And that is the crack that the light is coming in on, and that’s why we’re able to change this perception. Also, this first generation of Asian Americans is coming into places of power where I can actually decide to make a movie like this. And there happens to be an executive, an Asian American executive [Kevin Tsujihara], in that power position to help me make that. And there are journalists who are also Asian Americans who want to write about it. There are audience members who have been looking for a movie like this. I think it’s like a flower blooming. Unfortunately, it took a while, but the time was now to bring the experience up to the world.