Today we’d like to introduce you to Andrew Oh.
Every artist has a unique story. Can you briefly walk us through yours?
I lost my mind about eight years ago and decided I wanted to make movies. The three offenders were “There Will Be Blood,” “Letters from Iwo Jima,” and “The Good, The Bad, and The Ugly.” We were only at my great uncle’s beach house for a few days, but it was enough time to become captivated by these films and set myself on a career path that I have yet to abandon.
From there, things happened. I enrolled at Southern Methodist University because they had a film program; it was also the only college I was accepted to. I made some movies, made some friends. After I graduated, I directed my first feature-length film “The Book of Job.” Right now, I’m writing jokes, babysitting, and making popcorn at the Angelika Film Center.
Please tell us about your art.
I am a writer and director, and I would classify my films as metamodern.
Metamodernism originates from a postmodern landscape: the blending of fact and fiction, the glut of rehashes and reboots, and a generally dour and cynical outlook on the world today. But all is not lost! You can choose to take a stand, to do good and uphold your beliefs, even if things ultimately never get better. It’s a return to romanticism without the Pollyanna or naïveté. In this time, it is especially vital for artists to thrive and create, to reflect our troubling milieu and fashion whatever semblance of hope that we can. My films tend to express a bittersweet sentiment, possessing an ostensibly “happy” ending, but complicating it with ambiguity and lack of resolution.
The film I’m working on now (“The Book of Job”) is a high school coming-of-age comedy about a hopeless romantic who falls in love with a girl and mimics her boyfriend to try and win her over. Its premise is grounded in a classic love triangle and explores the similar themes of identity that you’d expect from a film about adolescents, but also incorporates faith and sexuality in the modern era. Everything is “resolved” by the end, but the film doesn’t answer all the questions; my hope, for this film and others, is that the audience tries to answer those questions for themselves.
What do you think is the biggest challenge facing artists today?
Exposure. The internet is great, and all, but the amount of content that is readily available to us is ridiculous. How to rise above it all? That is the question. Certainly, there are a few tried-and-true steps you can take to help bring attention to your work, but the digital world is so fickle that every artist’s journey will be different – and that’s not too reassuring.
How or where can people see your work? How can people support your work?
Almost every video I’ve made since high school can be found on YouTube: www.youtube.com/channel/UCxRt3N_I03kWdxq9Pb5iMtA/videos
“The Book of Job” is currently in postproduction. You can support it by visiting our website, following us on social media, or making a donation.
www.thebookofjobmovie.com
www.facebook.com/TheBookofJobMovie
www.instagram.com/thebookofjobmovie
www.indiegogo.com/projects/the-book-of-job-feature-film#
Contact Info:
- Email: andrewoh7996@gmail.com
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/andrew.oh.733
Image Credit:
Images provided by Andrew Oh and The Book of Job
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