From STORYHIVE Beginnings to Award-Winning Success: Jerome Yoo, Writer/Director of "Mongrels," Shines Bright

While many filmmakers dream of creating magic on screen from a young age, Vancouver’s Jerome Yoo fell into the art while on a break from his studies at the University of British Columbia. The budding auteur teamed up with a close knit group of friends to pitch a short film idea in the 2018 STORYHIVE Digital Shorts Edition—which became the multiple-award-winning Gong Ju that kicked off his career. Now, six years later, Jerome has debuted his first feature film, Mongrels, at the 2024 Vancouver International Film Festival, earning the festival’s HORIZON Award, presented to an emerging Canadian filmmaker. Since the initial support of TELUS STORYHIVE, Jerome continues to explore personal themes of identity, culture and belonging through film.

We talk to the STORYHIVE blog’s first-ever cover star about reflections on his journey, the lessons learned, the importance of having a community of like-minded creatives and his passion for storytelling.

STORYHIVE: It looks like you fell in love with film and television from a young age—whether it was performing, voice acting or creating your own films. Can you tell us more about that journey?

Jerome Yoo: Film and television stirred my imagination and expanded my horizons growing up. I recall a stigma about it being bad to consume too much visual media as a young child, my parents even warning me that I'll go blind if I watch too much. Reading books was encouraged, but I found it really difficult to sit down and be absorbed by the story when I had to imagine every little thing. I suppose that imagination is the equivalent of having a vision, but I just felt too lazy sometimes to fire up my creative brain and consuming stories through film and TV left me with far more profound lessons than books as it's guided storytelling where visual, sound and music is far more controlled for the audience's consumption. 

Naturally my love for the medium led me to wonder how actors got their jobs, but I never thought it to be a feasible job to even dream about for the everyday person. I was never involved with the arts growing up as I never even considered it to be an option for me. It was a sudden decision to take a break from my studies at the University of British Columbia that led me to exploring theatre and performing arts, which fortunately led to signing with a local talent agent to get my foot in the door for auditions.

SH: What made you want to start creating films?

JY: Honestly, it was a serendipitous circumstance that led me to make films, it was never part of my plan to pursue filmmaking. I was fortunate to be part of a creative group of folks, which includes Lawrence Le Lam, Nach Dudsdeemaytha and Mayumi Yoshida who wanted to challenge themselves and get more involved with the industry we were all so passionate about. We decided to test our luck and apply for STORYHIVE's Digital Shorts Edition in 2018 for funding and with a naive mind I just wrote a script about an idea I was excited by, believing that if it somehow gets funded, a friend will direct it. It ended up getting funded by STORYHIVE, but nobody wanted to direct due to the specific nature of the story, so I was forced to direct after being convinced that all I needed to know to make a film was how to communicate my vision to my head of departments, and work with actors. Despite my fears of not having any filmmaking experience, it was the most creatively fulfilling experience I've had and it lit a fire in me to make more. 

SH: Your short film career kicked off to much fanfare, specifically with Cypher, Gong Ju and Idols Never Die getting many awards! What was the special sauce in creating these films?

JY: I never anticipated Cypher, Gong Ju or Idols Never Die to be received as well as they were. If I think of the three films, the similarities they share is that they are hidden stories, inspired by moments or people from my life as a foundation to be sculpted out for dramatic effect. As Martin Scorsese famously quoted, "What's most personal is the most creative," so almost everything creative starts from within so there's something real to be built from. I also happen to think these films were made with zero expectations, just pure, innocent-minded fun and excitement to bring a story to life in my own voice and colour. We're making movies! That's the giddy childish excitement we should never forget about deep in our soul as we do this. 

SH: Like you mentioned earlier, your short film Gong Ju was funded in the STORYHIVE Digital Shorts Edition. What did you learn from the STORYHIVE program process?

JY: The STORYHIVE program was my first foray into filmmaking so I learned so much through the staff, peers and resources. I had no idea what to expect, however I quickly realized how supportive the team, and community are, as in my mind, I was secretly begging for someone to hold my hand and walk me through the daunting process. I was so fortunate to be paired with my mentor, Josh Epstein, who gave me confidence in my script to explore it without any unnecessary thoughts or filters. The program is heavily invested in setting you up to succeed because the team wants you and your projects to do well. They have wonderful resources and contacts in the industry so don't be afraid to ask as I truly believe the independent film scene in Canada is one of the best in the world. 

SH: What other funding did you look into for your film?

JY: More funding for Gong Ju would have been welcomed, but I don't think there were any options at the time. I pulled what little I had in my bank account to top up the film's budget!

SH: Speaking of Gong Ju, Cypher, and now your feature film that just debuted at VIFF, Mongrels—it seems a big theme here is the immigrant and/or Korean diasporic experience. Why do you feel these stories in particular are so important?

JY: My family migrated to Canada when I was one so I grew up away from my motherland of Korea. I don't think I paid much mind to the small voice inside me that was yearning to reconnect with my culture as I never felt like I had an outlet to express my feelings and thoughts until I discovered filmmaking. I never forced myself to tell stories about identity, immigration and existentialism, I just naturally felt compelled to explore these deep feelings I carried with me all this time and kept hidden to myself. I sometimes feel selfish as I don't pay too much attention to my audience, or what message I'm trying to say with my film since it can all be so subjective. I hope for it to be an experience where the many colours and ideas of the film can quietly land in however the audience is open to at that moment. It's a series of cinematic love letters to my upbringing as a Korean-Canadian here in Canada, and after my first feature film Mongrels, which was hands down the most personal to me, I may move on or take a break. 

SH: Did you find starting out with short films set you up to take on the task of creating a feature film?

JY: Absolutely. Oftentimes on short film projects you're working a small number of days which makes you wish for more. You want that magic to continue, but it's cut short and that's what I was most excited for with feature films is to spend more days [on it]. The biggest difference I found was the sheer amount of time invested in developing the script as well as preparation during pre-production, jumping from 10 pages to 100. Once on set, production days felt familiar just like the short films I worked on in the past, as we were limited by our budget into keeping our shoots scrappy. The big lessons for me here were to get plenty of sleep and beware of working with a crazy combination of dogs and child actors. 

SH: What advice would you have for any content creators taking on their next STORYHIVE project?

JY: I think it's important to have a team that truly loves and supports your creative vision. It helps that everyone is on the same page and honing all that creative energy into the vision you have, but also trusting enough to know that if they make a suggestion that it doesn't have to be a pride or ego thing. I respect the craft and artistry my head of departments bring to the project, so I am always excited to hear what they have in mind. Be respectful, love one another, buy good crafty and have fun bringing that story from script to film. There's nothing else like it!  

Budget will always be an issue at every level so buckle in and don't be afraid to get scrappy (safely). 

SH: What's next for Jerome Yoo—where can we see you next?

JY: I'm trying to learn how to cook better Korean food and develop my next feature film! 

Congratulations to Jerome on his incredible achievements! Stay tuned for next month’s cover star on the STORYHIVE blog.

Interested in getting your own project funded? Save the dates and get your pitches ready for some exciting opportunities coming up for filmmakers, digital content creators and video podcasters. No video production experience is required!