Cool Variety article about Justin Lin - Director

Love or hate the "Fast and the Furious" films, personally, I didn't start to like them until the fifth movie, but there is no denying how nice this story is.

Variety recently wrote an article about Justin Lin, the man behind over half of the F&F franchise and other under-the-radar movies. He was someone who didn't completely change the scope of movies nor have a significant impact, but very carefully and was very subtle about bringing Asian-American actors to a better aspect of the story. They are now part of the team and they get the girl. They aren't weighed down by their heritage. They are three dimensional, have flaws, have weaknesses, have strengths and ultimately follow through. 

It's very inspiring to read articles such as this. I may even be able to follow in his footsteps. I may even be able to work with him. Stories like this always give me hope that I truly have a fighting chance to be where I want to be if I can unleash my passion. 

Read some of the highlights of the article below! Click on the pictures for the full story.

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Lin was still enrolled at UCLA when the first “Fast and the Furious,” directed by Rob Cohen, hit theaters in 2001. He remembers excitedly going to see it, having recently learned about the subculture of illegal street racing from a documentary made by some fellow students. He was particularly intrigued by the preponderance of Asian-American drivers, who would race their heavily modified imports against American-made muscle cars in a show of ethnic pride. But he was disappointed that in the debut picture “the only Asian-Americans are the bad guys.”

He was similarly unimpressed four years later when Universal’s then chairwoman Stacy Snider approached him about directing the third “Fast” movie, subtitled “Tokyo Drift.” At the time, Lin was still hot from his 2002 breakout Sundance hit “Better Luck Tomorrow” and had just wrapped his first studio movie, the Disney military drama “Annapolis.” Meanwhile, the “Fast” series seemed to be running on fumes. A 2003 sequel, “2 Fast 2 Furious,” had cost double the original film’s $38 million budget, but only slightly surpassed the former’s $207 million global gross. Star Vin Diesel and Cohen had both jumped ship after the first movie. And now Snider, producer Neal Moritz and screenwriter Chris Morgan were proposing a stand-alone installment minus the original characters, set in Tokyo and focused on the titular “drift” racing, in which competitors steer and brake their way around hairpin turns in an elegant gliding motion.

But the first script Lin read was “all cars drifting around Buddha statues and geisha girls,” so he passed. Which only made the studio want him more.