TRISTAN MARLEY LAI
> ABOUT: I am a Chinese-Filipino American film director & producer working in Los Angeles. My genre of music videos, short films, commercials, and video art. One of my dreams is getting to make a feature film and seeing it at my local theater with my friends and family.

> AUTOBIOGRAPHY:
I grew up in Pomona, Alhambra, Las Vegas, and West Covina. My favorite pastime as a child was obsessing over a movie and re-watching them over and over again. In high school, I joined wrestling and yearbook. The aspect of photography and video-making in Yearbook class overtook my athletic desires and shot me down a path of visual art-making in Citrus Community College. Working as a Barista/Manager at the Bagelry Covina let me learn the ways of customer service, waking up early, and the hard work was able to allow me to afford camera equipment and to travel Europe. When I quit my job, I used my savings to travel to Barcelona, Rome, and Paris. During my travels, my lust to capture the world felt invigorating enough to push me to go to film school at Art Center College of Design in fall of 2020, the beginning of COVID. This was a huge risk and nobody in my family understood what I was pursuing. I originally was aiming to be a director of photography but directing and telling stories seemed to give me more sense of purpose. I aimed to learn as much as I could of every department in filmmaking, and I have gained a lot of experience from starting with nothing. I have directed and produced a wide variety of works that reflect my genres of romanticism, sci-fi, pondering, and surreality. I am invaluable to a production because I know the ins & outs of creating a piece of visual work. Starting from the spark of creativity in the mind, to pre-production, paperwork, production, editing, and delivering.

> WHY RED? Red is the color that flows through my heart.

> A CONSTANTLY UPDATED LIST OF THINGS I LIKE: movies, music, and rolodex.

Résumé




︎MOVIES I’VE BEEN WATCHING:

ALIEN, THE LOBSTER, BILLY ELLIOT, HAPPY TOGETHER, THE DEPARTED, SUBMARINE, PARASITE, PREDATOR, INTERSTELLAR, 2001: A SPACE ODYSSEY, CHILDREN OF MEN, THE REVENANT, IDIOCRACY, ETERNAL SUNSHINE OF A SPOTLESS MIND, HER, STALKER, ERASERHEAD, DRIVE MY CAR, MANCHESTER BY THE SEA, JUNO, THE BIG LEBOWSKI, OFFICE SPACE, THE GRAND BUDAPEST HOTEL, KILL BILL & KILL BILL 2, MELANCHOLY, SUNSHINE, SEVEN SAMURAI, AMORES PERROS, CHUNGKING EXPRESS, A CLOCKWORK ORANGE, THERE WILL BE BLOOD, OLDBOY, GET OUT, MAD MAX FURY ROAD, COME AND SEE, SOLARIS, SNATCH, BRONSON, PUNCH DRUNK LOVE, THE HANGOVER, 28 DAYS LATER, LA HAINE, THE MASTER, THE EVIL DEAD, FULL METAL JACKET, THE WAILING, THE ROYAL TENENBAUMS, WHAT WE DO IN THE SHADOWS, THE FLY, RASHOMON, INDIANA JONES: THE TEMPLE OF DOOM, THE LIGHTHOUSE, TOUCH OF EVIL, STRANGER THAN PARADISE, DOGTOOTH, TANGERINE, LA LA LAND, THEY LIVE, SHIN GODZILLA, INTERVIEW WITH A VAMPIRE, THE TRUMAN SHOW, LADY BIRD, EX MACHINA, PROBLEMISTA, 


︎MUSIC I LISTEN TO:

INTERPOL, CRYSTAL CASTLES, THE DRUMS, VAMPIRE WEEKEND, BRUTALISMUS 3000, DEBUSSY, THE STROKES, TAME IMPALA, GORILLAZ, THE CLASH, MILES DAVIS, LOU REED, DAVID BOWIE, KING KRULE, DEAN BLUNT, AZAELIA BANKS, HOT CHIP, DAFT PUNK, NINE INCH NAILS, ACDC, THE GARDEN, MAC DEMARCO, YVES TUMOR, SLOWTHAI, 11AI, TV GIRL, TANUKICHAN, JULIE, ROYAL BLOOD, PROVOKER, DILLY DALLY, YEAH YEAH YEAHS, LOCAL NATIVES , ALT-J, IDLES, ARCADE FIRE, JOJI, FUTURE NOBODIES, AIR, JOHN WASSON, BEACH HOUSE, THE XX, PHOENIX, PRAYERS, THE NOTATIONS, THE KNIFE, JUSTICE, COSMO PYKE, BLACK POOL, TRIATHALON, THE KILLERS, TEARS FOR FEARS, HOMESHAKE, FLUME, M83, CHICANO BATMAN, FRENCH KICKS, JAKE BUGG, ALEX BUREY, MICA, SINNERELLA, ARCTIC MONKEYS, MOSES GUNN COLLECTIVE, VUNDABAR, JAMIE XX, DETROIT IN EFFECT, MIA, THE STONE ROSES 


︎ ROLODEX 


*click on name for contact.



CREATIVE DIRECTORS
GENESIS DELEON
ESLY MAH
VERA TABUNOVA

EDITORS:


SAM SCHOFIELD

FIRST ASSISTANT DIRECTORS: