Tiffany Whitney Chang
You moved from Hong Kong to LA at an early age, and then onto London to begin your career. What is your earliest memory of wanting to be a filmmaker?
Despite growing up across two of the world’s movie capitals, I didn’t care much about film until later in life. My mom studied film as an adult student when I was a kid, so my early association with filmmaking was of late nights and hard work.
What I actually loved was reading. I was the kid getting caught with a book under the table because I couldn’t put it down. Stories felt visceral to me.
I think it was watching something like Amélie that changed it for me. I remember thinking that watching a film was like seeing a projection of the inside of someone’s head – and that filmmaking was the attempt of recreating those images and feelings you get from reading into reality. Turning something private into something you could share.
And when that clicked, it was like – oh. That’s what makes all the hard work worth it.
Stir, short film
It can be hard to balance serious subject matter with humour, but you did it brilliantly in your short film Stir. What inspired you to make it, and what did that process look like?
I wanted to see if narrative filmmaking was all it was cracked up to be. The answer turned out to be yes, but be ready to message strange men on Facebook asking if you can borrow their pet rat.
The film went on to win the BFI Future Film Award in 2024. How did that experience help shape your creative path to date?
I’m sure accolades are extremely validating in a director’s bio. But to be completely honest the bigger takeaway for me was getting to meet active international filmmakers my own age. It was really validating to feel like we were all moving together and that we might run into each other down the line if we all just kept going.
Vivo Barefoot – Weird More
Your new ad for Vivo Barefoot is set in the rainforest, and features a lot of fun puppet work. How was it working alongside Robert Tygner and Claudia Brugnaletti, who performed and created the puppets respectively, on this project?
The tech recce was the first time I saw Claudia’s snail finished in person, after months of emails back and forth about stuff like “how big should his left eyeball be” and “is this the right shade of leaf goo around his mouth”. We took him out of his Tupperware case, and Robert and his assistant Nico picked up the rods and just started figuring him out. Even at that early stage, it completely blew me away how much life they breathed into this thing that was once an idea. It was amazing to witness.
You’re part of DROOL, alongside a small roster of fellow directors. What drew you to DROOL, and how has it helped shape your work and plans for the future?
Freddie and Genevieve have incredibly high standards and are also just great fun to be around – and that sets the tone for DROOL as a whole. It’s a supportive, ego-less group where everyone’s sharing ideas and helping each other get better. We all have different styles and voices so it’s really valuable to be able to draw on their perspectives.
Cyber Aware commercial
What is the one project you’d love to make that you can’t get out of your mind?
I am a ride-or-die Stephen Chow fanboy. Is it a genius, impeccably-crafted parody of multiple genres across countries and cultures? Yes. Is it also the dumbest thing you’ve ever seen? Ohhh yeah.
I’d love the license to make anything a fraction as joyful and ridiculous and get away with it. For manifestation’s sake I will admit my secret agenda involves launching a ragdoll out of a cannon and pretending it’s a human person.
See How They Made Vivo Barefoot – Weird More here
