Jon M. Chu

Jonathan Murray Chu (born November 2, 1979) is an American film director, producer, and screenwriter. He is best known as the director of 2018's Crazy Rich Asians, the first film by a major Hollywood studio to feature a majority cast of Asian descent in a modern setting since The Joy Luck Club in 1993. The films that he has directed often include musical elements, including the dance films Step Up 2: The Streets (2008) and Step Up 3D (2010), musicals Jem and the Holograms (2015) and In the Heights (2021), and the live concert films Justin Bieber: Never Say Never (2011) and Justin Bieber's Believe (2013). Chu is an alumnus of the USC School of Cinematic Arts. Early life Chu was born in Palo Alto, California and grew up in nearby Los Altos. He attended Pinewood School from kindergarten through 12th grade. Chu is the youngest of five children. He began making movies in fifth grade, when his mother gifted him a video camera to document their family vacations. Chu instead began making home movies starring his siblings. His mother, Ruth Chu, was born in Taiwan; his father, Lawrence Chu, was born in Sichuan. His family owns the restaurant called Chef Chu's.