Director Jon M. Chu was the opening keynote at Connected Creativity. He gives an interesting overview of his filmmaking career. Although his name was attached to various projects early on, his big break was when he did “The Biggest Online Dance Battle in YouTube History.” From his experience with the ACDC vs M&M Cru and understanding you can control both sides of the storyline, Jon M. Chu developed the LXD series. Before the full series was developed, he had to scrap together some proof of concept videos to see that would happen. Although he has no dance background, Jon was able to learn and create something unique. Listen to his perspectives on how dance and film work together to tell a story.

In addition to camera work, the director delves into how technology is changing the way filmmakers interact with fans. He talks about using twitter, reacting to fans requests, getting fans involved in the project, and delivering products that fans want. With the Internet, anyone has the ability to create compelling stories and get it to “pop”. It’s a fascinating discussion on his groundbreaking work in dance & music films.

Director Jon M. Chu’s story doesn’t end there. Recently, it was announced that he will directing the sequel to G.I. Joe. Here’s what he stated on twitter:

My whole life I have been obsessed w/action figures. I collected them, I played with them. They made my childhood a giant crazy, fun world. From HeMan, to TMNT, to MASK, to goBots, to Voltron, to WWF figurines to M.U.S.C.LE. men…these were the things that trained my imagination. I am convinced I feel in love with storytelling because of my week long adventures with my toys… in the trees, on the slide, in the pool..&my favorite of these toys were my G.I. Joes. Snake, Storm, Duke, Barbecue Cobra Bazooka..when I hear those names I can taste my childhood. So I feel humbled and blessed to be joining forces with Paramount and Hasbro in a new adventure that i would love for all of u to join me o

You can read more about Jon M. Chu and his thoughts on G.I. Joe 2 here. As he states in the interview “Do Not Let My Inexperience Be The Thing That Holds This Movie Back”.

Director Jon M. Chu keynote at Connected Creativity