Mynette Louie
Mynette Louie | |
|---|---|
| Born | New York City, New York, United States |
| Occupation | Film producer |
| Years active | 2004—present |
Mynette Louie is an American film producer of Chinese descent. She was nominated for a Primetime Emmy in 2018 for HBO's The Tale, won the 2015 Independent Spirit Awards John Cassavetes Award for Land Ho!, and won the 2013 Independent Spirit Awards Piaget Producers Award.[1] She is a member of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences.
Background
Louie was born in Manhattan, New York to working-class immigrant parents from Hong Kong and China. She was raised in Brooklyn and Honolulu, and graduated from Hunter College High School and Harvard University.[2]
Career
After working in marketing and business development at Time Magazine, Jupiter Communications, and SportsIllustrated.com, Louie learned producing by producing NYU Tisch graduate thesis films, though she did not attend the school.[3]
Louie has premiered seven feature films at the Sundance Film Festival: Jennifer Fox's The Tale starring Laura Dern, Isabelle Nélisse, Ellen Burstyn, Jason Ritter, Elizabeth Debicki, and Common; Christina Choe's Nancy starring Andrea Riseborough, J Smith Cameron, Steve Buscemi, Ann Dowd, and John Leguizamo, Hannah Fidell's "The Long Dumb Road" starring Tony Revolori and Jason Mantzoukas; So Yong Kim's Lovesong starring Riley Keough and Jenna Malone; Martha Stephens & Aaron Katz's Land Ho! starring Paul Eenhoorn (Sundance 2014, Sony Pictures Classics, Spirit Award nominee); Marshall Lewy's California Solo starring Robert Carlyle (Sundance 2012, Strand Releasing); and Tze Chun's Children of Invention starring Cindy Cheung (Sundance 2009).
Her films have also premiered or screened at the Toronto International Film Festival, Venice Critics Week, SXSW, Tribeca Film Festival, Los Angeles Film Festival, Locarno Film Festival, London Film Festival, and Berlin Film Festival.
Her first feature was Andrew Bujalski's critically acclaimed Mutual Appreciation (SXSW 2005), which she co-produced. Louie also produced or executive produced Aaron Katz's Gemini starring Lola Kirke, Zoë Kravitz and John Cho (SXSW 2017, NEON), Hannah Fidell's The Long Dumb Road starring Tony Revolori and Jason Mantzoukas, Sarah Adina Smith's Buster's Mal Heart starring Rami Malek (Toronto 2016), Natalia Garagiola's Temporada de Caza (Hunting Season) (Venice Critics Week 2017, Grand Prize), Lauren Wolkstein & Christopher Radcliff's The Strange Ones (SXSW 2017), Karyn Kusama's The Invitation (SXSW 2015), Jamie Babbit's Addicted to Fresno (SXSW 2015), Patricia Benoit's Stones in the Sun starring Edwidge Danticat (Tribeca 2012, Special Jury Prize, Best Narrative Director), Doug Karr's Art Machine (Woodstock 2012), Ishai Setton's The Kitchen (Gen Art 2012, Closing Night), Olivia Silver's Arcadia starring John Hawkes (Berlin 2012, Crystal Bear Winner), and Tze Chun's Cold Comes the Night starring Alice Eve, Logan Marshall-Green, and Bryan Cranston (Sony/Goldwyn 2014).[4]
Louie previously served as the president of Gamechanger Films, a financing company that invested in women-directed narrative features.[5]
Louie also worked in economic development at the Hawaii Film Office, where she authored the state's refundable production tax credit and oversaw the renovation of the state-owned film studio. She was listed as one of Ted Hope's "21 Brave Thinkers of Truly Free Film" for the distribution strategy of Children of Invention,[6] profiled in Indiewire's "Futures" column[7] and in Crain's New York Business,[8] and named one of Indiewire's "100 Filmmakers to Follow on Twitter."[9] She serves on the Board of Directors of Film Independent, and as an advisor to the Sundance Institute, SXSW, IFP, and A3 Asian American Artists Foundation.
Louie became a member of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences in 2016.
Producing Filmography
- Mutual Appreciation (2006) – Co-Producer
- Children of Invention (2009) – Producer
- California Solo (2012) – Producer
- Arcadia (2012) – Consulting Producer
- Stones in the Sun (2012) – Producer
- The Kitchen (2012) – Executive Producer
- Art Machine (2012) – Producer
- Cold Comes the Night (2014) – Producer, Second Unit Director
- Land Ho! (2014) – Producer
- Addicted to Fresno (2015) - Executive Producer
- The Invitation (2015) – Executive Producer
- Lovesong (2016) - Executive Producer
- Buster's Mal Heart (2016) - Executive Producer
- Gemini (2017) - Producer
- The Strange Ones (2017) - Executive Producer
- Hunting Season (2018) - Co-Producer
- The Tale (2018) - Producer
- Nancy (2018) - Executive Producer
- The Long Dumb Road (2018) - Executive Producer
- Swallow (2019) - Producer
- I Carry You With Me (2020) - Producer
- Black Box (TBA) - Producer
References
- ^ "'Piaget Producers Award Winner Mynette Louie". Film Independent.
- ^ Phil Yu (June 4, 2010). "Angry Reader of the Week: Mynette Louie". Angry Asian Man.
- ^ Araba A. Appiagyei-Dankah (March 2, 2010). "Film Producer Discusses Career Over Dinner". The Harvard Crimson.
- ^ Justin Kroll (November 20, 2012). "Bryan Cranston, Alice Eve board 'Winter' indie". Variety.
- ^ Steven Zeitchik (September 27, 2013). "New movie fund Gamechanger Films is formed to back women directors". Los Angeles Times.
- ^ Ted Hope (December 28, 2009). "21 Great Free Thinkers of Indie Film". The Wrap.
- ^ Eugene Hernandez (April 23, 2010). "FUTURES | "Children of Invention" Producer Mynette Louie". Indiewire.
- ^ Theresa Agovino (January 19, 2014). "A Gamechanger for film biz". Crain's New York.
- ^ "100 Filmmakers to Follow on Twitter". Indiewire. October 30, 2012.