Film Courage: You're moving to LA, you've just done this Woody Allen film, you've gone to the Cannes Film Festival,
where did you envision your career going once you kind of like got your footing
here in LA? Did you have this image of how you were gonna be booking work and going on auditions?
Or different things? Barney Cheng, Screenwriter/Actor/Director: So I was really naive right like I thought I thought
that whole bunch you had a feature film a substantial part on my feature film
great reviews you're just gonna be offer parts and you were just gonna be you
know keep going obviously things think things didn't turn out you know as I
expected it was so naive so again like every time you work every time you had a
chance to showcase your talent after that you either have to capitalize on
that opportunity or that visibility's to sort of eventually dissipate fades away
I wasn't able to capture I wasn't able to maintain a moment momentum so so yeah
again that was one of the reason why I wanted to create my own project and and
start writing and making films and just telling my own stories as an artist yeah
so you enrolled it UCLA did you did was it for another four-year program or
these are just very professional screenwriting program oh okay
so I I think it took me two years to finish the program yeah and then I fell
in love with writing I never thought I could write you know but having gone
through the program I was I learned about structure about character a little
bit all the stuff that that we need to be working on as a screenwriter how to
tell a story how to conflicts and all this stuff and so yeah I fell in love
with the process I fell in love with the process writing is one of those things
you can do every day even in your pajamas acting you have to be given the
opportunity right so so yeah so I write every day I love it I love the process
so when you were sitting in class and UCLA whether they were night classes or
whatever were you ever like going back to the time when you were at Stanford
being like wait a minute here I had this one sort of idea
what maybe where my life would be going and now I'm in these classes at UCLA
studying scream because you were a Poli Sci major whereas a major I think life
is really unpredictable I think lives this evolves different
things happen to your life I think I just I knew what I what I needed to work
on I knew the challenges that we're facing
me and I guess I just did what what's not right for me so I just started
taking classes never expected that I would be writing again I I didn't feel
like I could write I never felt like that to express myself in a very
artistic way political science is one of those things that's very rational it
uses your left side of the brain right so a being after and writing crafting
stories it's very very right brain kind of activity so I never even mentioned
myself as an artist until I started writing so yeah it was very very it's a
sieve life's just evolved and you just sort of accepted it and took the
opportunities and just went with it so yeah at what point during the the
two-year class the screen writing courses did you actually start on a full
screenplay when did they have you do that so you said you're working on let
me think I I think probably I mean even the first class here you were working on
our wine first class or sort of like developing an idea why maybe like it
maybe like you didn't maybe you don't finish the first screenplay the first
quarter or and then eventually the second quarter you finish it I don't
remember but yeah it was always the the idea to develop the concept and
eventually writing and finishing your first draft it was all you were you were
always working toward that goal in the process yeah but when he finished it
when I finished my first green plate I will say I felt so proud it was like it
was the hardest thing I've done and I I mean it wasn't good but it but
you know but I felt proud of it what was it I don't remember let me
think I think it was about this New Yorker who
raised a monkey in his apartment and how he was emotionally devoid or disabled so
he was relying on this monkey to thrive therefore he he raises monkey in this
tiny little apartment in New York City I think that was the concept it's been a
long time they feel a while okay yeah it was part of the class to read you get
feedback from student from other fellow students yeah yeah absolutely my teacher
it's - yeah you learn a lot from you from your classmates - yeah yeah I know
from just taking a few writing classes the thing I learned was like how many
incredible writers are like whatever I thought I did was great I would hear
other people be like oh my goodness that's so amazing but you don't want to
be from the class was and this is really helpful for me as a writer as a
filmmaker is to really take criticisms be able to do that and be able to be
wise enough to know what feedbacks - to take what advice - to take and what
advice from people to discard and just be able to know that and be able and
sometimes feedback from people it gives you it makes you discover things you
never considered before or things that are not clear to you to them so
therefore it's not clear so you just have to fix it whatever it is you know
so I was able to like learn how to take notes graciously and wisely so that was
very important that's interesting so how could you tell when somebody was trying
to be helpful rather than someone that was actually just like I'm gonna trash
this guy's work kind of thing so you have to be like both on your left and
right brain rationally look at what they're saying without getting without
your ego getting the way of what they're saying rash sauce is to
analyze okay so this note rationally is he or she right don't take away the ego
right don't say oh my god I don't like this person will ever take that away it
says rationally analyze it and think about it so so definitely use that part
of the rational part of your brain but once you trust a note then you have to
use the look right side of a brain to say okay now how do I come with this
solution so that's the so left side on the right side that's how you how they
work together to to take a note constructive notes so I mean rationally
if you know that this person is there to sabotage your work just rationally
looking at the notes and it makes no sense
I'm just discarded that they're you it makes it seem very rational about when
when you receive a note and when you solve the prop so I just solve the
problem use the right side of your brain interesting okay I mean I think people
aren't intuitive and smart enough to know just you know trust your instinct
and don't let your ego get in the way you know what's the goal at the end of
the class to end up making a feature film or know it was strictly just to
keep just holding your craft right this is a Kree screenwriting class and so
after that I started making short films I directed I think five short films and
also we really helped to be on set as an actor so I know what what's involved in
filmmaking so directing short films being an actor
on set really helped me to prepare me for eventually making a feature film
when you were in this two-year screenwriting course at UCLA was your
plan to put acting on the backburner and stop auditioning while you learned
writing or something different I never saw writing and acting as contradictory
disciplines or endeavors I think they complement one another so when I was
taking classes at UCLA I was also auditioning and working and and I even
had a part-time job of working at a law firm a night so I never really saw
I think these I these endeavors and goals or complementary of each other
yeah as an actor it helped me how to write as a writer helps me help me as an
actor on like how to analyze the character and stuff like that so it's
very very related and yeah the classes I never really had any conflict in terms
of auditioning working or classes and if there were I don't remember there were
that many you would just sort of work it out would you a paralegal a night time
yeah oh yeah yeah I Century City oh wow okay so you were reviewing cases and
helping out you know I was helping out with whatever needed to to all the
attorneys I needed to get things done but honestly most attorneys like left
after 6:30 I was myself working my own project writing and you know I've worked
a lot for 35 I like to say that these active law firms they subsidize my
artistic endeavors that's actually probably because some of its actually
interesting because it's you are using this like critical thinking part of your
brain and sort of problem solving and stuff so um so interesting so you're
doing you're using that side and then you're going to the screen writing and
acting which is a difference so you're giving yourself a break I think it's
good to to exercise both part of parts of your brain
you