The School of Communication and Arts celebrates the remarkable achievement of recent graduate Derek Yang, whose romantic comedy "The Wing Girl" has been released on Amazon Prime Video—a milestone rarely achieved by emerging filmmakers.
While completing his Bachelor of Secondary Education, Derek's studies in literature and writing within SCA sparked his passion for screenwriting. He wrote his first feature film "The Wing Girl" during the pandemic, utilizing the school's extensive resources to bring his cinematic vision to life. From borrowing professional camera equipment to filming in the TV studio and experimenting with green screen technology, he maximized every opportunity the school provided. The guidance and technical support from the Media Production and Studies (MaPS) team proved instrumental in developing his craft.
"The Wing Girl" has garnered international recognition, screening at ten film festivals including the Oslo International Film Festival and winning Best Comedy at the Clown International Film Festival in Paris. Now teaching at Marsden State High School, Derek continues to pursue his passion for filmmaking, with his latest drama "Violet" which just premiered on Wednesday.
In this personal reflection, Derek shares his journey from SCA student to streaming success, revealing how the school's literature and writing foundation, combined with hands-on media resources, launched his career in an unexpected direction:
In July of 2022, I recall my face strapped to a mask, projecting my raspy voice from the lobby of the Global Change Institute to a group of dancers preparing for a choreographed routine on the balcony. This was just the first filming day for my second film ‘The Wing Girl’. At this point, two problems emerged. 1) It was the first time I had directed a musical number and 2) Little did I know what the scope of a feature film would entail.
Now, this madcap rom-com has found its way onto Amazon Prim
e after being selected into 10 different film festivals, among them a selection at the Oslo International Film Festival, a win at the 2023 Lift-Off Global Network Feature Film category, and more recently, Best Comedy at the Clown International Film Festival in Paris. It is my take on modern dating, which follows the aptly named "Simp” Sonny, who, after finding himself in a dating facility for ‘loners’, relies on nothing but the expert dating tips of Angelica (aka The Wing Girl), an online influencer who is single people’s last hope for survival. Sonny's flirting skills are put to the test when his next match is, as you wouldn’t believe it, the Wing Girl herself.
I never really planned too far in advance in terms of where I see myself in the future. I was still undertaking my Bachelor of Secondary Education over the last two shorts and two features I made, churning through my Maths and English majors. The latter subject may strike many people as an odd combination, but it was partially inspired by how Christopher Nolan undertook literature during his time at UCL. I knew this would be just as instrumental as watching endless films, and it continued to shape my passion for writing, and if anything, qualified me as both a Maths and Film Teacher now at Marsden State High School.
Even when filmmaking can be heartbreaking, I never saw it as hard work. But if it is, it is slowly paying off in unexpected ways, and to use a cinematic term, unscripted.
Over the past year, I got to attend festivals for both ‘The Wing Girl’ and my follow-up short film ‘I Have a Boyfriend’ across the likes of the Young Australian Film Festival in Melbourne, The Gold Coast Film In The Making Festival, The New York Tri-State Film Festival, The Tokyo International Short Film Festival, and the Roma Short Film Festival, on top of seeing my previous feature film launch on a streaming service. The timing of this all took place just in time for the upcoming premiere of ‘Violet’ - a leaner, tighter character study, where I had a second chance to make a feature film on a more refined scale. Just in case my comedies were beginning to wear off, I embarked into dramatic territory. This time, it chronicles a struggling playwright who recasts his lead actress in a make-or-break stage adaptation. As he grows closer to the newly aspiring actress, he must overcome his checkered past with her predecessor or risk losing his new flame.
On ‘Violet’, we grew our team from the initial 40 students across UQ, QUT, and SAE Institute, to over 60 cast and crew that have been part of Griffith Film School, QUT, and TAFE acting degrees, as well as a range of graduates. Shot on 12 days across just 2 months and 11 locations in Brisbane, it was a refreshingly far cry from the 2-year production of ‘The Wing Girl’, which encompassed lengthy recording, singing, and on-location rehearsals on top of the 17 days of filming across 9 months just to work around everyone’s Uni and work commitments. It is because of this core group of cast and crew that has improved our credibility in recruiting so many more new faces on this film, where we held over 40 auditions at UQ’s own DLS studio at the Joyce Ackroyd Building. This is a testament to a team of people volunteering their time with unwavering goodwill and support when they could have easily decided to move on.
Undoubtedly, I needed to step up my game in ‘Violet’. Despite being on a more elaborate set, I
still look back at the unevenness from ‘The Wing Girl’, at those helpless moments when seeing a vision wither away, where I wish I had the same aptitude to pull off major numbers scheduled early in the shoot. How can I possibly convince a large team of people to bring my vision to life without second-guessing, when I didn’t even go to film school?
Fortunately, it is much easier now to communicate crystal clear what I want when there is a bigger creative team behind the logistics. Everything from a technical standpoint has been handled more efficiently when the team gets to see various aspects of their craft improved through time and practice. But what I continued to lean back on is the undisciplined, playful nature that results in the type of cinematic magic you cannot plan from sitting around a table.
At the end of the day, whether it’s another festival, premiere, or screening, I deeply care about sharing my work with audiences. Deep down, I haven’t changed as a filmmaker. I’m simply chasing the same impulse I get when experiencing something awe-inspiring. While I don’t know what my future as a filmmaker holds, I am happy to take one film at a time.
