James Wong (producer)
Encyclopedia
James 'Jim' Wong is a Cantonese
-American
television producer
, writer
, and film director
notable for his screen works of The X-Files
, Space: Above and Beyond
, Millennium
, Final Destination
1 & 3, The One, and the remakes of Willard
and Black Christmas
along with writing partner Glen Morgan
.
, and moved to the United States along with his family at age 10 to San Diego, California
. During his youth, he met his future writing partner Glen Morgan
at El Cajon Valley High School
. Later on, he went to Loyola Marymount University
, joining a comedy
improv group. Originally seeking a major in engineering, he later switched to a film major after seeing Apocalypse Now
at the Cinerama Dome
. After graduating, he landed a job as an assistant to Sandy Howard
. During this time, both Wong and Morgan wrote screenplays, eventually having one produced.
. After this Wong became a story editor on the short-lived ABC
crime drama Knightwatch
. Later, with Morgan, Wong would work on many Stephen J. Cannell
productions, including Wiseguy
(as supervising producer), The Commish
(as supervising producer), and as a staff writer and story editor for 21 Jump Street
and its spinoff, Booker
.
Wong and Morgan began working with Chris Carter
on the science fiction
/drama
The X-Files
, about two FBI agents investigating the paranormal
, filmed in Vancouver.
In 1995, Wong and Morgan were offered an $8 million, four-year contract deal with 20th Century Fox
Television to write and produce television series. As part of this deal, Morgan and Wong went on to create the short-lived series Space: Above and Beyond
.
They returned to The X-Files briefly in its fourth season (1996–1997) when they wrote the horror episode "Home." Wong also made his television directing debut with the conspiracy-themed "Musings of a Cigarette Smoking Man," written by Morgan. Wong and Morgan also took on production and writing duties for Carter's Millennium
. Later, they would go on to executive produce the short-lived NBC
paranormal series The Others
.
In 2000, Wong directed Final Destination
, a film he co-wrote with Glen Morgan. Wong followed the directorial debut with The One (2001), an action film starring Jet Li
, and with more horror films, including Willard
(2003), directed by Glen Morgan and starring Crispin Glover
, and a second sequel, Final Destination 3
(2006). In late 2006, Wong and Morgan's remake of Black Christmas
was released; the script was by Wong and Morgan and the film was directed by Morgan. Wong directed the live-action movie adaptation of the popular media franchise Dragonball in 2009.
Hong Kong people
Hong Kong people refer to people who originate from Hong Kong. The term has no legal definition in Hong Kong. Rather, terms such as Hong Kong permanent resident and Hong Kong resident are used...
-American
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
television producer
Television producer
The primary role of a television Producer is to allow all aspects of video production, ranging from show idea development and cast hiring to shoot supervision and fact-checking...
, writer
Writer
A writer is a person who produces literature, such as novels, short stories, plays, screenplays, poetry, or other literary art. Skilled writers are able to use language to portray ideas and images....
, and film director
Film director
A film director is a person who directs the actors and film crew in filmmaking. They control a film's artistic and dramatic nathan roach, while guiding the technical crew and actors.-Responsibilities:...
notable for his screen works of The X-Files
The X-Files
The X-Files is an American science fiction television series and a part of The X-Files franchise, created by screenwriter Chris Carter. The program originally aired from to . The show was a hit for the Fox network, and its characters and slogans became popular culture touchstones in the 1990s...
, Space: Above and Beyond
Space: Above and Beyond
Space: Above and Beyond was a short-lived mid-90s American science fiction television show on the FOX Network, created and written by Glen Morgan and James Wong. Originally planned for five seasons, it ran only for the single 1995–1996 season. It was nominated for two Emmy Awards and one Saturn...
, Millennium
Millennium (TV series)
Millennium is an American television series created by Chris Carter, creator of The X-Files. Millennium aired on the Fox Network from 1996 to 1999. The series was filmed in Vancouver, British Columbia, though most episodes were ostensibly set in or around Seattle, Washington...
, Final Destination
Final Destination
Final Destination is a 2000 supernatural slasher film written and directed by James Wong. The film was co-written by Glen Morgan and Jeffrey Reddick, both of them having previously worked with Wong in the TV series The X-Files. The film stars Devon Sawa, Ali Larter, Kerr Smith and Tony Todd...
1 & 3, The One, and the remakes of Willard
Willard (2003 film)
Willard is a 2003 horror film loosely based on the novel Ratman's Notebooks by Stephen Gilbert and a remake of the 1971 film of the same name...
and Black Christmas
Black Christmas (2006 film)
Black Christmas is 2006 American Slasher film and a remake of the 1974 horror slasher film of the same name. It was written and directed by Glen Morgan and stars Katie Cassidy, Mary Elizabeth Winstead, Lacey Chabert, Crystal Lowe, Michelle Trachtenberg , Oliver Hudson, Kristen Cloke, and Andrea...
along with writing partner Glen Morgan
Glen Morgan
Glen Morgan is an American television producer, writer, and director.-Biography:Morgan is best known for his screen work with long-time writing partner James Wong, including The X-Files, Millennium, Space: Above and Beyond, the Final Destination series, The One, Willard, and the 2006 remake of...
.
Early life
Wong was born in British Hong KongHong Kong
Hong Kong is one of two Special Administrative Regions of the People's Republic of China , the other being Macau. A city-state situated on China's south coast and enclosed by the Pearl River Delta and South China Sea, it is renowned for its expansive skyline and deep natural harbour...
, and moved to the United States along with his family at age 10 to San Diego, California
San Diego, California
San Diego is the eighth-largest city in the United States and second-largest city in California. The city is located on the coast of the Pacific Ocean in Southern California, immediately adjacent to the Mexican border. The birthplace of California, San Diego is known for its mild year-round...
. During his youth, he met his future writing partner Glen Morgan
Glen Morgan
Glen Morgan is an American television producer, writer, and director.-Biography:Morgan is best known for his screen work with long-time writing partner James Wong, including The X-Files, Millennium, Space: Above and Beyond, the Final Destination series, The One, Willard, and the 2006 remake of...
at El Cajon Valley High School
El Cajon Valley High School
El Cajon Valley High School is a comprehensive public secondary school located in El Cajon, California, which is in the eastern county of San Diego, and serves students in grades nine through twelve. Established in 1955, El Cajon Valley is the third of twelve high schools to be built in the...
. Later on, he went to Loyola Marymount University
Loyola Marymount University
Loyola Marymount University is a comprehensive co-educational private Roman Catholic university in the Jesuit and Marymount traditions located in Los Angeles, California, United States...
, joining a comedy
Comedy
Comedy , as a popular meaning, is any humorous discourse or work generally intended to amuse by creating laughter, especially in television, film, and stand-up comedy. This must be carefully distinguished from its academic definition, namely the comic theatre, whose Western origins are found in...
improv group. Originally seeking a major in engineering, he later switched to a film major after seeing Apocalypse Now
Apocalypse Now
Apocalypse Now is a 1979 American war film set during the Vietnam War, produced and directed by Francis Ford Coppola. The central character is US Army special operations officer Captain Benjamin L. Willard , of MACV-SOG, an assassin sent to kill the renegade and presumed insane Special Forces...
at the Cinerama Dome
Cinerama Dome
Pacific Theatres' Cinerama Dome is a movie theater located at 6360 Sunset Boulevard in Hollywood, California. Designed to present widescreen, 70mm Cinerama films, it opened November 7, 1963. Today it continues as a leading first run theater.- History :...
. After graduating, he landed a job as an assistant to Sandy Howard
Sandy Howard
Sandy Howard was an American film producer and television producer. A native of the Bronx, New York City, Howard wrote short stories for publication in magazines like Liberty, and worked as a publicist for Broadway shows until he became a director for the Howdy Doody show at the age of nineteen;...
. During this time, both Wong and Morgan wrote screenplays, eventually having one produced.
Writing career with Morgan
With Morgan, he co-wrote The Boys Next DoorThe Boys Next Door (1985 film)
The Boys Next Door is a 1985 independent adventure-drama film about two aimless young men who embark on an orgy of sex, drugs, and murder.-Plot:...
. After this Wong became a story editor on the short-lived ABC
American Broadcasting Company
The American Broadcasting Company is an American commercial broadcasting television network. Created in 1943 from the former NBC Blue radio network, ABC is owned by The Walt Disney Company and is part of Disney-ABC Television Group. Its first broadcast on television was in 1948...
crime drama Knightwatch
Knightwatch
Knightwatch was a television drama aired by ABC as part of its fall 1988 lineup. It had been promoted as an original series in light of summer reruns continuing into the fall due to the 1988 Writers Guild of America Strike....
. Later, with Morgan, Wong would work on many Stephen J. Cannell
Stephen J. Cannell
Stephen Joseph Cannell was an American television producer, writer, novelist and occasional actor, and the founder of Stephen J. Cannell Productions.-Early life:...
productions, including Wiseguy
Wiseguy
Wiseguy is an American crime drama series that aired on CBS from September 16, 1987 to December 8, 1990 for a total of four seasons. Starring Ken Wahl, the series was produced by Stephen J...
(as supervising producer), The Commish
The Commish
The Commish is a television series that aired on ABC in the United States from 1991 to 1996. The series focused on the work and home life of a suburban police commissioner in upstate New York....
(as supervising producer), and as a staff writer and story editor for 21 Jump Street
21 Jump Street
21 Jump Street is an American police procedural crime drama television series that aired on the Fox Network from April 12, 1987, to April 27, 1991, with a total of 103 episodes. The series focused on a squad of youthful-looking undercover police officers investigating crimes in high schools,...
and its spinoff, Booker
Booker (TV series)
Booker is an American crime drama series starring Richard Grieco that aired on the Fox Network from September 24, 1989 to May 6, 1990. The series was a spin-off of 21 Jump Street...
.
Wong and Morgan began working with Chris Carter
Chris Carter (screenwriter)
Christopher Carl Carter is an American screenwriter, film director and producer. He is the creator of The X-Files and Millennium.- Ten Thirteen Productions :...
on the science fiction
Science fiction
Science fiction is a genre of fiction dealing with imaginary but more or less plausible content such as future settings, futuristic science and technology, space travel, aliens, and paranormal abilities...
/drama
Drama
Drama is the specific mode of fiction represented in performance. The term comes from a Greek word meaning "action" , which is derived from "to do","to act" . The enactment of drama in theatre, performed by actors on a stage before an audience, presupposes collaborative modes of production and a...
The X-Files
The X-Files
The X-Files is an American science fiction television series and a part of The X-Files franchise, created by screenwriter Chris Carter. The program originally aired from to . The show was a hit for the Fox network, and its characters and slogans became popular culture touchstones in the 1990s...
, about two FBI agents investigating the paranormal
Paranormal
Paranormal is a general term that designates experiences that lie outside "the range of normal experience or scientific explanation" or that indicates phenomena understood to be outside of science's current ability to explain or measure...
, filmed in Vancouver.
In 1995, Wong and Morgan were offered an $8 million, four-year contract deal with 20th Century Fox
20th Century Fox
Twentieth Century Fox Film Corporation — also known as 20th Century Fox, or simply 20th or Fox — is one of the six major American film studios...
Television to write and produce television series. As part of this deal, Morgan and Wong went on to create the short-lived series Space: Above and Beyond
Space: Above and Beyond
Space: Above and Beyond was a short-lived mid-90s American science fiction television show on the FOX Network, created and written by Glen Morgan and James Wong. Originally planned for five seasons, it ran only for the single 1995–1996 season. It was nominated for two Emmy Awards and one Saturn...
.
They returned to The X-Files briefly in its fourth season (1996–1997) when they wrote the horror episode "Home." Wong also made his television directing debut with the conspiracy-themed "Musings of a Cigarette Smoking Man," written by Morgan. Wong and Morgan also took on production and writing duties for Carter's Millennium
Millennium (TV series)
Millennium is an American television series created by Chris Carter, creator of The X-Files. Millennium aired on the Fox Network from 1996 to 1999. The series was filmed in Vancouver, British Columbia, though most episodes were ostensibly set in or around Seattle, Washington...
. Later, they would go on to executive produce the short-lived NBC
NBC
The National Broadcasting Company is an American commercial broadcasting television network and former radio network headquartered in the GE Building in New York City's Rockefeller Center with additional major offices near Los Angeles and in Chicago...
paranormal series The Others
The Others (TV series)
The Others is an American TV series created by John Brancato and Michael Ferris, and produced by Delusional Films, NBC and DreamWorks Television. It ran for 13 40-minute episodes from February 5, 2000 to June 10, 2000, airing on NBC in the US, Five in the UK and Nine in Australia...
.
In 2000, Wong directed Final Destination
Final Destination
Final Destination is a 2000 supernatural slasher film written and directed by James Wong. The film was co-written by Glen Morgan and Jeffrey Reddick, both of them having previously worked with Wong in the TV series The X-Files. The film stars Devon Sawa, Ali Larter, Kerr Smith and Tony Todd...
, a film he co-wrote with Glen Morgan. Wong followed the directorial debut with The One (2001), an action film starring Jet Li
Jet Li
The fame gained by his sports winnings led to a career as a martial arts film star, beginning in mainland China and then continuing into Hong Kong. Li acquired his screen name in 1982 in the Philippines when a publicity company thought his real name was too hard to pronounce...
, and with more horror films, including Willard
Willard (2003 film)
Willard is a 2003 horror film loosely based on the novel Ratman's Notebooks by Stephen Gilbert and a remake of the 1971 film of the same name...
(2003), directed by Glen Morgan and starring Crispin Glover
Crispin Glover
Crispin Hellion Glover is an American film actor, director and screenwriter, recording artist, publisher, and author. Glover is known for portraying eccentric people on screen such as George McFly in Back to the Future, Layne in River's Edge, unfriendly recluse Rubin Farr in Rubin and Ed, the...
, and a second sequel, Final Destination 3
Final Destination 3
Final Destination 3 is a 2006 supernatural slasher film, and the third film in the Final Destination series. The film was directed and written by James Wong, who co-wrote and directed the first film, and was produced by Craig Perry. It was released in North America on February 10, 2006...
(2006). In late 2006, Wong and Morgan's remake of Black Christmas
Black Christmas (2006 film)
Black Christmas is 2006 American Slasher film and a remake of the 1974 horror slasher film of the same name. It was written and directed by Glen Morgan and stars Katie Cassidy, Mary Elizabeth Winstead, Lacey Chabert, Crystal Lowe, Michelle Trachtenberg , Oliver Hudson, Kristen Cloke, and Andrea...
was released; the script was by Wong and Morgan and the film was directed by Morgan. Wong directed the live-action movie adaptation of the popular media franchise Dragonball in 2009.
Filmography
| Year | Title | Director | Producer | Writer | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1985 | The Boys Next Door The Boys Next Door (1985 film) The Boys Next Door is a 1985 independent adventure-drama film about two aimless young men who embark on an orgy of sex, drugs, and murder.-Plot:... |
||||
| 1986 | Trick or Treat Trick or Treat (1986 film) Trick or Treat is a 1986 horror film by De Laurentiis Entertainment Group, starring Marc Price, Tony Fields, and Lisa Orgolini, with special appearances by Gene Simmons and Ozzy Osbourne.-Plot:... |
Uncredited | |||
| 2000 | Final Destination Final Destination Final Destination is a 2000 supernatural slasher film written and directed by James Wong. The film was co-written by Glen Morgan and Jeffrey Reddick, both of them having previously worked with Wong in the TV series The X-Files. The film stars Devon Sawa, Ali Larter, Kerr Smith and Tony Todd... |
||||
| 2001 | The One | ||||
| 2003 | Willard Willard (2003 film) Willard is a 2003 horror film loosely based on the novel Ratman's Notebooks by Stephen Gilbert and a remake of the 1971 film of the same name... |
||||
| 2006 | Final Destination 3 Final Destination 3 Final Destination 3 is a 2006 supernatural slasher film, and the third film in the Final Destination series. The film was directed and written by James Wong, who co-wrote and directed the first film, and was produced by Craig Perry. It was released in North America on February 10, 2006... |
||||
| 2006 | Black Christmas Black Christmas (2006 film) Black Christmas is 2006 American Slasher film and a remake of the 1974 horror slasher film of the same name. It was written and directed by Glen Morgan and stars Katie Cassidy, Mary Elizabeth Winstead, Lacey Chabert, Crystal Lowe, Michelle Trachtenberg , Oliver Hudson, Kristen Cloke, and Andrea... |
||||
| 2009 | Dragonball Evolution |
Television
- BookerBooker (TV series)Booker is an American crime drama series starring Richard Grieco that aired on the Fox Network from September 24, 1989 to May 6, 1990. The series was a spin-off of 21 Jump Street...
(1989–1990) (Writer, story writer) - Wiseguy (1990) (Supervising producer)
- 21 Jump Street21 Jump Street21 Jump Street is an American police procedural crime drama television series that aired on the Fox Network from April 12, 1987, to April 27, 1991, with a total of 103 episodes. The series focused on a squad of youthful-looking undercover police officers investigating crimes in high schools,...
(1989–1990) (Writer, story editor) - The 100 Lives of Black Jack SavageThe 100 Lives of Black Jack SavageThe 100 Lives of Black Jack Savage is a television series broadcast in the United States by NBC and produced by Stephen J. Cannell Productions in association with Walt Disney Television. This show originated as a TV-movie. The program originally aired in 1991, but lasted less than one season...
(1991) (Producer) - The CommishThe CommishThe Commish is a television series that aired on ABC in the United States from 1991 to 1996. The series focused on the work and home life of a suburban police commissioner in upstate New York....
(1991–1993) (Writer, supervising producer) - The X-FilesThe X-FilesThe X-Files is an American science fiction television series and a part of The X-Files franchise, created by screenwriter Chris Carter. The program originally aired from to . The show was a hit for the Fox network, and its characters and slogans became popular culture touchstones in the 1990s...
(1993–1997) (Director, writer, co-executive producer, consulting producer) - Space: Above and BeyondSpace: Above and BeyondSpace: Above and Beyond was a short-lived mid-90s American science fiction television show on the FOX Network, created and written by Glen Morgan and James Wong. Originally planned for five seasons, it ran only for the single 1995–1996 season. It was nominated for two Emmy Awards and one Saturn...
(1995–1996) (Co-creator, writer) - MillenniumMillenniumA millennium is a period of time equal to one thousand years —from the Latin phrase , thousand, and , year—often but not necessarily related numerically to a particular dating system....
(1996–1998) (Executive producer, consulting producer, writer) - The OthersThe Others (TV series)The Others is an American TV series created by John Brancato and Michael Ferris, and produced by Delusional Films, NBC and DreamWorks Television. It ran for 13 40-minute episodes from February 5, 2000 to June 10, 2000, airing on NBC in the US, Five in the UK and Nine in Australia...
(2000) (Executive producer, writer) - Tower PrepTower PrepTower Prep is an American-Canadian television series that aired on Cartoon Network. It debuted on October 16, 2010, after the world premiere of Scooby-Doo! Curse of the Lake Monster. The series is created by Paul Dini, a former producer and writer of Batman: The Animated Series and Superman: The...
(2010) (Director: Whisper) - The Event (2010–2011) (Director: Arrival, writer, co-executive producer)
- American Horror StoryAmerican Horror StoryAmerican Horror Story is a horror-drama television series created and produced by Ryan Murphy and Brad Falchuk. The series centers on the Harmon family: Ben, Vivien and their daughter Violet, who move from Boston to Los Angeles after Vivien has a miscarriage and Ben has an affair...
(2011) (Writer)
Personal life
James Wong is married to Teena Wong, with whom he has three children. They reside in California.External links
- James Wong Director Bio — a biography by tribute.ca
- James Wong Biography – a biography by Yahoo! Movies