JAMES WONG
Born in Hong Kong, James Wong moved to the United States with his family
when he was 10. There he met fellow film and television enthusiast Glen Morgan
at El Cajon High School in San Diego.
Both attended the same university and joined a comedy improv group in
La Jolla, California, performing beside the likes of Whoopi Goldberg. "I
was roommates with Glen and I was an engineering major for the first
semester. You know, Glen would have these classes -- I mean, I would come
home with three hours of homework and Glen would come home and watch a
movie! But anyway, besides that, the real turning point was a movie called
Apocalypse Now. We went to Cinerama Dome, which is a great theatre in LA.
That was the first run of it and it didn't even have credits yet. It was
just really cool. After watching that I realized that this was what I wanted
to do. So that's when I decided to switch majors."
Following their graduation from Marymount University, they co-wrote the
hard-hitting feature, The Boys Next Door. The two then signed on to be
writers for such series as 21 Jump Street, Booker and The
Commish before working for the hit sci-fi series, The X Files. Touted
as a couple of the most creative and influential minds on the show, they created
such lasting characters as Agent Skinner and The Lone Gunmen.
Their work for X Files led to more writing and producing gigs for shows
like Space: Above and Beyond, Millennium and The Others.
In 2000 Wong alone decided to take a different role from his traditional
writer/producer title and direct a feature film. The movie, Final
Destination was the result. A film he co-wrote with Glen, the thriller fared
well at the box office, although the critics did little to advertise, giving the
film a mediocre grade.
A year later, Wong released his second attempt at directing with The One,
starring action star Jet Li.
Filmography (director):
The One(2001)
Final Destination(2000)
Filmography (writer):
The One(2001)
Final Destination(2000)
The Boys Next Door (1986)