On February 27, the Asian American Committee (AAC) meeting featured the event, A Conversation with DGA Award-Winning Director Niharika Desai & 2nd AD Deborah Chung. Desai is the 2023 winner of the DGA Award for Outstanding Directorial Achievement in Reality Programs for her episode “Happiness is a Bottle of Cod Liver Oil” of the series, Rainn Wilson and the Geography of Bliss. Chung served as the Second Assistant Director on Director Sarah Adina Smith's Outstanding Directorial Achievement in Movies for Television and Limited Series Award-winning episode “Her and Him” of the limited series Lessons in Chemistry, as well as Millicent Shelton’s nominated Lessons in Chemistry episode, “Poirot.”
During the conversation moderated by Committee member Lucille OuYang, Desai spoke about what drew her into the project, as well as the process and difficulties she faced shooting in foreign locations. Chung shared how she navigated the unique challenges of a 1950s era period piece from pre-calls to locations and the importance of portraying the social politics accurately.
ABOUT THE PANELISTS:
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 Niharika Desai
In addition to her work on Rainn Wilson and the Geography of Bliss, Desai’s directorial credits include episodes of the documentary mini-series The Principles of Pleasure and the documentary series Gaycation and the short Power of Kindness. Desaijoined the DGA in 2022.
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 Deborah Chung
In addition to her work on Lessons in Chemistry, Chung's assistant directing credits include features such as Dan Minahan’s On Swift Horses, BJ McDonnell’s Studio 666 and Quentin Tarantino's DGA Award-nominated Once Upon A Time In Hollywood; and episodes of From Scratch, Westworld, Teen Wolf, Little Fires Everywhere, Lodge 49, and Lucifer. Chung has been a DGA member since 2009 and serves on the Sustainable Future Committee and the Western AD/UPM Council’s 2nd AD Committee. |
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 1st AD Luc OuYang
OuYang’s Assistant Directing credits include features such as Rob Reiner’s When Harry Met Sally, Wes Craven’s Scream, Robert Zemeckis's Contact and Peter Weir’s DGA Award-nominated Master and Commander, the Far Side of the World; episodes of series such as Mad Men, Youth & Consequences and Cherish the Day; and over 200 commercials. She has been a DGA member since 1986 and served on the Asian American Committee since its inception, currently serves on the Special Projects Committee and has served on the Western AD/UPM Council. |
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About the Asian American Committee:
The Asian American Committee (AAC) was created as a networking group to provide a forum for interests and issues that concern Asian-American Guild members. Through outreach efforts in the entertainment industry that emphasize career development and skills enhancement, the committee provides a variety of networking opportunities as well as screenings, seminars and discussions with industry professionals. The current AAC Co-Chairs are Directors Kabir Akhtar, Maureen Bharoocha and Kai Kim.