Category: Interview

Joshua M. Sager is a showrunner and executive producer renowned for crafting globally minded, character-driven procedural series and high-concept international co-productions. Having built his career developing “series engines” for industry giants like Netflix, Disney, and DreamWorks, Sager has evolved from architecting expansive IP worlds to spearheading ambitious cross-border television slates. A dual Canadian-American citizen, he serves as a creative and strategic bridge between North America’s commercial storytelling sensibilities and the nuanced, prestige-driven traditions of European and Asian drama. With a keen eye for scalable narratives and culturally resonant storytelling, Sager continues to shape the future of global television. CHOPSO caught up with him to discuss his latest ventures, including the highly anticipated reboot of Charlie Chan alongside filmmaker Quentin Lee.

While making my feature The Way You Dance, one of the great pleasures was working with Dhirendra, a Vancouver-based South Asian Canadian actor. A veteran character performer with a career spanning more than four decades since the mid-’80s, he remains remarkably accessible, collaborative, and—above all—an absolute joy on set. In the film, he plays Hanish Patel, the immigrant father of Angel, one of the story’s three central characters. It’s a role he brings to life with quiet depth and authenticity—qualities that reflect his enduring craft. So when I learned he had been nominated for a Canadian Screen Award for his voice performance in Crave’s Superteam Canada, I reached out to him for an interview with CHOPSO. Even after working together, I found myself increasingly fascinated by the arc of his career—and eager to explore the stories behind it.

In a hip-hop class at Millennium Dance Complex, I met Diane Paloma Eskenazi, a veteran animator who casually mentioned that she founded her company, Golden Films, in the 1990s and has been producing and directing animated films for more than three decades. Her remarkable career instantly caught my attention, and I knew there was a story worth telling. Inspired and intrigued, I reached out to Eskenazi for an in-depth interview with CHOPSO.

Veteran actor and comedian Jason Stuart shared with me the final cut of his short film, Redlining, which he wrote, directed, and produced. Exploring race and LGBTQ+ identity with wit and bite, Redlining is a compact gem that truly sparkles—and one you’re likely to encounter on the festival circuit at upcoming LGBTQ+ film festivals. I took the opportunity to sit down with Stuart to discuss the film and catch up on what’s next for him.

A friend introduced me to Mark Bernstein, who worked at the Clinton White House Office of Science and Technology Policy and recently founded their own…

On Facebook, I saw my director friend Yusaku Mizoguchi win Best Director at the City of Angels Film Festival for his feature Sae, a touching drama about a Japanese student who decides to overstay her student visa in the U.S. in order to pursue a life as an artist. As an international student myself, I felt deeply connected to Sae’s perspective and reached out to Yusaku for an interview.

As I was programming and moderating a Q&A for Yale in Hollywood Fest, I asked Arnold Setiadi, director of Something Good Going On, whether the…

I’ve long been fascinated by writer-director Dax Phelan, whose debut feature, Jasmine—starring Jason Tobin—was an award-winning hit on the festival circuit. Ten years after its premiere, I’m excited, as a fan, to catch up with Mr. Phelan about what he’s working on now.

When I saw Josette Jorge win a Canadian Screen Award earlier this year, I was overjoyed to see a fellow Asian Pacific Islander friend receive such recognition. An actor, writer, and educator based in Toronto, Josette earned her first Canadian Screen Award in 2025 for Best Supporting Performer in a Children’s or Youth Program for Ruby and the Well. Last year, my producing partner Cindy Au Yeung and I also received a Canadian Screen Award—Best Comedy Special—for our series Comedy Invasio

Jenifer Yeuroukis, a filmmaker friend I’ve met about a decade ago in my hip hop classes at the former Edge Performance Art Center in Los Angeles, has just directed her first feature film The Queerdos that I executive produced. The Queerdos also marks the first feature film of the film movement Dogma LA 25 that a collective of filmmakers and I have founded. Wrapping The Queerdos, I’ve taken the opportunity to have a conversation with her.