Judy Jean Kwon

Judy Jean Kwon grew up in a Korean-American video store where she fell in love with the art of filmmaking and story-telling. Born and raised in Los Angeles, she is a daughter of Korean immigrants. She split her time between Korea and America as a child and not feeling like she belonged anywhere, "one foot in the east and one foot in the west", she turned to the music and the arts. She started acting when she was 17. After 5 years of acting training, she went on to a successful commercial career, breaking the mold for Asian-American actors by taking on non-stereotypical roles. One of her first jobs was with Tarsem in the famous "Philip's flat TV" commercial where she proudly beat out over 300 Caucasian actors and landed the lead. She broke doors for ethnic actors and competed against non-Asian actresses. She recalls that there weren't enough parts for Asians and she did not want to take their work. Unusual and uniquely beautiful, she went on to model for Herb Ritts, Steven Meisel, and acted in over 100 commercials. She played the lead in one of the first digital feature film to screen at Sundance Film Festival - "The Item". Kwon participated in the ABC's director fellowship, studied cinema at LACC, photography at Santa Monica College, and writing at UCLA. Kwon's mission is to give voice to the voiceless and tell stories of the underdogs that are ignored. She is passionate about women's rights and immigrant's stories.