‘Birds of Prey’ director Cathy Yan says filmmaking felt like an ‘unachievable’ dream

Cathy Yan, a Chinese and American director, made her feature film debut with “Dead Pigs” in 2018.” This year, she directed DC’s “Birds of Prey,” starring Margot Robbie as Harley Quinn. Yan tells Yahoo Entertainment she had a desire to make movies as a kid but looking back it felt like an impossible dream. “I wish I could say when I was eight years old I aspired to be a film director, but I didn’t, and that was partially because I think it just felt completely unachievable especially for a young Chinese-American immigrant,” she says. Yan goes on to say that growing up as an only child “movies kind of became my best friend.” When contemplating making a move from journalism to filmmaking, Yan originally saw herself as a producer. She has a dual degree in business and film, going after both an MBA and MFA from NYU. “The risk of it all, the unlikelihood, such a low probability of someone from my background … for all of those reasons it took me many, many years to actually commit to it [filmmaking].” Check out the video above for more on Cathy Yan’s story.