Johnson Cheng

Johnson Cheng is a Chinese American writer, editor and director on the Disney+ series American Born Chinese.

General overview[]

Cheng is a Chinese American writer/director from the San Gabriel Valley of Los Angeles. He is also a member of the Directors Guild of America, his films have screened in competition at international festivals such as Tribeca, AFI FEST, and Toronto. Johnson directed the fourth episode "Make a Splash" of American Born Chinese , a genre-hopping action-comedy series, and shadowed director Destin Daniel Cretton on the pilot titled: "What Guy Are You". Most recently, he directed two episodes of the sixth season of THE CHI (Paramount+/Showtime).

Johnson is also currently developing a feature adaptation of the novel, NIGHTS WHEN NOTHING HAPPENED. His latest short film, "ONLY THE MOON STANDS STILL", executive produced by Lena Waithe, premiered at Tribeca and screened at AFI FEST where it won the Audience Award. Johnson’s previous short film, "LONELY BLUE NIGHT", premiered at AFI FEST where it also won the Audience Award, and was acquired by HBO. His first short film, "IRON HANDS", premiered at Tribeca and screened at Toronto.

Johnson is also a recipient of the HBO APA Visionaries Award, the Princess Grace Award (Cary Grant Film Award), and fellowships such as Film Independent’s Project Involve (Writer/Director Fellow), Hillman Grad/Indeed’s Rising Voices (Filmmaker in Residence), and Film at Lincoln Center’s NYFF Artist Academy. Moreover, he was recently invited to be a member of the AFI FEST Short Film Jury. Johnson also holds an M.F.A. in Film Directing/Screenwriting with honors from Columbia University’s Graduate Film Program in NYC. Lastly, he is repped by WME.^[1]