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“It felt less like watching a film and more like being transported”

Filmmaker Jess Dang on the power of storytelling & her 5 picks

Insider Pix
October 24, 2026

Every pick is independently selected. If you buy something through our links, we may earn a commission.

Hi, friend!

Welcome back to Insider Pix, where we uncover what entertainment and culture insiders are watching, reading, and listening to! Next up:

Jess Dang

Jess Dang is a Los Angeles-based writer, filmmaker, and creative director specializing in integrated storytelling and brand strategy. She previously spent six years at Audible, leading creative campaigns for Audible Originals, and founded Long Lunch Break, a creative studio focused on branding and original storytelling.

Surrender

Available to rent or purchase

Dang’s debut feature film follows Naomi, a young Asian-American woman whose life is disrupted by her secret gambling addiction. As she navigates her struggles, Naomi confronts feelings of denial and shame, which affect her relationships with family, colleagues, and herself. Ultimately, she reaches a breaking point and must decide between a path of destruction or one of self-love.

Watch trailer

Jess’s 5 Picks

A 5-star-worthy book you’d recommend to anyone?

Elaine Hsieh Chou’s Where Are You Really From? It’s a collection of short stories that weaves together humor, identity, family, and the complexities of the Asian American experience in such a sharp and unexpected way. Each story feels completely distinct, but together they create such a rich portrait of belonging and all the contradictions that come with it.

Best TV show you’ve watched recently?

Pluribus for Vince Gilligan’s genius storytelling. The characters feel raw and deeply human, and there’s always so much at stake. I especially love the balance of humor and grit. It can be strange, funny, unsettling, and emotional all at once.

Best movie you watched recently?

The Odyssey for its spectacular storytelling and adaptation of Homer’s epic. Seeing it in IMAX reminded me of the power of the theatrical experience, where the scale, sound, and imagery completely immerse you in the world. It felt less like watching a film and more like being transported into the story.

A hidden gem you wish more people knew about?

I’m a pickleballer and love discovering new places to play. Lately, I’ve been going to Wolf & Bear in LA, a converted movie sound stage turned pickleball club. It has such a cool atmosphere and brings together two things I love: pickleball and LA’s filmmaking community.

Best podcast or album you’ve listened to lately?

My favorite biweekly podcast is Intersections with Dr. Russell, my dear wife. The podcast tackles immigration through deeply human conversations and centers immigrant stories and experiences. I’m always learning something new from it and from her.

My favorite album at the moment is Sunshine by Jungle. I love their blend of disco and neo-funk. It’s joyful, feel-good, and pretty much impossible for me to listen to without immediately being in a better mood.

Pix: You studied communication design before filmmaking. How does your design background shape the way you tell a story visually?

JD: Studying communication design at Parsons School of Design taught me that every visual choice communicates something, whether it’s composition, color, typography, or negative space. I carry that same thinking into filmmaking. I’m always considering what a frame is communicating before a character even speaks, and how visual choices can reinforce their emotional experience. Design also taught me to think in systems, so I approach a film’s visual language as something that evolves with the story. The framing, color, camera movement, and production design should all feel connected and purposeful.

Ultimately, that intersection of what is visually communicated and what is emotionally felt is where design and filmmaking merge for me.

Pix: Surrender started as a short and expanded into a 90-minute feature film. What was the most exciting and the most challenging part of expanding the story?

JD: The most exciting part was having the space to go deeper into the characters and the world of Surrender. At its core, the film follows a young Asian American woman wrestling with a gambling addiction, so expanding the short into a feature meant taking a much deeper dive into the subject matter and the emotional complexities surrounding it.

That was also one of the greatest challenges. As the story grew, so did my responsibility to approach the subject with care and an awareness of the sensitivities around addiction, mental health, and the cultural dynamics within the film. I wanted the characters to feel complicated and human without reducing their experiences to a single issue.

I’m incredibly grateful to the partners who believed in the film and helped me navigate that responsibility, including UCLA, Film Independent, UPAC, and USC Annenberg. Their support gave me the opportunity to expand not only the scope of the story, but also my own understanding of what it meant to tell it responsibly.

Pix: For those who watch Surrender, what is one takeaway you hope audiences leave with?

JD: I really hope audiences leave Surrender with a greater sense of empathy. Addiction can be easy to judge from the outside, but I wanted to explore the person behind it and the circumstances, relationships, and emotions that can make it so difficult to break free. If the film encourages someone to look at another person with a little more compassion, or even opens up a conversation that might otherwise be difficult to have, that would mean a lot to me.

Pix: Your latest project is Sunny Life in LA, about a blogger trying to navigate life in Los Angeles. What’s your all-time favorite movie, show, or book that captures the spirit of LA?

JD: This might be an unconventional answer, but Sunny Life in LA is inspired by cartoons I loved growing up, especially Hey Arnold! and Doug. I loved how those shows could turn really ordinary experiences into funny, meaningful adventures. Hey Arnold! especially made the city feel like a character of its own, filled with different personalities, neighborhoods, and unexpected encounters. That spirit really influenced Sunny Life in LA. Having grown up in Los Angeles, I wanted to capture the city through those smaller everyday moments and find the humor and adventure in simply navigating life here.

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