Deborah Chow | |
|---|---|
| Born | |
| Education | McGill University(BA) Columbia University(MFA) |
| Occupation(s) | Filmmaker,television director,screenwriter |
| Known for | The High Cost of Living The Mandalorian Obi-Wan Kenobi |
Deborah Chow is a Canadianfilmmaker,television director andscreenwriter known for her independent films and her work onStar Wars television. Two of her first short films,Daypass (2002) andThe Hill (2004) have both won awards at various international film festivals. Her first feature film wasThe High Cost of Living (2010), which she both wrote and directed.[1]
Chow has directed various projects for television, including the2014 TV movie adaption ofV. C. Andrews' Gothic novelFlowers in the Attic and episodes of the seriesCopper,Murdoch Mysteries,Reign,Beauty and the Beast, andMr. Robot. Chow is also a director on thefirst season of theStar Wars seriesThe Mandalorian (2019) and directed all six episodes ofObi-Wan Kenobi (2022) forDisney+.
Chow is the half-Chinese daughter of parents who emigrated from Australia toToronto,Ontario, Canada, where she grew up.[citation needed]
Her Chinese father was an ardent movie fan and introduced to her the world of classic films and filmmaking.[2] Chow graduated fromGordon Graydon Memorial Secondary School inMississauga, Ontario.[3]
She received her undergraduate degree, major of cultural theory and minor in art history, fromMcGill University inMontreal, where she made her first short film.[2] After graduation, she went on to complete her MFA in directing atColumbia University'sSchool of the Arts,[4] where she completed two short films and a feature screenplay, including her short film,Daypass, which screened internationally at over 35 festivals and won multiple awards.[5]
Chow began her career writing and directing short films while studying film at university and broke out with her first feature film,The High Cost of Living, in 2010. As a film director, she has worked with notable actorsJames Urbaniak,Zach Braff andIsabelle Blais, among others.[6]
As atelevision director, she has worked on theBBC showCopper,[7] theCW programsReign andBeauty and the Beast,[8] theCBC showMurdoch Mysteries[9] and theUSA Network seriesMr. Robot.[9] She also directedthe adaptation ofFlowers in the Attic onLifetime, which starredHeather Graham andKiernan Shipka.[10]
Chow served as director of two episodes of theDisney+ exclusive streaming television series,Star Wars: The Mandalorian, in which she also had a cameo role as aNew RepublicX-wing pilot. She was announced as the sole director for theDisney+ series that centers onObi-Wan Kenobi.Lucasfilm PresidentKathleen Kennedy stated that "We really wanted to select a director who is able to explore both the quiet determination and rich mystique of Obi-Wan in a way that folds seamlessly into theStar Wars saga. Based on her phenomenal work developing our characters inThe Mandalorian, I'm absolutely confident Deborah is the right director to tell this story."[11][12]
Chow directed the music video for "Black Summer", the first single off of theRed Hot Chili Peppers 2022 album,Unlimited Love.[13]
| Year | Title | Credited as | Notes | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Director | Writer | |||
| 2002 | Daypass | Yes | Yes | Short film |
| 2004 | The Hill | Yes | Yes | Also editor and costume designer |
| 2010 | The High Cost of Living | Yes | Yes | |
| 2014 | Flowers in the Attic | Yes | No | |
| Year | Show | Season | Episode | Episode title |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2013 | Copper | 2 | 8 | "Ashes Denote That Fire Was" |
| 2014–2017 | Reign | 2 | 7 | "The Prince of the Blood" |
| 13 | "Sins of the Past" | |||
| 19 | "Abandoned" | |||
| 3 | 5 | "In a Clearing" | ||
| 18 | "Spiders in a Jar" | |||
| 4 | 11 | "Dead of Night" | ||
| 2014 | Murdoch Mysteries | 8 | 6 | "The Murdoch Appreciation Society" |
| 7 | "What Lies Buried" | |||
| 2015 | Beauty & the Beast | 3 | 7 | "Both Sides Now" |
| 2015 | Mr. Robot | 1 | 6 | "eps1.5 br4ve-trave1er.asf" |
| 2016 | Turn: Washington's Spies | 3 | 4 | "Hearts and Minds" |
| 2016 | The Vampire Diaries | 7 | 10 | "Hell Is Other People" |
| 2016–2017 | Fear the Walking Dead | 2 | 9 | "Los Muertos" |
| 3 | 3 | "TEOTWAWKI" | ||
| 2016 | Tyrant | 3 | 5 | "A Rock and A Hard Place" |
| 2017 | Iron Fist | 1 | 11 | "Lead Horse Back to Stable" |
| 2017 | Shut Eye | 2 | 9 | "Vérité" |
| 2018 | Jessica Jones | 2 | 4 | "AKA God Help the Hobo" |
| 2018 | Lost in Space | 1 | 5 | "Transmission" |
| 2018 | Snowfall | 2 | 4 | "Jingle Bell Rock" |
| 2018 | Better Call Saul | 4 | 7 | "Something Stupid" |
| 2018 | The Man in the High Castle | 3 | 9 | "Baku" |
| 2019 | American Gods | 2 | 3 | "Muninn" |
| 2019 | The Mandalorian | 1 | 3 | "Chapter 3: The Sin" |
| 7 | "Chapter 7: The Reckoning" | |||
| 2022 | Obi-Wan Kenobi | 1 | 1 | "Part I" |
| 2 | "Part II" | |||
| 3 | "Part III" | |||
| 4 | "Part IV" | |||
| 5 | "Part V" | |||
| 6 | "Part VI" |
| Year | Artist(s) | Title | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2022 | Red Hot Chili Peppers | "Black Summer" | Music video for their single fromUnlimited Love[14] |
| Year | Title | Episode(s) | Role | Notes | Ref. |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2019 | The Mandalorian | "Chapter 6: The Prisoner" | Sash Ketter | Cameo | [15] |
| 2023 | "Chapter 21: The Pirate" | [16] | |||
| Chapter 24: The Return | [17] |
Her short film,Daypass, won the Best Actor Award at theMilano Film Festival and the Best Short at theTurin Film Festival. The feature-lengthscreenplay version of the film won theComedy Central Award for Best Comedy Screenplay. Chow was the winner of the 2005Kodak New Vision Mentorship award for her short filmThe Hill, the winnings from which included funding for her first feature film.[2] She was a participant in theBerlinale Talent Campus,Toronto International Film Festival Talent Lab, and the Praxis Screenwriting Lab.[5] Her debut feature filmThe High Cost of Living won Best First Feature and Top Ten at theToronto International Film Festival, Best Canadian Feature at the Female Eye Film Fest, and Prix Super-Écran at theRendez-vous du cinéma québécois.[18] She received theAndrew Sarris Award at the 2022 Columbia University Film Festival.[19]
The High Cost of Living has received mixed reviews. This film bears all the hallmarks of a conventional indie drama: "a downbeat scenario, flawed protagonists, and a strongly regional inflection." Chow is credited on hitting every mark and narrative turning point. The result is a strange dramatic complexity, with a work of superficial depth.[20]
| International | |
|---|---|
| National | |
