Yen Tan was born on March 12, 1975 in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. He graduated from Drake University in 1997 with a BA in Journalism and is currently a filmmaker, copywriter, and graphic designer in Dallas, Texas.
Yen’s debut feature, “Happy Birthday,” screened at numerous film festivals worldwide and won the Jury Prize for Best Feature at the Philadelphia Gay & Lesbian International Film Festival and New Directors Showcase at the Portland GLBT Film Festival. “Happy Birthday”
was acquired by TLA Releasing in 2003. He contributed a segment to the acclaimed omnibus film, “Deadroom,” which premiered at SXSW Film Festival in 2005. The directorial joint venture was given a Director’s Award
for Best Narrative Feature at Texas Film Festival. In
the process, Yen was featured as one of the 20 Great
Dallasites in the 20th anniversary edition of Dallas Voice.
“Ciao,” his follow-up feature, was released theatrically in eleven cities by Regent/here! Films in the winter of 2008. The film has also toured festivals internationally and nabbed jury and audience awards at AFI Dallas and image+nation in Montréal. AfterElton named “Ciao“ “the best gay movie I’ve seen this year” and the Los Angeles Times called it “a revelation; a minimalist work of maximum effect.”
Recently, Yen’s Sundance Screenwriting Lab semi-finalist screenplay, “Pit Stop,” was selected by the Outfest Screenwriting Lab. He was also a finalist for the
prestigious Vilcek Prize for Creative Promise.
Yen is currently prepping for his next film.
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