Script Files
THE RETURN OF EMMA WANG
Set in Taipei, a controlling Taiwanese matriarch and stubborn high school cooking class instructor must confront her failed singing past when an African American Blues musician, performing cover songs in Taiwan due to the shame of being unable to write an original song, discovers her family is his muse. It turns out he was the missing ingredient her family needed to grow their individual talents.
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Alan Wayne TilleyWriter
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Project Type:Screenplay
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Genres:Family, Comedy, Asian, Cross-cultural
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Number of Pages:80
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Country of Origin:Taiwan
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Language:English
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First-time Screenwriter:No
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Student Project:No
Raised by a single mother/Army officer, Alan Tilley is now a bilingual Chinese-English writer who at seventeen, he had a harrowing experience at a Texas radio station where he was beaten by a Charles Manson Family wanna-be wanting to broadcast a demand for Manson's release from prison.
After college, the government recruited Alan to become an Asian Specialist. He has since lived and worked in Thailand, China, Korea, and Taiwan, immersing himself in the diverse cultures and languages of the region.
He speaks Mandarin on a daily basis. Alan has brainstormed with Korean filmmakers and now collaborates with Taiwanese and Chinese directors on bilingual features and TV screenplays.
Alan holds an MFA in screenwriting and a UCLA Extension TV writing certificate.
When not writing, Alan coaches the Taiwan Junior National Golf Team on their English skills.
I began writing daily when I was named the Morning Show host of Taiwan's only English-language radio station. The morning drive show had 700,000 Taiwanese and foreign listeners, so I was under pressure to write an entertaining radio program. Fortunately, I concentrated on G-rated family humor and pointed out aspects of life in Taiwan that were different from my life as an American soldier. Soon I acquired a plethora of family stories. I then spent my years at UCLA Extension learning the craft of screenwriting. UNCLE BUCK with John Candy inspired with its warmth. I turned a 'what if' Uncle Buck were in Taipei into THE RETURN OF EMMA WANG. Of all the scripts I wrote at UCLA Extension, THE RETURN OF EMMA WANG resonated the best with my instructor and classmates. The script was shot as a short and shown at a Taipei fundraiser. The positive comments and suggestions from Taiwanese mothers inspired me to convert it into a feature. The Taiwan government awarded me dual citizenship for my positive portrayal of life in Taiwan. I hope to attract a female director to help me develop my other Asian Family stories.