Jay J Koh

Jay Koh is a native of South Korea; Mr. Koh and his family immigrated to the United States in 1979. He grew up in Federal Way, Washington, and is a graduate of the University of Washington in Seattle and the Vancouver Film School in British Columbia.

SLAVE SONG is an explosive debut novel by Korean American filmmaker Jay J. Koh. He is the writer and director of the movie MY BROWN EYES and the feature film TRUE. Slave Song is book one of the SONGS OF FORGOTTEN series.

"When I started writing SLAVE SONG, I was trying to stick to the traditional format of the Mystery/Crime/Action-Thriller genre that I was so familiar with … I’m a fan of the genre. But I kept straying … All my experiences living overseas and personal lessons learned kept pushing me out of the genre and deeper into every character, every plot twist, and cultural significance that many books in that genre are missing. What I ended up with, in the end, is a story that has all the excitement of a great thriller, with non-traditional heroes and heroines you will grow to love. Just a warning … I do kill one, and it might anger you; my apologies in advance."

Jay's thoughts on being a Korean American Filmmaker:

"I started my filmmaking career in 1996 with the release of my first short film My Brown Eyes. Following the success of this film, I had an opportunity to make my first feature length film three years later. TRUE was a bittersweet experience for me. Although it was received fantastically by film festival audiences, distributors ultimately passed on this film because of its lack of marketability. TRUE was an all-Korean American cast, Korean American Story, which the mainstream American audience was not ready for in 1999. But even after it failed to find distribution, I did not regret making this film. Some say history is written by those who’ve won the war… in that same spirit, TRUE is a compelling account of the Korean American immigrant experience, and if we ONLY tell stories that have marketability, we are in danger of losing this significant niche in cultural history. Like all films, TRUE is immortal, and it will outlast my existence here on earth and outlast all race politics that exist today. My goal as a filmmaker is to make films that not only entertain but are significant. Every film we create, whether we intend to or not, is a contribution to our history. We must choose carefully what we leave behind."