Derrick Tseng

Derrick Tseng’s been in the trenches of indie film long before most people could even spell “Sundance.” Born in ’54, he’s got this low-key, underground legend status in the producer world. You probably don’t know his face, but you’ve for sure seen his work if you’ve ever stumbled onto a cult classic at 2AM when you should’ve been asleep before work. He’s the kind of guy who can wrangle a shoestring budget and somehow turn it into gritty magic, which, let’s be real, is a superpower in itself. He’s got fingerprints all over some wild projects—Joe (2013) with Nic Cage doing that broken-down, soulful thing, Super Troopers (2001) which is basically required viewing for anyone who’s ever dreamed of being a slacker cop, and Chasing Amy (1997), which, if you were paying attention in the ‘90s, basically redefined indie rom-coms and made awkward comic book nerds cool for a hot minute. Tseng’s the steady hand in the chaos, the one who actually gets things done while everyone else is losing it over script rewrites and missing actors. The dude’s career isn’t just a string of job titles—producer, assistant director, whatever—it’s more like he’s the glue that holds these madcap productions together. You want a movie to feel real, kind of raw around the edges, not some glossy Hollywood fluff? You call Derrick. His filmography is packed with stories that don’t pull punches, that dig into the weird, messy sides of being human. He’s not about big studio gloss; he’s about telling stories that stick to your ribs.