Wesley Wang
American film director
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Wesley Wang is an American film director and screenwriter.[1] He is best known for his short film nothing, except everything. (2023), which is now being adapted into a feature film produced by Darren Aronofsky and Sony's TriStar Pictures.[2] He was on Forbes 30 Under 30 in 2024.[3]
Early life
Wang is from Long Island, and attended Jericho High School in Jericho, New York.[4] As a competitive chess player, he became a FIDE Master in 2018.[5] He started the non-profit CHESSanity in 2014 to promote chess in underprivileged schools across the country.[6] He now attends Harvard College.[7]
Career
His senior year of high school, Wang wrote and directed the short film nothing, except everything. (2023).[8] To get the project made, he taught chess lessons for funding and cold-emailed hundreds of producers before Scott Aharoni agreed to produce.[9][10] After having its world premiere at the Academy Award-qualifying Indy Shorts International Film Festival,[11][12] the film went onto garner over 8.9 million views on YouTube.[13]
The film received mixed reviews, with some praising its technical aspects and depiction of Gen Z culture whilst others criticizing the film's heavy-handedness in its existentialist themes and Wang's privileged position as a factor in the film's success.[14]
Sparking a bidding war, the rights to the feature adaptation were then bought by TriStar, with Darren Aronofsky's Protozoa Pictures producing.[15] The feature is now in development.