Vincent Cheung
http://www.wga.org/WrittenBy/1001/asian.html


"The classic Asian-American ethic says get your education, your
credentials, and a real profession," says TV comedy writer Vincent
Cheung, sitting in a Pasadena office that he shares with writing
partner Ben Montanio. On the wall behind him is a bulletin board of
memorabilia from some of the sitcoms they've worked on: Married With
Children, The Steve Harvey Show, Night Court.

Ben Montanio and Vincent Cheung

Standing up, Cheung gives an impromptu act, complete with accent and
flailing arms, of what happens when an Asian-American writer tells
the folks that he or she is going to be a Hollywood writer. "They'll
say, 'Are you crazy? You get education first! Then you work in
restaurant!'" Sitting down, he adds, "Jobs in Hollywood don't afford
security, and security equals survival. But with third- and fourth-
generation Asian Americans, that belief falls away."

Cheung's father, a linguist and China expert for the CIA, wanted him
to get an MBA and go into engineering or computer science. Cheung,
who failed pre-med, decided to go into stand-up comedy instead.
After some open-mike stints at the Comedy Store and Ice House, he
became a page at NBC and then got an internship in the NBC story
department. "I became a script reader, and they put me on an
executive track," says Cheung. He later moved to ITC Productions as
a development exec and met Montanio, who was a production executive.

"What forged our bond was working on low-budget features under $2
million," says Cheung. "In the wake of the '88 strike, we were put
in charge of a film where we had to fire the original director and
writer. We did a full rewrite in a weekend, and that's when the
writing bug hit us."

Today, the pair work together as Rice & Beans Productions. "Ben and
I have worked on shows where we were the only people of color on
staff," says Cheung. "It was never an issue, though. When the dual
culture enriches your writing, that's great. In recent years we've
tended to work on black shows, but that's reflective of the
statistics. Unfortunately, sitcoms are either black or white. If
you're white, there's nothing that says you can't write other races.
But if you look different, you're automatically pidgeon-holed.
That's slowly changing. It would be odd to see a black show staffed
solely by white writers, as it used to be."

The duo is now writing a pilot for a live-action sitcom for the
Disney Channel about 13-year-old Latino twins, a brother and sister,
who have their own cable access show.

Cheung's first exposure to showbiz actually occurred when he was
five years old. His grandfather ran a Polynesian restaurant in
Encino called the Samoa House, a popular celebrity hangout. It was
there that Cheung met Roy Rogers, Kareem Abdul Jabar, and other
celebrities. "One day, a casting director spotted me and
said, 'Would you like to be a Korean orphan in a war film?'"
remembers Cheung. "I read for the part, and was in competition with
an older kid who'd done commercials. In the pivotal scene, I was
with an American G.I. I wanted him to take me to America because I'd
heard about hamburgers and Hershey bars. But he couldn't take me. I
was supposed to cry, but I couldn't. So they sent me to acting
school and gave the part to the older kid. The film never got made."