James Wong Biography
Born in Hong Kong, James Wong moved to the United States with his family when he was 10. There he met fellow film and television enthusiast Glen Morgan at El Cajon High School in San Diego.
Both attended the same university and joined a comedy improv group in La Jolla, California, performing beside the likes of Whoopi Goldberg. "I was roommates with Glen and I was an engineering major for the first semester.
You know, Glen would have these classes -- I mean, I would come home with three hours of homework and Glen would come home and watch a movie! But anyway, besides that, the real turning point was a movie called Apocalypse Now. We went to Cinerama Dome, which is a great theatre in LA. That was the first run of it and it didn't even have credits yet.
It was just really cool. After watching that I realized that this was what I wanted to do.
So that's when I decided to switch majors."
Following their graduation from Marymount University, they co-wrote the hard-hitting feature, The Boys Next Door. The two then signed on to be writers for such series as 21 Jump Street, Booker and The Commish before working for the hit sci-fi series, The X Files. Touted as a couple of the most creative and influential minds on the show, they created such lasting characters as Agent Skinner and The Lone Gunmen.
Their work for X Files led to more writing and producing gigs for shows like Space: Above and Beyond, Millennium and The Others.
In 2000 Wong alone decided to take a different role from his traditional writer/producer title and direct a feature film.
The movie, Final Destination was the result. A film he co-wrote with Glen, the thriller fared well at the box office, although the critics did little to advertise, giving the film a mediocre grade.
A year later, Wong released his second attempt at directing with The One, starring action star Jet Li.
Filmography (director):
The One (2001)
Final Destination (2000)
Filmography (writer):
The One (2001)
Final Destination (2000)
The Boys Next Door (1986)