is a Japanese-American filmmaker.
Early life
Born in
Nagano to schoolteachers and raised in
Chiba
Chiba may refer to:
Places China
* (), town in Jianli County, Jingzhou, Hubei
Japan
* Chiba (city), capital of Chiba Prefecture
** Chiba Station, a train station
* Chiba Prefecture, a sub-national jurisdiction in the Greater Tokyo Area on ...
, Japan, Hirayanagi moved to the Los Angeles area in the early 1990s as a high school exchange student.
She graduated from
San Francisco State University with a BA in theater arts. She went on to attend NYU
Tisch School of the Arts and graduated with a MFA in film production.
Career
While in graduate school, her second year project, ''Mo Ikkai'', won the Grand Prix at the 2012 Short Shorts Film Festival in Asia.
Her thesis short film, ''
Oh Lucy!'', received a Tisch's First Prize Wasserman Award at the 2014 First Run Festival,
and also won more than 25 awards
around the globe, including prizes at
Cannes Film Festival (2014),
Sundance Film Festival
The Sundance Film Festival (formerly Utah/US Film Festival, then US Film and Video Festival) is an annual film festival organized by the Sundance Institute. It is the largest independent film festival in the United States, with more than 46,66 ...
(2015),
and the
Toronto International Film Festival (2014).
Her feature-length version of ''
Oh Lucy!'' was a recipient of the 2016 Sundance/NHK Award.
On June 14, 2017, she was named one of the ″20 Rising Women Directors You Need to Know″ by
IndieWire.,
and was nominated at the
2018 Film Independent Spirit Awards for
Best First Feature
Best or The Best may refer to:
People
* Best (surname), people with the surname Best
* Best (footballer, born 1968), retired Portuguese footballer
Companies and organizations
* Best & Co., an 1879–1971 clothing chain
* Best Lock Corporatio ...
.
The project was funded by
Cathay Organisation CEO Meileen Cho.
Hirayanagi was invited to join the
Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences in 2018.
On April 29, 2021, Hirayanagi was set to direct the film adaptation of
A. Lee Martinez
A. Lee Martinez (born January 12, 1973) is an American fantasy and science fiction author. He has been a member of the DFW Writers' Workshop since 1995. He currently resides in Terrell, Texas.
Biography
A. Lee Martinez was born in El Paso, Te ...
’s novel ''The Last Adventure of Constance Verity'' for
Legendary Entertainment with
Awkwafina set to star.
In March 2022, it was announced that Hirayanagi would serve as showrunner of the
Amazon Prime Video
Amazon Prime Video, also known simply as Prime Video, is an American Video on demand#Subscription models, subscription video on-demand Over-the-top media service, over-the-top Streaming media, streaming and Renting, rental service of Amazon (c ...
original series ''
Modern Love Tokyo
is a Japanese romantic comedy anthology streaming television series. It is based on the American television series ''Modern Love'', which itself is based on the weekly column of the same name published by ''The New York Times.''
The first se ...
''.
Personal life
Hirayanagi is a black belt in
Kyokushin Karate, and came in 3rd place in the Los Angeles Cup Women's Category.
Atsuko currently resides in
Noe Valley, San Francisco, CA.
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Hirayanagi, Atsuko
Filmmakers from California
American artists of Japanese descent
Year of birth missing (living people)
Living people
People from Nagano (city)
People from Chiba (city)
Japanese women film directors
Japanese emigrants to the United States
Tisch School of the Arts alumni