Being a Storyteller: ‘Wicked: For Good’ with Director Jon M. Chu

Written by Trinity Ray. Photography by Miha Palancha.

On Sunday, Oct. 26, director Jon M. Chu joined SCAD students and Savannah residents in their countdown to the “Wicked: For Good” film release. After being welcomed to the stage by the SCAD Bee Sharps’ performance of “For Good,” Chu was presented with the Vanguard Director Award.

The 2024 “Wicked” film broke many box office records, despite the worries from longtime fans of the musical about its adaptation. As the story goes, everyone knew there would be a second film, so the hype didn’t stop after the first movie’s release. 

With hundreds of people standing to cheer and scream for Chu’s arrival and acceptance of the award, he said the SCAD Savannah Film Festival welcome made him feel like Justin Bieber. Before the real Q&A started, a preview clip from “Wicked: For Good” played, showing Elphaba, Glinda and the Wizard singing and dancing to “Wonderful.”

Chu proceeded to speak about his journey as an artist and when he realized being a director was the path for him. “I remember what it feels like to be in those seats,” he said to the theater full of students. The short film he created in college just happened to be seen by the right people, which brought him to today and the creation of “Wicked.” He said it was like winning the lottery.

“If you’re a storyteller then you are trained, not to be a director of movies, you’re trained to be a storyteller. That opens up everything. You should be able to pitch, to convince people of things, to gather your heads of departments, and to tell stories around a campfire,” Chu said.

It took time for him to make it to this level of achievement, and there were moments when his confidence and determination wavered. Through all of the doubt, Chu told himself stories — just like he was trained to tell others — of his future, of how good life would look when everything worked out.

“‘Wicked’ is about friendship. It’s not glamorous but it is what endures,” Chu says. “My career has been built on friendships like that. Together — about the movie or not.”

The first time Chu saw the musical “Wicked” was in college. He was letting go of friends from high school and was questioning so many things, and the story hit it. He said, “Someone’s gonna make a great movie out of this one day.” Turns out, it would be him.

Another clip, in which Chu begged Universal to let him play, came in the form of behind the scenes shots. Videos from rehearsal, filming and comments from those involved, like Chu and Ariana Grande (Glinda), played for the audience. It was a moment for us to see the work that went in and the feelings everyone involved brought to set.

There are plenty of movies on romance or other genres, but Chu said friendships are a harder narrative to portray. It was all about collaboration when creating “Wicked” and “Wicked: For Good.” Chu said the saying “casting is 80% of the job” is really how it is.

The team matters, and he said one of the most important parts is if the actors are emotionally available. When speaking on Elphaba’s character (played by Cynthia Erivo), Chu said, “It was a very delicate balance of us finding it, finding her, together.”

Chu wants everyone who is on their own storytelling journey to remember: “Everyone will cheer you at the beginning, and they’ll cheer you again at the end, but your friends will be there in the messy middle.”