Gene Rhee had an unconventional path toward filmmaking. A Wharton School graduate from the University of Pennsylvania, he went to work for an advertising agency in Los Angeles and helped create ads for brands like Nike and Honda before he got bored with pitching products and enrolled at the U.S.C. School of Cinematic Arts’ prestigious Peter Stark program where he got his M.F.A. in film.

Upon graduating, Gene Rhee worked briefly at 20th Century Fox and Paramount Pictures before realizing that directing and writing was what he really wanted to do. It wasn’t long before DreamWorks, Maverick Films and the Fox Family Channel acquired projects from him as a screenwriter.

“The Quest for Length,” Gene Rhee’s first directorial effort won awards and was an official selection of the Sundance Film Festival.  After that, he was offered to re-write and direct “Forsaken Seoul” for Maverick Films. Though it languished in development because of the company’s financial turmoil, he describes the film as a stylistic, character-driven thriller with smart action and a major twist.

Gene Rhee proceeded to make another low-budget film festival hit. Co-written with Sharri Hefner and Mike Su, “The Trouble with Romance” was picked up by Warner Bros for distribution despite the tough economic climate. He is now developing several other projects including a western with an atypical lead, and an epic science fiction thriller.