Photography by Weston McGhee
about
Lily Yasuda is a Japanese American filmmaker from Boise, Idaho.
She wrote, produced and starred in the micro-budget feature film LIKE LOVE, which premiered at the Toronto Independent Film Festival in 2020, and went on to screen at festivals across the U.S. and U.K.
LIKE LOVE is now available to stream on Amazon Prime.
She made her directorial debut with the narrative short NICE GUY, which is scheduled to debut on the festival circuit in 2023.
Lily grew up surrounded by theater, and remains fascinated by the intimate relationship between audience and actor. She spent most of her adolescence reciting bits of Aaron Sorkin dialogue, and considers herself an expert on both walking and talking.
Though she wears many hats, writing is her preferred medium.
nice guy (2023)
NICE GUY is an 8-minute short film written and directed by
Lily Yasuda, with cinematography by Lila Streicher.
Set in a sleazy motel room, the film follows two strangers as they stumble through the drunken niceties of foreplay. What starts as a fun, consensual encounter slowly morphs into the sticky, zero-chemistry awkwardness of a bad first date.
This timely, atmospheric drama exposes the skin-crawling realities of hookup culture, and the unseen forces that govern female sexuality.
Principal photography was completed in Boise in November 2021.
Cinematography by Aaron Seller
like love (2020)
82 minutes
Directed by Michael Wolfe
Written by Lily Yasuda
Starring Lily Yasuda & Joseph Bricker
LIKE LOVE chronicles the intensely complicated, deeply flawed, and totally unintentional friendship between a boy and a girl.
Harper is a killjoy with an impressive knack for finding the worst in everyone. Enter Jackson: serial monogamist, idealist, and king of attracting the least available person in the room.
After a series of (un)fortunate circumstances prompts them to become roommates, a friendship is born. Yet their closeness inevitably sends Jackson down the rabbit hole of attraction, pushing Harper to make a choice: force herself to fall in love, or risk losing her best friend.
Savage, ridiculous, and possibly even a little romantic, LIKE LOVE is WHEN HARRY MET SALLY for a new generation, an ode to waffles, and a love letter to anyone who found the strength to say “I don’t.”
resume & reel
