Award-winning film director Mina Shum says she learned valuable skills while flipping burgers at a fast-food chain.
"I worked there from the age of 15 to 19," Shum said in an interview published in Sunday's Parade magazine. "And it taught me multi-tasking."She greeted customers, kept track of the burgers on the grill and remembered to check the toilet paper in the restrooms.
"Filmmaking is like that," she said. "Putting out fires."
Shum, 29, was born in Hong Kong and emigrated to Canada as a baby. Growing up with traditional Asian parents during the punk rock era created tension at home, and that provided the backdrop for "Double Happiness," her first feature film as a director.
The movie, which won an award at last year's Toronto International Film Festival, opens across the United States this month.