GUEST BIO
Anthony Lucero
Writer/Director
The Paper Bag Plan
Born and raised in East Oakland, Anthony Lucero received his degree in film at San Francisco State and soon after landed at George Lucas’ Industrial Light & Magic where he worked as a VFX artist on Star Wars: Episodes I & II, Pirates of the Caribbean, Ironman, The Avengers and Harry Potter III.
Lucero’s directorial debut feature film, East Side Sushi, tackled both race and gender roles in his original screenplay that tells the story of Juana, a Mexican immigrant who strives to become a sushi chef. HBO picked up this festival favorite which not only garnered 15 film festival awards (and many more nominations) nationwide and has a 94% Rotten Tomatoes score, but was consistently listed as “Popular on Netflix” during its entire streaming run.
Lucero was selected by the USC’s School of Cinematic Arts and the U.S. State Department as an Envoy to participate in The American Film Showcase. Lucero toured six U.S. Embassies and Consulates in Japan as a film ambassador and screened East Side Sushi to hundreds of enthusiastic Japanese officials, civilians and students. East Side Sushi is now shown at major universities around the world including Princeton University, where he was also invited to be a guest
His screenplay, Billy Dreams of Bagging, was a Sundance Development Track semifinalist and is Lucero’s latest feature, which is now titled The Paper Bag Plan. The film began its festival run in the fall of 2024 and has already received four awards including two audience awards and a best premiere at Heartland Film Festival.
Lucero is an alum of the Disney Directors Fellowship Program and was most recently invited to participate in the Netflix Director’s on the Rise Masterclass.
Lucero’s directorial debut feature film, East Side Sushi, tackled both race and gender roles in his original screenplay that tells the story of Juana, a Mexican immigrant who strives to become a sushi chef. HBO picked up this festival favorite which not only garnered 15 film festival awards (and many more nominations) nationwide and has a 94% Rotten Tomatoes score, but was consistently listed as “Popular on Netflix” during its entire streaming run.
Lucero was selected by the USC’s School of Cinematic Arts and the U.S. State Department as an Envoy to participate in The American Film Showcase. Lucero toured six U.S. Embassies and Consulates in Japan as a film ambassador and screened East Side Sushi to hundreds of enthusiastic Japanese officials, civilians and students. East Side Sushi is now shown at major universities around the world including Princeton University, where he was also invited to be a guest
His screenplay, Billy Dreams of Bagging, was a Sundance Development Track semifinalist and is Lucero’s latest feature, which is now titled The Paper Bag Plan. The film began its festival run in the fall of 2024 and has already received four awards including two audience awards and a best premiere at Heartland Film Festival.
Lucero is an alum of the Disney Directors Fellowship Program and was most recently invited to participate in the Netflix Director’s on the Rise Masterclass.