T.J. Yoshizaki, born and raised in Sapporo, Japan, is an award winning filmmaker based in Los Angeles. Right after he finished high school, he moved to New York alone. After graduating from SUNY at Stony Brook then CUNY John Jay College of Criminal Justice with an M.A., he worked for several law organizations. He then moved to California to pursue his career in filmmaking. He has written and directed several short and feature films. His most recent work, Hot Dog, is an acclaimed short film that was accepted to over 60 film festivals in 22 countries and received over 20 awards/nominations.