Nine-year-old movie critic receives letter from President and First Lady, adds more to his extensive resume

By Sara Mark, intern

Perry Chen getting an autograph from The Princess & Frog director Ron Clements at the Disney D23 expo in September.

Whether you’ve watched his interviews on local news stations, read his movie reviews in various newspapers or listened to his radio show online, chances are you’ve heard of local resident Perry Chen. At just 9 years old, Perry, with the help of his media-savvy mother Zhu Shen, has created a name for himself in the journalism world, utilizing various media outlets to share his opinions on G and PG rated films. But Perry’s talents and accomplishments extend much further than a movie theater and a five starfish rating (his kid-friendly movie rating system).
In early 2009, Perry saw and reviewed “Azur and Asmar,” a film that the young critic explained was about “courage, sacrifice, love and brotherhood,” in his first published review in the “We Chinese in America” newspaper.
“The film was so inspiring for him because it talked about how to overcome racial prejudice,” said Shen. “It was such a fitting theme with the incoming president.”
Together, the mother-and-son team decided that Perry should write a letter to President Obama to express his feelings regarding the movie and the morals it presented. During the process of writing the letter, Perry was offered the opportunity to meet and interview the film’s director at the premier in San Francisco on March 4. By getting to understand the inner-workings and intentions of the film, Perry was further inspired to continue his letter to the president. Accompanying the letter with a DVD of the movie and a personal drawing of the president, Perry mailed the package to the White House. Soon after, he received a letter from the President and the First Lady, thanking him for his kind gifts and thoughtful writing.
“I was thrilled to receive the note from President and Mrs. Obama,” said Perry. “It shows that movies are so powerful that they can even reach the most powerful man of all. I hope someday I will have the honor of interviewing President Obama in the White House.”
Since his first piece in the “We Chinese” newspaper, Perry has become a columnist for the publication, acting as the paper’s only film critic. Frequently writing for the English section of the paper as well as having feature pieces in the “We Chinese” magazine, Perry has received an “Excellent Writer” award and will be honored at the “We Chinese” 100th issue celebration.
Writing isn’t Perry’s only talent, however. In October, the prodigy showcased his art as part of the “Innocent World, Pure Art” International Children’s Art Exhibit at the San Diego City Hall. Taking art lessons every week from the event’s organizer, Helen Yuan, Perry has been able to hone the craft that he began when he was just 3 years old. Although this was the first public art exhibit that Perry participated in, his passion and attention to detail earned him the “Award for Outstanding Creativity” for his age group.
With such a resume, it’s no wonder a book about Perry is already in its beginning stages. “I had been thinking about creating a book since last January, when I saw how good Perry’s reviews were,” said Shen. “It was constantly in the back of my mind, but we were always doing these other activities.”
So, when a major publishing company approached Perry with the idea of turning his story into a book, the opportunity was too good to pass up. Since September, Shen had been interviewing literary agencies and has recently made the decision to have the Levine Greenberg group represent Perry’s story.
“We now have a book proposal ready to go to the publisher on Jan. 4,” said Shen. “There will be some biographical information, but a lot of it will be his movie reviews, from new releases to old classics...We also want there to be information on what goes on behind the scenes of movies, ‘how the magic happens’ kind of thing. Perry also plans to detail how he goes about writing movie reviews— to go into depth about the process. In that way, it will be educational for kids.”
For more information on Perry and to see his latest reviews, go to www.perryspreviews.com.