Deborah Chow

Deborah Chow is a Canadian filmmaker, television director and screenwriter known for her independent films and her work on Star Wars television. Two of her first short films, Daypass and The Hill (2004) have both won awards at various international film festivals. Her first feature film was The High Cost of Living (2010), which she both wrote and directed.

Chow has directed various projects for television, including the 2014 TV movie adaption of V. C. Andrews' Gothic novel Flowers in the Attic and episodes of the series Copper, Murdoch Mysteries, Reign, Beauty and the Beast, and Mr. Robot. Chow is also a director on the first season of the Star Wars series The Mandalorian (2019) and directed all six episodes of Obi-Wan Kenobi (2022) for Disney+.

Early life Chow is the half-Chinese daughter of parents who emigrated from Australia to Toronto, Ontario, Canada, where she grew up.

Her Chinese father was an ardent movie fan and introduced to her the world of classic films and filmmaking. Chow graduated from Gordon Graydon Memorial Secondary School in Mississauga, Ontario.

She received her undergraduate degree, major of cultural theory and minor in art history, from McGill University in Montreal, where she made her first short film. where she completed two short films and a feature screenplay, including her short film, Daypass, which screened internationally at over 35 festivals and won multiple awards.

As a television director, she has worked on the BBC show Copper, the CW programs Reign and Beauty and the Beast, the CBC show Murdoch Mysteries and the USA Network series Mr. Robot.

Chow served as director of two episodes of the Disney+ exclusive streaming television series, Star Wars: The Mandalorian, in which she also had a cameo role as a New Republic X-wing pilot. She was announced as the sole director for the Disney+ series that centers on Obi-Wan Kenobi. Lucasfilm President Kathleen Kennedy stated that "We really wanted to select a director who is able to explore both the quiet determination and rich mystique of Obi-Wan in a way that folds seamlessly into the Star Wars saga. Based on her phenomenal work developing our characters in The Mandalorian, I'm absolutely confident Deborah is the right director to tell this story."

Chow directed the music video for "Black Summer", the first single off of the Red Hot Chili Peppers 2022 album, Unlimited Love.

Filmography Film YearTitleCredited asNotes Director Writer 2002 Daypass Short film 2004 The Hill Also editor and costume designer 2010 The High Cost of Living 2014 Flowers in the Attic 2026The Mandalorian and GroguRole: Sash Ketter

Television

Music videos Year Artist(s) Title Notes 2022 Red Hot Chili Peppers "Black Summer" Music video for their single from Unlimited Love

Acting credits Year Title Episode(s) Role Notes 2019 The Mandalorian "Chapter 6: The Prisoner" Sash Ketter Cameo 2023 "Chapter 21: The Pirate" "Chapter 24: The Return" 2026 The Mandalorian and Grogu

Awards and recognition Her short film, Daypass, won the Best Actor Award at the Milano Film Festival and the Best Short at the Turin Film Festival. The feature-length screenplay version of the film won the Comedy Central Award for Best Comedy Screenplay. Chow was the winner of the 2005 Kodak New Vision Mentorship award for her short film The Hill, the winnings from which included funding for her first feature film. Her debut feature film The High Cost of Living won Best First Feature and Top Ten at the Toronto International Film Festival, Best Canadian Feature at the Female Eye Film Fest, and Prix Super-Écran at the Rendez-vous du cinéma québécois. She received the Andrew Sarris Award at the 2022 Columbia University Film Festival.