A LABOR OF LOVE
Chain of Amber
HISTORY • ROMANCE • ADVENTURE
“Touring in a theatrical company in India and the Far East; marriage to an American mining engineer; living in Korea under Japanese occupation… these are some of the beads in this Chain of Amber."
Chain of Amber is the fascinating autobiography of Jennifer’s Grandmother, Mary Linley Taylor. Jennifer created Dilkusha Productions in her ongoing quest to bring the story to life. Two documentary films have been made, Father’s Country and Mr. Taylor’s House - Dilkusha, and a third called Three Returns is currently in the works.
Jennifer is collaborating with producer Hosung Kim, and writer-director John Rhee, in creating a 16-episode live-action television series based on Chain of Amber.
CHAIN OF AMBER
by Mary Linley Taylor
DILKUSHA BY THE GINKGO TREE
by Bruce Tickell Taylor
BACKGROUND
In 2005, Jennifer contacted the Korean Embassy in San Francisco seeking to make connections with interested producers and filmmakers in Seoul. This resulted in the production of two documentaries. The first documentary was based on a few important historical events discovered in Chain of Amber by Producer Stanley Kim of Indecom Cinema in Seoul. These events were subsequently fact-checked and determined to be true, inspiring further research and the eventual filming of Father’s Country. This documentary was produced to celebrate Independence Day in Korea, and to honor the Taylor family’s involvement in the historic events surrounding that day. It was first aired on the 1st of March in 2006 on Korean television and premiered in the US at the Mendocino Film Festival later that year.
In 2012, the Taylor family was contacted by Producer Mijin Lee of BASSIM Pictures, Seoul, Korea. After the airing of Father’s Country, interest grew around the rediscovery of Albert and Mary Taylor’s house, Dilkusha, in Seoul and the fact that it was still standing 100 years after it was built by Jennifer’s grandfather. Mijin wanted to produce a documentary about the house, so once again a film crew made their way from Seoul to Mendocino to interview the Taylor family. After the TV airing of the resulting documentary, Mr. Taylor’s House, Mary Linley Taylor’s book, Chain of Amber was translated into Korean.
In 2015, Jennifer was contacted by the Seoul City Government informing her that her Grandparents’ home, Dilkusha, had been declared a historical building and would be restored to her former glory and turned into a house museum. The Seoul Museum of History asked if she had any family items to donate for the museum. In 2016, she traveled to Seoul with family photos, albums, curios, and other personal family items and made her first donation. She met with Seoul Mayor Park and accompanied him on the March 1st Independence Day Celebrations throughout the city of Seoul. In 2017, the curator of the museum and his team, along with a documentary crew, traveled to Mendocino to collect and film the remainder of the relics to be donated— 1,006 items in all.
In November of 2018, Jennifer traveled to Seoul for The Seoul Museum of History exhibition Dilkusha and The Chain of Amber. This trip was filmed for an upcoming documentary entitled The Three Returns. During the following years, due to financial contributions of both the South Korean Government and The Seoul City Government, Dilkusha was completely renovated and museum exhibits were installed.
In February 2021, during the global COVID-19 pandemic, Jennifer traveled to Seoul for the opening of the museum after a two-week quarantine just outside of the city in Yongin, South Korea. Since the opening of Dilkusha House Museum in 2021, the outdoor garden installations have been completed and there will be new bi-annual revolving exhibitions of the items donated by the Taylor family.
Prior to Jennifer’s trip to Seoul in 2021 for the opening of the Dilkusha House Museum, she was contacted by LA-based screenwriter/director John Rhee. A producer Rhee works with in South Korea named Hosung Kim had contacted him, and voiced his desire to pursue a film project based on a book he had read called Chain of Amber. John was given the task of finding Jennifer to discuss a collaboration. After the initial contact between Jennifer and John was made, Zoom introductions and meetings followed between the three. Once in Seoul, Jennifer met up with Hosung at the museum opening event, an instant kinship was felt between them, and further discussions ensued. Since then, the three have formed a working partnership and have completed a pitch doc for a 16-episode live action TV series based on the book, Chain of Amber. As of 2024 they continue to pursue development of their project.
A Letter of Appreciation
“I’m writing this letter in appreciation of the Taylors’ contribution to Korea. My name is Tae-Hun Kim from Seoul. My mother and I watched the documentary about your family that was nationally televised on March 1st. My mother and I were deeply moved; we shed tears. The history books we read in school talk about Western people in Korea during the Japanese occupation. We learn that an AP reporter and a Canadian missionary reported the massacre in Suwon to western society, however, I did not know who they were and about their stories, so it was good to learn about the Taylor family. It was the most beautiful and touching story I have ever known. As a Korean I can’t thank you enough. God bless the Taylor family.”
FATHER’S COUNTRY
Father’s Country is a Korean television documentary filmed in Mendocino, California and Seoul, Korea. It was produced in celebration of Korea’s March 1st Independence Day, and in honor of the role that Jennifer’s grandfather, and her father and his birth played in this important part of Korea’s history. In the documentary, Mendocino, California residents Bruce, Joyce, and Jennifer Taylor voyage to Seoul, where they revisit 45 years of family history as described in Mary Linley Taylor’s autobiography, Chain of Amber. The grand family home built in Seoul by Albert and Mary Taylor in 1923 and named Dilkusha, (Palace of Hearts Delight), is also featured in a documentary called Mr. Taylor’s House, produced by Mijin Lee & Bassim Pictures.
MR. TAYLOR’S HOUSE
Mr. Taylor’s House is the story of a western-style house built in the center of Seoul in 1923. Once amongst acres of beautiful lawns and gardens, and now densely surrounded by city buildings. The story is told from the viewpoint of the house itself, as it follows the lives of its residents – past and present, set against the backdrop of Korea’s dramatic history. Albert Taylor and his wife, celebrated artist and author, Mary Linley Taylor, built this once-grand home and named it Dilkusha, meaning ‘palace of heart’s delight.’ The Taylor family’s years in Dilkusha are described in Mary’s book, Chain of Amber. Son of Albert and Mary, Bruce Tickell Taylor, along with his wife, Joyce, and daughter Jennifer are highlighted in the documentary, along with citizens of Seoul who still call Dilkusha home. Dilkusha is also featured in the Korean Television documentary Father’s Country produced by Stanley Kim and directed by Sang-il Jang.
LAND OF THE MORNING CALM
written by Jennifer
“In 1392, a new dynasty established by a military coup revived the name Chosun 조선, 朝鮮. The hanja were often translated into English as ‘morning calm / sun’ and Korea’s nickname became ‘The Land of the Morning Calm.’ This early morning calm would come quickly to Jennifer during her stay in Seoul and the filming of the documentary, Father’s Country. It was then that she would awake before daybreak, and write about the discovery of her family’s history as it unfolded in front of her daily. Her blog and recounting of this time in her life is remarkably well written and vividly told.”
DONATION TO SEOUL MUSEUM OF HISTORY | click image to learn more
DILKUSHA MUSEUM, SEOUL SOUTH KOREA | click image to learn more
16-EPISODE LIVE-ACTION TV SERIES | click image to learn more