News

Lynn Chen, Vivica A. Fox and standup comedian Dwayne Perkins have boarded Romell Foster-Owens sophomore feature “Love Bait,” according to its producer Quentin Lee of Margin Films who presents “Love Bait” as well romantic comedy TV series “Morning, Paris!” at the Series Mania Forum, running March 25-27 in Lille, France.

“In this politically charged era, with Trump trying to erase Diversity, Equity and Inclusion [Dei], I’m especially excited to produce this uniquely diverse, cross-cultural comedy. It feels like a family reunion getting to work with Lynn Chen, Koji Steven Sakai, Vivica A. Fox, Dwayne Perkins and Romell Foster-Owens – talented people I’ve admired and collaborated with over the years,” said Lee.

“Love Bait” centers on a driven young Asian American woman (Chen) groomed by her traditional parents for corporate success, who hatches a bold plan to win their approval of her boyfriend. She hires a professional “bad boyfriend” (Perkins) to...

Paris-based sales company Alpha Violet has come on board as representative of “Mongrel,” the debut feature of Taiwan-based Singaporean filmmaker Chiang Wei Liang. The film will have its world premiere next month at Cannes in the Directors Fortnight section.

Set in the mountains of Taiwan, “Mongrel” stars Thai actor Wanlop Rungkumjad as Oom, an undocumented migrant and on-demand caregiver for rural families, who struggles to preserve his humanity as he cares for the elderly and disabled.

Rungkumjad is joined by newcomer Kuo Shu-wei, who plays Hui, a patient with whom Oom develops a bond. On hearing of the film’s Cannes selection, Kuo said, “I never thought this film would have the opportunity to be seen by so many people. As I live with athetoid cerebral palsy, we worked hard to achieve this. Hui is a character whose abilities are weaker than mine, so I thought of the friends I...

“Mongrel,” a Taiwan-set drama film that has done the round of project markets, will appear at the International Film Festival Rotterdam as a work in progress.

In addition to the screening of 15 minutes of footage, Taiwan-based Singaporean director Chiang Wei Liang has confirmed the film’s cast as being headed by Thai actor Wanlop Rungkumjad alongside Taiwanese female actor Lu Yi-ching and rapper Hong Yu-hong from Taiwanese hip-hop group Nine One One. Other key cast include Atchara Suwan (“By the Time It Gets Dark”), and Guo Shu-wei in his debut role.

Set in the mountains of Taiwan, the film follows Rungkumjad’s character Oom, an undocumented migrant and on-demand caregiver for rural families, who struggles to preserve his humanity as he cares for the elderly and disabled.

The project, which represents Chiang’s debut feature film, was previously developed at TorinoFilmLab ScriptLab, Talents Tokyo and the Cannes Residence, where it received the Cnc Development Award.

This LGBTQ+ History Month, we're asking writers to reflect on a moment in queer pop culture history that has allowed them to experience queer liberation in their own lives. Check out our coverage here.

Long before the commercial success of "Crazy Rich Asians," "Shang-Chi," "Fire Island," and "Everything Everywhere All at Once" heralded a new age of Asian representation in Hollywood, Alice Wu's "Saving Face" paved the way for queer Asian visibility in 2004.

Last year, when I watched the film for the first time, I had a vague inkling that I aspired to become a screenwriter and filmmaker. I had taken a few screenwriting classes through a nonprofit arts organization, but I felt deep insecurity that the subjects I was writing about - my American-born Chinese experience of being queer in an ethno-burb in Los Angeles - were too specific and too esoteric to be relevant to any audience.

Life for many can appear simple. But, in reality, it is full of complications. Cinema is a great outlet for exploring said details of people’s lives. There is quite a lot of human exploration within indie filmmaking. Sometimes, mellow storytelling can make for a marvelously engaging viewing experience. Lower budgets can be an opportunity to explore drama more personally. Look no further than the endearing set of films known as “The Surrogate Valentine Trilogy.”

on Amazon by clicking on the image below

The trilogy, while small in scale, brings together many creative minds. Directing “Surrogate Valentine” and “Daylight Savings” is filmmaker Dave Boyle, who notably began his directorial career with quirky comedies such as “Big Dreams Little Tokyo” and “White on Rice.” However, many viewers probably know him best for his thriller “Man from Reno,” a gripping feature about a Japanese crime novelist who becomes...

This exploration of a former relationship after one of the pair has transitioned has chemistry – and an explosive row

Here is a walk-and-talk film that brings to mind the nocturnal strolls of Richard Linklater’s Before series. Mari Walker’s feature debut is a quietly volatile anatomy of a past relationship. More than a decade after they have parted ways, Kris (Pooya Mohseni) and Naomi (Lynn Chen) meet again for a trip down memory lane, as the pair spend an evening dining together and visiting their old college stomping ground.

Kris has now transitioned, and seeing her former partner as a woman for the first time appears to induce feelings of inferiority in Naomi. In contrast to Kris’s contentment in living her truth, Naomi (who used to be a performance artist in college) is now a dissatisfied shadow of her former self. Bitterness slowly bubbles underneath the playful and friendly facade of the reunion,...

After his hubris in the operating room killed a patient two episodes ago, Levi (Jake Borelli) is in the hot seat in Grey’s Anatomy Season 18, Episode 10, March 3’s “Living in a House Divided.” As the episode picks up, the doctors are gathering for an M&m—a morbidity and mortality conference—to dissect that case and what went wrong. But it’s not just Levi under scrutiny; it’s also Richard (James Pickens Jr.) and his Webber Method. [Warning: The below contains Major spoilers for Grey’s Anatomy Season 18, Episode 10, “Living in a House Divided.”] Levi shows up late to the conference and staggers through a few questions before fleeing the scene, even though Helm (Jaicy Elliot) tries to defend him. So then the attention turns to Richard. And Maggie (Kelly McCreary) and the new plastic surgeon, Lin (Lynn Chen), speak out about the Webber Method. Lin points out that Richard is the one who told the residents ...

A specialty market dotted by holdovers as Oscar nods approach and gripped by Sundance fever debuts a compelling handful of new openers from Korean director Hong Sang-soo’s Introduction to Bhutan’s first ever entrant on the Academy Awards International feature shortlist, to a Ukrainian coming of age story and a Queen Latifa-starrring family film Tiger Rising based on the bestselling Kate Dicamillo book.

They come in a frame with two new wide releases: Faith-based romance Redeeming Love presented by Universal on 1,903 screens, and Sean McNamara’s family adventure The King’s Daughter at 2,170 locations, presented by Gravitas. (See below for more on both.)

The Avenue presents The Tiger Rising on 800+ screens, the weekend’s widest specialty release. Directed by Ray Giarratana from a screenplay he adapted based on the Dicamillo novel. With Christian Convery and Dennis Quaid. Lonely 12-year-old Rob Horton (Convery) discovers a caged tiger in the woods near his home,...

“Grey’s Anatomy” — already the longest-running primetime medical drama in television history — has been renewed by ABC for its 19th season, with star Ellen Pompeo set to return as Meredith Grey. Whereas last year the show’s renewal came down to the wire, and was announced in May, this time there’s no such cliffhanger. Pompeo, currently a co-executive producer, is being bumped to executive producer as of next season. Along with Pompeo’s return, ABC announced that executive producer Krista Vernoff — showrunner since Season 14 when creator Shonda Rhimes handed over its reins — will continue to oversee the show. Original cast members Chandra Wilson and James Pickens Jr. are also set to return for Season 19.

After all these years, “Grey’s Anatomy” remains ABC’s top-rated show, and in the 18-to-49 demographic, it’s tied for No. 1 as broadcast television’s top-rated drama.

Whereas the 17th season of “Grey’s Anatomy” was dedicated...

"Just tell them what happened." Vertical Ent. has unveiled an official US trailer for an indie drama titled A Shot Through the Wall, marking the feature debut of filmmaker Aimee Long. This already premiered at the New York Asian Film Festival earlier this year, and hits VOD this January. A Chinese-American police officer's life unravels after he accidentally shoots an innocent Black man. Facing trial, he wades through his guilt as he navigates the complicated worlds of media, justice, racial politics and his own morality. The film stars Kenny Leu as Mike Tan, with Ciara Renee, Clifton Davis, Lynn Chen, Tzi Ma, Derek Goh, and Dan Lauria. This looks quite intense and heartbreaking. A sad story for everyone involved. I appreciate all the different perspectives and impressions in here, sometimes we need to hear the full story to understand. Here's the official trailer (+ poster) for Aimee Long's A Shot Through the Wall,...

Grey’s Anatomy Season 18 — and specifically Dr. Meredith Grey (Ellen Pompeo) and Dr. Amelia Shepherd (Caterina Scorsone) — has been splitting time with stories and characters between Seattle and Minnesota. But which city’s episode time is holding your attention more? Do you prefer the usual setting for the ABC medical drama and its hospital staff? Or have you been drawn in by the attempt to find a cure for Parkinson’s and the new characters from Minnesota? Let’s take a look at what each place has to offer so far this season. Seattle Dr. Miranda Bailey (Chandra Wilson) and Dr. Richard Webber (James Pickens Jr.) are basically trying to keep the hospital going. That means bringing on new staff members, like head of plastic surgery Dr. Michelle Lin (Lynn Chen), replacing Dr. Jackson Avery (Jesse Williams), and potentially a resident courtesy of Meredith in the latest episode. Dr. Megan Hunt...

For an episode called “Today Was a Fairytale”—as was Grey’s Anatomy Season 18, Episode 7, airing December 9—there weren’t a lot of happily-ever-afters. Just a lot of unresolved romantic and sexual tension! [Warning: The below contains Major spoilers for Grey’s Anatomy Season 18, Episode 7, “Today Was a Fairytale.”] The good news is that Maggie is back in Seattle, having returned from her time with her father. (Seems like Kelly McCreary is back from her maternity leave!) She and Winston (Anthony Hill) spend almost the entire day in the on-call room, and you know what that means. Anyway, Winston was supposed to join Bailey (Chandra Wilson) at a medical student convention, as was Meredith (Ellen Pompeo), who’s stuck in Minnesota. But Bailey isn’t completely stranded at the convention: Dr. Michelle Lin (Lynn Chen), the plastics surgeon we met earlier in the season, helps her pitch Grey Sloan to prospective residents. Trouble is, all the other...

Grey Sloan Memorial just gained a new full-time employee. That's right, ABC has confirmed to E! News that Lynn Chen has been given a recurring role on Grey's Anatomy for season 18. Chen, who originally appeared as a guest actor, will be staying on the Emmy-award winning show as Dr. Michelle Lin, the head of plastic surgery, who '"teaches by doing, and relies on the residents' abilities to keep up with her," according to the character description ABC provided to Variety.  With a nationwide physician shortage thanks to the pandemic, the team at Grey Sloan Memorial was eager to bring on Dr. Lin, who was a candidate to replace Dr. Jackson Avery (Jesse Williams). But...

If you’ve been a fan of a couple of the new characters introduced in Grey’s Anatomy Season 18, it sounds like you’re not the only one. Almost a week after announcing that E.R. Fightmaster, who plays the series’ first non-binary doctor, Dr. Kai Bartley, will be recurring, it’s been revealed that Lynn Chen is sticking around, too. She, too, will recur this season on the ABC medical drama as Dr. Michelle Lin, the head of plastic surgery, Variety reports. According to her character description, she “teaches by doing, and relies on the residents’ abilities to keep up with her.” That’s exactly what she told Dr. Miranda Bailey (Chandra Wilson) and Dr. Richard Webber (James Pickens Jr.) when she initially turned down their job offer in the Season 18 premiere. Formerly an assistant chief of plastics, she’d come in for an interview with Bailey, Dr. Maggie Pierce (Kelly McCreary), and Dr.

Lynn Chen is the latest “Grey’s Anatomy” guest actor to get bumped up to recurring status, for the role of Dr. Michelle Lin.

Viewers of the ABC medical drama have already been introduced to Dr. Lin this season, as the exacting new head of plastic surgery at Grey Sloan Memorial Hospital. With surgeons at Grey Sloan quitting because of burnout from the pandemic, and the hospital’s younger doctors having fallen behind because of how Covid affected the surgery schedule, Dr. Lin nearly didn’t take the job when it was offered to her. But then program director Richard Webber (James Pickens Jr.), fired up by her critique, vowed to get the students’ skills up to speed. “Lin teaches by doing, and relies on the residents’ abilities to keep up with her,” reads ABC’s official description of the character.

In addition to recurring on “Shameless” and guest starring on...

Exclusive: Vertical Entertainment has acquired North American and UK rights to racial justice thriller A Shot Through The Wall.

Written and directed by Aimee Long, the film explores how a Chinese-American police officer’s life unravels after he accidentally shoots an innocent Black man in Brooklyn, leading to protests and further violence.

The pic will receive a day-and-date theatrical release on January 21, 2022 in North America and January 24, 2022 in the UK.

The film boasts a predominantly Asian-American cast including Kenny Leu (Midway), Tzi Ma (Mulan), Lynn Chen (Saving Face), Fiona Fu (Away), and Ciara Renee (The Flash), alongside Dan Lauria (The Wonder Years), Kelly AuCoin (Billions) and Clifton Davis (Madame Secretary).

Facing trial for inadvertently discharging his weapon, the officer wades through his guilt as he attempts to navigate the intricate and complicated worlds of media, justice, racial politics and his own morality. Forced to confront the fatal mistake, he and...

Gravitas Ventures has acquired the North American distribution rights to “Paper Tiger,” written and directed by Paul Kowalski. The drama/thriller film will be released on VOD/digital on Aug. 24.

Starring Lydia Look, Alan Trong and Elaine Kao, “Paper Tiger” follows an immigrant mother who fears her mentally-ill teenaged son is turning into a school shooter. The movie first debuted at Austin Film Festival in 2020 and won the audience award and a jury mention.

Seth Numrich, John Harlan Kim, Carrie Wampler and Lynn Chen round out the cast. “Paper Tiger” is produced by Pin-Chun Liu and Kowalski, alongside Bonnie Buckner and executive producer Michael Y. Chow for Xrm Media.

“In a time of growing isolation, polarization and mental health concerns around the world, I hope the film reaches audiences that can connect with and explore the type of tragedy that can result when communication shuts down,” Kowalski said.

BlackStar Film...

Distributor plans early 2022 release.

Breaking Glass Pictures has acquired US rights from Vanishing Angle at the Cannes Marché to SXSW selection and LGBTQ+ drama See You Then.

The film follows Kris, who, a decade after abruptly breaking up with Naomi, invites her to dinner to catch-up on their lives, relationships, and Kris’s transition.

Iranian-American actress and trans rights activist Pooya Mohseni, and Taiwanese-American actress and singer Lynn Chen star. Mari Walker makes her feature directorial debut.

Vanishing Angle president Matt Miller produced with Mia Schulman, Kristen Uno, and Walker. Executive producers include Bobbi Walker, David Walker, and John Jeffrey Martin of DiffeRant Productions.

Jonathan Lipnicki Is winning our hearts again 25 years after he melted them in Jerry Maguire with his new movie about fixing your life. How can that little boy be 30? Pooling to Paradise is a road trip comedy featuring four millennial strangers, each at a cross-worlds in their lives, who find unexpected connections that change their view on life. The story begins with a car-share mixup.

Jenny, Lynn Chen from Saving Face and Go Back To China, a Los Angeles mom, leaves her family for a blogger convention in Vegas, and accidentally chooses 'pool' on her rideshare app, placing her in a car full of strangers including struggling activist Kara, Dreama Walker, from Once Upon a Time in Hollywood, and Gran Torino, heartbroken talent agent Sean, Jonathan Lipnicki from The Resident, and Jerry Maguire, on a quest to find Dawn, Taryn Manning, from Orange is the New Black, and Hustle and Flow,...

Crafting poignant stories that chronicle how people handle the obstacles from their pasts that they must confront in order to become the person they want to be can be a powerful, life-changing journey for any filmmaker. That’s certainly the case for writer-director Mari Walker, who drew from her experiences while transitioning as she penned the […]

The post SXSW 2021 Video Interview: Mari Walker, Pooya Mohseni and Lynn Chen Talk See You Then (Exclusive) appeared first on Shockya.com.

To celebrate Asian American and Pacific Islander (Aapi) Heritage Month in May, Fox’s free streaming service Tubi has curated a container of titles that highlight Asian American voices from its catalog. The collection features Academy Award nominees, films from female and male Asian American directors, Sundance Film Festival selections, documentaries, and titles that prominently feature Aapi stories, actors, and actresses.

Films

A Thousand Years of Good Prayers (2007) – Directed by Wayne Wang (Joy Luck Club)

Bitter Melon (2018) – Directed by Hp Mendoza

Children of Invention (2009) – Sundance Film Festival selection

Chu and Blossom (2015) – Featured in the Los Angeles Asian Pacific Film Festival

Go Back to China (2019) – Starring comedian Anna Akana, written/directed by Emily Ting

I Will Make You Mine (2020) – Directed/written/produced by Lynn Chen, produced by Emily Ting

Love Arcadia (2014) – Featured in the Los Angeles Asian Pacific Film Festival

Miss India America (2015) – Featured in the Los Angeles Asian Pacific Film...

“See You Then” sounds like a nostalgic, even ominous, title — and yes, Mari Walker’s debut feature is a bit of both. “See You Then” witnesses the get-together of two individuals — Kris (Pooya Mohseni), a tech woman who has recently undergone a gender transition, and Naomi (Lynn Chen), an artist who has unwillingly become a mother over the years. After spending the decade apart, the two ex-lovers catch up over dinner, drinks, and eventually a studio visit, ruminating upon what it means to be a woman.

Prior to the film’s official debut at SXSW’s Narrative Feature spotlight, we had the opportunity to talk to Mari over Zoom. Walker was so incredibly on her toes (perhaps this is because of the endless barrage of interviews?); for each question asked, she answered with stunning clarity and confidence. Though we only shared a brief encounter, we bounced around timely topics, including trans representation,...

It has been a long time since Kris (Pooya Mohseni) and Naomi (Lynn Chen) were together - around ten years, in fact. Long enough to have moved on, to let the difficult aspects of the past go? That's what they both seem to be hoping when they meet up one evening to go for a drink. A lot of things have changed between them. Kris never told Naomi, back then, that she was trans. She has since transitioned, changing their dynamic and the way that it's perceived by others. Naomi has married, had two children and drifted away frim the career path once central to her goals in life. They meet almost as strangers, but the weight of their shared past, for all their lingering affection, gradually bears down on them.

Intimate and sometimes emotionally intense, Mari Walker's feature début explores a lot of ground in a single conversation but,...

Flipping a traditional formula on its head, Mari Walker’s haunting feature film debut See You Then begins simply enough: we’re introduced to a reunion that takes place in a sometimes awkward dream-like state in a college town on a weekday night when only a handful of professors and students have ventured out. Perhaps, the long conversation that transpires throughout the evening can be read as a truth and reconciliation that needed to occur so that both parties can simply get out of the rut they find themselves personally, professionally, and creatively––the kind of process one might engage in while dreaming of an ex or a road not taken while sleeping.

Visiting a college town for a conference Kris (Pooya Mohseni), a networking specialist, meets up with an old college acquaintance Naomi (Lynn Chen), a daring performance artist who is now a professor juggling course loads and the...

Pooya Mohseni and Lynn Chen in See You Then

Kris (Pooya Mohseni) and Naomi (Lynn Chen), two women who haven’t seen each other for a long time, meet one evening for a catch-up. it’s a familiar enough scenario, but complicated by several factors. Years ago, before Kris transitioned, they were lovers. The relationship ended abruptly, leaving Naomi with a lot of questions and Kris in the dark about at least one crucial issue. Life since then has taken them in different directions. Can they now be friends?

See You Then is a bittersweet drama with moments of bonding and moments of cruelty of the sort only really possible between people who are or have been in love. Meeting up with Pooya, Lynn and director Mari Walker ahead of its première at South by Southwest, I asked the latter why she chose this subject for her first feature-length film as a director.

With Lynn Chen’s I Will Make You Mine now in release on digital platforms as well as DVD and Blu-ray, Chen and filmmaker Dave Boyle, whose films Surrogate Valentine and Daylight Savings form the first two parts of a loose trilogy in which Chen’s film is the finale, have released a trailer for the complete three-film story. All three films, which premiered, or were set to premiere, at SXSW, feature musician Goh Nakamura, playing himself as he navigates relationships with a trio of women. Chen plays “Rachel,” who appears in all three films, and in her conclusion to the trilogy, […]...

With Lynn Chen’s I Will Make You Mine now in release on digital platforms as well as DVD and Blu-ray, Chen and filmmaker Dave Boyle, whose films Surrogate Valentine and Daylight Savings form the first two parts of a loose trilogy in which Chen’s film is the finale, have released a trailer for the complete three-film story. All three films, which premiered, or were set to premiere, at SXSW, feature musician Goh Nakamura, playing himself as he navigates relationships with a trio of women. Chen plays “Rachel,” who appears in all three films, and in her conclusion to the trilogy, […]...

Lynn Chen didn’t seek out writing and directing her first feature, “I Will Make You Mine,” so much as she inherited it.

Two years ago, the actor had been hiking with friend Dave Boyle, who had directed Chen in the first two movies of the indie Surrogate Valentine series, “Surrogate Valentine” (2011) and “Daylight Savings” (2012). A third had yet to materialize — which Chen remembers probing him about. Turns out, Boyle did not intend to make one. “And when he said that, my heart broke, not only because I wanted a job,” she says, “but also because I felt bad for these characters who I wanted to see live on, and I didn’t feel like they’d had their story told.”

For two decades, Chen, a Taiwanese American actor, has carved out a career in film and TV, earning an Asian Excellence Award for Outstanding Newcomer for her starring turn...

Lynn Chen’s “I Will Make You Mine” proves yet again that black-and-white films are often anything but. Overseeing a debut that’s nuanced and gently wry (and shot to sumptuous effect), she brings fine shading to the story of three very different women and the thwarted musician who still exerts some gravitational pull in their lives, and vice versa.

While “I Will Make You Mine” stands firmly on its own, it concludes a very indie trilogy that began with “Surrogate Valentine” (2011) followed by “Daylight Savings” (2012). The earlier features were directed and co-written by Dave Boyle, starred Goh Nakamura (also a co-writer) as a version of himself and premiered at South by Southwest. Chen appeared in both as Rachel, Goh’s friend, never quite girlfriend. In “Daylight Savings,” Ayako Fujitani arrived as girlfriend Erika, and musician Yea-Ming Chen appeared as a version of herself. The three actresses take control of “I Will Make You Mine.

Director and cinematographer Benjamin Ree injected his deep interest with art theft in his latest feature The Painter and the Thief, which drops in virtual cinemas as well as VOD platforms starting Friday.

The documentary debuted at Sundance earlier this year and went on to win the World Cinema Documentary Special Jury Award for Creative Storytelling before being acquired by Neon. In the film, two paintings by Czech artist Barbora Kysilkova are stolen from an Oslo art gallery. The thieves are identified with a quickness but the paintings are nowhere to be found.

Barbora reaches out to one of the thieves (Karl-Bertil Nordland) and she ends up painting a portrait of him. After a series of portraits the two form a bond and become unlikely friends.

“I’ve always been fascinated with art theft,” said Ree. “I think it’s because of the contrasts. The socially elevated art industry with...

Alice Wu’s film The Half of It was set to debut at the Tribeca Film Festival. It had a prime spot on opening weekend and it was good to go for a theatrical release but then Covid-19 happened. Like all festivals, it was canceled, but Wu just rolled with the punches.

“I’m bummed that my friends and family aren’t going to see it in the theater because honestly, this film just really works in the theater… the way we shot it, the sound design — everything,” Wu told Deadline. “Maybe I’m in denial, but I actually wasn’t as bummed as one might have thought.”

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When Alice Wu’s first film, the instant queer classic “Saving Face,” premiered at the Toronto International Film Festival in 2004, no one was more surprised than her. The product of five years’ work, Wu loosely based the film on her own experiences coming out as a lesbian to her traditional Chinese family. Fourteen years before Lulu Wang’s “The Farewell,” Wu’s film was also populated almost exclusively by Chinese actors (many of whom spoke Mandarin in the film) and was deeply rooted in the immigrant experience.

“Who the hell thought that movie would get made?,” Wu said in a recent interview with IndieWire. “I thought, ‘I’ll just have to go back and get a job doing something else.'”

What unfolded instead was something far more unexpected. Wu didn’t have to give up her big-screen dreams — an all-too-common story for female directors and filmmakers of color — but...

Following the success of its frothy Ya romance “To All the Boys I’ve Loved Before,” Netflix is doubling down on young adult-focused features with girls in the lead, and this time it’s courting queer audiences. Having just released a charming first trailer, “The Half of It” is a grounded coming-of-age story about a teenage girl discovering romance isn’t all there is to life. Taking a page out of Edmond Rostand’s 1897 play “Cyrano de Bergerac,” as many storytellers have before, the epistolary plot will be recognizable to many. In “Saving Face” filmmaker Alice Wu’s capable hands, it is entirely transformed for contemporary audiences.

Here’s the official synopsis: “Bookish introvert Ellie Chu (Leah Lewis) is perfectly content with her life: watching old movies with her widowed father and ghostwriting papers for her high school classmates to help pay the bills. But her side gig turns personal when...

There are some cinematic universes worth reentering and when they do, it feels like you’re reconnecting with an old friend. The Surrogate Valentine cinematic universe is certainly one of these.

Shot in stark black-and-white and starring musician Goh Nakamura, first in his 30s finding his voice and now in his 40s confronting the reality of adulthood, marriage, and his past, the latest installment checks in with him and his love interests eight years after Daylight Savings. Created by Dave Boyle and Nakamura, I Will Make You Mine, directed by Lynn Chen, spends more time with the three women of the previous films than with Goh. The movie is somewhere between a daydream–where you can relive those kinds of long spring days spent around your college dorm playing guitar in bed–and the grim reality of an adulthood that is nothing like you imagined it back in your idealistic days.

In the wake of the canceled 2020 SXSW Film Festival edition, Mailchimp has teamed with Oscilloscope and SXSW to launch Support the Shorts, a streaming event to view select short films from the fest for free on the Mailchimp Presents platform starting today. This will include over 70 short films, including the four festival winners and seven special recognition films which were recently announced.

“The night that SXSW was cancelled, filmmakers were wondering what to do next, and prominent members of the tight-knit film community offered support and a signal-boost — we wondered if we could do the same at scale. With this project, we’re trying to accomplish two things: to offer these artists a platform for exposure, and to provide access to some amazing work from artists I’m sure we’ll be hearing about for a long time to come. And, we’re excited that many people who weren’t planning on attending the festival,...

Neon has acquired worldwide rights to She Dies Tomorrow, the apocalyptic existential thriller from Starz’s The Girlfriend Experience co-creator Amy Seimetz, which was an official selection of this year’s 2020 SXSW Film Festival before the Austin, TX event was cancelled.

The movie stars Seimetz’s frequent collaborator Kate Lyn Sheil as Amy, a woman ravaged by the notion that she is going to die tomorrow which sends her down a dizzying emotional spiral. When Amy’s skeptical friend Jane (Jane Adams) discovers Amy’s feeling of imminent death to be contagious, they both begin bizarre journeys through what might be the last day of their lives.

More from DeadlineCoping With Covid-19 Crisis: 'I Will Make You Mine's Lynn Chen Talks How SXSW Cancellation Affected Romantic Comedy TrilogySXSW Film Festival Unveils Award Winners For Canceled 2020 EditionCoping With Covid-19 Crisis: Tt The Artist On A Directing Debut Dream Dashed...

Editors’ Note: With full acknowledgment of the big-picture implications of a pandemic that has already claimed thousands of lives, cratered global economies and closed international borders, Deadline’s Coping With Covid-19 Crisis series is a forum for those in the entertainment space grappling with myriad consequences of seeing a great industry screech to a halt. The hope is for an exchange of ideas and experiences, and suggestions on how businesses and individuals can best ride out a crisis that doesn’t look like it will abate any time soon. If you have a story, email mike@deadline.com.

Lynn Chen has been seen on numerous TV series including Silicon Valley, The Affair and Shameless, and starred in Nice Girls Crew from Sundance winner Tanuj Chopra. Her indie résumé includes the recent Emily Ting comedy Go Back to China, and she is probably best known for her role in Alice Wu’s film Saving Face.

A total of 13,000 people including the actors Richard E. Grant and Peter Capaldi have signed a letter demanding the UK government provides an income guarantee for creative freelancer workers impacted by the coronavirus crisis.

There have been growing calls this week for freelancers to receive similar support to that which the government has put in place for employed workers, including saying it will cover 80% of wages while businesses remain disrupted, to stop employers needing to cull staff.

More from DeadlineIndia Locks Down Country Of 1.3 Billion To Stem Coronavirus SpreadCoping With Covid-19 Crisis: 'I Will Make you Mine's Lynn Chen Talks How SXSW Cancellation Affected Romantic Comedy TrilogyActors' Equity Launches $500,000 Emergency Fund To Aid Members Who Lost Jobs To Coronavirus Shutdown Of Live Theaters

Today’s petition comes from UK trade union Equity. It calls for creative workers to receive “an income guarantee”. Other names to have signed include Mel Giedroyc,...

While the 2020 SXSW Film Festival has been canceled due to the coronavirus, IndieWire is covering select titles from this year’s edition.

, “I Will Make You Mine” is a long-awaited gift for a small cult of fans: those who’ve been following Goh Nakamura’s romantic misadventures since “Surrogate Valentine” first introduced them to (a fictionalized version of) the lovelorn singer-songwriter in 2011. Nakamura returned shortly thereafter for a more grounded and heartsick sequel called “Daylight Savings,” but the “dreamsicle pop” musician has been missing from screens ever since, leaving us to wonder if he ever settled down or if he was consigned to spend all eternity crooning about the ways he almost found the right girl at the right time. Not only does “I Will Make You Mine” answer that question once and for all, but this shaggy and self-contained little ditty also asks it with enough warmth to seduce...

Those hungry for more of the East/West culture-clash terrain of “Crazy Rich Asians” and “The Farewell” may savor the slightly downsized pleasures of “Go Back to China,” which offers up some of the first film’s lifestyle glamour plus the second’s more earnest family drama. Emily Ting’s second scripted feature is essentially a freely fictionalized revamp of 2008 documentary “Family Inc.,” in which she charted her own reluctant but ultimately rewarding move from New York City to Hong Kong, where she trained to run her hot-tempered father’s plush toy factory.

Tethering that real-life tale to some rather stock narrative beats, this isn’t a memorable seriocomedy. But it’s a pleasant one that should do well in home-format sales. A year after the film screened in competition at SXSW, Gravitas Ventures is launching it on demand as well as in a handful of U.S. theaters this Friday.

It's only a movie, but what a good time to watch "a winning comedy-drama of cultural differences and complicated family dynamics"! As described by our own Christopher Bourne in his review, writer/director Emily Ting's sophomore feature Go Back to China is "an endearing, brightly colored, and deceptively light film that turns sour racist lemons into sweet cinematic lemonade." The film follows spoiled rich girl Sasha Li (Anna Akana) as she reluctantly goes to work at her family's toy factory in China. Richard Ng, Lynn Chen, Kelly Hu, and Kendy Cheung also star. Go Back to China will open in select U.S. theaters and on various VOD platforms on March 6, 2020. (Pre-order on iTunes here.) Whet your appetite by watching the fun, very inviting trailer...

[Read the whole post on screenanarchy.com...]...

Exclusive: Gravitas Ventures has acquired the worldwide rights to Emily Ting’s second directorial feature Go Back to China starring Anna Akana. The film will have a limited theatrical release and will be available on VOD starting March 6, 2020.

The semi-autobiographical film made its world premiere at SXSW earlier this year. The story follows Sasha Li (Akana), a spoiled rich girl who after blowing through most of her trust fund, is forced by her father to go back to China and work for the family toy business. What begins simply as a way to regain financial support soon develops into a life-altering journey of self-discovery, as she learns the business from the ground up and reconnects with her estranged family in the process.

Go Back to China serves up a heartfelt story of cultural identity, family relationships, privilege and an honest look at the human cost of things that are made in China.

Taryn Manning, Jonathan Lipnicki, Dreama Walker, Lynn Chen, and comedian Jordan Carlos are set to star in Pooling To Paradise, an indie comedy directed by Roxy Shih. Written by Caytha Jentis, the film follows four millennial strangers who take a ride-share pool on a road trip to Paradise, Nevada. Each at a crossroads in their lives, the trek gives them all an unexpected, deep connection that changes the course of their futures. Jentis and Angela Pedraza are producing the project. Executive producers are Linda Evans and Nina Warren. Manning is repped by Innovative Artists and Avalon Management; Lipnicki by Rafterman Media and Felker Toczek Suddleson Abramson; Walker by The Gersh Agency and Stone Genow Smelkinson...

Exclusive: Lynn Chen and Idara Victor are set to join William H. Macy and company in recurring on Shameless, which returns to Showtime for its 10th season on November 10.

Chen is set to play Mimi, an accidental new friend for V (Shanola Hampton) who introduces V to a lucrative new career. Victor will step into the role of Sarah, who leads a mommy AA group and welcomes a struggling new dad Lip (Jeremy Allen White).

Chen has appeared in such films and TV series as Silicon Valley, NCIS: Los Angeles, Numb3rs, Lakeview Terrace and multiple episodes in the Law & Order universe. She is repped by Sovereign Talent Group and Authentic Talent and Literary Management.

Victor’s credits include Alita: Battle Angel, An American Girl Story – Melody 1963: Love Has to Win, Turn: Washington Spies, The Choir and Vegas. She...

Hey, "Seal Team" fans. We hope you guys enjoyed last week's episode 21. Now that it's officially in the history books, it's time to see what's in store for the next, new episode 22. Episode 22 will indeed be the finale episode of this current season 2. CBS was nice enough to deliver a press release for it. So, that's what we'll be using for this spoiler session. To get things started, CBS' press release revealed that the finale episode 22 is named, "Never Out Of The Fight." It sounds like episode 22 will feature some very interesting, possible dramatic and action-filled scenes as the Bravo team's future is in major jeopardy! However, one final mission could change things and more! We'll go a head and start off this spoiler session with the Bravo team future situation. It turns out that things will certainly not be looking bright for the future of the Bravo team in this installment.

“Stop being such a princess.”

We have probably heard the phrase, this has been a story a director has been eager to tell so many times, it has become something of a cliché . However, in the case of director and producer Emily Ting’s film “Go Back to China”, this particular reason for telling a story has an autobiographical foundation. On the occasion of the movie’s screening at this year’s South by Southwest festival, Ting explains further how the story eventually became one she needed to tell before she was able to focus on other projects after her last feature “Already Tomorrow in Hong Kong”.

Even though she emphasizes she does not resemble the main character of her movie, she was also forced to return to her home country China at the age of 24. The experience of working in this culture, which had become somewhat foreign to her,...

Anna Akana and Lynn Chen have a new film called Go Back to China, which centers on a wealthy Asian-American girl from L.A. named Sasha Li who is forced to go to China to work for her family’s toy business after her father chastises her for blowing through her trust fund. The film follows last year’s romantic comedy Crazy Rich Asians, a […]...

Actresses Anna Akana and Lynn Chen are exploring wild cultural conflicts in their new drama film Go Back to China. The actresses spoke to uInterview exclusively about the movie at the South by Southwest (SXSW) festival in Austin, Texas. Go Back to China, which was written and directed by Emily Ting, centers on a spoiled Asian-American rich girl named Sasha Li who is […]...

A funny, light, and heartfelt situation comedy, Go Back to China finds a fashion school graduate Sasha (Anna Akana) in her father’s toy factory after she’s cut off, blowing half a million dollars on food, drink, and fashion in Los Angeles. Written and directed by Emily Tang, the film feels like a pilot concept and that’s not entirely negative criticism thanks in part to its likable lead whose adventures to find herself don’t involve meeting the man of her dreams but rather landing a dream job after learning the value of hard work.

Failing to land a gig in Los Angeles, she’s either a wise capitalist who knows her worth or a brat after she discloses to several hiring managers she doesn’t want to work for free. Sasha now finds her trust fund and credit cards suspended when the bill comes on her lavish birthday party.

In a mainstream entertainment landscape that’s still sorely lacking on-screen Asian representation, Emily Ting’s winning “Go Back to China” will inevitably draw comparisons to other films like “Crazy Rich Asians” and “The Farewell.” And while each feature focuses on Americanized young people returning to their ancestral roots and finding surprises both good and bad, each film offers its own distinct charms and viewpoints. Why, it’s almost as if there’s more than one story to tell about people who make up literally more than half of the world’s population! Such sardonic observations would not be out of place in Ting’s sophomore film (the writer and director made her debut in 2015 with the amiable romance “Already Tomorrow in Hong Kong”), which takes a spit-out slur and turns it into the start of an unexpectedly sweet coming-of-age comedy.

Sasha Li is a spoiled Chinese-American fashion school grad...