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Comedies tend to err on the side of cringe, and Jhett Tolentino‘s “Asian Persuasion” is no exception. The “Lingua Franca” (2019) producer tries their hand at humor, with mixed results. The film appeared at a handful of local film festivals two years ago, when it took home the Audience Award at the SoHo International Film Festival. Now, the film is coming to North American theaters this weekend, with limited theatrical release.

“Asian Persuasion” will play in 40+ theaters in North America from Friday, 21 March, 2025.

“Asian Persuasion” is as Asian American as it gets. Here, Mickey (Dante Basco) goes through a divorce with his fashion executive wife, Avery (Kc Concepcion). Mickey only realizes after signing the papers that his alimony is way beyond his means, as a humble Filipino-themed café owner in Woodside, Queens. With his Korean American best friend, Caspian (Kevin Kreider), they come up with a hare-brained scheme to offload...

Scatena & Rosner Films is rolling out Grammy and Tony winner Jhett Tolentino’s film directorial debut “Asian Persuasion” across North American theaters, with a digital/VOD bow to follow. The romantic comedy, penned by Mike Ang, toplines “Hook” alum Dante Basco and Filipino star Kc Concepcion (“Boy Golden: Shoot to Kill”).

The film, which snagged the Audience Award at the 2023 Soho International Film Festival, follows an underachiever who concocts an elaborate scheme to dodge alimony payments to his fashion-exec ex-wife. The ensemble cast features “Bling Empire” breakout Kevin Kreider, Paolo Montalban (“Cinderella”), Geneva Carr (“It’s Complicated”), Scarlet Sherr (“Hustlers”), Celia Au (“Lodge 49”), and newcomer Jax Bacani.

The R-rated comedy drama will hit major markets including Los Angeles, Seattle, Houston, Dallas, San Francisco, Las Vegas, Chicago, Toronto, Honolulu, and Washington D.C. through Seismic Releasing’s theatrical partnership.

Behind the camera, Tolentino assembled a crew including cinematographer Andrea Walter...

Kevin Kreider might be a multi-hyphenate, but he considers his role in Hello, Love, Again, now the Philippines’ highest-grossing film in history, as his first proper acting gig.

As of December 2, the film has grossed a total of 1.4B Philippine pesos ($23.9M) at the global box office.

After his breakout appearance in Netflix reality series Bling Empire, as well as a role in feature film Asian Persuasion, which he also executive produced, Kreider has been busy running his own production outfit, Asian Lead Love Stories (Alls) Production, while also launching a 50-episode webtoon and helping others develop reality shows. Kreider has also been cast in an upcoming American sci-fi thriller feature, as well as a Filipino medical drama.

However, it’s the magic of the cinema that makes him see Hello, Love, Again differently to his other on screen work. “The reason why I consider this my first proper acting...

“Asian Persuasion,” the film directing debut of three-time Tony Award- and Grammy-winning producer Jhett Tolentino, has set North American distribution and will have a sales launch at the imminent American Film Market.

Hawaii-based Scatena & Rosner Films has acquired the worldwide rights to the romantic comedy. The film tells the story of a lovable underachiever who hatches an outrageous scheme to avoid paying alimony to his fashion-executive ex-wife.

Scatena & Rosner Films will release the film itself in the North American or ‘domestic’ market and has earmarked a Spring 2025 date. The company will begin rights licensing in all other territories from next week’s AFM in Las Vegas (Nov. 5-10).

The film was written by Mike Ang. It stars an ensemble cast, including Dante Basco (“Hook”), Kc Concepcion (“Boy Golden: Shoot to Kill”), Kevin Kreider (“Bling Empire”), and Paolo Montalban (“Cinderella”).

“Asian Persuasion” is produced under the Jhett Tolentino Productions banner...

Stars: James Hong, Michelle Mao, Dante Basco, Dave Sheridan, Bai Ling, Anna Harr, Matthew Sato, Zac Albright, Gedde Watanabe, George Takei | Written by Zack Ward, Ace Underhill | Directed by Zack Ward

The Keepers of the 5 Kingdoms is the latest film in James Hong’s impressive career. It’s a career that goes back to the 1950s, and between then, and now he’s racked up over 450 credits as an actor, including Big Trouble in Little China, Kung Fu Panda, Batman: Soul of the Dragon and Everything Everywhere All at Once. He’s also written and directed a handful of films, most notably the 1989 horror film The Vineyard.

Here he provided the story the script is based on as well as playing Chuck Lee, the grandfather of the film’s heroine Patsy Lee. Patsy is a studious young woman who just wants to get a scholarship so she can go...

Production is under way on “Asian Persuasion,” a feature film that marks the directorial debut of three-time Tony-Award and Grammy-winning producer Jhett Tolentino.

Set in New York, romantic comedy “Asian Persuasion” features a diverse, primarily Asian cast and seeks to elevate, inform and inspire the Asian narrative.

The story follows a down-on-his-luck chef who cooks up a crazy scheme to marry off his ex-wife in an attempt to avoid his substantial alimony obligations. With the help of his trusted wingman, the chef gets off to a hot start, but belatedly realizes he wants a second chance with his ex.

Asian Persuasion is produced under the Jhett Tolentino Productions banner with Tolentino and screenwriter Mike Ang serving as producers. Cinematography is by Andrea Walter with production and costume design by Dedalus Moving Pictures’ Sheena Alexis (“Caretakers”). The music score is by Eunike Tanzil (“Be Somebody”) with casting by Bess Fifer.

“Asian Persuasion...