Posted 9:03 AM by Blah blah

Justin Lin: Better Luck Tomorrow. How to Raise Money for a Film?

A movie starring Asian American actors. By an Asian American director. Minus the stereotypes. TODAY!

Go see Better Luck Tomorrow, a film opening in limited release across America today! The director, Justin Lin, comes from Orange County in S. California. He worked like hell, begged for money, and maxed out 10 credit cards to make this movie for the cost of $250,000. Cast and crew worked for no pay and slept on the floor of his parents' home during production. At one point, Justin even got financing from an unlikely source: rapper MC Hammer!

Director Hopes Film Is a Mainstream Hit (Washington Post): "When Justin Lin set out to make a movie about affluent Asian-American teens with a penchant for crime, potential investors loved the idea. But for such an edgy movie to make money, they told him he needed a white cast."

Justin studied film directing at UCLA and has worked for four years to make this labor of love. He got a big break when he learned his film had been accepted by the prestigious Sundance Film Festival.

From MTV:

"There was a person who stood up [after a screening] and said, 'How could you make a movie that was so denigrating to your race?'," explained John Cho, who plays Steve, while hanging near a basketball court at L.A.'s Pan Pacific Park. "[Roger Ebert] stood up and said, 'You wouldn't say that to a white filmmaker,' which is probably true."

Once Ebert loudly came to the flick's defense, people started paying attention, as he went on to say that Asian-Americans should be free to take on any types of roles they choose without fear of misrepresenting the entire community.

"What is interesting about this movie is, it doesn't say, 'This is an Asian-American movie,' it just presents Asian-American characters," Cho said, echoing Ebert's sentiments. "The movie gives itself the freedom to paint negative portrayals."

With Roger Ebert's blessing (he gives this movie four stars), actors Parry Shen, Jason J. Tobin, Sung Kang, Roger Fan, John Cho, and Karin Anna Cheung are set to make some movie history. Victor, an Asian Los Angeles blogger on my link list, is friends with people like Parry Shen, and he's been promoting the film like crazy.

Three cheers for Justin Lin!!! Let's go and give support for him and Better Luck Tomorrow! As Ebert says: "Like African-American films that take race for granted and get on with the characters and the story, Lin is making a movie where race is not the point but simply the given."

Camera, action... bankroll (The Guardian): "Whether you are a rookie writer/producer dreaming of making your first movie or an established player, one fact will dominate your life: it is notoriously difficult to find the cash to get a film off the ground. So where do producers go to get funding? And how do they pin it down?"