April 24th – 27th, 2008 Bijou Art Cinemas - Eugene, Oregon
Q: What inspired the writing and production of "Equal Opportunity"?
A: (Writer) Sameer Asad Gardezi had actually sent it to me along with a couple other things he had written in film school. He was working at the agency that represented most of the writers on my then current sitcom "One on One" and I thought, "Hey, why don't we just make this a fun side project and shoot it one weekend?" I had been on hiatus from the show and wanted to produce something for the first time, just for fun and as a learning experience.
It somehow snowballed into a much bigger ordeal, we raised several thousand dollars from friends and family, got a casting director on board and pulled some favors with some comedians I really respect like Alanna Ubach and Tom Lenk, and one thing led to another. We ended up winning the very first festival we submitted to (NBC's Comedy Short Cuts) and it went onto South by Southwest and HBO/U.S. Comedy Arts Festival in Aspen among many others. It's even become a calling card of sorts as far as my producing future. We have since produced a web series for NBC inspired by it "The Good Ol' Boys", and now I am producing my first feature "The Things We Carry".
Q: How would you describe the comedic tone of "Equal Opportunity"?
A: Hmm. How about offbeat with a side order of dark?
Q: What was the reason for making the outtakes/credits of your short almost as long as the short itself? Did you intend on revealing the process of making the film?
A: It was not pre-planned. However, when we got into the editing room, we knew we were in trouble because we had a million different potential versions of the film because no one stuck to the script, haha. We were so in love with so many of the moments, we just wanted to share them with anyone who wanted to stick around to watch them. Nothing loftier than that, haha.
Q:How have people reacted to the film? What kind of message do you want to send?
A: People love it. I have had a few weird responses. An older Caucasian lady shouted out, "Paint my nails!" at me after a screening, which caught me somewhat offguard. And there is a fine line between people laughing at the film and with the film - it has been admittedly uncomfortable at times, but I think that is the point. A nice jumping off point for discourse if anything. Or people can view it as low brow - we really don't care either way as long as there is a response of some kind!
Q: What upcoming projects do you have? Can you tell me about your role in the feature "Smart People"?
A: I am indeed in Miramax's Smart People, produced by Michael London (The Illusionist, Sideways), starring Dennis Quaid, Sarah Jessica Parker, Thomas Haden Church, and Ellen Page. I play a bright, aggressive student of Dennis Quaid's and his son's girlfriend. It is a blessing to get to be in such a high caliber film, I am very grateful. I'll also be seen in Lionsgate's teen comedy "College" playing one of the love interests to the lead boys, that is out in August. And you can catch me in "The Samurai of Strongsville, Ohio" and "Why Am I Doing This?" which will both be at all the Asian-American and many other film festivals this fall. "The Things We Carry" is my feature film producing project and we are starting principal photography in late April! "One on One" is still syndicated. Hope you enjoyed Equal Opportunity!