EP16 Not Your Average Asian Americans, with the Filmmakers of Unconditional

When the thirteen-year-old Zao first saw Margaret Cho’s standup comedy on TV, he was intrigued by her loud and unapologetic persona and wished to see more not-your-average Asians on stage and screen.

Later, Zao became a filmmaker himself and met Joyce, a producer who also aspires to debunk the model minority myth by creating more “irreverent” Asian characters. The two hit it off and went on making a proof-of-concept film to promote the idea. Joyce even brought Margaret on the cast and Zao was thrilled to work with his idol. Though the story is about an Asian American family, Zao and Joyce don’t think it’s ethnicity-based. It intends to address something universal, with the Asian idiosyncrasies being the cherry on the cake. And they’ve been working very hard to turn the short film into a full-length one…

In this episode, Lulu talks with Zao Wang (ins @zaowangfilm) and Joyce Liu-Countryman (ins @joyceliucountryman), the director and producer of the film Unconditional: A Family Guide to Hunting. They share their takes on breaking Asian stereotypes in the media.

You’ll hear about:

• What’s their film about?
• How to get a famous actress in your film
• Why is funding for a film important?
• How did Daniels make Everything Everywhere All At Once with Adobe?
• Why do we love Everything Everywhere All At Once?

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Support Their Film

Website: https://www.filmindependent.org/programs/fiscal-sponsorship/unconditional/

Email: [e-mail]

Music Credits:

Jonny Easton - Buddy

Jonny Easton - Falling