Later this year, the feature adaptation “Lucky Lu” by Lloyd Lee Choi is set to start its filming in New York City.
“Lucky Lu” is a live-action film based on Choi’s short film “Same Old.” The movie tells the story of Lu, a Chinese delivery driver in New York City who finds out that his e-bike has been stolen. His family is on its way to New York after being apart for several years. Now, Lu needs to deal with a community that forsakes him while trying to replace the only thing that assures his family’s survival.
Chang Chen, a Taiwanese actor known for his role in “Dune,” has been cast as the protagonist. Producers for the film include Nina Yang Bongiovi, Destin Daniel Cretton, Ron Najor, Jeyun Munford, Asher Goldstein and Tony Yang.
At the event A Filmmaker’s Creative & Financing Journey held by Gold House during the Sundance Film Festival Asia, Bongiovi discussed the financial hurdles “Lucky Lu” encountered. She describes film financing as an emotional roller coaster. However, having a committed team of producers and a director with vision can turn this challenging process into an endeavor that brings a significant narrative to global audiences. It’s particularly rewarding to witness and assist budding talents like Lloyd in their journey into the narrative feature universe.
Choi’s short film “Same Old” received recognition at several film festivals such as Cannes, TIFF, the New York Film Festival, and Raindance – where it won the Best Short award. Choi makes his debut in directing a feature film with “Lucky Lu”. He expresses gratefulness for the opportunity but admits that finding funds for independent films is a great challenge, especially for first-time feature filmmakers. Despite this, Choi affirms that the formative process of the production has been optimal thanks to an inspired and decisive team of producers.
Both Cretton and Bongiovi are part of the production team, but the Creative Equity Fund of Gold House also supports it. The fund aims to assist rising filmmakers by investing in independent films and media companies. Most recently, it invested in Sean Wang’s “Dìdi”.
Christine Yi, a general partner at the Gold House Creative Equity Fund believes that the synergy of receiving critical acclaim while maintaining commercial appeal is something that “Lucky Lu” encapsulates very well. Projects like this are the epitome of Gold House’s mission which aims to shape our culture progressively.
As a member of the Gold House 2022 Film Fellowship, Choi’s involvement in “Lucky Lu” brings the company full circle as it co-produced Choi Short film “Closing Dynasty”.
According to Yi, having long-time partners like Nina Yang Bongiovi and Destin Daniel Cretton work on “Lucky Lu” is a great blessing. Each filmmaker’s journey differs from each other, but each of them benefits from a supportive ecosystem and witnessing this growth continues to be an honor.
Cretton’s production company, Hisako Film Lab will produce the film in collaboration with Significant Productions.
Credit: variety.com
