Filmmaker Statement

First Movement (Sonata) I was four years old when my Chinese grandfather ordered the VHS tape that would change the course of my life. He’d seen an infomercial for Andre Rieu, a famous Dutch violinist, performing Méditation from Thaïs – his favorite piece – and one week later, I was enrolled in private violin lessons. At my first recital, I squeaked out a rusty, anemic version of Twinkle Twinkle Little Star, and my fate was sealed. Second Movement (In Two Parts) Too weak to play sports and too shy to talk to girls, I was blessed to spend the next twelve years practicing the violin, which landed me at the top magnet high school in the U.S.: Thomas Jefferson High School for Science and Technology. Once there, I firmly believed I would overwhelm the school orchestra with my God-given talent. Instead, I was immediately surpassed by virtuosos who more resembled machines than humans. Thoroughly outdone, I settled for the noble way out: I quit. Fifteen years later, I couldn’t have ended up further from my training as a musical prodigy. I’m a comedy writer and director in Los Angeles, most known for a couple of viral short films about teenage menstruation – a unique calling card for a guy in his mid-30s with no children. In the past few years, I’ve developed comedy pilots for streaming networks, directed award-winning commercials, and worked with A-list talent – but all along, my dream has been to write and direct stories about the universal truths that I believe in sharing with the world. Third Movement (Rondo) Lightning struck in the form of a Washington Post article exposing a high school senior who had faked ivy-league acceptance letters to impress her parents and peers. And she was from my high school. The more I researched, the more I found that ivy league college admissions have become more stressful and more cutthroat than ever before, often driving applicants to the brink of insanity. The pressure from first-generation immigrant parents, the unrealistic expectations of perfection, the awkward social interactions of so-called “gifted” students – it all came flooding back to me. I became obsessed with this character, and blended in my own musical experiences to create the dark comedy I had unintentionally spent my entire adolescence preparing to bring to life. My hope is that audiences recognize the potentially damaging consequences of parental pressures to succeed a young age, and what can happen when a person is measured purely by their achievements.