Ming Lai of Humanist Films Completes the "Journey of a Paper Son"

Los Angeles, CA, November 30, 2009—Producer/writer/director, Ming Lai, of Humanist Films, LLC recently finished post-production on the short film, "Journey of a Paper Son."

In this drama, an elderly Chinese man, who's dying from cancer, shocks his family when he reveals that he's a "paper son" (one who illegally immigrated to the U.S., using fake documents and claiming he's the son of an American citizen) and asks them for a final wish to change back his name.

The viewer discovers that he's just one of countless "paper sons" who were born from the Chinese Exclusion Act of 1882, the first federal law to restrict immigration to the U.S. based on race or nationality.

"Journey of a Paper Son" is unique in that very few films have been made about paper sons or the Chinese Exclusion Act. However, it's meant to be not just a film about the struggles of Chinese American immigrants but more so a universal film about the immigrant experience.

Lai assembled a powerful ensemble cast to play the paper son and his family—veteran actors, Jack Ong (Jin) and Patty Toy Chung (Fei), and rising stars, Angelina Cheng (Gong) and Teddy Chen Culver (Han). Respected actor, Mario Cortez, played Dr. Ortiz, who treats the paper son.

The team behind the camera was equally strong. Up-and-coming director of photography, Matt Steinauer, led the camera department. He also served as the editor and colorist. He shot the film with a revolutionary Red One camera and then edited it with Final Cut Pro on an Apple Mac Pro 8-core.

Talented composer, Pakk Hui, of Valence Music created the beautiful score. Lai had an all-star line-up for the post-production sound department, headed by veteran sound supervisor/sound designer/sound effects editor, Jeff Hutchins, and sound supervisor, Otis Van Osten, of Audio Circus.

Lai relates a coincidental event at the end of shooting, "We finished production on July 15, 2009 and learned that the California legislature approved a landmark bill—ACR 42—on July 17, 2009 to apologize to the state's Chinese American community for racist laws, including the Chinese Exclusion Act. We were deeply moved by this historic decision." Lai concludes, "Hopefully, by revealing the past, our film helps to prevent similar events from happening in the future."

ABOUT MING LAI AND HUMANIST FILMS, LLC

Humanist Films, LLC is an emerging film and commercial production company, based in Los Angeles, CA. Founded by producer/writer/director, Ming Lai, Humanist Films is less of a traditional production company than an innovative think tank, gathering the brightest minds to research, plan, create, and challenge.