TRT:
24 min
Genre:
Narrative Short
Format:
HD (Sony F900) color /
LOGLINE
We follow a day in the lives of a Korean immigrant family, single mother
and her two children as two cultures collide.
SYNOPSIS
On the Rocks tells the story of Korean immigrant family, Katie, a single
mother, and her two children as they struggle to survive as a family. As Katie
wrestles with her feelings of failure and disappointment, her children struggle
with the dilemma of upholding cultural traditions while trying to keep their
own sense of self. One is in a gay relationship, the other wants to leave the
family and pursue her own life. One day will change everything...
TREATMENT
On the Rocks tells the story of a day in the life of a Korean immigrant
family, Katie and her two children, Julie and Donald. Katie and her husband,
who has since passed away, came to
Katie now runs the family business, a bar which also serves as the
family¡¯s home. She still struggles to provide her version of the perfect life
for her children. She dreams that Donald, who hides his homosexuality from his
mother, will get married and start a family. She can¡¯t understand why Julie
isn¡¯t interested in going to a prestigious college.
The children, however, are from a different time and place. Besides the
generation gap that separates all parents from their children, they also face a
cultural gap that is beyond Katie¡¯s understanding. Her attempts to help her children on
their way only serve to further alienate them, leading Katie to drink and her
children to recede into their secret lives.
On the Rocks tells the story of a family¡¯s struggle to stay together in
the face of these pressures and to achieve success in a land that has not fully
accepted them.
Casts Bio
Alexis Rhee
Alexis Rhee
is best known for her portrayal of Kim Lee in the Academy Award winning best picture of the year, ¡®CRASH¡¯. The transformation of the character came
easily for her after studying the legendary Stanislavsky, Lee Strasberg¡¯s
Method Acting techniques for most of her life.
Currently
Alexis has been working on the set of comic actor Eddie Murphy¡¯s new movie
¡®Norbit¡¯ as his wife to his disguised character, which is directed by Brian
Robbins, produced by Tollin/Robbins Productions and distributed by Steven
Spielberg¡¯s DreamWorks SKG. She
will be working all the way through the end of June for the principal shooting
and the close ups. The release date is set for the early part of 2007.
Another
feature film called ¡®The Seekers¡¯
in which Alexis played a complex and vital role whose son is discharged
from the army stationed in Iraq will be release in September, 2006.
James Kyson Lee
James Kyson
Lee is currently wrapping up the comedy feature film ¡°Searching for Mickey
Fish¡±, with Treat Williams and Daniel Baldwin.
He will be
starring in three other feature films in 2007: Point of Contact, written by
Buddy Dolan, Big Dreams, Little Tokyo, with David Boyle, and Doberman, directed
by Joseph Paul Vargas.
James will
also guest star on the new NBC drama HEROES, premiering in Fall of 2006. Other
TV credits include JAG (CBS), The West Wing (NBC), Threat Matrix (ABC), and All
About the Andersons (WB).
Kathy Uyen
Since her
first 5th grade play, she has been in numerous commercials, most recently
Direct TV, K-Swiss, and the NBC/Chevrolet Winter Olympics.
She
has played leading roles in films such as Oan Hon "Spirits" directed
by Victor Vu, Ngu Vi Huong "Five Spices"directed by Kien Nguyen, and "Kieu"
directed by Thu Ha Vu. Coincidently, Kieu is also set to screen in both Chicago
Asian American Showcase and Los Angeles Asian Pacific Film Festival as well.
Aside from
acting, she also loves to MC/Host, (Co-Host for previous VAX TV show), and is currently
partnering up to develop Scopotone Entertainment Inc.
Director¡¯s statement
The immigration issue continues to be
one of the most inflammatory issues in
Cast
Katie Alexis Rhee
Donald James Kyson Lee
Julie Kathy Uyen
John Larry Laverty
Kevin David
Zubiria
Bill Greg Cala
Crew
Producer Jarmo Siimento
Writer / Director Sun Tae Hwang
Director of Photography Lungtao Chang
Production Designer Maiko Benfey
Editor Kary
Hyun-Jeong
Sound Designer Ellis Burman
Music Composer Nicholas Pavkovic
Funded by Korean Film Council