A Gay Actor and His Born-Again Christian Korean Mother Connect in ‘According to My Mother’
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According to My Mother
Logline: After the death of his aunt, Daniel, a gay, struggling actor visits his devout Christian, Korean mother. A painfully funny short film.
Elevator Pitch: “According to My Mother” is inspired by the real Daniel K Isaac and his mother, Esther. They only have each other, yet they are a world apart. Daniel is a gay actor. Esther is a Korean, born-again Christian who thinks demons are feasting on a buffet of her son’s soul. Through the eyes of two people who are hardly ever represented in mainstream cinema, we want to make a short film about the love between a parent and child despite the cultural, religious and political differences that pull them apart.
Production Team:
Cathy Yan – Writer/Director
Cathy Yan is a filmmaker based in New York City, with a dual-degree MBA from NYU’s Stern School of Business and an MFA from the Tisch Graduate Film Program. Her feature script, “Dead Pigs,” is on the Purple List 2015, the best screenplays from Tisch graduate film, anonymously selected by industry judges. Producing credits include the feature film, “Color of Time,” as well as an upcoming feature documentary with director Kevin Macdonald (“The Last King of Scotland”).
Daniel K Isaac – Writer/Lead Actor
After receiving his Bachelor’s in Theatre from the University of California – San Diego (UCSD), Daniel K Isaac moved to New York City where he has been seen on both large and small screens, as well as the stage. Some serious Film/TV Credits include: “Person of Interest” (CBS, recurring), “The Following” (FOX), “Believe” (NBC, pilot), “To Big to Fail” (HBO). Some upcoming projects include: “Money Monster” (dir. Jodie Foster, with George Clooney and Julia Roberts) and “Billions” (Showtime series with Paul Giamatti and Damian Lewis).
Devin Landin – Producer
A recent graduate of the dual MBA/MFA program at NYU, Devin Landin is an independent producer. While at NYU, Devin produced 19 projects, including three graduate theses and “Unchartered,” an eight-episode web series. Two of these shorts made their world premiere at the 2015 Tribeca Film Festival. He also served as the Unit Production Manager on “For Tilden,” which won Best Narrative Feature at SXSW in 2014.
Sheldon Chau – Cinematographer
After earning a Bachelor’s degree in Film & Media Studies at the University of California, Irvine, and finding a natural enthusiasm for visuals and camerawork, Sheldon decided to pursue cinematography as an MFA student at NYU’s Tisch School of the Arts, where he was the winner of the NYU/Arri 2015 Volker Bahnemann Award for Cinematography.
About the Film: A few years ago, Daniel started posting conversations he would have with his mother, accompanied by the hashtag #accordingtomymother. Many people have fallen in love with Esther and her blunt, often insensitive, and always unintentionally funny words of wisdom. We realized that this wonderful relationship deserved to be immortalized in a film, because, like you, we want to see more Asian Americans and people of various sexual orientations represented in entertainment. And, like you, we want to start a genuine conversation about what is all too typical in the modern family: judging and being judged, yet finding a way to love, if not to understand.
Current Status: Fundraising
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