The Grace Lee Project

Just got back from the 6pm show at Film Forum where I did a Q&A. This one, as well as the one last night, was really fun. I'm overwhelmed by how receptive and warm the audience response has been. If you came to one of these shows, thank you for your great questions and comments! I know there are a lot of films to choose from, especially at this time of year, so thank you for choosing The Grace Lee Project!

But first, last night's show...I showed up at the theater early to do an interview with Angela Kim, a reporter from Here and Now-- an NPR show based in Boston at WBUR. The first thing she told me is that she grew up with about five other Angela Kims.

During the screening, I did another interview with a really funny guy called Barry Z, who has a cable show called The Barry Z show in Manhattan. I can't believe how much energy this guy had, but it was infectious. He was actually quite warm and complimentary, and told me I could be the next Ang Lee. We like Barry.

At the Q&A I gave out the handmade ornaments from the WMM holiday party. They were a huge hit. People were actually requesting specific Grace Lees from the film. One guy came up to Tom and asked, "Do you have the one with Louis' mom?"

The Q&A's have been interesting. Many people ask similar questions. Like how long did it take to shoot the film, how I chose the Grace Lees who appear in it, what happened to some of the GL's, etc. Tonight, a couple of Grace Lees (including one who appears briefly in the film) were in the audience. I had filmed one of the Grace Lees on the Berkeley campus when she was an undergraduate. She's now getting a master's in Social Work at Columbia University. I joked that she was fulfilling her prophecy as a Statistically Average GL since she was getting a graduate degree -- and then she reminded me that she is also 25 years old, of Korean descent, and from California!

It's also interesting to learn where people have heard of the film. Film Forum has a really loyal following. One woman told me yesterday that she had come to the film and brought 10 people after seeing the trailer. Another woman said she came based on the flyer. And tonight, the weirdest thing happened. I was visiting a friend -- Mark Becker, the filmmaker of the Independent Spirit Award-nominated documentary Romantico. He lives down the street from Film Forum. As we got into the elevator, a man who was already in there, said, "Are you Grace Lee?" He had seen the movie and really loved it. It was quite a random and nice surprise to meet someone who had seen the film in an apartment building's elevator!

I also did an interview with Stacey Zhao from iatvlink -- part of Imaginasian television's website. She told me that she has often been mistaken for someone named Grace. She has no idea why. But even when she mentioned that, I could also see that she looked like a Grace. I guess she had a sort of Grace-like aura. I know this sounds totally ridiculous.

Okay, enough of GLP talk. Here are some photos from New York.

<- Previous | Next ->

Comments

Benjamin Lee, MI
Sat, Dec 17th 8:08PM
Grace, I am actually a little surprised that there hasn't been more media hype generated from your film. It's reviews have been kickin' a** and I've only heard good things about it. I really hope it picks up some serious nation-wide steam. I've been advertising it on my blog, because I think the idea is GREAT! I guess word of mouth still works best. I look forward to seeing it, and kudos for doing what your doing.
grace lee
Sun, Dec 18th 11:05AM
Thanks Benjamin! What is your blog address? Best, Grace

Add a Comment

Your Name:

Comments: