Asian Fortune Your source for all things Asian American
By Yi Chen
Photos Courtesy of Wedding Palace | GoGoGo Entertainment
Washington, DC – Wedding Palace is a family comedy about weddings, the Korean way. The story centers on an international online romance between a young man from Los Angeles and a young woman from Seoul.
Pressured to get married by family and friends, 29-year-old advertising executive Jason Kim (Brian Tee) rejects the bride candidates arranged by his family, until he meets the girl of his dream on a business trip to Korea. Despite the fact that Na Young (Kang Hye-jung) and Jason are 9000 miles away, they embark on a cyber love affair. The long distant relationship goes perfectly well. When Jason finally proposes via video chat, his family is beyond delighted. However, the story doesn’t end here. When Na Young arrives in Los Angeles for the first time, she brings along a surprising revelation – a physical “shortcoming” that Jason never even noticed. Jason starts to have hesitations and his wacky family goes overboard causing a roller coaster of ups-and-downs at every turn in this modern romance. Jason will have to bridge the gap between family expectations and being true to himself to find true love.
Comedy Wedding Palace is Korean American filmmaker Christine Yoo’s directing debut. Before that, Yoo worked as an editor and screenwriter in Hollywood. She also served as a judge for the White House Initiative on Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders’ 2011 video contest “What is Your Story?” A gradate from University of Southern California’s School of Cinematic Arts, Yoo collaborated with USC professor Robert Gardner on her first feature film script, which was originally titled Shortcomings instead of Wedding Palace.
Armed with a polished script, Yoo met with studio executives and production companies in the United States, they “loved the story but concluded they didn’t know quite how to market it,” says Yoo in the production notes. She pitched the story in Korea, China, and Japan. Unable to reach a deal, Yoo decided to turn to her own backyard, the Korean American community in Los Angeles – Koreatown. Financed by the Los Angeles Koreatown business community, Korean corporations and the Korean government, the making of the film is a grass roots story from the local streets to the screen.
Director Christine Yoo will attend the Q&A after the 7:45pm shows on October 18th and 19th at Angelika Mosaic in Fairfax, Virginia.
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“Wedding Palace”
Running time: 98 minutes
Playing at: Angelika Mosaic, 2911 District Avenue, Fairfax, VA | October 18-24, 2013
Trailer: http://www.weddingpalacemovie.com/
