Asian American Family Focus of PBS Drama

My Life Disoriented Launches Jan. 7 on Independent Lens

By Adam Smith, Sampan

Dec 27, 2006 - Actress Di Quon says she’s spent much of her acting career playing the same role that many Asian American actors get stuck with. The “friend” of the main character. Case in point: Her first big break in 2002 was as Lily Kim, a seamstress and friend of Jennifer Lopez’s character in “Maid In Manhattan.”

“Why am I always the friend?” she asked herself. So, one day while dining with a producer in California, she said to him: “I think I should be the main person for once, and I should have a Caucasian friend. Wouldn’t that be interesting?”

The producer, Sam Chi, asked: What would the show be about?

“I think it would have to be life experiences that everyone shares,” she replied.

In that one conversation, the idea for “My Life… Disoriented,” a 30-minute short film that will air on WBGH 44 on January 7, was born.

In PBS’s “My Life,” Quon plays Kimberlee Fung, a teenager who is in the process of sorting out her new identity at a new high school where there are very few other Asians. Her family, including her teenage sister Aimee (Karin Anna Cheung of "Better Luck Tomorrow"), has just moved from San Francisco to Bakersfield, California, to be with their grandparents. Kimberlee gets a chance to start over at a new school where she has a shot at making friends with the “cool kids” while Aimee, who was popular back in San Francisco, just gets separated from her boyfriend and becomes depressed. There's more: Their half-Asian cousin, Phil (Phil Young), tries to hide his mixed identity by painting himself Goth, and the family business is a massage parlor rumored to give extras.

Kimberlee’s character is loosely based on Quan’s life as a teen. She, too, moved from San Francisco to Bakersfield.

“I was the only full-Asian girl in my high school and that’s where we got that idea,” she said. “Most people have that similar kind of experience” – of being different – “and if you don’t, you feel that way anyway.”

The film’s writer, Claire Yorita Lee, said the work is not meant to exclusively appeal to Asian Americans, though the story revolves around an Asian American family.

“I feel like we tried to make it as universal as possible,” said Yorita Lee. “Everyone went to high school, and everyone has a family.”

Still, they felt part of their mission was to feature Asian Americans in lead roles and show that, despite frequent misrepresentations on mainstream television, everyone struggles to fit in, find love, and get along with family, no matter the race or ethnicity.

“There’s not really a lot of representation for Asian Americans on television,” said Quon, noting that many Asians are relegated to roles as either “foreigners” or to roles that fit too nicely into common stereotypes.

In addition, while writing the short, which is directed and produced by Eric Byler (Sam Chi only played a role in the early stages of production), they intentionally included Asian American men in lead roles, said Yorita Lee.

"We definitely wanted to have Asian American men, and one that could be a love interest. Because I think that sometimes people think that... Asian American men can't be seen as love interests or sexy. I think that's changing now, but we definitely wanted to have Asian American men not just be the dad or the grandpa," said Yorita Lee.

Quon, who also is executive producer of “My Life…Disoriented,” said while she’s thankful PBS was “brave enough to give us a shot,” the goal is for the film to become one episode in a series.

Yet she and Yorita Lee said they’re also happy just to have the 30-minute film finally broadcast across the U.S. on PBS's film series of documentaries and dramas, Independent Lens.

“In the beginning I was very skeptical,” said Yorita Lee, who wasn’t sure “My Life” would ever be aired. They started the production with only a small grant – about $11,000 – from ITVS (Independent Television Service) and donations from family, and at one point, the feature was cut from an hour to 30 minutes because of a lack of money.

“It was a labor of love,” said Quon.

Things took a turn for the better, however, when the group presented their first scene to ITVS. “They really loved it and they gave us a huge grant,” said Yorita Lee. She doesn’t want the amount of the second grant disclosed to the public, but indicated it was several times more than the first.

They appear hopeful that this is just the beginning for “My Life.”

“We have a lot of interest from the networks,” said Quon.

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For more, see http://www.wgbh.org/schedules/program-info?program_id=358530&episode_id=3064195 or http://www.mylifedisoriented.com/