Filmmaker Tom Huang (Find Me) has recently wrapped his latest project Dealing With Dad starring Ally Maki (Toy Story 4, Disney+’s upcoming Home Alone reboot) Hayden Szeto (Edge of Seventeen, Come As You Are, Truth Or Dare), and Peter S. Kim (Amazon’s forthcoming Fairfax, Just For Laughs New Faces of Comedy).
Written and directed by Huang and produced by Geena Davis’s Bentonville Film Festival arm, Bentonville Way Entertainment, Dealing With Dad centers around Margaret (Maki) who reluctantly returns to her hometown along with her hapless brothers (Szeto, Kim) to deal with the sudden depression of their antagonist father (Dana Lee of Dr. Ken, Curb Your Enthusiasm). It turns out Dad is nicer depressed than well, and the siblings struggle to find a solution in this comedic drama. Huang based the story on trying to get his dad to recover from depression.
“After going through the experience of trying to get my father out of depression, I wanted to share a bit of what that was like with a real, moving and sometimes funny story based on what my family and I went through,” said Huang. “I’m looking for the film to entertain, but also start a discussion with audiences about this disease, which is often ignored in many communities.”
The cast also features Echo Kellum (Arrow), Megan Gailey (Just For Laughs New Faces of Comedy), Karan Soni (Miracle Workers, Deadpool), Page Leong (Argo, Criminal Minds), Ari Stidham (Scorpion), and Danny Jacobs (American Crime Story, Masters of Sex)
The film is produced by Stoddard Temple Productions, along with Bentonville Way Entertainment. The project has been developed through Film Independent’s Screenwriter’s Lab and Fast Track Program.
The film is produced by Brian Yang (Linsanity, Snakehead), Tanner Kling (Breakwater, Heroes Reborn) Cindy Lu (Portals, Home + Away) and Randy Kulina (For the Love of Jessee; Find Me).
“All of our producing and development partners champion diversity and inclusion in film as well as support for independent film,” said Yang. “Our film has universal themes from the unique perspective of an Asian-American family, with an incredible and diverse cast of actors, many who have or currently have starring roles in film and TV. It’s great to work together with these amazing artists.”
Executive Producers are Effie Brown (Dear White People, Pale Horse), Howard Barish (13th, Blindfire), and Takashi Cheng (Sick Girl, Dougherty Gang), along with a partnership with The Boba Guys’ Andrew Chau and Bin Chen. Casting director is Shyree Meznick.
