Entertainment
“East Bay,” a dark comedy film starring “Fresh Off the Boat” and “Crazy Rich Asians” star Constance Wu, has been picked up for North American distribution and world sales by Level 33 Entertainment.
The film won the audience award last year at the Cinequest Film and Creativity festival in San Jose. Level 33 plans to release it next month in North American theaters, ahead of a later digital outing.
Wu portrays a close friend of a man who feels let down by his immigrant parents and, after a string of personal and professional humiliations, is forced to accept that he is a failure. His friends, an arts administrator, a guru and computer programmers, each have issues of their own and struggle with pressure to be happy and successful. As the man tries to get back on track, he has hallucinations that make him question reality.
“East Bay” is written directed and produced by Daniel Yoon, a Canada-based American with Korean family origins. A former environmental worker and management consultant, he previously wrote and directed 1999 film “Post Concussion,” a semi-autobiographical comedy about a man recovering from a head injury.
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In “East Bay,” Yoon again takes the male lead, while Kavi Ramachandran Ladnier (“NCIS: LA,” “The Sex Lives of College Girls”) plays another member of his support team.
“Daniel Yoon has demonstrated tremendous ingenuity and resourcefulness – wearing many hats and bringing together a talented team – in crafting the brilliant, deceptively intricate and surprisingly funny film that is ‘East Bay’,” said Andreas Olavarria, president and CEO of Level 33.
“In ‘East Bay,’ Constance Wu beautifully plays an unusually complex character, one that’s radically different from her other roles, and to me it’s the finest performance of [her] career. Kavi Ramachandran Ladnier is truly spectacular in the film as well,” said Yoon. “The cast, as a whole, created some memorable, even iconic, performances. It was a huge stroke of luck to be able to have such an exceptionally talented group as a part of ‘East Bay’.”
The deal was negotiated by Glen Reynolds of Circus Road and Olavarria on behalf of Level 33.
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Patrick Frater