Zombie Run
(novel, Solstice Publishing, 2019)
What if you had to pretend to be a zombie to survive? Hanson’s been living like zombie since the apocalypse. Until he learns that his zombie crush is, like him, a human pretending to be a zombie. She introduces him to the Human Underground, shows him how to love and teaches him that living is more than just being alive.
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
LITTLE NALU PICTURES LLC
Open Casting Call for Feature Length Documentary
Searching for Romeo & Juliet
Los Angeles / May 17, 2019: Little Nalu Pictures LLC (LNP) is proud to announce that they have begun an open search for Asian Pacific Islander American (APIA) Romeo and Juliets for their feature length documentary, Searching for Romeo and Juliet.
It started with an idea: What if we took the most iconic story in Western Civilization and made the characters Asian but still speak in the original language? Filmmaking partners Jeff Liu and Koji Steven Sakai began working on a feature length screenplay where they re-imagined the tragic story of Romeo and Juliet but as Asian Americans living in modern Los Angeles.
As they finished, they wondered if they could find actors to pull off this ambitious project. One of the challenges was that despite the fact that people claimed roles on stage (and screen) were open to all races for casting, the reality was far different. Asian Americans weren’t generally considered for many of Shakespeare’s iconic roles. In order to see if they could find anyone, they had workshops at the Japanese American National Museum. The team, Jeff, Ryun Yu, Koji, and Roxy Shih, was excited to see that not only could they do it, they were amazing. They knew they had to get the project made.
However, as they began to put the pieces together to make the movie together, they ran into a roadblock: No one else believed it was possible. Koji found that when he pitched the story to investors, production companies, and others they didn’t buy the fact that two Asian American actors could actually play Romeo and Juliet convincingly. They would often suggest making Romeo anyone other than an Asian American.
This was the beginning of the feature length documentary: Searching for Romeo and Juliet—to prove that an Asian American Romeo and Juliet could be found and highlight the struggles of Asian Americans in the entertainment industry.
Once Romeo(s) and Juliet(s) are found an intense two-week training will follow, culminating in a show case performance in front of a live audience.
Searching for Romeo and Juliet is being directed by Jeff Liu and Ryun Yu and produced by Koji Steven Sakai, Roxy Shih, and Scott Shima.
SUBMISSION INFORMATION:
Casting “Searching for Romeo and Juliet. We are looking for Asian Pacific Islander American (APIA) Romeos and Juliets for our documentary. We are out to prove that APIA’s can play Romeo and Juliet. Prove us right! Those cast will be included in two week long free Shakespeare acting workshop and then a showcase of selected scenes in front of a live audience.
What we are looking for: We are looking for a diverse set of APIA Romeos/Juliets. If you are transgender, of the “wrong” age or the “wrong” body – but if you have always felt that you had a Romeo or Juliet inside you, we want to see you.
1st auditions are 1 dramatic monologue to be chosen from a list of 4 from the play, to be sent via YouTube or Vimeo link with attached release form to SearchingRomeoJulietAsian@gmail.com** (please note, that when you are submitting your self-tape you are agreeing that we may use it in our documentary. Before we can look at your audition, we will need the release form completely filled out and signed)
Deadline to submit: May 17-June 1 at (11:59pm)
Call backs will be in person and will include an on-camera interview. Please note that the subsequent Shakespeare workshop and scene showcase will also be filmed.
Call Backs: June 10-11 – Los Angeles
Workshops: June 13-28 – LOS ANGELES
Showcase: June 30 – LOS ANGELES
Pay: $500
⬇️ MONOLOGUES AND RELEASE FORM BELOW! ⬇️
https://www.dropbox.com/sh/hgcd5440mcj672h/AAASLG0ncAWaXojeC-DUZl2ja?dl=0
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For press inquiries or pre-screening request, email Scott Shima <scottmshima@gmail.com>.
Writers Koji Steven Sakai, Phinny Kiyomura and artist Rob Sato join Oki for a look at their new graphic novel 442 that tells a historic story of the 442nd Regiment that was comprised of Japanese American soldiers fighting for the US in Germany.
Check out the interview here: https://soundcloud.com/theyellowperil/interview-with-the-creators-of-graphic-novel-442
Check out an article about my latest project. Super surprised and excited when I saw it on Facebook.
Today, instead of waiting for the right vehicle to showcase his talents, Wong has decided to create it himself. That film is Father’s Day, and director Quentin Lee and Hong Kong-based producer Michael J. Werner are already on board the project. Shooting is scheduled to start in November in Hong Kong.
Read the whole article here:
https://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/entertainment/article/3009467/no-crazy-rich-asians-without-joy-luck-club-russell-wong-how?fbclid=IwAR2xvYNJffw8zkYYa9WqV9P0MXXahzKZi6dr0YxM-gRoQ9JpIsYV3UMSFwE
Laugh out loud for six hours is only a click away on Hulu: https://www.hulu.com/series/comedy-invasian-e6eaee12-b3ed-4cd1-818c-8b47da1ec8cd
Thank you so much to everyone who has supported the campaign so far. I’m super excited to announce that we made our goal of $3k, but it’s not over just yet. Our first stretch goal of $3500 is within reach! We have 22 hours and a little less than $400 to increase the quality of the book. If we raise $3500, we’ll have a 12 pt cover with gloss cover finish.
Consider supporting the Kickstarter campaign:
https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/327474418/santa-vs-zombies
Check out this blog post I wrote about how I came to accept my love for all things zombies.
Take a look at the article here:
https://geekmom.com/2019/05/i-heart-zombies-a-guest-post-by-koji-steven-sakai/?fbclid=IwAR1JWd0lJsZF-mb4lMQsQ-hiYOTHAsM-rVBEVgmuj1GLNkQ9X4UQLe-giIM
Support the KickStarter campaign today:
https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/327474418/santa-vs-zombies
Check out my interview on KTLA 5 yesterday. We kicked off Asian Pacific American heritage month by talking about Japanese American heroes who gave the ultimate sacrifice to our country.
Check out the full interview here:
Check out my guest post about why I chose to write about Santa in my graphic novel/script Santa Vs. Zombies.
When I teach writing, students always ask me how to come up with good ideas. I try to give them different tips that have worked for me in the past but one of the best ways I have found was to ask myself a “what if” question. That’s how the idea for the Sana Vs. Zombies graphic novel started—my co-writer, John Mayer, and I asked ourselves which mythical—mostly holiday-based—character would be best suited to take on a zombie horde and save humanity.
What do you think? Which mythical character do you think has the best chance to not only survive the zombie apocalypse but to actually beat back the zombie plague?
You can read the rest of the article here:
https://www.risingshadow.net/articles/guest-posts/947-guest-post-by-koji-steven-sakai-why-santa
Support the kickstarter campaign:
https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/327474418/santa-vs-zombies
Koji Steven Sakai 