'Better Luck': tiny budget, big applause
By Kathryn Kekona
Special to The Advertiser
Producer Julie Asato sounded tired. After attending the first premiere party for her movie "Better Luck Tomorrow" in Los Angeles, she'd flown off to New York City for the premiere party there.
MTV Films
In New York, she and director Justin Lin, along with members of the cast and crew, went to each screening at each of the three movie theaters where their film was showing, just to thank people for showing up.
"Better Luck Tomorrow" caused controversy at the Sundance Film Festival but has gone on to earn rave reviews.
The grassroots effort has paid off in recognition and ticket sales. "Better Luck Tomorrow" is being touted as a first of its kind: "a disturbing and skillfully told parable about growing up in today's America," as Roger Ebert called it in his four-starred review, adding that "race is not the point but simply the given." Its cast and creative team is largely Asian American, but to be Asian in "Better Luck Tomorrow" is not a focus of discussion but a fact of life.
Asato is one of Hawai'i's own. She earned her diploma at Sacred Hearts Academy and her bachelor's degree at the University of Hawai'i. Her parents still live in the Nu'uanu home where she grew up.
"Better Luck Tomorrow" is the first film Asato has produced. "I was na•ve; I thought it was glamorous and paid a lot of money," she said. "Unfortunately, it was not glamorous. I was everything, from the craft service person getting everyone water to the accountant worrying about the bills. Ernesto (M. Foronda, the co-producer and co-writer of the movie) and I even stood outside some of the locations while they were shooting, as security guards."
While the film has a professional sheen, Asato and the "Better Luck" team made it on a tiny budget of $250,000. "I didn't know how much work making the movie was going to be, in relation to how little money there was to do it with," Asato said. "Making a two-hour film for that budget is almost unfathomable in the movie business today."
To fund the film, Asato and Justin Lin, the director and co-writer, used credit cards, tapped friends and family, and solicited sponsors. "It was a good thing we had good credit, because it was easy for us to get credit cards that way," she said. "We begged a lot and got a lot of free stuff — free film from Kodak, free equipment and gear to use, even free locations. Our credits list has a lot of people we thank."
She worked nights to pay the bills while the movie was in production, teaching English as a second language to adults. "Most of the cast and crew were on deferred pay (which means you get paid if and when the movie sells)," she said. "There were a couple of nights I would be at the shoot from early in the morning to early evening, then leave to teach class, and return to shoot throughout the night."
Kathryn Kekona • Special to The Advertiser
Once the movie was finished, she took it on the film festival circuit in 2002, storming Sundance, Toronto and the 2002 Hawaii International Film Festival, as well as several Asian film showcases.
Julie Asato, left, and Roger Fan talk to a New York University student about their movie, "Better Luck Tomorrow."
"Better Luck Tomorrow" created controversy at the Sundance Film Festival for its portrayal of Asian Americans as amoral and violent. Several viewers walked out of the screening, though Ebert voiced his support for the film right away.
The movie is about four intelligent, ambitious Asian-American boys, including three who are at the top of their class with Ivy League college ambitions. Despite their suburban California homes and affluent families, they are seduced by the attractions of drugs and easy money.
Asato said the film's scriptwriters felt breaking the stereotypes of American Asians being the "nerd," the "delivery boy," the "kung-fu expert" or the "doctor," and creating roles that were more complex and interesting was important.
"I think the most powerful moment for us all was (at Sundance, when) Roger Ebert stood up and voiced his support of our film, saying, 'Asian-American characters have the right to be whoever the hell they want to be,' she said.
MTV picked up the movie soon after, easing some of the financial risk. But even after the sale, Asato, Lin, Foronda and the rest of the cast wanted to do everything they could to make the movie a success. They came up with a grassroots marketing campaign: They told all their friends and asked their friends to tell their friends. They sent out e-mails to people asking them to pass along the e-mail. They went to colleges to speak with film classes and school groups to tell them what the movie was about. Eventually, they recruited volunteers to pass out flyers in the street, calling them the "Better Luck Tomorrow" Street Team.
"When we put our Web site up, www.betterlucktomorrow.com, people began to e-mail us saying that they were really excited to see the movie and offered to help us get the word out. That's when we came up with the idea of the 'BLT' Street Team," Asato said. "Most of the volunteers were college kids who said they would put up posters and organize a group to go see the movie."
Asato and Roger Fan, who plays "Daric," the mastermind of his misguided group, were part of the team, handing out postcards on the New York University campus.
After a successful limited-release opening, "Better Luck Tomorrow" went to wider release last weekend.
Asato and Roger Fan were in Philadelphia last week, preparing to fly out to Columbus, Ohio, for a "Better Luck Tomorrow" rally at Ohio State University.
"Right now, we're all mentally and physically exhausted. But I'm very happy and proud of the movie, and feel we have done a great job with the grassroots marketing. I think it's a big reason why we did so well our first two weeks," Asato said.
"Our efforts to reach out to people, especially the Asian students and Asian organizations, gave our movie a chance to be noticed. Once they saw the movie, almost everyone told us how much they liked it, and that word of mouth is spreading."
