YOUNG AND RESTLESS: An interview with Better Luck Tomorrow director Justin Lin. By Warren Curry 4/10/03 Part 2 of 2

Although it's predominantly an Asian-American cast, there is diversity within the cast. I'm guessing that Ben (Perry Shen) is Filipino, Han (Sung Kang) is Korean and you even cover Asian kids who are adopted by Caucasian families, but it's not something that's pushed to the forefront. Is the generalization a kind of concession, in that there wasn't enough room to explore the diversity?

No. Everyone has their own perspective whether you're Asian-American or not, but we like to label things. Even within an Asian-American context, there's so much diversity -- first generation, second generation, Korean, Filipino, Chinese, whatever. There are all these people lumped into one thing. I do think that kids today who are growing up are just labeled -- "You're yellow, so you must be Asian-American." They tend to create groups and cliques because of that label. So that was conscious -- it wasn't because I was running out of time or didn't want to deal with it. That's just something that exists. If you go to suburbia, they'll be groups of friends and they'll be Asian and of different backgrounds.

There has been a lot of lag time since the film was acquired at Sundance in 2002 to the upcoming release date. Why is that?

Well, MTV has never acquired a film, so there's a learning curve there too. It worked out great for me, because I asked them if I could go on the journey with the film to other film festivals. I was able to go to Toronto last September, Hawaii, etc. I got the best of both worlds. We were acquired but they were open enough to let me go to different festivals and screen this film and talk to the audience. They were in no hurry. They want to make sure this comes out right, and they did their homework. Yeah, it's been a while, and there are battles that go on, but that's healthy. I'm glad that we're coming out now; I feel good about it.

What was your reaction when MTV approached you at Sundance?

It was really interesting -- there were multiple studios that wanted to acquire it, so I got to sit down and talk to them; it was such a great position to be in. The ones that said they wanted final cut and wanted to change things, I said, "Thank you, but no." Out of respect for everyone who came aboard early and why I want to make the film, I want to stay true to the essence. MTV came up and said, "We're trying to make a film like this. It's really hard because the scripts either come across preachy or the tone is really hard. We think you nailed it and this is important for our demographic." I just thought, "Wow -- this is great. They do want to take this out." Aside from everybody else who I feel should watch it, this is the prime demographic. This is about today's generation, and they should go out and watch this film and talk about it.

Are they going to run a lot of commercials?

I think so. This is not Jackass, this is not Orange County, this is still an independent film, so they're going to do their best to promote it, but it is coming out on a platform release. It's not going to come out in 3000 theaters -- it's going to come out in 10 theaters, and if not enough people show up, we'll be dead by the next week. That's the tragedy of independent filmmaking. I'm surprised how any independent film can be a success, because you're proving yourself every weekend. By Sunday morning, decisions have to be made -- do we expand or do we kill it? That's the reality, not just for us, but all independent films.

You're doing a big grassroots marketing campaign, right? E-mail blasts, and getting t-shirts, posters and flyers out there.

Yeah. That's on a level where I feel we have this opportunity, and I want to share this experience. Sometimes, apathy doesn't come just from people being apathetic -- it comes from lack of information. I feel like now I've been through the journey -- I've been in those marketing rooms, those distribution meetings and I now know how the system works and I want to share that. I feel like when the viewers hear about the experience, they're going to say, "If I ever complain about cookie cutter movies, if I ever complain about representation on screen, I better support a movie like Better Luck Tomorrow." That's the only way you can communicate to the studios. If you support a movie like this, you show up and there's enough numbers there, then they're going to realize that people actually want to see films that are outside the box, and they will actually make movies like this. There is no agenda but to make money when it comes to the corporations, and that's okay. That's the rules they live by, but as an artist I want to learn what those rules are and relay it to the viewer. In the end, I got to make the film I want, and it's been a struggle, but I got to have final cut and now it's up to the viewers. If they want to see more films like this, they have to show up. It's how we start the cycle.

What efforts are being made to market this as something that's universal and not just a film for Asian-Americans?

I think that's where the network comes in. The fact that it's gotten into Sundance, Toronto, and a lot of critics have really embraced this film, I think creates a pedigree for the film. I think they're using that and hopefully people will realize it's more than just an Asian-American film. We just screened this in Wisconsin 4 nights ago, and I walked in there and it was like 1000 middle aged Caucasians. I thought, "This is interesting; this is great." They totally got it, and I remember when I was walking out this 57-year-old guy walked up and said, "Man, I totally relate to these characters. Where I work we go through the same politics and the same power struggles."

Did your marketing learning curve include the trailer?

They let me sit in on it and put in my notes. As much as I learned, I was also able to give feedback. It's a whole different art and I don't profess to know that much about it. I did get to learn a little bit about that. And it is important, especially for a film that's not going to have billboards or commercials everywhere. Hopefully (the trailer) will instill the essence and the feel, and people will get excited to see it.

From the feedback that you've received at festivals so far, do you have any reason to fear that this will just be seen as the novelty Asian-American film?

No. I think the reviews have been very smart, and the dialogue we've had has been very smart. I have no fear of that. In the end, I got to make the film I wanted to make and everything else has been gravy. For me as a filmmaker, I can only control so much. I don't know if it's going to be seen that way or not, but I do feel that people are definitely reacting to this movie, and we've had great discussions after the movie. I think it's going to continue.

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