Now Listen Maxine, I could use some help.
I know I said I’d send this on Wednesday, but I didn’t and wow look no one died except me a little inside.
JK, I was Scarlett O’Hara. I did think about it on Wednesday and also Thursday and Friday and Saturday, though on Sunday, truth be told, there was some anxiety about the delay. The great and happy news for me is that the not-writing was because I was unexpectedly busy, and not because I was eyeing my laptop like it was an IED. I wanted to do it but this is the first moment it could get done.
Today I write to ask for your help with a movie I wrote, and that is hard af.
I don’t remember when I learned about the WWII incarceration of people of Japanese descent in this country, but it wasn’t in school. Nothing could have driven the whole sordid episode home, however, more than learning that my brother-in-law’s parents, both American citizens, were imprisoned at Tule Lake and during this time, they (as did the majority of internees) lost their business, property, and thus, their livelihood. Starting over, they worked as a housekeeper and gardener for a family in the Oakland hills. And years after their deaths, a family friend told my sister a story about them which, as soon as I heard it, I knew it was a movie.
I spent a year doing research. Visiting museums, interviewing people, reading books, articles, first person stories. I listened to podcasts and poked around every corner of the internet, always with the closing scene in my mind, the one that appeared as soon as I heard the story. But I was also driven by the urgency of the anti-Asian hate I saw unfolding around me since 2020. One of my colleagues who is Korean American hasn’t ridden the subway in 2.5 years because of all that’s happened. I felt so compelled to tell this story as a rebuttal to all that!
I knew how the project should unfold. As a family member, I was entrusted with the creation, but as a white person, it wasn’t my story to tell, so I reached out to my friend James Yaegashi and asked him to direct, but also to provide feedback on the script until he felt it was right. I wrote and rewrote, eventually cutting it from 48 pages to 18. James has worked on Broadway and in film and television and so he contacted his vast network and some really good working actors read the script, said they were interested and wanted to do it. We just had to raise the money and they were in.
So I started, to fundraise, but I was also waiting to hear about a grant that I was convinced we’d get. Raising $83,000 was daunting, but with a $50,000 grant, it felt doable. And then in July, we learned we hadn’t gotten any money. I felt like a bus had dumped me in the middle of the wilderness. What now?
I took some time and waited, and the answer that eventually bubbled up was, ASK FOR HELP, and I was like…
Eventually, I came around. I had to deal with all the baggage I wrote about in Part 1 and pretty much move through the five stages of grief, and I thought I’d get to acceptance and be like, Whatever, but instead I felt kind of excited. What if this was meant to be a group project? What if we were building a community at the same time we were building a budget? What if this was a way that we could form an ever expanding circle of protection against the anti-Asian violence that we hated to see, but felt powerless to solve?
So here’s what I’m asking—
Whether it’s $5 or $50 or $500, if you have any capacity, would you consider a donation to fund The Dinner Party? I truly feel like this is sort of a mystical experiment and the amount doesn’t matter. If you can give more, please do, and if $5 is your limit, I am wildly grateful. We have an amazing non-profit producing partner - Entertainment 2 Affect Change - so every gift is tax deductible.
Would you ask three other people to give as well? I find it so much easier to evangelize on behalf of others, and I’m hoping you do too. Whether it’s friends who care deeply about social justice issues and the Asian American hate of the past few years, or friends who just love movies, ($5000 donations get an Executive Producer credit!) I believe there is a community ready to come together in support of this project.
If you know of any family foundations that might be interested in supporting, would you share their contact info?
Help us spread the word! While we need to raise funds, we also need to grow an audience, and as much as I hate the social media circus, it’s important to show that there are viewers interested in seeing this film get made. You can follow The Dinner Party on IG and ask others to as well. I promise to start posting!
Share this with any Japanese American/Asian American filmmakers, crew members, or production people you know. Our crew will be entirely Asian American so that the telling of this story is in the hands of the people who own it.
I have a one-page pdf with lots of info that I can email if you’re interested and if you have questions, send them! Despite the somber subject matter, this is a love story and a resistance story, and although I’ve put my own money into it, I’ll never profit from it—it’s an act of service and a joy to be a part of. While every step has been an act of faith, it’s also something that feels so real I can practically touch it. It would be an honor to watch it bloom with you.
And to those of you who have already given, thank you. You have no idea what it means to have people believe in something when it’s barely visible. I am forever grateful for your trust.
With love and gratitude.
Kate