DIRECTOR’S STATEMENT

I entered filmmaking through the world of documentaries. My films have dealt with disability, outsider art, and former extremists renouncing their violent pasts. The logical choice for a first narrative feature might have been – oh, I don’t know, maybe an intimate drama about family dysfunction or a biopic about an obscure revolutionary poet. Instead we have here a comedy about ping pong. Consistency be damned. Making a film like this was a new adventure for me, and as a director it was one of the most pleasurable.

As a fifth-generation Chinese American with politically active parents, I grew up with a strong awareness of my cultural identity. My very first film was a short documentary on San Jose’s Chinatown, where my grandfather grew up. I’ve wanted to tell more Asian American stories – ones that reflected my experience, which is probably a more relaxed and undoubtedly more privileged one than that of past generations. Somehow the right story and circumstances hadn’t come along until I met Joan, Jeff, and Jimmy (by the way, we don’t know what’s up with all the “J” names either).

Joan, Jeff and I had become friends during the making of IN THE REALMS OF THE UNREAL, a feature documentary about the elusive outsider artist Henry Darger, when their company Cherry Sky Films came in to help with completion funding. Cherry Sky has been a supporter of many Asian American films, including Justin Lin’s hit, BETTER LUCK TOMORROW. The success of that film demonstrated that an Asian American film could be simultaneously daring, commercial, socially relevant, and above all, entertaining. So when Joan approached me about collaborating on a comedy, I was excited. In talking about it, we agreed that we wanted to capture something of the Asian American experience in a fun and subversively mainstream way. A popcorn comedy with a sprinkling of social commentary. I signed on, and in the fall of 2005 I started writing the script with Cherry Sky’s production accountant, Jimmy Tsai.

I knew Jimmy as Cherry Sky’s amiable and efficient numbers cruncher, so I was floored when, at a screening some years ago, he showed some mock commercials for Venom, his fledgling sportswear company. The spots featured a brash, urban-styled, NBA wannabe named C-dub. The guy waxed political on Asian American culture, all the while dunking on nerds and little kids. C-dub was a fresh character: smart, profane, buffoonish, and hilarious. And he was played by an unrecognizable Jimmy Tsai.

Jimmy didn’t sell any shirts that night (OK, I bought two) but he got huge laughs. Recalling that event, I proposed that the film revolve around C-dub’s character. Joan had the idea of setting the story in the world of ping pong. The mundane reputation of table tennis and the slacker thuggishness of C-dub seemed a fertile mix.

As Jimmy and I began working, I was struck by how calm he was, given the possibility that his first acting role might be as the star of this feature. We had been hammering away at the outline for about a month when I made some comment about shielding him from writing duties during production. “Why?” he asked.

“I’ll want you to be able to focus on acting.”

“Acting?” His look was pure incredulity. “I think you better talk to Joan about that.”

Turns out, Joan and Jimmy had no idea that I had assumed that Jimmy was the only one to play this role. It took a little convincing, but everyone involved agreed to give Jimmy a chance. He was C-dub. Happily, Jimmy turned out to be a natural; plus his “whatever it takes” attitude meant that he dedicated himself to months of ping pong training, vacuuming the office, designing props and other tasks, while still handling payroll and writing cost reports up to the last minute. Model minority behavior in action!

Jimmy and I both saw in C-dub the chance for some healthy self-mockery in our generation’s navigation of the ethnic American experience. The oversensitivity of the politicized to perceived racist slights. The impulse to dismiss ethnic stereotyping, while simultaneously mocking those who fit the stereotypes. The resentment of non-“model minority” Chinese Americans, especially those who have older brothers who are doctors. We flavored the script with details from our own lives: the dad who sings Chinese opera while frying the breakfast Spam (mine), the grown man taking lessons at a Chinese school class of kids (Jimmy), the parent who insists everything was invented by the Chinese (all of us). At the same time we were happy to celebrate our pride in being Asian American and our awareness of our roots – in a way that hopefully doesn’t hit everyone over the head. From the start, we have wanted this to be purely fun.

And in its making, PING PONG PLAYA has been that. Our fabulous producer Anne Clements helped us assemble a great crew and great cast of talented, hard workers. We enjoyed each other’s company and worked a little on our ping pong game. If I’ve learned one thing in this process it’s that table tennis is weirdly infectious. And if the movie inspires a few families to bond over the warped table in the garage, I’ll be happy.