Both men are of Asian but not Vietnamese descent. Lee and co-writer Christopher Chen honed the script. While Sorgie and Hieu were working to get Ma on board, director Sing J. “I love him and will continue to do everything I can to protect him,” producer Andy Sorgie (far right) says of the real Long Ma (second from right), who visited the set and met the actor who plays him (Hiệp Trần Nghĩa, far left, with director Sing J. “It was very important to have his deal be commensurate to Paul Kix’s, the white writer who wrote the article.” The real Ma even has a cameo in the film, playing Chinese chess opposite the actor who plays him (France-based Hiệp Trần Nghĩa, whom Vũ had spotted in a short at the Viet Film Fest in 2021). Sorgie gifted the flag to Ma, along with a personal note from his father, and from there “he saw that we were coming it from a very genuine place,” he says, adding that he pushed to make sure that Ma received a fair payment for his life story. Then the producer’s dad sent over a package in the mail: a South Vietnam flag from 1968 that he had carried throughout the war. “Long was still ‘maybe yes, maybe no,’” Sorgie says. Sitting down at Little Saigon café Chez Rose, Sorgie (with Hieu as interpreter) shared the personal connection he felt with Ma, as his own father had earned two Purple Hearts fighting alongside the South Vietnamese forces during the war. ’” A shopkeeper recognized Ma and directed Hieu to the room the old man was renting in Garden Grove, where he was eventually persuaded to meet with Sorgie and hear his pitch in person. So Hieu went to work on his local connections: “I asked all the old South Vietnamese soldiers, ‘Hey, have you heard of this name? He used to be a captain. Sorgie had gotten a hold of a lawyer who previously represented Ma, but the latter had soured on too many would-be deals for projects that always fell through and was hard to reach. “I would have been a white dude lost in Little Saigon ,” says Sorgie of the insular southern California enclave that is home to the world’s largest Vietnamese population outside Vietnam. Sorgie was referred to cultural consultant Jes Vũ, who introduced him to Joseph Hieu, who for decades had been playing bit parts whenever Hollywood needed a Vietnamese side character. That kicked off a six-month odyssey in itself because for a third-generation Italian American first-time lead producer, tracking down a septuagenarian Vietnamese immigrant loner who spoke no English was no easy feat. “How do you do everything you can to make in the right way, and it’s also good?”Įven though he was told by multiple people that he didn’t need to option any rights because the story was a matter of court record, Sorgie not only reached out to Thunder Road Pictures, which already had a handshake agreement with Kix to adapt his GQ article, to team up on the movie, but he also was determined to secure Ma’s life rights - and his blessing. It had to tell a story that was universally resonant without compromising the authenticity of the specific culture it was portraying, and vice versa. dramatic competition at Sundance on Monday and represents his debut as a lead producer after a decade learning the ropes - knew that, particularly as an outsider to the Vietnamese immigrant community in which the narrative is set, the film had to achieve a critical balance. For 'Joy Ride' Director Adele Lim, Raunchy Comedy Is a Palate CleanserĪnd importantly, Sorgie - whose film, The Accidental Getaway Driver, premieres in the U.S.
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