Review Fix chats with “Buddy Solitaire†writer Kuang Lee who discusses her film currently being screened at the Cinequest Film Festival in California.
The CINEQUEST Film Festival will hold two more screenings of the film Buddy Solitaire on Sunday, March 6th at 11:30 am at the California Theatre and on Thursday, March 10th at 5:00 pm at Camera 12-Screen 9. Tickets are $11 and are available HERE
About the Film:
Buddy Solitaire tells the story of a struggling stand-up comedian on the late night circuit who seems to have trouble connecting with his audience. The only job he can get is teaching comedy to the mentally ill, where he gains a new audience of hypochondriacs, nervous wrecks and bipolar adults. Buddy discovers, however, that by helping these patients, he can get closer and closer to healing himself.
Review Fix: What inspired this film?
Kuang Lee: For a few years, I actually performed stand-up comedy in LA. I did a bunch of shows — enough to realize that I wasn’t very good at stand up! However, I met a lot of fascinating comedians and talked to them about their life stories. A lot of people (including me at the time) were working out their psychological issues on stage, trying to get a better understanding of themselves through performance. I thought this would be a great premise for a film.Â
Review Fix: How did you get Sally Kirkland involved?
Lee: Sally was wonderful as Hanna Bales, Buddy’s mother. She was actually coaching her friend, who was auditioning for the role of Buddy. As she was reading the sides of a Buddy-Hanna scene, the words and the role sparked something in her, and she reached out to us about the part. It was all very fortunate for us.
Review Fix: How has Kickstarter and Social Media played a role in this film?
Lee: Kickstarter was a huge part of our film. We had a successful campaign, and thanks to our amazing supporters, we were able to raise a good chunk of our production budget. Now, we use our social media to keep our fans up to date on what’s going on with the film and where it’s playing.These days, unless you’ve got a huge marketing budget behind you, using social media is super important for a small film to make an impression on an audience.Â
Here are our social media sites:Â
https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/1254134309/buddy-solitaire Â
https://www.facebook.com/buddysolitaire/
https://www.instagram.com/buddysolitaire/
Review Fix: Why is Buddy’s journey an important one? What do you want people to take away from it?
Lee: I think Buddy goes from a place of selfishness to a place of understanding and empathy. He starts the film seeing the patients that he teaches at the counseling center as a means to an end for his career. By the end of the film, he is in a different place. I don’t want to reveal too much about it — you’ll have to see the film!
Review Fix: What have you learned about yourself through this film?
Lee: I’ve learned that I truly love narrative filmmaking. I make my living making videos for tech companies here in the Bay Area, but making BUDDY SOLITAIRE reaffirmed my love for scripted, narrative storytelling. I love working with actors and helping them find their finest performances. I love taking a compelling story from conception all the way to the film the audiences see in the theaters.Â
Review Fix: How does it feel to be a part of the Cinequest Film Festival?
Lee: I actually live and work in the South Bay Area. I live in Japantown, which is just a few blocks away from Cinequest. And so, Cinequest is my hometown festival in a way. So, it’s even more special to be able to premiere at this amazing festival. It’s been wonderful so far. Everyone has been so great, so filmmaker friendly.
Review Fix: What’s next?
Lee: I’m developing two feature projects. One is a romantic comedy set in Asia called LANGUAGE LESSONS. The other is a genre thriller called CARAVAN that I’m working on with my friend Tristan Thai. The fewer details about that one I reveal, the better.Â
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