I have been waiting a year and a half for everyone to be able to see Seoul Searching. I discovered it at Sundance 2016 and they tried to an Indiegogo campaign to raise money for theatrical distribution last year, but did not meet their goal. Now the film is finally out in New York and Los Angeles theaters.
Benson Lee went to a summer camp for teenagers in Seoul in the ‘80s. He wrote a fictionalized script about a group of Korean teenagers from around the world who attend the camp. Over the film’s opening weekend (June 24-25, 2016), Lee and cast members are having Q&As at the Laemmle Fine Arts Theater as well as a Friday night ‘80s prom. In this brand new interview, we spoke about the film and the state of diversity in Hollywood.
Was it at a certain age that your nostalgia for the ‘80s kicked in?
Benson Lee: “Yeah, nostalgia kicked in for me after I became an adult and I realized how special and unique that era of my life is when I was a teenager. Although, a lot of the struggle and going through an identity crisis and searching, there’s a lot of pressure to figure out who you want to be. But it’s a special time in a person’s life and youth is beautiful.”
You’ve openly said you were inspired by John Hughes. Why does a John Hughes style have to be ‘80s period? Why would that ever go out of style?
Benson Lee: “You’re right, it shouldn’t go out of style because John Hughes was known for really respecting his characters by taking them very seriously. He wasn’t making the typical teen comedies that were prevalent before he started making them, like let’s say Meatballs or Porky’s where it’s just more like a teen romp. He took the world and concerns of a teen very seriously. I think that’s what spoke to a lot of us from that era. I feel that is sort of missing right now for teen movies.”
Or just movies.
Benson Lee: “Yes, absolutely. It’s a special genre. The teen drama or coming of age is a really special genre.”
I understand why new styles take over, but I have a hard time understanding why people would stop wanting to see comedy-dramas that respect the characters.
Benson Lee: “It’s interesting because I’ve seen some good coming of age films, but it lacks the coming of age theme. I forget some of the names of the movies but I’ve seen movies where they take the young characters seriously. They’re going through very serious issues, experiencing serious issues and themes. It’s just that it’s less innocent because they know so much more now.”
That is a valid point.
Benson Lee: “Each movie genre has its sort of heyday and then it goes away for a little while. For example, horror comes and goes. At one point, we had a certain genre of horror that was really popular, if it’s spiritual thrillers or that sort of thing. Then something else comes back. It’s reinvented and repackaged. Teen comedy or teen coming of age films have gone through the same sort of evolution. It’s just that I would say that after John Hughes, I remember the big teen genre was the American Pie type genre. So it went back to something like the Porky’s or the teen romp comedy. Now there’s movies like Neighbors, that’s sort of a teen comedy. I prefer the space where you can have fun and you can address real dramatic issues.”
Were you able to actually build your own youth and nostalgia to visit it again?
Benson Lee: “Yes, absolutely because this is based on a personal experience of mine. So going back to Korea making this movie and trying to rebuild it and present it in a movie was a lot of fun. Seeing Justin Chon, who played Sid, who’s based on me when I was younger and watch him go through certain scenes, especially more dramatic scenes. For example, where he’s talking to his teacher about his relationship with his father, that really took me back. It was just mind-blowing to re-experience that through an actor. At one point, it was just words on a page for me. Then to see it brought to life through the actor’s performance was a very spiritual experience.”
Did you have that conversation with a teacher about your father?
Benson Lee: “Yes, I did.”
What did your father think of you becoming a filmmaker?
Benson Lee: [Laughs] “Well, my father felt it was really risky and rightfully so, because it is a very risky field. His concern wasn’t what kind of movies am I going to make to succeed, but more how do you succeed in a business like this, because it’s so foreign to him. He’s learned to accept it so we’re in a better place now.”
Did you rebuild the camp exactly as you remember it?
Benson Lee: “No, we didn’t have the budget for that but I wanted to recapture the spirit of it for sure, through clothing, through characters, through situations and so on. So I was very happy with what we were able to reproduce.”
At your camp was there one of every type: a punk, a jock, a daddy’s girl…?
Benson Lee: “Oh yeah. Back then there were very distinct groups in high school that were tribes, what we called cliques back in the day. Each clique had a certain style or represented a different theme. That’s a very important trope in ‘80s movies is that you’re either with the cool crowd, you’re with the stoner crowd, you’re with the jock crowd or whatever. In my movie, it’s more like you’re with this culture or that culture and you are this particular type of person from that culture. The Korean Mexican is sort of the ambassador of Spanish culture. So is the German Korean. The American was the quintessential rebel punker. Not only did they represent their cliques or their tribe but they also represented their culture.”
We’re talking more about diversity in Hollywood now. Were you surprised how hard it’s been to get Seoul Searching into theaters?
Benson Lee: “Yeah, I was. The thing I learned about this is the film business in general, the landscape’s changed so much because people are going to the theaters less. That doesn’t make it any easier for minority filmmakers or independent filmmakers. It just makes it so much more challenging to get your movie released these days. So nowadays, the day and date is very popular because it’s less risk. It achieves the main goal of getting the reviews that you need that are crucial to help market your movie and then you just release it in the theaters for like a week. I was raised in a culture of film where the buzz was really important, the word of mouth was really important, especially for an independent film. You had more distributors who could take more a ‘risk’ because you didn’t have celebrities in your movie. What makes it hard realistically for Asian films is that distributors look at the population and see who is going to see this movie? Naturally they’re going to think, ‘Well, this is a movie for Asian-Americans.’ They look at the demographics and they’re like, ‘Well, they only make up 4% of the population in America. That’s not enough. It’s too risky.’ So I get that but at the same time, what I hope for as a director is if you look at the movie, you realize it’s not just for Asian-Americans. It has universal themes. It has multicultural themes that appeal to more than just Asian-Americans. So what we hope for is that the distributors have the resources and the prowess to get a movie out there to break out of that box, that mold. But it’s hard just because it’s very risky nowadays. So I’m afraid not only for diversity but I’m afraid for independent film too in the future.”
I agree with you that it’s important to be in theaters, because if it’s just VOD then it’s just another niche movie.
Benson Lee: “It’s like going straight to DVD back in the day, because you don’t get the reviews. You don’t get the time to let it get out into the ether and let people see it and talk about it. Now it’s great because it’s great that we have this whole online way of getting the message out there, but we just need the time to get it into the theater so people can have the experience of seeing it and recommending it. You know, it’s scary to me right now we’re suffering so much at the box office and the only films that are doing well are the tentpole films.”
Even those aren’t.
Benson Lee: “Okay, so there you go. I feel like we need a new model where people will be inspired to go to theaters. Back in the day, that was the thing to do. I just feel like that’s now become arcane.”
They also have to make theaters a place you want to go again. The chains have really made theaters awful.
Benson Lee: “Yes, I know. You know what, Alamo Drafthouse is one of my favorite theaters in the world. They got it right. It’s just when a corporate chain tries to reproduce that, it’s not a formula. It really is a lot of loving care and thought put into programming and marketing, and it’s a lot of work. It’s hard for corporations to do that. I don’t know, but I’m glad that Alamo’s doing so well and that they’re popping up everywhere.”
Just the presentation at a major chain, the projection, the sound quality, not policing the crowd for disturbances, why would you want to go there?
Benson Lee: “And let’s not forget the price. It’s not cheap.”
Last year you launched an Indiegogo campaign. I guess that didn’t meet its goal?
Benson Lee: “No, it did not.”
What did you do next?
Benson Lee: “We ended up getting money from a tax rebate from the Korean government for filming in Korea, which was very generous.”
After wrapping you got that?
Benson Lee: “Yes, it took a while to get it. That money was supposed to go back to the investors but they were gracious enough to put it back into the movie so we could have a chance in the theaters. For that reason, it’s really important for us to succeed in terms of I don’t expect us to be a huge box office hit based on the climate right now, but I do expect us to get a lot more exposure through the theaters.”
So it’s basically still self-distributed?
Benson Lee: “We partnered with a distributor called First Pond Entertainment. It’s not a lot of money. Luckily for us, because not a lot of indie films are going theatrical, we don’t have to four wall theaters. We can get out there. There’s a lot of room for content, even at the multiplexes. We’re getting ourselves out there without having to spend a lot of money but at the same time, we’re learning a lot about distribution and marketing, which has been one of the best educations for me as a filmmaker.”
As much as we’re talking about diversity, are Asians being included in that discussion? What do we need to do to really include everyone in diversity efforts?
Benson Lee: “It amazes me; I was shocked when I found out that Asians only make up 4% of the American population. At the same time, we spend a lot of money. We’re the model minority in a way. We’re the silent minority for a long time. For me, my role model has always been African-Americans growing up, filmmakers and how they’ve come together and worked together to have a voice and make sure that that voice is heard. It’s important for me to vocalize my voice because we are raised not to be very vocal. That’s why we are that model minority but a lot of us don’t fit in that character. I am a filmmaker who has to voice my opinions and my concerns through my work. Beyond that, I also have to support our presence and our visibility. I feel like I have an obligation to do that. Obligation is not the right word. It’s a responsibility. All this ‘whitewashing, blah blah blah,’ I’ve dealt with that since I was a kid. Watching Kung Fu, David Carradine, and being like, ‘There’s something wrong here.’ It’s not until now that it’s really become a real issue. The politics of race is very interesting in Hollywood because you can’t do blackface anymore. You can’t do that and get away with it, but for some reason you can get away with yellowface. I don’t know what it is but I think Asians have been less vocal and they need to be more vocal about it. When they are, they get results.
Here’s the perfect climate of what we’re living in today. You have Chris Rock hosting the Oscars complaining about the lack of representation for African-Americans but then he’ll do a little skit with a bunch of Asian kids and make fun of them. Even between African-Americans and Asian-Americans there’s a political misunderstanding too. At the end of the day, we all are responsible for our own voices. If we’re women, if we’re minorities, if we’re LGBT, we all have a voice and we all have to vocalize it.”
What is yellowface? It’s not literally the same as painting your face, is it?
Benson Lee: “It’s kind of like getting a non-Asian actor to play an Asian character and try to pass that off. David Carradine is one of the [examples], the Ghost in the Shell [remake] or Emma Stone in Aloha, all those characters.”
Are you writing something new?
Benson Lee: “Yes, I’m working on a KPop movie.”
