Hollywood, Los Angeles — Rachel Song, who has made a name for herself as a young Chinese American bi-lingual producer in Hollywood, plans to showcase the upcoming new film “A Kid like Jake” at various film festivals next year, and intends to distribute in China the film that she calls a “Passion Project”, and bring other productions to the Chinese market.
A Kid like Jake, being filmed in New York starring many well-known actors and actresses, is adapted from Daniel Pearle’s award-winning same title drama. Jim Parsons, who plays Sheldon Cooper in the Big Bang Theory, and his spouse Todd Spiewak asked Daniel Pearle to rearrange the drama to the big screen in 2015.
A Kid like Jake is a story about transgender people. Alex and Greg have high expectations for their four-year-old son who happens to prefer princesses and fairy tales. When they aware they cannot afford high tuition for a private kindergarten, the director of the school asks them to accentuate Jake’s gender variant expression to apply for scholarship. Confronted with pressure from the society, school, family and education, Alex and Greg try hard to accept the true self of their son Jake.
Rachel Song got to know accidentally Jim Parsons and his production company That’s Wonderful Productions last year. And she was impressed by the drama at first sight, that she calls one of the best playwrights, and determined to join the production team.
According to Rachel Song, the transgender topic has attracted more and more attention in recent years, but has been repeatedly ignored by the society. The story of the film is more about family, love, tolerance and social recognition. “The audience needs such a story that brings both joy and tear, and has far-reaching impact,” said Song.
This film becomes Rachel Song’s Passion Project. She has successfully raised fund for the early production using her experiences in developing, planning and financing. Other producers approached Silas Howard, a transgender director who directed “Transparent” for Amazon, a TV series on LGBTQ, and “This Is Us”, a TV series for NBC. And his participation attracts Golden Globe best actress Claire Danes, Oscar winner Octavia Spencer, Ann Dowd, and Bollywood star Priyanka Chopra to join the cast.
Rachel Song said, the production team and the agents of these actors and actresses have figured out a plan to minimize the production cost, and provide low-risk investment returns for Burn Later Productions, the producing company, and Bankside Films, the international sales company, while securing better reviews from film critics. Their goal is to throw a sprat to catch a whale.
Rachel Song plans to promote the film at different mainstream film festivals in America and around the world starting from Sundance Film Festival in January 2018. As a bi-lingual producer, she will also be responsible for distributing the film in China. Song looks forward to facilitating more film productions, and bringing more quality productions to the Chinese market.( by Rachel Song )
