Filming this coming of age journey was an amazing journey in and of itself, a whirlwind production that included four cities and more than 40 unique locations. The majority of the movie was shot in mainland China. Filming began first in the bustling modern city of Shanghai, and then the production moved to a quaint little village named Jinxi, a place that time hasn’t changed for hundreds of years. Then it was on to the capital city of Beijing where it’s many landmarks: Tianamen Square, The Temple of Heaven, and of course, The Great Wall, were used as elements in David’s story. The movie finished shooting in Los Angeles for one last week, capping 25 whirlwind days of principal photography.

Shooting in China, while providing the filmmakers with many amazing backdrops, was also an incredibly difficult challenge. The nationality mix of cast and crew consisted of American actors who spoke little Chinese, Chinese actors who spoke little English, and a handful of key crew personnel from America who were forced to learn how to communicate however they could with a Chinese crew who spoke absolutely no English at all.

The American actors found the experience a little unnerving at times. “James (David Braddock) had to do scenes with something like thirty different Chinese actors,” director Ron Berrett says. “And most of the time, neither James nor the Chinese actor he was working with really knew what the other was saying. In fact, since I speak only limited Chinese, quite often even I didn’t know if the Chinese actor was getting the lines correctly. I usually just went with my gut feeling, gauging the performances by the emotions that the actors were putting across… and then I would glance at my producer/wife to get her okay before moving on,” Berrett muses.

The American portion of the crew were faced with unique challenges of their own. “Things took a little longer to get done than I’m used to. Actually a lot longer,” says 1st assistant cameraman Paul Gonsoulin. “I’ve been fortunate to work on Desperate Housewives here in Los Angeles for the past couple of years, and the experience of doing an independent movie in China was a drastic change to say the least. It took a little time, but we were able to figure out a workable method of communication. Eric and I learned as many Chinese terms as we could, words like “key light,” and things got better as the shoot progressed. The Chinese guys also tried really hard to learn our American terms and ways of doing things. By the time we left China, I was really, really proud of my camera crew. It was hard to say goodbye, because we had all become so close in the three short weeks we were together.”

Street Date:
11/24/09

Genre:
Drama

Sub Genre:
Romantic

SRP:
$24.98

UPC:
813153010105

Catalog #:
OSD1010

Format:
DVD

Run Time:
89 min

Production Year:
2009

Rating:
PG 13

Screen Format:
16:9 Widescreen

Sound Format:
5.1 Surround

Language:
English

Origin:
USA

Carton Qty:
30

Package Type:
Amaray

BONUS FEATURES:

1.

•Making of An American in China
2.

•Cast Auditions ?Original Artwork
3.

•Production Gallery
4.

•Film Soundtrack Selections

SYNOPSIS

“It’s time I chose a direction and the Far East is as good as any,” shrugs David Braddock (James Snyder, Sheís the Man), exactly the kind of aimlessness that has his parents worried about their newly minted college grad. Pressured to travel to Shanghai on behalf of the troubled family business, the party’s over and David is reluctantly thrust into a country strangely unaltered by the modern world. His translator (popular Chinese actress Fei Fei Sun), a beautiful young girl as directed as he is directionless, attempts to help the struggling David. Problem is no one seems to take him seriously there either! But ñ despite the language barrier, cultural differences, culinary shock and a near international incident – romance blossoms. David returns a changed man, but the family business is in worse jeopardy than before. Determined, David returns to Chinato see things through both professionally and personally. Will this fish-out-of-water finally find his way?

The story of a young man’s search for meaning and direction, AN AMERICAN IN CHINA follows recent college grad David Braddock to China where he finds more than he bargained for.

Filming this coming of age journey was an amazing journey in and of itself, a whirlwind production that included four cities and more than 40 unique locations. The majority of the movie was shot in mainland China. Filming began first in the bustling modern city of Shanghai, and then the production moved to a quaint little village named Jinxi, a place that time hasn’t changed for hundreds of years. Then it was on to the capital city of Beijing where it’s many landmarks: Tianamen Square, The Temple of Heaven, and of course, The Great Wall, were used as elements in David’s story. The movie finished shooting in Los Angeles for one last week, capping 25 whirlwind days of principal photography.

Shooting in China, while providing the filmmakers with many amazing backdrops, was also an incredibly difficult challenge. The nationality mix of cast and crew consisted of American actors who spoke little Chinese, Chinese actors who spoke little English, and a handful of key crew personnel from America who were forced to learn how to communicate however they could with a Chinese crew who spoke absolutely no English at all.

The American actors found the experience a little unnerving at times. “James (David Braddock) had to do scenes with something like thirty different Chinese actors,” director Ron Berrett says. “And most of the time, neither James nor the Chinese actor he was working with really knew what the other was saying. In fact, since I speak only limited Chinese, quite often even I didn’t know if the Chinese actor was getting the lines correctly. I usually just went with my gut feeling, gauging the performances by the emotions that the actors were putting across… and then I would glance at my producer/wife to get her okay before moving on,” Berrett muses.

The American portion of the crew were faced with unique challenges of their own. “Things took a little longer to get done than I’m used to. Actually a lot longer,” says 1st assistant cameraman Paul Gonsoulin. “I’ve been fortunate to work on Desperate Housewives here in Los Angeles for the past couple of years, and the experience of doing an independent movie in China was a drastic change to say the least. It took a little time, but we were able to figure out a workable method of communication. Eric and I learned as many Chinese terms as we could, words like “key light,” and things got better as the shoot progressed. The Chinese guys also tried really hard to learn our American terms and ways of doing things. By the time we left China, I was really, really proud of my camera crew. It was hard to say goodbye, because we had all become so close in the three short weeks we were together.”

AN AMERICAN IN CHINA was a true “east meets west” collaboration between the writer team of Ron Berrett and Wenxin Yuan. The story is loosely based upon Berrett’s first experiences traveling in China, and also on Yuan’s experience of watching a crazy American (Berrett) invade her country.

The first time I flew into Shanghai, I was looking out the plane window trying to catch a glimpse of the city lights below as we descended,” Berrett says. “I didn’t see anything, just blackness, and I actually had the thought – I’m ashamed to admit this now, but I actually thought that maybe there was no electricity in China yet. When we landed I was relieved to find that the reason I couldn’t see any lights from the air was due to the thick clouds and humidity. Then as I was driven through the streets of Shanghai to my hotel – and I’m also ashamed to admit this, I found myself surprised that there were traffic signals, with red for stop and green for go just like back home in America. The next morning I took a walk and came upon the Shanghai Olympic stadium, where I found literally a thousand women flag dancing to traditional Chinese music. It was an amazing sight: beautiful, graceful happy people enjoying a simple yet elegant morning activity. This was in stark contrast to the China I had learned about while growing up in America during the cold war. Most of my life, when I thought of China, I pictured a poor, repressed country: people in San Pan hats plowing rice paddiies behind water buffalo, or multitudes of glum, gray faces trudging slowly forward in green army fatigues, or political prisoners being crushed under the red communist thumb in rat-infested cells,” says Berrett.

“Years later my wife and I were amazed to find that we shared a similar childhood experience even though we grew up on opposite sides of the world and political spectrum. In elementary school I remember a classroom full of children diving under their desks, rehearsing for the possible air-raid that would come from our communist enemies on the other side of the world. I was amazed when Maggie told me that she had the same experience as a child, only she and her classmates crouched under their desks in Beijing to hide from the imperialist American bombers that her country’s leaders were afraid might attack them any day.”

Berrett continues, “the more time I spent in China, the more I realized that while there were a lot differences between my country and Maggie’s, there was much, much more that we had in common. I began to feel the desire to tell people back home that our perception of China was totally out-dated and wrong. I also wanted to tell them about all the amazing and crazy things I had experienced in that great country. Obviously these thoughts were the genesis for the story I would eventually write with Maggie.”

Producer Wenxin (Maggie) Yuan adds “we decided we wanted make a travel film, to sort of take the audience on a trip to present-day China, and not only give them a psuedo-vacation, but also show them that even though there are many differences between our countries and cultures, we all share the same dreams and desires, the same common humanity.”

The producers hope that audiences will find AN AMERICAN IN CHINA an enjoyable journey, one that inspires them to follow the path of their own dreams, no matter where on this big, wide world those paths may lead.

WENXIN (MAGGIE) YUAN (writer/producer), at the age of 24 produced the successful Chinese feature film, “My Love Gone Forever.” This film was directed by Feng Xiao Gang, who now rivals Zhang Yimo as China’s top feature film director. Maggie has since produced and/or marketed many popular film and television programs in China, including the recent films: “The Coldest Day” and “The Jasmine Women” starring Zhang Ziyi (Hidden Dragon Crouching Tiger, Memoirs of a Giesha), and Joan Chen (Twin Peaks, Autumn in New York.) Maggie was born and raised in Beijing, China, but relocated to Los Angeles in 2004 after her marriage to director Ron Berrett.

RON BERRETT (writer/director), made his directorial debut with the independent film, “An Embalmer’s Tale,” which took the Best First Feature Award at the Worldfest Film Fetival. He has since directed numerous short films and music videos. Ron lives in both Los Angeles and Beijing, China with his wife: producer Maggie Yuan.

ALICE GRECZYN (Kendra Braddock) plays David’s smart and sexy younger sister, who enjoys washing her car while at the same time torturing her brother’s friend, Sha. Greczyn was born in Walnut Creek, California. As a child she had no idea that she would stumble into the life of an actress. Her goal was to compete as a figure skater. But that all changed when Greczyn was approached by a talent manager in Colorado. She soon signed with a talent agent and her career was set in motion. Roles on TV series such as “Phil of the Future” and “Quintuplets” were followed by others in feature films, including “Sleepover,” “Fat Albert” and “The Dukes of Hazzard.”

PRISCILLA BARNES (Silvia Braddock) portrays David’s domineering mother in An American in China. Barnes met Bob Hope in 1975, who hired her to accompany him on trips to entertain troops at military bases. She then began her acting career with a bit role on a 1976 “Columbo” episode. This was later followed by a sizeable supporting role opposite Michael Caine in the 1980 theatrical feature “Sunday Lovers.” In 1981, Priscilla was handed the unenviable task of replacing pin-up phenomenon Suzanne Somers (whom she’d never met) on the popular ABC sitcom “Three’s Company,” playing the role of nurse Teri Alden until the series’ cancellation in 1984. Most recently Barnes was butchered in Rob Zombie’s film “The Devil’s Rejects.” Other film credits include “Mallrats” and “License to Kill.” Barnes currently lives in Los Angeles with her husband, actor Ted Monte.

MICHAEL GROSS (Manny Braddock) was born in Chicago in 1947. During high school he was involved in a gang for a couple years before becoming a better student and graduating as senior class president. Received an M.F.A. from Yale University’s School of Drama, Gross worked in theater before moving to New York where he began working as an actor. This eventually led to his breakthrough role as father of the Keaton family on the extremely popular television series “Family Ties.” Michael’s other notable roles include starring in all four “Tremors” films, and recent television appearances on “Boston Legal,” CSI:NY,” “The Drew Carey Show,” “ER,” and “Law and Order.”

ANTHONY MONTGOMERY (Shalamandika Williams II) is best known for his role as Ensign Travis Mayweather on the “Star Trek Enterprise” television series. Anthony began acting while studying at Indiana University – Purdue University at Indianapolis. He then transferred to Ball State University in Muncie, Indiana, where he graduated with a B.S. in Performance Theatre and Drama. After graduation, Montgomery relocated to Chicago where he sang in an R&B group. Returning to Indianapolis, he then began doing stand-up comedy. Upon moving to California, he landed the role as the host of the children’s television series Awesome Adventures. Some of his stage credits include “Dutchman,” “A Day of Absence,” “East of the Sun, West of the Moon” (original piece), “Medal of Honor Rag,” “Wine in the Wilderness,” “Working,” “Oliver” and “Rumors.” Anthony is the grandson of legendary jazz guitarist and composer, Wes Montgomery.