David Ren

The Shanghai Kid

Hey guys,

I've been a part of Home Theater Forum since I was in junior high school and have met Ron and others at all the NYC DVD Meets. I just wanted to share some exciting news in my life.

I'm currently shooting my first feature film that I am writing and directing. It's called "The Shanghai Kid" and it stars Ken Leung, Hayden Panettiere, Kelly Hu, Joel David Moore, Summer Altice, Byron Mann, and Luoyang Wang.
The movie takes place in Los Angeles and Shanghai, China. We just wrapped LA and going to Shanghai tomorrow for a month and a half.

I hope I can get all your support as I go through this journey. So tell everyone you know to look out for "The Shanghai Kid" next year and I'll update you on how production is going.

This is the film's IMDB page

This is a Variety article on the film

David

Jason Walstrom

Wow good luck can't wait to see it!

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Thi Them

Congratulations! That's very cool!

That's a pretty impressive cast for a first feature film from someone so young. Got any footage of Summer Altice?

~T

Russell G

you get a big thumbs up from me! Alot of people talk about making their first film, and usually it's a digital camera and a buynch of friends. This osunds like the real deal.

Can't wait to hear more, and good luck on the Shanghai location shooting!

This post is invisible! It also has the power to kill threads!

Stevan Lay

Yeah, have fun. I was just over there a month ago. Amazing city.

And Kelly Hu. WOW!! Can't wait...

David Ren

I just got into Shanghai tonight. Will finish up prep here. Ken and Kelly get in next week. I just looked at all the dailies we shot in LA and it all looks amazing! We're shooting 35MM Anamorphic, using Darius Khondji's lenses, and it's beautiful. Hayden Panettiere will be the next Natalie Portman, she's just that good and Ken Leung is an asian Al Pacino. I could've be more impressed with the both of them.

David

David Ren

Oops. I posted twice. The internet here is not so good.

Random Hero

Cool! We know a writer/director. The movie sounds great and we can't wait to see it. Thanks for keeping us updated and sharing your experience with us. Best wishes!

David Ren

First week in Shanghai went well. The crew here is amazing. We're working with most of the crew from Hero and House of Flying Daggers.

Just saw a lot of the footage from the LA portion edited together and it looks great.

Let me know if anybody wants to read the screenplay and I'll e-mail it over.

David

ThomasC

How the movie coming along? Is there a set release date or an estimate?

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David Ren

David Ren

We're just finishing post right now. Still have to do the sound mix and ADR. Our composer is finishing up the score. It turned out better than I could've hoped for. I'm really proud of it. Everybody who I've shown it to calls it an Asian Woody Allen film, which is great. Woody Allen is definitely a big influence of mine.

Since I first posted this thread, there has been cast changes. Louyang Wang couldn't do the film and he was replaced by James Hong, who was great. Summer Altice may cut out of the film. Apparently, she's not the best actress in the world. Timothy Bottoms plays a small part as Hayden's father. No release date yet but if you live in LA, you can come over my place to watch it, lol.

Oh, and it's been renamed Shanghai Kiss. Check out Ken Leung (the star of the movie) in X-Men 3. He's playing Quill.

David