Josephine Green Zhang
Writer / Director / Producer
Raised in and around Pasadena, California, Josephine Green Zhang is the daughter of a Taiwanese immigrant mother and a white, Midwestern army vet turned hippie father.
She is passionate about stories of duality that give underdogs, outsiders, and misfits hope while also taking the piss out of them. A master of tone, she loves to bend genres and tell modern love stories, which include themes of friendship, community, romance, justice, and self-acceptance.
Josephine is an alumna of UCLA’s Film Program, Film Independent’s Project Fellowship, UCB’s improv and sketch program, and the Universal Writers Lab. She has worked as a TV writer on Seasons 2 and 3 of FIRST WIVES CLUB on BET+ and on Season 2 of DOLLFACE on Hulu. She has developed projects for Netflix, Disney+, and Bound Entertainment.
Josephine lives and writes in Highland Park with her husband and their adopted cat and dog.
Rachel Michiko Whitney
Writer - Story / Producer / Lead Actor
Rachel Michiko Whitney is a half Japanese American actor/writer/producer based in Los Angeles.She most recently acted in and produced SNOW VALLEY, an indie comedy/mystery feature film written and directed by the late Brandon Murphy (HITMAN’S WIFE’S BODYGUARD).
She can be seen in Paul Schrader’s THE CARD COUNTER with Oscar Isaac.
She acted opposite George Takei in a short film AMERICAN about the Japanese American Incarceration camps.She co-wrote, co-produced, and acted in 100% HALF, a short film about being a half Asian American actress. It won Best Short Film and Best Screenplay at Women’s Independent Film Festival in 2018.
She acquired the rights to BREAKSHOT, a true story about a half Japanese American gangster. Rachel graduated with a Mechanical Engineering major and Theater Studies minor from Duke University where she founded Duke Asian American Theater (DAAT).
She is incredibly excited to be exploring Japanese culture and the Japanese American experience in WABI-SABI.
Michael Fry
Producer
Michael Fry is an independent producer through his production company, Scrappy Rascal, with a number of projects set up at both the studio and independent level, including an action-comedy with Capstone financing and an Untitled Horror Project with Ghost House.
He started his career working on sets in Atlanta for such films as the first two HUNGER GAMES, 42, and ANCHORMAN 2.
He then moved out to Los Angeles, where he worked his way up the executive ranks at various production companies including 87North (NOBODY, HOBBS & SHAW), Platinum Dunes (A QUIET PLACE, THE PURGE), Unique Features (NIGHT TEETH), and Gilbert Films (LA LA LAND).
Jeff Mizushima
Producer / Editor / Script Supervisor
Based in Los Angeles, Jeff Mizushima is a film editor, comedy screenwriter, and documentary filmmaker.
Jeff broke out into the independent film scene with his directorial debut about a dwarf hamster on a road trip called ETIENNE!, which got him featured as one of Filmmaker Magazine’s 25 New Faces Of Independent Film.
He then went on to write and edit the Asian American comedies, SALAD DAYS and SAKE-BOMB, the latter of which premiered at SXSW.
Jeff currently focuses on narrative short film editing, having won awards for SHEVOLUTION and JUST GHOST ME, and intimate feature documentaries, such as WHO IS LUN*NA MENOH? about the self-titled Japanese Renaissance artist and POWERHOUSE: THE MARI WINSOR STORY, which chronicled the life of master Pilates teacher, Mari Winsor, and her battle with ALS that she ultimately succumbed to.
Jeff’s work strives to achieve the balance between telling a profound joke and being one.
Johnny Wei Zhang
Co-Producer
Johnny Wei Zhang is a Nanjing-born, Shanghai-raised, Los Angeles-based producer with a background in global shipping and supply chain management. His journey in cinema began in 2015 on the set of the Chinese-Hong Kong romance film 'Book of Love' (北京遇上西雅图之不二情书) in Los Angeles, where he discovered striking parallels between logistics and film production.
Recognizing the synergy between his expertise and the demands of filmmaking, Johnny embarked on a transition from maritime and supply chain management to the dynamic world of film production. Committed to honing his craft, Johnny completed the prestigious Film Producing course at Sundance Collab, enhancing his skills and industry knowledge.
His credits include work on 'Love Refreshed' and involvement in the film noir 'The Dick Pickford Detective Agency'. In the summer of 2023, he joined the production team of 'Wabi Sabi', further expanding his experience in the industry.
Shaped by his multicultural upbringing in Shanghai, Johnny is committed to using film to spotlight Far Eastern culture and promote diversity by bridging Eastern and Western sensibilities in compelling storytelling.
Auden Bui
Director of Photography
Auden Bui is an experienced and award-winning filmmaker and cinematographer.
Her projects have gone on to win numerous accolades, to include the student DGA award, The Caucus Foundation Award, Irving Lerner Endowment Fund and The Charles and Lucille King Foundation, among others and have played at numerous festivals around the world.
She was the creative director for GoldenVoice's music festival Arroyo Seco Weekend from 2017-2018. Her client list includes Google, Huawei, Cartier, Levi's, Target, Smashbox, Vice, MTV, Disney, Blumhouse, Doc Marten, Moleskine, and she frequently collaborates with actress Anna Akana.
Born in Saigon, Vietnam, and growing up in a working-class immigrant family in San Jose, California, she double-majored in Business and Film Studies at UC Berkeley before receiving an MFA from USC's School of Cinematic Arts. She is an award winning photographer having exhibited at UC Berkeley School of Architecture, the Southern Utah Museum of Art, and Galerie Joseph Paris.
Yu-Hsuan Chen
Production Designer
Yu-Hsuan Chen is a Los Angeles based set and production designer born and raised in Taipei, Taiwan.
She received her MFA in Design for Stage and Film at Tisch School of the Arts, NYU.
Working among theater, film, TV, event and exhibition, she is always excited to work with collaborators to tell stories through space and visuals, creating a world for compelling souls to live in.
Her film credits include the production designer of feature film "American Girl" (美國女孩), which won 5 awards in the Taipei Golden Horse Film Festival. She is also nominated for Best Art Design in the 2022 Taipei Film Festival.
Her production design "Palm Trees and Power Lines " premiered at the 2022 Sundance Film Festival, where it won an award for Directing, Editing and Screenwriting in the U.S. Dramatic Competition.
Her production design "JIE-JIE" won the HBO Asian Pacific American Visionary Award.
CAST CREDITS
Peter's Japanese Voice
Daisuke Tsuji
CREW CREDITS
1ST ASSISTANT DIRECTOR - Kevin Huie
2ND ASSISTANT DIRECTOR - Alison Chan
PRODUCTION ASSISTANT - Analie Song
PRODUCTION ASSISTANT - Mandy Moore
PRODUCTION ASSISTANT - Ricky Kelley
PRODUCTION ASSISTANT - Laney Surface
PRODUCTION ASSISTANT - Maureen Bharoocha
DIRECTOR OF PHOTOGRAPHY - Auden Bui
1ST AC - Paulina Zamorano
2ND AC / DIT - Antonio Zamarripa
2ND AC / DIT - Remy Dixon
STEADICAM OPERATOR - Bevis Tran
GAFFER - Matthew Halla
KEY GRIP - Rob Padilla
SWING - Evan Papadakis
SWING - Mark Barry
CASTING DIRECTOR - David Guglielmo
EDITOR - Jeff Mizushima
HAIR / MAKEUP - Jordyn Maresh
COMPOSER - George Shaw
PRODUCTION DESIGNER - Yu-Hsuan Chen
SET DECORATOR - Hinako Geiger
PROP MASTER - Annie Hall
COSTUME DESIGNER - Saori Mitome
KIMONO COSTUMER - Nasira Elias
SOUND MIXER - Logan Smith
SOUND MIXER - Cary Daniels
STUNT COORDINATOR - Hymnson Chan
VFX - Sam Yano
COLORIST - Michael Schatz
SPECIAL THANKS
CITY OF TORRANCE
TORRANCE CULTURAL ARTS CENTER
THE FAMILY OF SOSEI SHIZUYE MATSUMOTO
BRUCE CHERNOF
DANIEL GARCIA
COLORIST - RKM STUDIOS
FINAL SOUND MIX - TUNNEL POST
SOUND DESIGNER/RE-RECORDING MIXER - AJ PYATAK
DCP - ECHO PARK DCP - JOHN PHILLIPS
BECiNE
JEFFREY CHIN
MARI ROBINSON
UCLA TEA SOCIETY
JUNYA SAKINO
MAUREEN BHAROOCHA
RICKY KELLEY
LANEY SERFACE
BOON FOX
NATALIJA VEKIC
JANIS ROBERTSON
JOSEPHINE MARTORANA
FELISCHA MARYE
WALLAINE SARAO
ANNA SIRI
MIKKO OKITA
BEN NEUMANN
QUINCIE LI
AUSTIN VAZIRI
BARNETT BRETTLER
STANLEY YUNG
NAOMI SEDGWICK
ROSE MCALEESE
JUEL TAYLOR
HEATHER TOLL
TAHIRA AIANA
JON ROTHSTEIN
YUYING HERR
ROUGH CUT WATCHERS
ALL EMOTIONAL SUPPORT FRIENDS, FAMILY, AND FUR BABIES
