Tera Wong, a desperate 20-year-old Asian girl, drops out of college to help work at her family’s failing restaurant. With her mother suffering from back injuries, and unable to seek medical care at the expense of closing the restaurant, Tera decides to take matters into her own hands and parlays her Chinese food delivery expertise into a profitable drug hustle.
Financially trapped in a crime and violence-filled Los Angeles territory referred to as the ‘Low Bottoms’, Tera seeks help from a local drug kingpin, Lalo. With the cash rolling in, Tera intends to move her family restaurant to the suburbs and go clean. But after a series of tragic events, the dream Tera built on a foundation of lies comes crashing down, only to realize that she and Lalo have more in common than she could have ever imagined.

Interview with Director Hisonni Johnson

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Congratulations! Why did you make your film?

Thank you very much! Take Out Girl was brought to me by Hedy Wong, our lead actress, and my co-writer. Upon meeting Hedy, I instantly knew that her wonderfully unique personality could easily hold an audience's attention for 90 minutes. Hedy is one of a kind. After I became the director officially, we dug deeper. Hedy and I knew we wanted to make a film that centered around a poor Asian American family in the inner city. Still, we wanted to make the film accessible and enjoyable for everyone. It was such a challenge to take on, and I think we succeeded at just that!

Imagine I’m a member of the audience. Why should I watch this film?

An audience member will enjoy this film because the performances, cinematography, storyline, and soundtrack all do a great job of delivering an immersive cinematic experience and cathartic release. We worked hard to create a protagonist that the audience can root for, even when she's making bad choices. We took great care in making sure that each character was fully developed on-screen and had a "satisfying" arc.

How do personal and universal themes work in your film?

I love this question even though I don't have enough space here to answer it as thoroughly as I'd like lol. But I'll start here... On paper, a black man and an Asian female making a movie about an inner-city Asian family probably wouldn't be greenlit in Hollywood. My career is a testament to that fact. I apply to every directing lab and workshop on the planet. I am continuously rejected because I'm a black man that chooses to tell stories that are not exclusively for the black community. Now, (In my best Barack Obama Voice) Let me be clear. My stories ARE for the black community. They're just for everyone else too. Take Out Girl, for example, has more universal themes than personal. I say that because we made this film with the belief that our personal themes are universal. At its core, Take Out Girl is a story about family and the rules you'd break to take care of your family. Family is about as universal of a subject as you can get. And if the film had a clear antagonist... It would be poverty. Which again, is nearly as universal as a theme/motivator can get. Yes, there are other agendas within the film in regards to criminality as a whole, but deep down, I think those thoughts/themes are universal as well. Or they should be.

How have the script and film evolved over the course of their development?

The script evolved out of necessity. Take Out Girl's budget was equal parts blood, sweat and tears lol. So, when things seemingly fell apart during principal photography, we stayed calm and saw the "damage" done to the film as the universe imposing a rewrite lol. Locations changed, there were additional scenes shot, and there were lots of flourishes brought to the table from our actors with their dialogue! It was a collaborative effort in every sense!

What type of feedback have you received so far?

All great so far. We've gotten several reviews that are in the 4-4.5 out of 5-star range, and we're hoping for more! Although we haven't been reviewed by a single female critic or a critic of color yet. I'm eager to know how it plays with someone like Hedy or someone like myself.

Has the feedback surprised or challenged your point of view?

No, not really. I'm lucky! I split my filmmaking duties with my co bro Alberto Triana (our DP and Executive Producer). He's a crazy talented one-man-band sort of filmmaker like myself. Except, we're very different when it comes to our cinematic tastes. When we had a film that satisfied him and I, we knew we were ready to put Take Out Girl into the world.

What are you looking to achieve by having your film more visible on www.wearemovingstories.com?

It would be nice to have a few film festivals to reach out and ask us to screen there or to submit our film. I'd love it if this exposure led to Take Out Girl being watched by critics that more closely fit our "target demo".

Who do you need to come on board (producers, sales agents, buyers, distributors, film festival directors, journalists) to amplify this film’s message?

I think our film has what it takes to play a very successful limited theatrical release if a well-known producer came on board. But, I'm excited to meet sales agents, buyers, distributors, film festival directors and journalists! All of them could be critical to the success of both Take Out Girl and our next feature film Revengence (to be directed by Alberto Triana and Produced by me).

What type of impact and/or reception would you like this film to have?

I'd love for this film to be received so positively that I, my actors, and my crew can continue to do what we love. I want the audience to be excited about what we have next!

What’s a key question that will help spark a debate or begin a conversation about this film?

Are criminals bad people?
Is criminality nature or nurture?
Is there ever a good reason to break the law?

Would you like to add anything else?

If you're in the San Jose area on March 7th, 9th, 13th or 15th please join us at Cinequest Film Festival for our world premiere!!!

What other projects are the key creatives developing or working on now?

My film brother Alberto Triana will be making his feature film debut with the uber-violent cautionary tale Revengence. Principal photography starts in the second quarter of 2020. Next month, I'll be shooting a short called Blunt. The film is based upon the day I met my girlfriend's mother for the first time. The film stars Darren Thomas, Veronica Mitsuk, and Trina Colon. I send them your way when they're done lol.

Interview: February 2020

We Are Moving Stories embraces new voices in drama, documentary, animation, TV, web series, music video, women's films, LGBTQIA+, POC, First Nations, scifi, supernatural, horror, world cinema. If you have just made a film - we'd love to hear from you. Or if you know a filmmaker - can you recommend us? More info: Carmela

Take Out Girl

Length: 1:38:00

Director: Hisonni Johnson

Producer: Melissa del Rosario

Writer: Hedy Wong

About the writer, director and producer:

HISONNI JOHNSON is a first-generation Guyanese American Writer, Director, Actor, Cinematographer, United States Marine, and Route 91 Las Vegas Shooting Survivor. As a director, Hisonni stays sharp with Acting With Directors, an acting class he founded in 2018. Each week, he prepares a lesson plan, reads several dozen scripts, select scenes for 20 different students. Hisonni mentors these promising performers in audition technique, Cold reading, set etiquette, and text analysis. His proudest achievement in the class is The Emma Jean Johnson Scholarship Fund, a program named after his mother that provides tuition relief to students on a rolling basis. In conjunction with the food donation program, he started in 2019, Hisonni organizes in Las Vegas Hisonni has provided over $15,000 to actors who wouldn't be able to afford acting class otherwise AND over 400 hot meals to the homeless of Clark County. In 2020 it was announced that Hisonni's second feature film Take Out Girl would have its world premiere at Cinequest Film Festival in San Jose by The Hollywood Reporter, Billboard.com and Film Threat. Take Out Girl was scored an 8/10 by Filmthreat.com.

HEDY WONG was born and raised in the Bay Area, Northern California. She moved to Los Angeles to pursue acting and had since then booked national commercial campaigns such as Dove and Best Buy. She also appeared in music videos alongside major recording artists including Chris Brown, Lil Wayne, Tyga, A$AP Rocky and Justin Bieber. In her spare time, she enjoys writing and creating music. Take Out Girl is her first feature film screenplay.

Key cast: Hedy Wong, Ski Carr, Lynna Yee, J. Teddy Garces, Lorin Alond Ly, Dijon Dalton, and featuring rapper $tupid Young

Looking for: sales agents, distributors, journalists, buyers

Facebook: Take Out Girl Film

Instagram: @takeoutgirlfeaturefilm

Hashtags used: #takeoutgirl #takeoutgirlfilm

Website: IMDb