Chicken
In a Bronx juvenile prison, a 16-year old boy faced with losing custody of his child must discover what it takes to be a father through the raising of a chicken.
Interview with Writer/Director/Producer Josh Leong
Congratulations! Why did you make your film?
Back in June 2021, I first volunteered at a juvenile detention center in the Bronx, with my church. My first visit preceded Father’s Day, a particularly difficult time for many residents who were young parents – some merely 16 years old. Having grown up with difficult and sometimes traumatic home lives, many believe they don’t have what it takes to become a parent. Residents believe they're programmed to repeat the actions of their own flawed fathers, and there’s no hope for their future.
Over the next months, I got to speak with and mentor several boys in the facilities, learning that the prison also ran a chicken hatching program with Sprout by Design. It’s primarily used as a gentling activity and to teach responsibility, but I also saw it as a metaphor for raising children. I eventually understood that many residents develop strong attachments to their chicks – treating them like surrogate children. I was so impacted by that experience that I decided to write a script inspired by the lives of those kids. At the end of the day, my intention with CHICKEN was to remind these children that they can still turn a new leaf – as fathers, working professionals, and dreamers in this world.
Imagine I’m a member of the audience. Why should I watch this film?
I want people to watch this film not because it's entertainment – but because it's a real thing. Right now, there are children who lack hope and dignity inside detention centers just like the one depicted in the film. There are kids in our own backyards; written out of history; hidden to the point that our own communities don't even know they exist. CHICKEN serves as a call to action, raising awareness for issues all around us.
How do personal and universal themes work in your film?
CHICKEN started out as a very personal project – so much of it stemmed from my own experiences inside the detention centers. I was able to get firsthand experience with these children and could see doubts and insecurities about their futures. But at some point, I began to see the story (and the raising of baby chickens) as a metaphor for fatherhood. It was at that point that it perhaps became more universal – this was a story about parenthood and generational trauma – simply told through the lens of these kids.
How have the script and film evolved over the course of their development?
Early versions of the script always included the chick metaphor, but it wasn't being used in a very central or compelling way. Luckily, I was really encouraged by my NYU professor Janet Grillo to really strip the script down and rebuild the story around just "chick scenes". Once I was able to distill a through-line purely through moments exclusively between Shrue and his chick, everything else fell into place and added color to the world.
Who do you need to come on board (producers, sales agents, buyers, distributors, film festival directors, journalists) to amplify this film’s message?
Our team's goal is identify people who can promote the story BEHIND the film, not just the film itself. In many ways, that looks like finding impact partners that work in the juvenile justice space – or simply meeting distributors, journalists, or festival directors that can allow this film to be seen and read about in more cities and regions across the country. At the end of the day, this is kind of story I love telling – and if we can even identify feature producers, investors, or studio executives who share that mission, we can continue to tell untold stories like this, all around the world... and hopefully on a bigger scale!
What type of impact and/or reception would you like this film to have?
I believe that our films can’t exist in a vacuum – as filmmakers, we have an obligation to mobilize audiences and engage them with the realities we present on screen. I’m proud that our team remains committed to working alongside impacted BIPOC prison communities and recently-paroled children in the Bronx/Brooklyn through local city partners Sprout by Design, C3.NYC Juvenile Justice, and the NYC Administration for Children’s Services. We seek to mobilize volunteers for programs inside the detention centers, move audiences to donate to rehabilitation programs, and support mentorship and early-career programs for children exiting prisons/close-to-home facilities. We’re also excited to host a juvenile justice impact event at the Tribeca Film Festival where audiences can engage with our impact partners, and we ultimately believe CHICKEN seeks to be more than a film – it's a movement of young activists raising awareness for local issues in our city.
What’s a key question that will help spark a debate or begin a conversation about this film?
Why do we have such high rates of recidivism in America, particularly among young people? What can we be doing to lower that rate?
Would you like to add anything else?
According to the CSG Justice Center, 84% of children in juvenile detention will be re-incarcerated within 5 years. And while it’s one thing to hear about statistics, it’s entirely different to be on the ground, experiencing those things with your own eyes. Being present within the communities you’re attempting to represent is integral, as a filmmaker. It gives you the ability to discover authentic details about an issue – and sometimes entirely different angles to approach it from. The latter was true for me, as I had no idea about the chick hatching program before spending time in the facilities. Without being there and volunteering first – no camera included – this film wouldn’t even exist, in the first place.
What other projects are the key creatives developing or working on now?
My previous short in Ethiopia, THE OTHER SIDE (www.theothersideshortfilm.com), is actually being developed into a feature, LOST BOYS, with Sundance and Berlinale-winning producers, A51 Pictures. It’s a story inspired by the life of boys I met in an orphanage in Addis Ababa in 2018 – and that’s a personal project really dear to my heart. After the festival, my hope is to get that project financed and off the ground. It’s been a long, winding journey – and I’m really excited to see where it leads next. But CHICKEN is a film that I really think represents the kinds of stories I want to tell. Hopefully Tribeca can be a time to share that with the world, maybe find representation, and at least shed some light on things going on in our own backyard.
Interview: June 2022
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
Chicken
Length:
13:26
Writer/Director
JOSH LEONG is an Asian-American writer, director, and producer from the NYU Tisch School of the Arts. Having screened at six Academy Award®-qualifying festivals, Josh directed the Webby Award®-winning short, THE OTHER SIDE in Ethiopia, now streaming on Peacock. Currently, he’s a spotlight director with NBCUniversal’s Scene in Color Film Series, presented by Target. He was most recently awarded a blind script deal with NBCUniversal and acclaimed film producer, Will Packer.
Producer
Raised in Hong Kong, Singapore and New York, DENYVI ROSE is a Senior majoring in Film & Television at NYU's Tisch School of the Arts, minoring in Business, Entertainment & Media Technology, in addition to a concentration in Environmental Studies. She has produced several short-form projects including Some Time To Ourselves, directed by Sebastian Martinez, In The Making, a web series created by Alexandria Hellman, and Nairobi, a short by Tribeca Film Festival winner Phillip Youmans.
NADERA HERBERT-BEY, originally from Atlanta, is a junior at NYU. She is an aspiring producer & director. Throughout her life she has attended performing arts schools and had a deep appreciation for the arts. She truly believes that the media holds so much power and can shape the way we see the world. She hopes to be a part of that shaping to give voice to the voiceless and create stories to highlight marginalized groups.
CATHERINE NGUYEN is a junior at NYU Tisch School of the Arts, majoring in Film & Television with a concentration in producing. She currently works as Creative Development Associate at EST Studios (co-founded by Jaeson Ma and Eric Tu) where she focuses on uplifting Asian filmmakers and their stories. There, she leads development of both scripted and unscripted slates. In the past, Catherine has worked alongside Emmy-nominated Director Bao Nguyen and Academy Award-winning Producer Gigi Dement.
Key cast:
Jordan C. Biggs (Shrue), Biorkys Acosta (Mel), Opal Besson (Monica)
Looking for:
film festival directors, buyers, distributors, sales agents, journalists, producers
Instagram:
https://www.instagram.com/josh_leong/
Where can I watch it?
Tribeca Film Festival, June 12th and 13th
https://tribecafilm.com/films/chicken-2022