Living in Silence: Toraichi Kono
TFI Suppport
Tribeca All Access® 2007
Logline
The untold story of the man who was personal valet and confidant to Charlie Chaplin, before facing charges of espionage on the eve of World War II.
Philip Chung
Director
Philip’s main duties on this project are to oversee the directing, writing, and other creative aspects of the film. Previously he has taught Asian American studies courses at UC Santa Cruz, playwriting at the L.A. Cultural Affairs Dept. and Asian American Writers Workshop, and worked as a journalist. As a co-founder and co-artistic director of the Lodestone Theatre Ensemble, he has produced, directed, and/or written over 75 productions, workshops, and readings. Philip has directed several short films including Ribbon of Dreams (starring JA actor James Shigeta) and Harlequin. Past writing credits include the TV series Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman and two critically acclaimed plays that premiered in 2006, The Golden Hour and One Nation, Under God. Upcoming projects include the screenplay adaptation of Gail Tsukiyama’s best-selling novel The Samurai’s Garden for director Hideo Nakata (Ringu, Ring 2) and writing/directing The Crimson Flower, an Asian American film noir to star Kelly Hu (X2), Daniel Dae Kim (Lost) and Clyde Kusatsu. He was selected as one of five fellows for the inaugural film development lab sponsored by the Korean Film Council in 2006, which took place in Hawaii and Korea during the Pusan International Film Festival.
Clyde Kusatsu
Producer
Clyde’s main duties on this project are administration and community relations. He has been a working actor in Hollywood for 33 years now in Theater, Radio, TV, Films, and the Internet. He graduated from Northwestern University’s famed theatre program. He’s been in such films as The Interpreter and Paradise Road; on TV from Ally McBeal to Monk. He’s most proud of his work in Farewell To Manzanar, which dealt with the internment for the first time on network television. He has been affiliated with groups like Visual Communication, Lodestone Theatre Ensemble, and the East West Players, as an actor, producer, and teacher.
Tim Lounibos
Producer
Tim’s main duties on this project are in the areas of administration, budgeting and publicity/marketing. He has extensive experience in these areas gained from a producing background that includes the indie films way leads onto way and Harlequin, the Sept. 11th memorial event My America in New York City, the Ammy Awards (honoring Asian & Asian American achievement in entertainment), and the 2001 Ovation Awards (honoring the best in Los Angeles theatre). Tim was Development Manager for aOnline (named “Best Asian American Community site of 2001” by Yahoo Internet Life Magazine), and co-founded and co-artistic directed the critically acclaimed Lodestone Theatre Ensemble. He is also a working actor whose resume includes lead roles in multiple films and guest star ones in over 30 TV shows—including most recently Crossing Jordan, Shark, The West Wing, and JAG.
Nancy Yuen
Producer
As the project director, Nancy Yuen, M.A., C. Phil, will coordinate and design the oral history collection. A current doctoral candidate in the UCLA Department of Sociology, Nancy has devoted her research to Asian Americans in popular culture. Having received training in oral history collection at the UCLA Center for Oral History, Nancy has conducted over one hundred interviews for her research. She has published widely in this field, including an interview study of Los Angeles-based Asian American actors in 2004. In addition, Nancy has spearheaded two reports on Asian Pacific Islander American (APIA) representation in prime time television in collaboration with the Asian American Justice Center. Her present dissertation study is based on ninety in-depth interviews of professional actors.