Elle Cota, Spectrum Editor
A short film created by VCU students explores the complicated relationships between family, identity and pursuing a creative career, particularly within Asian American households.
“How to Live in Living Rooms,” written and directed by third-year cinema student Ben Phan, draws from his personal experiences as an Asian American pursuing the arts.
Funding from primarily VCU Arts undergraduate research grants and New Surge Production allowed Phan to bring actors from outside Virginia onto the project.
“Although sometimes your parents can’t understand the art that you’re making or can’t understand the path that you’re on, there’s still ways that we can connect with our parents even if that isn’t through the traditional sense of understanding that some other people have,” Phan said.
The title “How to Live in Living Rooms” reflects the differences between the living rooms Phan experienced growing up and those he encountered in other people’s homes, according to Phan.
“Four walls, a couch, a TV stand, you know, a table is not enough to constitute a living room that is comfortable enough for you to express yourself in,” Phan said.
Phan said the casting process allowed him the opportunity to see how different actors interpreted the same characters. He said he valued actors who made intentional choices and were confident enough to ask questions about their roles.
Phan said several members of the cast, including the Vietnamese-speaking actors and artists involved in the Asian American arts community, connected with the film’s story because of its broader experiences.
Developing the characters’ histories was one of the most challenging parts of the production, Phan said. He had limited time to establish the relationships and experiences that shaped the characters before the story began.
Although Phan said he initially felt responsible for figuring out every detail himself, he said the actors’ questions and interpretations helped him build a more complete story.
“It’s such a communal art form that you just can’t do it alone,” Phan said.
Phan said he hopes his experience encourages other aspiring filmmakers, including people who may feel intimidated by the process or uncertain about their abilities. He said even people further along in their careers have expressed similar fears and uncertainty.
“This film enabled me to realize that I am so much more capable than what my past versions of myself would believe,” Phan said.
The film is not meant to suggest that every complicated family situation can be resolved simply by returning home, Phan said.
“I just kind of want to tell them that there is a world where people may not understand you, but there’s something really special in still trying to be present with one another because I think sometimes that’s all people can give you,” Phan said.
Lici Simmons, a fourth-year media production student, was the film’s first assistant director and co-producer, and brought the project together by managing the logistics behind a production.
Simmons assembled the crew through the organization, coordinated shooting dates and arranged transportation for students traveling to filming locations.
Simmons said seeing the family dynamics in the film reminded her of her own experiences in questioning whether she had chosen the right career path.
“I remember thinking that I choose the wrong major, like, should I be in health sciences instead of media production, because I enjoyed it so much, but my mom told me, ‘No, I think you should be doing media production, I don’t think biology is going to be beneficial to you,’” Simmons said.
Simmons said coordinating a film required her to manage relationships between crew members, an issue that she said can be overlooked when discussing the responsibilities of a producer.
“You’re working with other people,” Simmons said. “Sometimes you legitimately have to be a mediator for people when things are kind of going wrong because there’s different relationships forming.”
Simmons said she hopes audiences take away the idea that people do not need to have their futures figured out to pursue something meaningful.
Matt Knook, a VCU alumnus and co-producer on the film, helped Phan secure grant funding, manage the budget, arrange accommodations and coordinate other production needs. He said it was his first time producing a film, and said the experience showed him how much operational work goes into bringing a project to life.
“All the boring stuff essentially,” Knook said. “Just making sure we have food, we have lunch, that kind of stuff, but it was a really rewarding job because I got to see Ben in action and I got to see everybody making a movie and it was a great atmosphere on set.”
Looking back, Knook said he could have taken more responsibility for the logistical work so Phan could spend more time developing the story. Despite that challenge, Knook said he found the most rewarding part of the experience to be watching the production come together after the preproduction process.
“Going through the entire preproduction process and then seeing it come to life, seeing everybody on set connecting and working on this film was really amazing,” Knook said.
Rine Nguyen, a VCU alumna who played the character Hannah, a young woman around her age, said the casting call stood out to her while reading the character description and felt an immediate connection.
“I remember looking at it being like, ‘Oh my gosh, this never happens,’” Nguyen said. “Usually it’s some other specific type of Asian character, but I thought it was really cool that the film specifically was looking for Vietnamese actors.”
Nguyen said her aunt, who was a VCU alumna, received the same grant used to produce a short film about a Vietnamese family and a young person struggling with identity and personal choices. Participating in another film centered on a Vietnamese family made the experience feel full circle for Nguyen.
“She [Hannah] definitely uses humor to sort of guard against serious conversation sometimes and I think in real life people tend to joke, but then there’s a sliver of truth when you’re joking because it’s easier to communicate that way,” Nguyen said.
Nguyen said she initially worried that improvising would divulge too far from the original vision, but she said she appreciated the opportunity to contribute to the characters.
Nguyen said she had to become more intentional about communicating a character’s emotions through subtle expressions and actions rather than relying on dialogue to explain everything.
“I’ve always known that art is up to interpretation but I think taking away these long paragraphs of dialogue that I’m used to in a stage play has really made me have to think more about how art gets twisted into so many different things,” Nguyen said.
Nguyen said she hopes that audiences recognize that figuring out one’s identity and direction takes time.
“I think especially for the Asian American experience within the modern generation is it’s really hard to feel like you have lived up to the sacrifices maybe that your family has made for you when you veer off on a different path,” Nguyen said. “Also just realize no journey is really linear.”
“How to Live in Living Rooms” is scheduled to screen at the Alexandria Film Festival Nov. 12-15. There is an additional screening at the Grace Street Theater on Nov. 30 starting at 7 p.m.