David Chai

LOGLINE: A naive young man receives a friend request from a beautiful stranger on social media then bumps into her the very next day. After a whirlwind romance, she wants to be introduced to his elusive father. Does she just want acceptance into the family or is she hiding an ulterior motive?

The film stars Will Hue and Candice Lam, both are nominated for Best Acting awards at the Brightside Tavern Shorts Film Festival. Will is a New York native Asian American and is also a writer and director. He created the webseries “The Streets”. Candice Lam is a fashion model originally from Macau and acted in the TV series “Billions” and Hong Kong indie feature “Passing Rain”. Veteran actor Geoff Lee, who has worked with David before on the short film “Pass The Buck” plays a supporting role.

This nineteen minute short was filmed over two days in Manhatten and Brooklyn by Korean American cinematographer Hajin Gyeltshen. Hajin has also worked extensively as a steadicam operator, so a lot of the shot designs in Alternate Ego are long ‘oners’ – one take shots which are quite challenging to execute and required extensive planning and lighting design for some of the locations.

“Even though the main characters are Asian, I didn’t want to do a story about ethnic identity. This was a story that could have been played by any ethnicity. I also wanted to treate this like a TV series, even though its a complete story, it feels very much part of a bigger world and there are still many questions left after its over.” David wrote and directed. and produced it together with Amy Ahn.

This is the second time David has made official selection at the Long Island International Film Expo (LIIFE). Moviemaker magazine called this one of the “25 coolest film festivals in the world.” In 2018, his feature “SIJI:DRIVER” won best feature film there. This year he returns with two shorts “Alternate Ego” and “Pass The Buck.” Both shorts screen Sunday July 14th, Pass the Buck at 1pm and Alternate Ego at 9:15pm.

For Tickets to LIIFE: http://longislandfilm.com/event/alternate-ego/

This is the first time David has been selected for the Asian American International Film Festival in New York (AAIFF). One of the longest running festivals in New York, this is the festival’s 42nd year. Alternate Ego screens Sunday, July 28th 2:30pm at Asia Society.

For Tickets to AIFF: https://www.goelevent.com/AAIFF/e/OtherlyWorlds

This is also the first time David has been selected for the Brightside Tavern Shorts Film Festival in Jersey City. Will and Candice are nominated for Best acting awards at this festival and will screen Sunday, August 4th at 4pm.

For Tickets to Brightside: http://www.brightsidetavernfilmfestival.com/august-2019-lineups.html