Here’s the trailer for a disturbing supernatural horror short film titled Koreatown Ghost StoryThe story is based on a Korean ritual and follows a woman who accepts a macabre offering that allows her to pursue her dreams, for better or for worse.
The film was written and directed by Minsun Park AND Teddy Tenenbaum and the stars Margherita Cho AND Okano Lyric.
This trailer is shared in partnership with the FilmQuest Film Festival, where we try to showcase some of the amazing indie genre films and shorts that filmmakers are creating. We’ve also included an interview with the filmmakers below.
Without spoilers, tell us what your film is about, what its characters and themes are. Is it a proof of concept or a standalone story?
In this supernatural horror tale based on a Korean ritual starring Margaret Cho and Lyrica Okano, a woman accepts a grisly offer of marriage that would allow her to pursue her dreams, for better or worse. Koreatown Ghost Story is a short film that we sold to Paramount Pictures in a deal to make the feature film version.
What was the inspiration for your film? How did you get the idea?
Minsun Park is a Korean-American director who drew inspiration from a personal story for this film. When a young man of marriageable age dies in Korea (and many other Asian countries), it is seen as a great tragedy that the deceased was unable to get married before dying and will be alone in the afterlife.
In some cases, families of deceased singles may ask a religious person to marry ghosts to each other, so that they can have company in the afterlife. But what if a living woman were asked to marry a ghost?
Koreatown Ghost Story takes this idea to a horror setting, while also exploring themes of immigration and the generation of Americans caught between the traditions of their ancestors’ country and the pressure to conform to dominant (white) American culture.
Tell us about yourself. What is your background? How long have you been a director?
Minsun Park and Teddy Tenenbaum are a writing/directing team with combined experience in feature film and television, including pilot sales, staff writing, feature spec sales, and feature film and television assignments. They have written separately and together and currently write both as a team and as solo writers.
They specialize in genre writing, including horror, thrillers, and action, usually with a humorous edge. They recently wrote and directed an episode of Hulu’s Bite Size Halloween. With Minsun’s background as an Asian-American woman born in Korea and Teddy’s experience as a white dude from Ohio, they cover a lot of bases
What drives you to work in genre cinema and tell these kinds of stories?
We believe that horror films are the best Trojan horse to explore modern social and political themes while still entertaining audiences. We believe that horror acts as a way for audiences to safely explore the very real horrors of modern society.
What was the part of the process of making this project that you enjoyed the most?
Working with the brilliant Margaret Cho has been a professional dream of ours, and watching Lyrica Okano create a rich, three-dimensional character from words on a page has been a thrilling experience. There is nothing more rewarding in film than having an incredible cast and crew use their craft to take a story and bring it to life.
What are you most proud of about this film?
The imagination and talent of our cast and crew make us immensely proud to be associated with them.
What is your favorite anecdote or moment from the making of the film that you would like to share?
We shot Koreatown Ghost Story in a historic house that was once part of a convent. In fact, the house next door, the famous American Horror Story Murder House, was part of the same complex owned by the nuns.
During a take, several of the crew members saw someone in the footage who wasn’t supposed to be in the shot. But when we reviewed the footage, we couldn’t find the person. Most of the crew is convinced we had a ghostly visitation.
What was the most challenging moment or experience you had while making your film?
Fitting 15 pages and two scenes into three days of shooting is a great adventure that we would never want to relive.
Who were some of your collaborators and actors in the film? How did you start working together?
We had Margaret Cho in mind when we wrote the character of Mrs. Moon. We contacted her agent and manager, sent her the script, asked her to join us as producers, and were incredibly fortunate that she wanted to be a part of Koreatown Ghost Story. From there, everyone we wanted to work with, from the amazing actress Lyrica Okano to the brilliant cinematographer Jon Keng, was eager to sign on.
What’s the best advice you’ve ever received as a director, and what would you say to new directors?
If you are a writer, try directing. Writing is designing a house, and directing is building a house. If you can design a house, you can hire the best people to help you build it.
What are your career plans and what do you hope this film will do for your career? What kind of stories do you want to tell moving forward?
We love the horror genre, although we also write thrillers and sci-fi. We are currently creating an animated sci-fi/action show for a video game and film production company and are continuing to write new horror films. But from here on out, we hope to direct them, not just write them.
Where can we find more of your work and where can interested parties contact you? Do you have a website or YouTube/Vimeo channel? Do you have any social media profiles?
Our Bite Size Halloween episode is called Ride or Die and is the Season 3 finale on Hulu. Koreatown Ghost Story has not been made available to the public due to our contract with Paramount, but we believe we have resolved that issue and hope to stream Koreatown Ghost Story on a public website VERY soon. You can also follow us on: IG: EctoplasmEnt IG: NotSoSunnyPark IG: TeddyTbaum TikTok: TeddyTbaum
Bonus Question #1: What is your all-time favorite movie?
Rosemary’s Baby is our all-time favorite horror movie. Hands down.
Enjoy the trailer!
by Joey Fear
Source: Geek Tyrant
Lloyd Grunewald is an author at “The Fashion Vibes”. He is a talented writer who focuses on bringing the latest entertainment-related news to his readers. With a deep understanding of the entertainment industry and a passion for writing, Lloyd delivers engaging articles that keep his readers informed and entertained.
