Experiencing Interruptions?

F THE PLUS: STORIES OF FAILED ASIAN EXCELLENCE, "Cry Harder"

In this dark comedy satire, Se Hoon and Ji Yeon Kim believe they personify perfection with their perfect marriage and perfect newborn baby, “Hazel,” who doesn’t cry. After bolting from their best friend’s Baek Il party, they come home and get a call from grandma on her brand new 8K video camera. When Hazel finally has a face to face with grandma, Hazle unleashes an otherworldly cry and now won’t stop. Worse, grandma is coming for a visit, so now the Kims will do just about anything to keep up their appearance of perfection.

“F the Plus: Stories of Failed Asian Excellence” is a groundbreaking anthology short film series, and “Cry Harder” is the latest addition. The mission of the series is to break the model minority myth that Asians are somehow superior. Like all humans, we are flawed, very human and we cry with the rest of humanity.

  • Warren Lam
    Writer
    Moto Nostra GR224
  • Warren Lam
    Producer
  • Michael Sorensen
    Producer
  • Alex Costello
    Producer
  • Warren Lam
    Director
  • Jessica Yang-Hong
    Key Cast
    "Ji Yeon"
  • Daniel C. Kim
    Key Cast
    "Se Hoon"
  • Michael Sorensen
    Key Cast
    "Baby Whisperer"
  • Tora Kim-Lake
    Key Cast
    "Melanie "Torah" Park"
  • Sean Ching
    Key Cast
    "Victor Park"
  • Hazel Hong
    Key Cast
    "Screamng Banshee"
  • Ell
    Key Cast
    "Baby Dispensing Cousin"
  • Project Type:
    Short
  • Runtime:
    15 minutes 21 seconds
  • Completion Date:
    February 28, 2022
  • Production Budget:
    75,000 USD
  • Country of Filming:
    United States
  • Language:
    English
  • Shooting Format:
    Digital
  • Aspect Ratio:
    16:9
  • Film Color:
    Color
  • First-time Filmmaker:
    No
  • Student Project:
    No
Director Biography - Warren Lam

Born and raised in San Francisco, Warren began his career as an advertising copywriter in New York where his first client was AT&T. In three months, as a junior writer, he sold the first videophone TV campaign. Always seeking the best opportunity to work on groundbreaking campaigns, he traveled the country with stops in Dallas, Detroit and the legendary Leo Burnett ad agency in Chicago. His clients ranged from Reebok, Phillip Morris, Kellogg’s, and General Motors. He earned a reputation as an innovative out-of-the-box thinker with emotional storytelling instincts.

He moved to Los Angeles and worked his way through all aspects of entertainment from development, production and post production. He started his own company, Creative Fugitives to create, produce and content across platforms.

As a Writer/Director, he embraced new digital technology as an OG series content creator, launching a few series, "The Wendy Channel" and "Say Hello to My Agent."

He teamed with Chris Buchanan, president of Joss Weldon’s Mutant Enemy production company, they collaborated on an innovative action sports TV drama. He edited Emmy-winning shows and festival documentaries and played a key role in making over 100 hours of content. Credits include. "Deadliest Catch", "The Curse of Oak Island," "Skin Tight", and the recent series, "Paris in Love" for Peacock.

Recently, his self-funded sci-fi series; “Moto Nostra Gr: 224” premiered at the Dances with Films Festival in Los Angeles and attracted interest from multiple distributors.

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Director Statement

The F the Plus concept was a chance to start a new playground where through satire our community can express the many different aspects of our culture and break down the model minority monolith.

There is so much more to who we are, with so many edgy Asian comedians from Ally Wong, Awkafina, Jimmy O'Yang and Ronny Cheng, I want to add my voice to this list of boundary pushers. As a story-teller I can blend influences from the Ted Lasso series, Judd Apatow comedies and add the docu-stye of Succession to create something that's my voice. More importantly, through these unexpected stories with memorable set-pieces, we can still have moments that are heartfelt and emotional.